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<h2>World Cup anthem for SOS Children</h2><p><strong>31/05/2006</strong></p>
<img src="../../wp/a/Air_Hammer_190506.jpg" width="225" height="275" alt="Air Hammer's SOS performance" class="left" /><p>“6 villages for 2006”, SOS Children’s Villages’ World Cup campaign, has been given another welcome boost from exciting young band Air Hammer through donations from its World Cup anthem ‘Korea Korea’.</p><p>The song, with its rousing classical and football terrace chorus, is the West London band’s chosen anthem for this summer’s World Cup. Having heard about the “6 villages for 2006” campaign, Air Hammer members Ben Smith and Aaron Elvis decided to donate all proceeds from the song’s downloads to the campaign and support SOS Children’s global campaign to support orphaned and abandoned children. </p><p>“I cannot think of a more appropriate way in which to use this song we have recorded. SOS Children is a great charity and I could not have wished to find an organisation more closely linked to the World Cup” said, Ben of the band. </p><p>To listen to, or better still, download the song, please visit: <strong>www.airhammer.co.uk</strong></p><p><a href="../../wp/s/Six_Villages.htm">Back to main "6 villages for 2006" page</a></p><p><strong>Relevant Countries:</strong> <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil_A.htm">Brazil</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico_A.htm">Mexico</a>, <a href="../../wp/n/Nigeria_A.htm">Nigeria</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/South_Africa_A.htm">South Africa</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/Ukraine_A.htm">Ukraine</a>, <a href="../../wp/v/Vietnam_A.htm">Vietnam</a>.</p>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Airship</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Design_and_Technology.Air_and_Sea_transport.htm">Air & Sea transport</a></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16401.jpg.htm" title="USS Akron (ZRS-4) in flight, November 2, 1931"><img alt="USS Akron (ZRS-4) in flight, November 2, 1931" height="199" longdesc="/wiki/Image:USS_Akron_in_flight%2C_nov_1931.jpg" src="../../images/164/16401.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16401.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> <i>USS Akron</i> (ZRS-4) in flight, <!--del_lnk--> November 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1931</div>
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<p>An <b>airship</b> or <b>dirigible</b> is a <!--del_lnk--> buoyant <a href="../../wp/a/Aircraft.htm" title="Aircraft">aircraft</a> that can be steered and propelled through the air. Unlike <i>aerodynamic</i> craft (e.g. <!--del_lnk--> airplanes and <!--del_lnk--> helicopters) which stay aloft by moving an <!--del_lnk--> airfoil through the air in order to produce <!--del_lnk--> lift, <i>aerostatic</i> craft such as airships (and <!--del_lnk--> balloons) stay aloft primarily by means of a cavity (usually quite large) filled with a gas of lesser <!--del_lnk--> density than the surrounding atmosphere.<p>Airships were the first aircraft to make controlled, powered flight. Their widest use took place from roughly <!--del_lnk--> 1900 through the <!--del_lnk--> 1930s. However, their use decreased over time as their capabilities were surpassed by those of airplanes. In addition they suffered a series of high profile accidents — most notably the burning of the <!--del_lnk--> Hindenburg. Today they are used in a variety of niche applications, particularly advertising.<p>
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</script><a id="Terminology" name="Terminology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Terminology</span></h2>
<p>In many countries, airships are also known as <i>dirigibles</i> from the French <i>dirigeable</i>, meaning "steerable." The first airships were called <i>dirigible balloons.</i> Over time, the word <i>balloon</i> was dropped from the phrase.<p>The term <!--del_lnk--> zeppelin is a <!--del_lnk--> genericised trademark that originally referred to airships manufactured by the <!--del_lnk--> Zeppelin Company.<p>In modern common usage, the terms <i>zeppelin</i>, <i>dirigible</i> and <i>airship</i> are used interchangeably for any type of rigid airship, with the terms <i><!--del_lnk--> blimp</i> or <i>airship</i> alone used to describe non-rigid airships. In modern technical usage, however, <i>airship</i> is the term used for all aircraft of this type, with <i>zeppelin</i> referring only to aircraft of that manufacture, and <i>blimp</i> referring only to non-rigid airships.<p>The term <i>airship</i> is sometimes informally used to mean any machine capable of atmospheric flight.<p>In contrast to airships, <!--del_lnk--> balloons are buoyant aircraft that generally rely on wind currents for movement, though vertical movement can be controlled in both.<p>There is often some confusion around the term <i><!--del_lnk--> aerostat</i> with regard to airships. This confusion arises because <i>aerostat</i> has two different meanings. One meaning of <i>aerostat</i> refers to all craft that remain aloft using buoyancy. In this sense, airships are a type of <i>aerostat</i>. The other, more narrow and technical meaning of <i>aerostat</i> refers only to tethered balloons. In this second technical sense, airships are distinct from <i>aerostats</i>. This airship/aerostat confusion is often exacerbated by the fact that both airships and aerostats have roughly similar shapes and comparable tail fin configurations, although only airships have motors.<p><a id="Types" name="Types"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Types</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16402.jpg.htm" title="Several different kinds of US Navy airships and balloons, circa 1930"><img alt="Several different kinds of US Navy airships and balloons, circa 1930" height="203" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Usn-airships.jpg" src="../../images/164/16402.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16402.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Several different kinds of <!--del_lnk--> US Navy airships and balloons, circa 1930</div>
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<li><!--del_lnk--> Rigid airships (for example, <!--del_lnk--> Zeppelins) had rigid frames containing multiple, non-pressurized gas cells or balloons to provide lift. Rigid airships did not depend on internal pressure to maintain their shape.<li><!--del_lnk--> Non-rigid airships (blimps) use a pressure level in excess of the surrounding air pressure in order to retain their shape.<li><!--del_lnk--> Semi-rigid airships, like blimps, require internal pressure to maintain their shape, but have extended, usually articulated keel frames running along the bottom of the envelope to distribute suspension loads into the envelope and allow lower envelope pressures.<li><!--del_lnk--> Metal-clad airships had characteristics of both rigid and non-rigid airships, utilizing a very thin, airtight metal envelope, rather than the usual rubber-coated fabric envelope. Only two ships of this type, Schwarz's aluminium ship of 1897 and the <!--del_lnk--> ZMC-2, have been built to date.<li><!--del_lnk--> Hybrid airship is a general term for an aircraft that combines characteristics of heavier-than-air (airplane or helicopter) and lighter than air technology. Examples include helicopter/airship hybrids intended for heavy lift applications and dynamic lift airships intended for long-range cruising. It should be noted that most airships, when fully loaded with cargo and fuel, are typically heavier than air, and thus must use their propulsion system and shape to generate aerodynamic lift, necessary to stay aloft; technically making them hybrid airships. However, the term "hybrid airship" refers to craft that obtain a significant portion of their lift from aerodynamic lift and often require substantial take-off rolls before becoming airborne.</ul>
<p><a id="Lifting_gas" name="Lifting_gas"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Lifting gas</span></h2>
<p>In the early days of airships, the primary lifting gas was <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a>. Until the 1950s, all airships, except for those in the United States, continued to use hydrogen because it offered greater lift and was cheaper than <a href="../../wp/h/Helium.htm" title="Helium">helium</a>. The United States (until then the sole producer) was also unwilling to export helium because it was rare and was considered a strategic material. However, hydrogen is flammable when mixed with air, a quality that some think contributed to the <!--del_lnk--> Hindenburg disaster, as well as other rigid airship disasters. The buoyancy provided by hydrogen is actually only about 8% greater than that of helium<!--del_lnk--> . The issue therefore became one of safety versus cost.<p>American airships have been filled with helium since the 1920s and modern passenger-carrying airships are often, by law, prohibited from being filled with <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a>. Nonetheless, some small experimental ships still use hydrogen today.<p>Some small ships, called <!--del_lnk--> thermal airships, are filled with hot air in a fashion similar to <a href="../../wp/h/Hot_air_balloon.htm" title="Hot air balloon">hot air balloons</a>.<p>Wikipedia maintains a list of lighter-than-air gases <!--del_lnk--> here. It is noted that the majority of such gases are either toxic, flammable, corrosive, or a combination of these, with the exception of helium, neon, and water (as steam), limiting use for airships. It is also noted there that both methane and ammonia have on occasion been used to provide lift for weather baloons, and an insulated airship containing steam has been investigated.<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>The development of airships was necessarily preceded by the development of balloons. See <!--del_lnk--> balloon (aircraft) for details.<p><a id="Pioneers" name="Pioneers"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Pioneers</span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16403.jpg.htm" title="Crossing of the English Channel by Blanchard in 1785."><img alt="Crossing of the English Channel by Blanchard in 1785." height="121" longdesc="/wiki/Image:BlanchardChannelFlight.jpg" src="../../images/164/16403.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16403.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Crossing of the <a href="../../wp/e/English_Channel.htm" title="English Channel">English Channel</a> by Blanchard in 1785.</div>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16404.jpg.htm" title="A model of the Giffard Airship at the London Science Museum."><img alt="A model of the Giffard Airship at the London Science Museum." height="118" longdesc="/wiki/Image:GiffardAirship.JPG" src="../../images/164/16404.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16404.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A model of the Giffard Airship at the <!--del_lnk--> London Science Museum.</div>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16405.jpg.htm" title="The navigable balloon developed by Dupuy de Lome in 1872."><img alt="The navigable balloon developed by Dupuy de Lome in 1872." height="140" longdesc="/wiki/Image:DupuyLomeDirigeable.jpg" src="../../images/164/16405.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16405.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The navigable balloon developed by <!--del_lnk--> Dupuy de Lome in 1872.</div>
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<p>Airships were among the first aircraft to fly, with various designs flying throughout the <a href="../../wp/1/19th_century.htm" title="19th century">19th century</a>. They were largely attempts to make relatively small balloons more steerable, and often contained features found on later airships. These early airships set many of the earliest <!--del_lnk--> aviation records.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1784 <!--del_lnk--> Jean-Pierre Blanchard fitted a hand-powered propeller to a balloon, the first recorded means of propulsion carried aloft. In 1785, he crossed the <a href="../../wp/e/English_Channel.htm" title="English Channel">English Channel</a> with a balloon equipped with flapping wings for propulsion, and a bird-like tail for steerage.<p>The first person to make an engine-powered flight was <!--del_lnk--> Henri Giffard who, in <!--del_lnk--> 1852, flew 27 km (17 miles) in a steam-powered airship.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1872, the French naval architect <!--del_lnk--> Dupuy de Lome launched a large limited navigable balloon, which was driven by a large propeller and the power of eight people. It was developed during the <!--del_lnk--> Franco-Prussian war, as an improvement to the balloons used for communications between Paris and the countryside during the <!--del_lnk--> Siege of Paris by German forces, but was only completed after the end of the war.<p><!--del_lnk--> Charles F. Ritchel made a public demonstration flight in <!--del_lnk--> 1878 of his hand-powered one-man rigid airship and went on to build and sell five of his aircraft.<p><!--del_lnk--> Paul Haenlein flew an airship with an internal combustion engine on a tether in <a href="../../wp/v/Vienna.htm" title="Vienna">Vienna</a>, the first use of such an engine to power an aircraft.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1880, <!--del_lnk--> Karl Wölfert and <!--del_lnk--> Ernst Georg August Baumgarten attempted to fly a powered airship in free flight, but crashed.<p>In the <!--del_lnk--> 1880's a Serb named <!--del_lnk--> Ogneslav Kostovic Stepanovic also designed and built an airship. However the craft was destroyed by fire before it flew.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16428.jpg.htm" title="Santos-Dumont #6 rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch Prize in 1901. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution (SI Neg. No. 85-3941)"><img alt="Santos-Dumont #6 rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch Prize in 1901. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution (SI Neg. No. 85-3941)" height="203" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Sd_num6_rounding_tower.jpg" src="../../images/164/16406.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16428.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Santos-Dumont #6 rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch Prize in 1901. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution (SI Neg. No. 85-3941)</div>
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<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1883, the first electric-powered flight was made by <!--del_lnk--> Gaston Tissandier who fitted a 1-1/2 horsepower <!--del_lnk--> Siemens electric motor to an airship. The first fully controllable free-flight was made in a <!--del_lnk--> French Army airship, <!--del_lnk--> La France, by <!--del_lnk--> Charles Renard and <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Krebs in <!--del_lnk--> 1884. The 170 foot long , 66,000 cubic foot airship covered 8 km (5 miles) in 23 minutes with the aid of an 8-1/2 horsepower electric motor.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1888, Wölfert flew a <!--del_lnk--> Daimler-built petrol engine powered airship at Seelburg.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1896, a rigid airship created by <a href="../../wp/c/Croatia.htm" title="Croatia">Croatian</a> engineer <!--del_lnk--> David Schwarz made its first flight at <!--del_lnk--> Tempelhof field in <a href="../../wp/b/Berlin.htm" title="Berlin">Berlin</a>. After Schwarz's death, his wife, Melanie Schwarz, was paid 15,000 Marks by Count <!--del_lnk--> Ferdinand von Zeppelin for information about the airship.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1901, <a href="../../wp/a/Alberto_Santos-Dumont.htm" title="Alberto Santos-Dumont">Alberto Santos-Dumont</a>, in his airship "Number 6", a small blimp, won the <!--del_lnk--> Deutsch de la Meurthe prize of 100,000 <!--del_lnk--> francs for flying from the <!--del_lnk--> Parc Saint Cloud to the <!--del_lnk--> Eiffel Tower and back in under thirty minutes. Many inventors were inspired by Santos-Dumont's small airships and a veritable airship craze began world-wide. Many airship pioneers, such as the American <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Scott Baldwin financed their activities through passenger flights and public demonstration flights. Others, such as <!--del_lnk--> Walter Wellman and <!--del_lnk--> Melvin Vaniman set their sights on loftier goals, attempting two polar flights in 1907 and 1909, and two trans-atlantic flights in 1910 and 1912.<p>The beginning of the "Golden Age of Airships" was also marked with the launch of the Luftschiff Zeppelin <!--del_lnk--> LZ1 in July of <!--del_lnk--> 1900 which would lead to the most successful airships of all time. These <!--del_lnk--> Zeppelins were named after the Count von Zeppelin. Von Zeppelin began experimenting with rigid airship designs in the 1890's leading to some patents and the <!--del_lnk--> LZ1 (1900) and the <!--del_lnk--> LZ2 (1906). At the beginning of <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_I.htm" title="World War I">World War I</a> the Zeppelin airships had a cylindrical aluminium alloy frame and a fabric-covered hull containing separate gas cells. Multi-plane tail fins were used for control and stability, and two engine/crew cars hung beneath the hull driving propellers attached to the sides of the frame by means of long drive shafts. Additionally there was a passenger compartment (later a bomb bay) located halfway between the two cars.<p><a id="First_World_War" name="First_World_War"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">First World War</span></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16407.jpg.htm" title="Construction of the USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), 1923"><img alt="Construction of the USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), 1923" height="174" longdesc="/wiki/Image:USS_Shenandoah_Bau.jpg" src="../../images/164/16407.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16407.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Construction of the <!--del_lnk--> USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), 1923</div>
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<p>The prospect of using airships as bomb carriers had been recognised in Europe well before the airships themselves were up to the task. <!--del_lnk--> H. G. Wells described the obliteration of entire fleets and cities by airship attack in <i><!--del_lnk--> The War in the Air</i> (1908), and scores of less famous British writers declared in print that the airship had altered the face of world affairs forever. On <!--del_lnk--> 5 March <!--del_lnk--> 1912, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italian</a> forces became the first to use dirigibles for a military purpose during <!--del_lnk--> reconnaissance west of <a href="../../wp/t/Tripoli.htm" title="Tripoli">Tripoli</a> behind <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkish</a> lines. It was World War I, however, that marked the airship's real debut as a weapon.<p>Count Zeppelin and others in the German military believed they had found the ideal weapon with which to counteract British Naval superiority and strike at Britain itself. More realistic airship advocates believed the Zeppelin was a valuable long range scout/attack craft for naval operations. Raids began by the end of 1914, reached a first peak in 1915, and then were discontinued after 1917. Zeppelins proved to be terrifying but inaccurate weapons. Navigation, target selection and bomb-aiming proved to be difficult under the best of conditions. The darkness, high altitudes and clouds that were frequently encountered by zeppelin missions reduced accuracy even further. The physical damage done by the zeppelins over the course of the war was trivial, and the deaths that they caused (though visible) amounted to a few hundred at most. The zeppelins also proved to be vulnerable to attack by aircraft and antiaircraft guns, especially those armed with <!--del_lnk--> incendiary bullets. Several were shot down in flames by British defenders, and others crashed 'en route'. In retrospect, advocates of the naval scouting role of the airship proved to be correct, and the land bombing campaign proved to be disastrous in terms of morale, men and material. Many pioneers of the German airship service died bravely, but needlessly in these propaganda missions. They also drew unwanted attention to the construction sheds which were bombed by the British <!--del_lnk--> Royal Naval Air Service.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16408.jpg.htm" title="The USS Akron over Manhattan circa 1932"><img alt="The USS Akron over Manhattan circa 1932" height="193" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Uss-akron-manhattan.jpg" src="../../images/164/16408.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16408.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The USS Akron over <!--del_lnk--> Manhattan circa 1932</div>
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<p>Meanwhile the <a href="../../wp/r/Royal_Navy.htm" title="Royal Navy">Royal Navy</a> had recognised the need for small airships to counteract the submarine threat in coastal waters, and beginning in February 1915, began to deploy the SS (Sea Scout) class of blimp. These had a small envelope of 60-70,000 cu feet and at first utilised standard single engined planes (BE2c, Maurice Farman, Armstrong FK) shorn of wing and tail surfaces as an economy measure. Eventually more advanced blimps with purpose built cars, such as the C (Coastal), C* (Coastal Star), NS (North Sea), SSP (Sea Scout Pusher), SSZ (Sea Scout Zero), SSE (Sea Scout Experimental) and SST (Sea Scout Twin) classes were developed. The NS class, after initial teething problems proved to be the largest and finest airships in British service. They had a gas capacity of 360,000 cu feet, a crew of 10 and an endurance of 24 hours. Six 230 lb bombs were carried, as well as 3-5 machine guns. British blimps were used for scouting, mine clearance, and submarine attack duties. During the war, the British built over 225 non-rigid airships, of which several were sold to Russia, France, the US and Italy. Britain, in turn, purchased one M-type semi-rigid from Italy whose delivery was delayed until 1918. Eight rigid airships had been completed by the armistice, although several more were in an advanced state of completion by the war's end. The large number of trained crews, low attrition rate and constant experimentation in handling techniques meant that at the war's end Britain was the world leader in non-rigid airship technology.<p>Airplanes had essentially replaced airships as bombers by the end of the war, and Germany's remaining zeppelins were scuttled by their crews, scrapped or handed over to the Allied powers as spoils of war. The British rigid airship program, meanwhile, had been largely a reaction to the potential threat of the German one and was largely, though not entirely, based on imitations of the German ships.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16409.jpg.htm" title="U.S. Navy Zeppelin ZRS-5 "USS Macon" over Moffett Field in 1933"><img alt="U.S. Navy Zeppelin ZRS-5 "USS Macon" over Moffett Field in 1933" height="235" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Zeppelin.jpg" src="../../images/164/16409.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16409.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> U.S. Navy Zeppelin <!--del_lnk--> ZRS-5 "USS Macon" over <!--del_lnk--> Moffett Field in <!--del_lnk--> 1933</div>
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<p><a id="Inter-war_period" name="Inter-war_period"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Inter-war period</span></h3>
<p>Airships using the Zeppelin construction method are sometimes referred to as zeppelins even if they had no connection to the Zeppelin business. Several airships of this kind were built in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">USA</a> and <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">Britain</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> 1920s and <!--del_lnk--> 1930s, mostly imitating original Zeppelin design derived from crashed or captured German World War I airships.<p>The British <!--del_lnk--> R33 and <!--del_lnk--> R34, for example, were near identical copies of the German L-33, which crashed virtually intact in Yorkshire on <!--del_lnk--> September 24, <!--del_lnk--> 1916. Despite being almost three years out of date by the time they were launched in <!--del_lnk--> 1919, these sister ships were two of the most successful in British service. On <!--del_lnk--> July 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1919 <!--del_lnk--> R34 began the first double crossing of the <a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic</a> by an aircraft. It landed at Mineola, Long Island on <!--del_lnk--> July 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1919 after 108 hours in the air. The return crossing commenced on <!--del_lnk--> July 8 because of concerns about mooring the ship in the open, and took 75 hours. Impressed, British leaders began to contemplate a fleet of airships that would link Britain to its far-flung colonies, but unfortunately post-war economic conditions lead to most airships being scrapped and trained personnel dispersed, until the <!--del_lnk--> R-100 and <!--del_lnk--> R-101 commenced construction in 1929.<p>Another example was the first American-built rigid dirigible <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Shenandoah</i>, which flew in <!--del_lnk--> 1923, while the <i>Los Angeles</i> was under construction. The ship was christened on <!--del_lnk--> August 20 in <!--del_lnk--> Lakehurst, <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey and was the first to be inflated with the <!--del_lnk--> noble gas <a href="../../wp/h/Helium.htm" title="Helium">helium</a>, which was still so rare at the time that the <i>Shenandoah</i> contained most of the world's reserves. So, when the <i>Los Angeles</i> was delivered, it was at first filled with the helium borrowed from ZR-1.<p>The Zeppelin works were saved by the purchase of what became the <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Los Angeles</i> by the <!--del_lnk--> United States Navy, paid for with "war reparations" money, owed according to the Versailles Treaty. The success of the <i>Los Angeles</i> encouraged the United States Navy to invest in larger airships of its own. Germany, meanwhile, was building the <i><!--del_lnk--> Graf Zeppelin</i>, the first of what was intended to be a new class of passenger airships. Interestingly, the <i>Graf Zeppelin</i> burned unpressurised <i>blau gas</i>, similar to <!--del_lnk--> propane, as fuel. Since its density was similar to that of air, it avoided the weight change when fuel was used.<p>Initially airships met with great success and compiled an impressive safety record. The <i>Graf Zeppelin</i>, for example, flew over one million miles (including the first circumnavigation of the globe by air) without a single passenger injury. The expansion of airship fleets and the growing (sometimes excessive) self-confidence of airship designers gradually made the limits of the type clear, and initial successes gave way to a series of tragic rigid airship accidents.<p>The "catastrophist theory" of airship development owes much to the sensationalist press of the 1920s and 1930s and ignores successful ships such as <i>Graf Zeppelin</i>, R100 and <i>Los Angeles</i>. The worst disasters — <!--del_lnk--> R-101, <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Shenandoah</i>, <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Akron</i> and <!--del_lnk--> <i>Hindenburg</i> were all partially the result of political interference in normal airship construction and flight procedures.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16410.jpg.htm" title="Rescuers scramble across the wreckage of British R-38/USN ZR-2, August 24, 1921"><img alt="Rescuers scramble across the wreckage of British R-38/USN ZR-2, August 24, 1921" height="206" longdesc="/wiki/Image:R-38-rescue.jpg" src="../../images/164/16410.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16410.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Rescuers scramble across the wreckage of British <!--del_lnk--> R-38/USN ZR-2, <!--del_lnk--> August 24, <!--del_lnk--> 1921</div>
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<p>The U.S. Navy toyed with the idea of using airships as "flying aircraft carriers." With wide oceans protecting the homeland, the idea of fleets of airships capable of rapidly crossing them (and the country) to deliver squadrons of fighters to attack approaching enemies had a certain appeal. This was a radical idea, however, and probably did not gain too much support in the Navy's traditional hierarchy. They did, though, build the USS Akron and USS Macon to test the principle. Each airship carried four fighters inside, and could carry a fifth on the "landing hangar." Perhaps the ease with which a fragile airship could be destroyed accidentally was the final justification for not pursuing this idea further.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Los Angeles</i> flew successfully for 8 years, but eventually the U.S. Navy lost all three of its American-built rigid airships to accidents. <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Shenandoah</i>, on a poorly planned publicity flight, flew into a severe thunderstorm over Noble County, Ohio, on <!--del_lnk--> 3 September <!--del_lnk--> 1925 and broke into pieces, killing 14 of her crew. <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Akron</i> was caught by a <!--del_lnk--> microburst and driven down into the surface of the sea off the shore of New Jersey on <!--del_lnk--> April 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1933. The <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Akron</i> carried no life boats and few life vests. As a result, 73 of her 76-men crew died from drowning or hypothermia. <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Macon</i> broke up after suffering a structural failure in its upper fin off the shore of Point Sur in California on <!--del_lnk--> 12 February <!--del_lnk--> 1935. Only 2 of her 83-man crew died in the crash thanks to the inclusion of life jackets and inflatable rafts after the <i>Akron</i> disaster.<p>Britain suffered its own airship tragedy in 1930 when <i><!--del_lnk--> R-101</i>, a ship far advanced for its time but rushed to completion and sent on a trip to India before she was ready, crashed in France with the loss of 48 out of 54 aboard on <!--del_lnk--> 5 October. Because of the bad publicity surrounding the crash, the Air Ministry grounded the competing <i><!--del_lnk--> R100</i> in 1930 and sold it for scrap in 1931. This was despite the fact that the differently-designed R100 had completed a successful transatlantic maiden flight.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/67/6722.jpg.htm" title="The Hindenburg — moments after catching fire, May 6, 1937"><img alt="The Hindenburg — moments after catching fire, May 6, 1937" height="198" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Hindenburg_burning.jpg" src="../../images/67/6722.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/67/6722.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <i><!--del_lnk--> Hindenburg</i> — moments after catching fire, <!--del_lnk--> May 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1937</div>
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<p>The most spectacular and widely remembered airship accident, however, is the burning of the <!--del_lnk--> <i>Hindenburg</i> on <!--del_lnk--> 6 May <!--del_lnk--> 1937, which caused public faith in airships to evaporate in favour of faster, more cost-efficient (albeit less energy-efficient) airplanes. Of the 97 people on board, there were 36 deaths: 13 passengers, 22 aircrew, and one American ground-crewman. (Much controversy persists as to the cause(s) of the accident. See <!--del_lnk--> <i>Hindenburg</i> for a discussion of this topic.)<p>Most probably the airplane became the transport of choice also because it is less sensitive to wind. Aside from the problems of maneuvering and docking in high winds, the trip times for an upwind versus a downwind trip of an airship can differ greatly, and even crabbing at an angle to a crosswind eats up ground speed. Those differences make scheduling difficult.<p><a id="Second_World_War" name="Second_World_War"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Second World War</span></h3>
<p>While Germany determined that airships were obsolete for military purposes in the coming war and concentrated on the development of airplanes, the United States pursued a program of military airship construction even though it had not developed a clear <!--del_lnk--> military doctrine for airship use. At the <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japanese</a> <a href="../../wp/a/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor.htm" title="Attack on Pearl Harbor">attack on Pearl Harbour</a> on <!--del_lnk--> 7 December <!--del_lnk--> 1941 that brought the United States into World War II, it had 10 non-rigid airships:<ul>
<li>4 K-class: K-2, K-3, K-4 and K-5 designed as a patrol ships built from 1938.<li>3 L-class: L-1, L-2 and L-3 as small training ships, produced from 1938.<li>1 G-class built in 1936 for training.<li>2 TC-class that were older patrol ships designed for land forces, built in 1933. The US Navy acquired them from Army in 1938.</ul>
<p>Only K and TC class airships could be used for combat purposes and they were quickly pressed into service against Japanese and German <!--del_lnk--> submarines which at that time were sinking US shipping in visual range of US coast. US Navy command, remembering the airship anti-submarine success from WWI, immediately requested new modern anti-submarine airships and on <!--del_lnk--> 2 January <!--del_lnk--> 1942 formed the ZP-12 patrol unit based in <!--del_lnk--> Lakehurst from the 4 K airships. The ZP-32 patrol unit was formed from two TC and two L airships a month later, based at US Navy (Moffet Field) in <!--del_lnk--> Sunnyvale in <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>. An airship training base was created there as well.<p>In the years 1942–44, approximately 1,400 airship pilots and 3,000 support crew members were trained in the military airship crew training program and the airship military personnel grew from 430 to 12,400. The US airships were produced by the <!--del_lnk--> Goodyear factory in <!--del_lnk--> Akron, Ohio. From 1942 till 1945, 154 airships were built for the US Navy (133 K-class, ten L-class, seven G-class, four M-class) and five L-class for civilian customers (serial number L-4 to L-8).<p>The primary airship tasks were patrol and <!--del_lnk--> convoy escort near the US coastline. They also served as an organisation centre for the convoys to direct ship movements, and were used during naval search and rescue operations. Rarer duties of the airships included aerophoto reconnaissance, naval mine-laying and mine-sweeping, parachute unit transport and deployment, cargo and personnel transportation. They were deemed quite successful in their duties with the highest combat readiness factor in the entire US air force (87%).<p>During the war some 532 ships were sunk near the coast by submarines. However, not a single ship of the 89,000 or so in convoys escorted by blimps was sunk by enemy fire. Airships engaged submarines with <!--del_lnk--> depth charges and, less frequently, with other on-board weapons. They could match the slow speed of the submarine and bomb it until its destruction. Additionally, submerged submarines had no means of detecting an airship approaching.<p>Only one airship was ever destroyed by <!--del_lnk--> U-boat: on the night of 18/<!--del_lnk--> 19 July <!--del_lnk--> 1943 a K-class airship (K-74) from ZP-21 division was patrolling the coastline near Florida. Using radar, the airship located a surfaced German submarine. The K-74 made her attack run but the U-boat opened fire first. K-74's depth charges did not release as she crossed the U-boat and the K-74 received serious damage, losing gas pressure and an engine but landing in the water without loss of life. The crew was rescued by patrol boats in the morning, but one crewman, <!--del_lnk--> Isadore Stessel, died from a <a href="../../wp/s/Shark.htm" title="Shark">shark</a> attack. The U-Boat, <!--del_lnk--> U-134, had been damaged but not significantly. It was attacked by aircraft in the next day or so sustaining damage that forced it to return to base — it was finally sunk on <!--del_lnk--> 24 August 1943 by a British <!--del_lnk--> Vickers Wellington near <!--del_lnk--> Vigo, Spain <!--del_lnk--> <!--del_lnk--> <p>Some US airships saw action in the European war theatre. The ZP-14 unit operating in the Mediterranean area from June 1944 completely denied the use of the <a href="../../wp/g/Gibraltar.htm" title="Gibraltar">Gibraltar</a> Straits to Axis submarines. Airships from the ZP-12 unit took part in the sinking of the last U-Boat before German capitulation, sinking U-881 on <!--del_lnk--> 6 May <!--del_lnk--> 1945 together with destroyers Atherton and Mobery.<p>The Soviet Union used a single airship during the war. The W-12, built in 1939, entered service in 1942 for paratrooper training and equipment transport. It made 1432 runs with 300 <!--del_lnk--> metric tons of cargo until 1945. On <!--del_lnk--> 1 February <!--del_lnk--> 1945 the Soviets constructed a second airship, a Pobieda-class (<i>Victory</i>-class) unit (used for mine-sweeping and wreckage clearing in the Black Sea) which later crashed on <!--del_lnk--> 21 January <!--del_lnk--> 1947. Another W-class — W-12bis Patriot was commissioned in 1947 and was mostly used for crew training, parades and propaganda.<p><a id="Continued_use" name="Continued_use"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Continued use</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16411.jpg.htm" title="Zeppelin NT airship"><img alt="Zeppelin NT airship" height="112" longdesc="/wiki/Image:ZeppelinNT.jpg" src="../../images/164/16411.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16411.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Zeppelin NT airship</div>
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<p>Although airships are no longer used for passenger transportation, they continued to be used for other purposes such as advertising and sightseeing. In particular, the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Navy as above.<p>In recent years, the Zeppelin company has reentered the airship business. Their new model, designated the <!--del_lnk--> Zeppelin NT made its maiden flight on <!--del_lnk--> September 18, <!--del_lnk--> 1997. There are currently three NT aircraft flying. One has been sold to a <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japanese</a> company, and was planned to be flown to Japan in the summer of 2004. However, due to delays getting permission from the Russian government, the company decided to transport the airship to Japan by ship.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16412.jpg.htm" title="One of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's blimp fleet."><img alt="One of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's blimp fleet." height="163" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Goodyear_blimp.jpg" src="../../images/164/16412.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16412.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> One of The <!--del_lnk--> Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's <!--del_lnk--> blimp fleet.</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Blimps continue to be used for advertising and as TV camera platforms at major sporting events. The most iconic of these is the Goodyear blimps. Goodyear operates 3 blimps in the United States. In addition, the Lightship group operates up to 19 advertising blimps around the world.<p>In addition, Airship Management Services, Inc. operates 3 Skyship 600 blimps. Two operate as advertising and security ships in the North America and the Caribbean and one operates under the name SkyCruizer providing sightseeing tours in Switzerland.<p>The Switzerland-based Skyship 600 has also played other roles over the years. For example, it was also flown over <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a> during the <!--del_lnk--> 2004 Summer Olympics as a security measure. In November of 2006, it carried advertising calling it "<!--del_lnk--> The Spirit of Dubai" as it began a publicity tour from London to Dubai, UAE on behalf of <!--del_lnk--> The Palm Islands, the worlds largest man-made islands created as a residential complex.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16413.jpg.htm" title="The Spirit of Dubai approaches its motorised mooring mast."><img alt="The Spirit of Dubai approaches its motorised mooring mast." height="290" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Spiritofdubai.jpg" src="../../images/164/16413.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16413.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> Spirit of Dubai approaches its motorised mooring mast.</div>
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<p>In May of 2006, <!--del_lnk--> press reports indicate that the US Navy is starting to fly airships again after a hiatus of nearly 44 years. At present, the program utilizes a single American Blimp Company A-170 non-rigid airship. Operations will focus on crew training and research. The program is under the direction of the Naval Air Systems Command and is being carried out at <!--del_lnk--> NAES Lakehurst, the original centre of US Navy lighter-than-air operations in previous decades.<p>Several companies, such as Cameron Balloons in <a href="../../wp/b/Bristol.htm" title="Bristol">Bristol</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>, build hot-air airships. These combine the structures of both hot-air balloons and small airships. The envelope is the normal 'cigar' shape, complete with tail fins, but is not inflated by helium, but by hot air (as in a balloon), which provides the lifting force. A small gondola, carrying the pilot (and sometimes between 1 and 3 passengers), a small engine and the burners to provide the hot air is suspended below the envelope, below an opening through which the burners protrude.<p><!--del_lnk--> Hot-air airships cost less to buy and maintain than modern Helium-based <!--del_lnk--> blimps, and they can be quickly deflated after flights. This makes them easy to carry in trailers or trucks and inexpensive to store. Such craft are usually very slow moving, with a typical top speed of 15-20 mph. They are mainly used for advertising, but at least one has been used in <a href="../../wp/r/Rainforest.htm" title="Rainforest">rainforests</a> for wildlife observation, as they can be easily transported to remote areas.<p><a id="Present-day_research" name="Present-day_research"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Present-day research</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16414.jpg.htm" title="The gondola and engines of a contemporary airship."><img alt="The gondola and engines of a contemporary airship." height="133" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Modern_airship_gondola.jpg" src="../../images/164/16414.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16414.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The gondola and engines of a contemporary airship.</div>
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<p>There are two primary focuses of current research on airships: 1) high altitude, long duration, sensor and/or communications platforms and 2) long distance transport of very large payloads.<p>The US government is funding two major projects in the high altitude arena. The first is sponsored by U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and is called the Composite Hull High Altitude Powered Platform (CHHAPP). This aircraft is also sometimes referred to as the <i>HiSentinel High-Altitude Airship</i>. This prototype ship made a 5 hour test flight in September 2005. The second project is being sponsored by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and is called the <!--del_lnk--> high-altitude airship (HAA). In 2005, DARPA awarded a contract for nearly $150 million to Lockheed-Martin for prototype development. First flight of the HAA is planned for 2008.<p>There are also three private companies funding working on high altitude airships. Sanswire is developing high altitude airships they call "<!--del_lnk--> Stratellites" and Techsphere is developing a high altitude version of their spherically shaped airships. JP Aerospace has discussed its long-range plans that include not only high altitude communications and sensor applications but also an "<!--del_lnk--> orbital airship" capable of lifting cargo into low earth orbit with a marginal transportation cost of $1 per <!--del_lnk--> short ton per mile of altitude.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> January 31, <!--del_lnk--> 2006 Lockheed-Martin made the first flight of their secretly built hybrid-airship designated the <!--del_lnk--> P-791 at the company's flight test facility on the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42. The P-791 aircraft is very similar in design to the <!--del_lnk--> SkyCat design unsuccessfully promoted for many years by the now financially troubled British company Advanced Technology Group. Although Lockheed-Martin is developing a design for the DARPA WALRUS project (see below), the company claimed that the P-791 is unrelated to WALRUS. Nonetheless, the design represents an approach that may well be applicable to WALRUS. Some believe that Lockheed-Martin had used the secret P-791 program as a way to get a "head-start" on the other WALRUS competitor, Aeros.<p>A privately funded effort to build a heavy-lift aerostatic/aerodynamic hybrid craft, called the Dynalifter, is being carried out by Ohio Airships. The company has stated that they expect to begin test flight of the Dynalifter in Spring of 2006.<p>21st Century Airships Inc. is a research and development company for airship technologies. Projects have included the development of a spherical shaped airship, as well as airships for high altitude, environmental research, surveillance and military applications, heavy lift and sightseeing. The company's airships have set numerous world records.<p><a id="Proposed_designs_and_application" name="Proposed_designs_and_application"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Proposed designs and application</span></h2>
<p>There are several proposed long-range/large-payload designs. All of these designs are still on the "drawing board".<p>The proposed <!--del_lnk--> Aeroscraft is <!--del_lnk--> Aeros Corporation's continuation of the now cancelled WALRUS project (see below.) This proposed craft is a <!--del_lnk--> hybrid airship that, while cruising, obtains two thirds of its lift from helium and the remaining third aerodynamic lift. Jets would be used during take-off and landing.<p>There is a case for the airship or zeppelin as a medium to long distance air 'cruise ship' using helium as a lifting agent. An airship engine need not be a turbojet and could use less expensive fuel or even use biodiesel.<p>The disadvantage would be an increased journey time and the inability to overfly large mountain ranges. The Rocky Mountains, Alps and Himalayas, remain as major obstacles to economic airship navigation. As against this, airship ports would be relatively quiet and might even make use of seaport harbours.<p>The longer journey times derive from the fact that airships are by definition slower than heavier-than-air-craft, the Hindenburg's top speed having been 135 km/h (84 mph), the current airship "<!--del_lnk--> Spirit of Dubai" (a Skyship 600) can achieve only 50-80 km/h (30-50 mph), and the <!--del_lnk--> Zeppelin NT up to 125 km/h (78 mph). This compares to a <!--del_lnk--> Boeing 737's cruising speed of just over 900 km/h (560 mph), or normal intercity rail speeds of in excess of 150 km/h (100 mph).<p>Unless new technology permits greater speeds, anyone using airships over aeroplanes would need to accept journey durations at least seven times longer, significantly reducing the ability for air travel to "make the world smaller". It is unknown as to whether ecological concerns could drive this motivation sufficiently, or indeed whether the economies could accept such added impracticalities of travel ( 75 hours for a transatlantic crossing having been normal in the early age of airships).<p>Airship passengers could have spacious decks inside the hull to give ample room for sitting, sleeping and recreation. There would be ample room for restaurants and similar facilities. The potential exists for a market in more leisurely journeys, such as cruises over scenic terrain.<p><a id="Noteworthy_historic_prototypes_and_experiments" name="Noteworthy_historic_prototypes_and_experiments"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Noteworthy historic prototypes and experiments</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Heli-Stat was an airship / helicopter hybrid built in New Jersey in <!--del_lnk--> 1986.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Aereon was a hybrid aerostatic/aerodynamic craft built in the <!--del_lnk--> 1970s.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Cyclocrane was a hybrid aerostatic/rotorcraft in which the entire airship envelope rotated along its longitudinal axis.<p><!--del_lnk--> CL160 was a very large semi-rigid airship to be built in <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a> by the start-up <!--del_lnk--> Cargolifter, but funding ran out in <!--del_lnk--> 2002 after a massive hangar was built. The hangar, built just outside Berlin, has since been converted into a resort called "<!--del_lnk--> Tropical Islands".<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 2005, there was a short-lived project focused on long distance and heavy lift was the <!--del_lnk--> WALRUS HULA <!--del_lnk--> sponsored by the US Department of Defense <!--del_lnk--> The primary goal of the research program was to determine the feasibility of building an airship capable of carrying 500 short tons (450 metric tons) of payload a distance of 12,000 miles (20,000 km) and land on an unimproved location without the use of external ballast or ground equipment (e.g. masts.) In 2005, two contractors, Lockheed-Martin and US Aeros Airships were each awarded approximately $3 million to do feasibility studies of designs for WALRUS. In late March of 2006, DARPA announced the termination of work on WALRUS after completion of the current Phase I contracts.<p><a id="Fiction" name="Fiction"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Fiction</span></h2>
<dl>
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<p>Fictionalized representations of airships have appeared in a number of media, including books and films.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship"</div>
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<p><b>Ajax</b>, shorthand for <i><!--del_lnk--> Asynchronous <!--del_lnk--> JavaScript and <!--del_lnk--> XML</i>, is a <!--del_lnk--> web development technique for creating interactive <!--del_lnk--> web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This is meant to increase the web page's interactivity, speed, and <!--del_lnk--> usability.<p>The Ajax technique uses a combination of:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> XHTML (or <!--del_lnk--> HTML) and <!--del_lnk--> CSS, for marking up and styling information.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> DOM accessed with a <!--del_lnk--> client-side <!--del_lnk--> scripting language, especially <!--del_lnk--> ECMAScript <!--del_lnk--> implementations such as <!--del_lnk--> JavaScript and <!--del_lnk--> JScript, to dynamically display and interact with the information presented.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> XMLHttpRequest object is used to exchange data asynchronously with the web server. In some <!--del_lnk--> Ajax frameworks and in certain situations, an <!--del_lnk--> IFrame object is used instead of the XMLHttpRequest object to exchange data with the web server, and in other implementations, dynamically added <<!--del_lnk--> script> tags may be used.<li>XML is sometimes used as the <!--del_lnk--> format for transferring data between the server and client, although any format will work, including preformatted HTML, plain text, <!--del_lnk--> JSON and even <!--del_lnk--> EBML. These files may be created dynamically by some form of <!--del_lnk--> server-side scripting.</ul>
<p>Like <!--del_lnk--> DHTML, <!--del_lnk--> LAMP and <!--del_lnk--> SPA, Ajax is not a technology in itself, but a term that refers to the use of a group of technologies.<p>
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<p>The first use of the term in public was by <!--del_lnk--> Jesse James Garrett in February 2005. Garrett thought of the term while in the shower, when he realized the need for a shorthand term to represent the suite of technologies he was proposing to a client.<p>Although the term "Ajax" was coined in 2005, most histories of the technologies that enable Ajax start a decade earlier with <a href="../../wp/m/Microsoft.htm" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a>'s initiatives in developing <!--del_lnk--> Remote Scripting. Techniques for the asynchronous loading of content on an existing Web page without requiring a full reload date back as far as the IFRAME element type (introduced in <a href="../../wp/i/Internet_Explorer.htm" title="Internet Explorer">Internet Explorer</a> 3 in 1996) and the LAYER element type (introduced in <!--del_lnk--> Netscape 4 in 1997, abandoned during early development of <!--del_lnk--> Mozilla). Both element types had a <code>src</code> attribute that could take any external <!--del_lnk--> URL, and by loading a page containing JavaScript that manipulated the parent page, Ajax-like effects could be attained. This set of client-side technologies was usually grouped together under the generic term of <!--del_lnk--> DHTML. <!--del_lnk--> Macromedia's Flash could also, from version 4, load <!--del_lnk--> XML and <!--del_lnk--> CSV files from a remote server without requiring a browser refresh.<p>Microsoft's Remote Scripting (or MSRS, introduced in 1998) acted as a more elegant replacement for these techniques, with data being pulled in by a <!--del_lnk--> Java applet with which the client side could communicate using JavaScript. This technique worked on both Internet Explorer version 4 and Netscape Navigator version 4 onwards. Microsoft then created the <!--del_lnk--> XMLHttpRequest object in Internet Explorer version 5 and first took advantage of these techniques using XMLHttpRequest in <!--del_lnk--> Outlook Web Access supplied with the <!--del_lnk--> Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 release.<p>The Web development community, first collaborating via the <i>microsoft.public.scripting.remote</i> <!--del_lnk--> newsgroup and later through blog aggregation, subsequently developed a range of techniques for remote scripting in order to enable consistent results across different browsers. In 2002, a user-community modification to Microsoft Remote Scripting was made to replace the Java applet with XMLHttpRequest.<p>Remote Scripting Frameworks such as ARSCIF surfaced in 2003 not long before Microsoft introduced Callbacks in <!--del_lnk--> ASP.NET.<p>Since XMLHttpRequest is now implemented across the majority of browsers in use, alternative techniques are used infrequently. However, they are still used where compatibility with older Web sites or legacy applications is required.<p>In addition, the World Wide Web Consortium has several Recommendations that also allow for dynamic communication between a server and user agent, though few of them are well supported. These would include:<ul>
<li>The object element defined in HTML 4 for embedding arbitrary content types into documents, (replaces inline frames under XHTML 1.1)<li>The Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Load and Save Specification <!--del_lnk--> </ul>
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<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_%28programming%29"</div>
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<h2>Alan Johnson and Wikipedia</h2><p><strong>12/04/2007</strong></p>
<img src="../../wp/n/Nohat_Logo_Nowords_Bgwhite_200px.jpg" width="200" height="200" alt="Wikipedia logo" class="left" /><p>Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, is reported at the NASUWT conference as encouraging pupils toward Wikipedia. But NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates was more cautious about the suitability. <strong>Neither apparently are aware that a schools-orientated child-friendly selection from Wikipedia is freely available both online and as a downloadable CD from SOS Children. </strong> </p><p>Each year SOS Children's volunteers check thousands of Wikipedia articles chosen for quality, interest to children, relevance to the National Curriculum and publish them for free. Last year's CD was praised in Norway, distributed by the Shuttleworth Foundation to schools in South Africa and resold by an entrepreneur on Ebay in India! More than 50,000 people braved the 200MB free download from the SOS Children website and the online version has got millions of visitors. It even has its own article on Wikipedia (google for "2006 Wikipedia CD Selection"). The 2007 version will be released shortly before the end of April.</p><p>Andrew Cates, the charity CEO and himself both a parent and a Wikipedia administrator (with the pen-name "BozMo") commented "Alan Johnson is on the right track with Wikipedia but only halfway there. Not only is there extremely explicit material on Wikipedia but also 35 of the pages we chose this year had been vandalised. We remain greatly endebted to the volunteers who spent so long checking all the material."</p><p>The 2007 version has great promise, and will be free to browse online and as a 900 MB download. Andrew said "Last year we mainly concentrated on Geography, Science and fun topics like Space Exploration and Dinosaurs. This year as well as extending the content to cover Key Stage 2 & 3 History articles, and many current affairs topics, we are putting a lot more effort into user-friendly navigation and content searches. We are also delighted that the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, have agreed to us using their logo for the publication."</p><p>And what of politicians? Will the article on Alan Johnson be included? Andrew again "Either wait and see, or go and find the project pages on Wikipedia where it is being discussed and ask there". That is the great thing about open source projects: in principle you can find out anything online!</p>
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<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid">Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar</td>
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<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><!--del_lnk--> Timurid</td>
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<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><!--del_lnk--> Emperor of <!--del_lnk--> Mughal Empire<br />
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<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><!--del_lnk--> October 15, <!--del_lnk--> 1542</td>
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<td align="left" style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><b>Place of birth:</b></td>
<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><!--del_lnk--> Umarkot, <!--del_lnk--> Sindh</td>
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<td align="left" style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><b>Death:</b></td>
<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><!--del_lnk--> October 27, <!--del_lnk--> 1605</td>
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<td align="left" style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><b>Succeeded by:</b></td>
<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><!--del_lnk--> Jahangir</td>
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<td align="left" style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><b>Marriage:</b></td>
<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid">
<p><!--del_lnk--> Jodhabai (?) or <!--del_lnk--> Jodhi Bibi<br /><!--del_lnk--> Mariam-uz-Zamani<br /><!--del_lnk--> Ruqayya Sultan Begum<br /><!--del_lnk--> Sakina Banu Begum<br /><!--del_lnk--> Salima Sultan Begum<br />
</td>
</tr>
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<td align="left" style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"><b>Children:</b></td>
<td style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid">
<p><!--del_lnk--> Jahangir, son<br /><!--del_lnk--> Shah Murad, son<br /><!--del_lnk--> Danyal, son<br /><!--del_lnk--> Shahzada Khanim, daughter<br /><!--del_lnk--> Shakarunnisa Begum, daughter<br /><!--del_lnk--> Aram Banu Begum, daughter<br /><!--del_lnk--> Ximini Begum, daughter<br />
</td>
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</table>
<p><b>Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar</b> (<!--del_lnk--> Persian: جلال الدین محمد اکبر), (alternate spellings: <i>Jellaladin</i>, <i>Celalettin</i>) also known as <i><b>Akbar <!--del_lnk--> the Great</b></i> (<i><b>Akbar-e-Azam</b></i>) (<!--del_lnk--> October 15, <!--del_lnk--> 1542 – <!--del_lnk--> October 27, <!--del_lnk--> 1605) was the son of <!--del_lnk--> Nasiruddin Humayun whom he succeeded as ruler of the <!--del_lnk--> Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605.<p>Though only 13 when he ascended to the throne, he is widely considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors. During his reign, he eliminated external military threats from the Afghan descendants of <!--del_lnk--> Sher Shah (an Afghan who was able to temporarily oust Humayun from 1540-1555), and at the <!--del_lnk--> Second Battle of Panipat defeated the <!--del_lnk--> Hindu leader <!--del_lnk--> Hemu. In addition to his military gains, the emperor solidified his rule by repealing the <!--del_lnk--> jizya tax on non-Muslims and courting the favour of the powerful <!--del_lnk--> Rajput caste, to the extent of marrying Rajput princesses.<p>However, Akbar's most lasting contributions were to the arts and to <!--del_lnk--> Indian religion. He initiated a large collection of literature, including the <!--del_lnk--> Akbar-nama and the Ain-i-Akbari, and incorporated art from around the world into the Mughal collections. He also commissioned the building of widely admired buildings, including the <!--del_lnk--> Panj Mahal. Having a greatly tolerant attitude toward religion, Akbar preserved Hindu temples. He also began a series of religious debates where <!--del_lnk--> Muslim scholars would debate religious matters with <!--del_lnk--> Sikhs, <!--del_lnk--> Hindus, <!--del_lnk--> Carvaka atheists and even <!--del_lnk--> Jesuits from the Vatican. He founded his own religion, the <!--del_lnk--> "Din-i-Elahi" or the "Divine Faith"; the religion, however, amounted only to a form of <!--del_lnk--> personality cult for Akbar, and quickly dissolved after his death.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_Years" name="Early_Years"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early Years</span></h2>
<p>Akbar was born on <!--del_lnk--> October 15, <!--del_lnk--> 1542, at the <!--del_lnk--> Rajput Fortress of <!--del_lnk--> Umarkot in <!--del_lnk--> Sind where the Mughal Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Humayun and his recently wedded wife, <!--del_lnk--> Hamida Banu Begum were taking refuge. In 1540, Humayun had been driven into exile, following decisive battles, by the <!--del_lnk--> Afghan leader <!--del_lnk--> Sher Shah. Akbar did not go to Persia with his parents, and was raised for a time instead by his uncle Askari and his wife in the rugged country of <a href="../../wp/a/Afghanistan.htm" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> rather than in the splendor of the <a href="../../wp/p/Persian_Empire.htm" title="Persian Empire">Persian</a> court. He spent his youth learning to hunt, run and fight, but he never learned to read or write, the sole exception in Babur's line. Nonetheless, Akbar matured into a well-informed ruler, with refined tastes in the arts, architecture and music, a love for literature, and a breadth of vision that tolerated other opinions.<p>Following the chaos over the succession of <!--del_lnk--> Islam Shah (Sher Shah's son), Humayun reconquered Delhi in 1555, leading an army partly provided by his Persian ally <!--del_lnk--> Shah Tahmasp. Only a few months later, Humayun died from an accident. Akbar succeeded his father on <!--del_lnk--> February 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1556, while in the midst of a war against Sikandar Shah for the reclamation of the Mughal throne. Here, in Kalanaur the 13 year old Akbar donned a golden robe and Dark Tiara and sat on a newly constructed platform, which still stands<!--del_lnk--> , and was proclaimed "Shahanshah" (<!--del_lnk--> Persian for "King of Kings")<p><a id="Early_Conquests" name="Early_Conquests"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early Conquests</span></h2>
<p>Early into Akbar's career, he decided that he should eliminate the threat of <!--del_lnk--> Sher Shah's dynasty, and decided to lead an army against the strongest of the three, <!--del_lnk--> Sikandar Shah Suri, in the <!--del_lnk--> Punjab. He left the city of Delhi under the regency of <!--del_lnk--> Tardi Beg Khan.<p><!--del_lnk--> Sikandar Shah Suri presented no major concern for Akbar, and often withdrew from territory as Akbar approached; however, back in Delhi <!--del_lnk--> Hemu, a low-<!--del_lnk--> caste Hindu warrior, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on the unprepared Tardi Beg Khan, who promptly fled the city. Hemu, who had launched the attack on behalf of <!--del_lnk--> Adil Shah Suri, one of Sikandar's brothers, had won 22 successive battles and appointed himself ruler, or <i>Raja Vikramaditya</i>, instead Adil Shah.<p>Word of the capitulation of Delhi spread quickly to the new Mughal ruler, and he was advised to withdraw to <!--del_lnk--> Kabul, which was relatively secure. However, Bairam Khan differed and urged Akbar to fight the invaders and reclaim the capital. Akbar sided with Bairam, and began to march on Delhi. In order to bolster troop morale, Akbar took the curious step of ordering that someone "prepare <!--del_lnk--> fireworks as a treat for the soldiers" and that one should "make an image of Hemu, fill it with gunpowder, and set it on fire". On the march forward, he was joined by Tardi Beg and his retreating troops, who also urged him to retreat to Kabul, but Akbar refused again; later, Bairam Khan had the former regent executed for cowardice, though <!--del_lnk--> Abul Fazl and <!--del_lnk--> Jahangir both record that they believed that Bairam Khan was merely using the retreat from Kabul as an excuse to eliminate a rival.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> November 5, 1556 Akbar's Mughal army defeated the numerically superior forces of General <!--del_lnk--> Hemu at the <!--del_lnk--> Second Battle of Panipat, fifty miles north of <a href="../../wp/d/Delhi.htm" title="Delhi">Delhi</a>, thanks to a chance arrow into Hemu's eye. Hemu was brought before Akbar unconscious, and was beheaded. Some sources say that it was actually Bairam Khan who killed the man, but Akbar certainly did use the term "<!--del_lnk--> Ghazi", <i>warrior for the faith</i>, a term used by both <a href="../../wp/b/Babur.htm" title="Babur">Babur</a>, his grandfather, and <a href="../../wp/t/Timur.htm" title="Timur">Timur</a> when fighting the <!--del_lnk--> Kafir (<i>non-Muslims</i>) in India. Hemu's head was sent to Kabul while his body was displayed on a type of gallows specially constructed to display this dead body. Even more gruesomely Akbar followed an old Khanate tradition, one which pre-dates even <a href="../../wp/g/Genghis_Khan.htm" title="Genghis Khan">Genghis Khan</a>, and constructed a "victory pillar" made from the heads of the dead soldiers.<p>The victory also left Akbar with over 1,500 <!--del_lnk--> war elephants which he used to re-engage Sikandar Shah at the siege of Mankot. Sikandar surrendered and so was spared death, and lived the last remaining two years of his life on a large estate granted to him by Akbar. In 1557 the only other threat to Akbars rule, Adil Shah, brother of Sikandar, died during a battle in <!--del_lnk--> Bengal. Thus, by the time Akbar was 15 his rule over Hindustan was secured.<p><a id="Bairam_Khan" name="Bairam_Khan"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Bairam Khan</span></h2>
<p>Akbar was only 13 years old when he became emperor, and so his general ruled on his behalf till he came of age. The regency belonged to <!--del_lnk--> Bairam Khan, a <!--del_lnk--> Shia <!--del_lnk--> Turkoman noble who successfully dealt with <!--del_lnk--> pretenders to the throne and improved the discipline of the Mughal armies. He ensured power was centralised and was able to expand the empires boundaries with orders from the capital. These moves helped to consolidate Mughal power in the newly recovered empire.<p>Respect for Bairam's regency was not, however, universal. There were many people plotting his demise in order to assume the apparent absolute rule they saw in him. Much was written, critically, of his religion. The majority of the early court were Sunni Muslims, and Bairam's Shia'ism was disliked. Bairam knew about this, and perhaps even to spite that, appointed a Shia Sheikh, <!--del_lnk--> Gadai to become the Administrator General, one of the more important roles in the empire. Further Bairam lived a rather opulent lifestyle, which appeared to be even more excessive than that of Akbar.<p>The most serious of those opposed to Bairam was <!--del_lnk--> Maham Anga, Akbar's aunt, chief nurse and mother of his foster brother, <!--del_lnk--> Adham Khan. Maham was both shrewd and manipulative and hoped to rule herself by proxy through her son. In March 1560 the pair of them urged Akbar to visit them in Delhi, leaving Bairam in the capital, <!--del_lnk--> Agra. While in Delhi Akbar was bombarded by people who told him he was now ready to take full control of the empire and to dismiss Bairam. He was persuaded to fund an excursion for Bairam to go on <!--del_lnk--> Hajj to <a href="../../wp/m/Mecca.htm" title="Mecca">Mecca</a>, which was to act, essentially, as a form of ostracism. Bairam was shocked at the news from Delhi, but was loyal to Akbar, and despite Akbars refusal to even meet with the General, refused the suggestions by some of his commanders to march on Delhi and "rescue" Akbar.<p>Bairam left for Mecca, but was quickly met by an army sent by Adham Khan, but approved by Akbar, which was sent to "escort" him from the Mughal territories. Bairam saw this as the last straw, and led an attack on the army, but was captured and sent as a rebel back to Akbar to be sentenced. Bairam Khan, whose military genius had seen the Mughals regain their lands in India, who had served both Humayun and Akbar loyally, and laid the foundation for a strong empire, was now before the emperor as a prisoner. <!--del_lnk--> Maham Anga urged Akbar to execute Bairam, but Akbar refused. Instead, in defiance of Anga, he laid down full honours to the General, and gave him robes of honour, and agreed to fund him a proper Hajj excursion. However, shortly after Bairam Khan's Hajj journey got underway, just before he reached the port city of <!--del_lnk--> Khambhat (then known as "Cambay") he encountered an Afghan whose father had been killed five years earlier in a battle led by Bairam. The Afgan saw a chance to reap vengeance, and promptly stabbed Bairam, who died on <!--del_lnk--> January 31, <!--del_lnk--> 1561.<p><a id="Adham_Khan_and_Maham_Anga" name="Adham_Khan_and_Maham_Anga"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Adham Khan and Maham Anga</span></h2>
<p>With the demise of Bairam Khan, Maham Anga saw an opportunity for herself, and attempted to wrest the control that Bairam had. Her attempts at absolute rule, however, were not particularly successful.<p>In February 1561, her son Adham was sent to capture <a href="../../wp/m/Malwa_%2528Madhya_Pradesh%2529.htm" title="Malwa">Malwa</a>, which was being incompetently ruled by <!--del_lnk--> Baz Bahadur. Baz Bahadur was a talented musician but had no ability to govern an area, and many of the people of the area had fled to Mughal territories, alerting the Mughals to the possibility of taking the area. As the army of Adham Khan approached Baz Bahadur fled, leaving behind his wealth and his wives in their <!--del_lnk--> Harem, and instructions that they were to be killed if the city of Sarangpur (<i>now a part of the <!--del_lnk--> Rajgarh District</i>) fell to the Mughals. However, despite the best attempts by the <!--del_lnk--> Eunuch in charge of the Harem, many of the women survived; even <!--del_lnk--> Rupmati, who was famed through many of Baz Bahadurs songs for her beauty, survived multiple slash wounds to be captured by the invading Mughals. However, when Adham Khan came to claim his prize, Rupmati drank poison rather than be <!--del_lnk--> raped by Akbar's brother.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23149.jpg.htm" title="Akbar as a boy around 1557"><img alt="Akbar as a boy around 1557" height="336" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Akbar_as_a_boy.jpg" src="../../images/231/23149.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23149.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Akbar as a boy around 1557</div>
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<p>However, aside from this instance when he was thwarted, Adham engaged in some thoroughly grotesque abuses of the captured Harem and populace. The least attractive members of the women were brought before the senior members of the invading army and killed, as they drank alcohol, took opium pellets, and generally treated the event as if it were a festive occasion. Badauni records that on at least one occasion members present tried to stop the slaughter but were shackled. The slaughter was not only of the women in the harem, and Badauni records that "Sayyids and Sheikhs came out to meet him with their <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'ans</a> in hand, but Khan put them all to death and burnt them". Besides, Adham kept the vast majority of the wealth and captives for himself and sent a mere three elephants to his Emperor. Along with the elephants, Akbar received word of what Adham had done, and became enraged. He decided to ride out to Malwar himself, along with a small band of loyal soldiers, racing and beating a group of courtiers sent by Maham Anga to warn Adham of Akbar's rage.<p>Adham became terrified and quickly begged for Akbar's forgiveness. Akbar forgave him, and received the booty he had seized. However, Adham secretly kept two of the women he decided were the most attractive in his own Harem. When Akbar found out about this, Maham Anga killed the women, fearing what they might reveal about Adham to Akbar.<p>These events left Akbar with no option but to begin assuming absolute control for himself. The conflict came to a head when in 1562, Atkah Khan, an Afghan appointed by Akbar to be the equivalent of Prime Minister, was dealing with affairs of his position when Adham burst forth, had Atkah Khan stabbed, and tried to storm the Harem of Akbar. The Eunuch who guarded the section went in, closed the door and locked it from the inside. Akbar became aware of the disturbance, and entered the room. Here Adham laid his hand on his foster brother's arm, a sign of apparent disrespect, to which Akbar responded by punching him in the face, possibly knocking him unconscious. Seeing his Prime Minister stabbed, Akbar had had enough of Adham and ordered that he be thrown from a height, over a parapet. This failed to kill him, so Akbar ensured that the second attempt succeed by ordering he be dropped head first. Akbar then went straight to Maham Anga and informed her that her son was dead. With this act, the 19 year old Akbar assumed complete control over his empire.<p><a id="Restoration" name="Restoration"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Restoration</span></h2>
<p>While previous Muslim rulers, in particular the Mughal founder <a href="../../wp/b/Babur.htm" title="Babur">Babur</a>, allowed freedom of worship for Hindus and other religious groups, Akbar engaged in a policy of actively encouraging members of the varying religious groups to enter his government. In one instance, he persuaded the <!--del_lnk--> Kacchwaha Rajput rulers of <!--del_lnk--> Amber (modern day <!--del_lnk--> Jaipur) into a matrimonial alliance: The King of Amber's daughter, Hira Kunwari, became Akbar's queen. She took the name <!--del_lnk--> Jodhabai, and was the mother of Prince Salim, who later became the Mughal emperor <!--del_lnk--> Jahangir. Further, while other Muslim rulers had married Hindu wives, he was the first one to allow to fully practise their religion, not just without hindrance but with everything they needed in that regard. During his reign more than in any other Mughal ruler's, Hindus were employed in the <!--del_lnk--> Civil Service. He also married a Christian woman from Goa, <!--del_lnk--> Maryam.<p>The other Rajput kingdoms also gave their daughters' hands to Akbar, until only two Rajput clans remained against him, the <!--del_lnk--> Sisodiyas of <!--del_lnk--> Mewar and <!--del_lnk--> Hadas (<!--del_lnk--> Chauhans) of <!--del_lnk--> Ranthambore. The Rajputs were a famed group of Hindu warriors, who, like the Afghans took opium prior to battle to ward off fear. Entering into an alliance with these groups helped to secure Akbar's control, as for the next 100 years Rajput soldiers served on behalf of the Mughal empire.<p>Finally <!--del_lnk--> Raja Man Singh of Amber went with Akbar to meet the Hada leader, <!--del_lnk--> Surjan Hada, to effect an alliance. Surjan grudgingly accepted an alliance on the condition that Akbar did not marry any of his daughters. Surjan later moved his residence to <a href="../../wp/v/Varanasi.htm" title="Varanasi">Banaras</a>.<p>Akbar is recorded as saying "A monarch should be ever intent on conquest, lest his neighbours rise in arms against him", and he went on to expand the Mughal empire to include <a href="../../wp/m/Malwa_%2528Madhya_Pradesh%2529.htm" title="Malwa">Malwa</a> (1562), <!--del_lnk--> Gujarat (1572), <!--del_lnk--> Bengal (1574), <!--del_lnk--> Kabul (1581), <a href="../../wp/k/Kashmir_region.htm" title="Kashmir">Kashmir</a> (1586), and <!--del_lnk--> Kandesh (1601), among others. Akbar installed a governor over each of the conquered provinces, under his authority.<p>Akbar did not want to have his court tied too closely to the city of <a href="../../wp/d/Delhi.htm" title="Delhi">Delhi</a>. He ordered the court moved to <!--del_lnk--> Fatehpur Sikri, near <!--del_lnk--> Agra, but when this site proved untenable, he set up a roaming camp that let him keep a close eye on what was happening throughout the empire. He developed and encouraged commerce, in part by abolishing religious restrictions on the conduct of business between Muslims and Hindus.<p>Akbar's tax reforms were an especially noteworthy achievement, and formed the basis of the Mughal Empire's immense wealth in succeeding generations. His officials prepared a detailed and accurate cadaster (land register) noting each land parcel's soil quality, water access, etc., and then converted those characteristics to money, taking account of the different prevailing prices for various crops in each region of the Empire. This was a distinct improvement on earlier land tax systems, including the Egyptian and Roman ones, which had levied land taxes as an in-kind share of the harvest. By making land tax payments more accurately reflect the economic rent of the land in money rather than the actual harvest, Akbar's innovations had the effect of stimulating both investment in improvements and more productive use of the land. He also abolished the jizyah (a discriminatory tax on non-Muslims) and gave strict orders to prevent extortion by <!--del_lnk--> tax collectors. The salutary economic effect of these reforms was such that the revered Qing emperor Kang Xi adopted similar measures a century later in China, with similar success.<p><a id="Personality" name="Personality"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Personality</span></h2>
<p>Akbar is said to have been a benevolent and wise ruler, a man of new ideas, and a sound judge of character. As a ruler, he was able to win the love and reverence of his subjects.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23150.jpg.htm" title="The court of Akbar, an illustration from Akbarnama"><img alt="The court of Akbar, an illustration from Akbarnama" height="253" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Akbar_lg.jpg" src="../../images/231/23150.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23150.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The court of Akbar, an illustration from Akbarnama</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Abul Fazal, and even the hostile critic <!--del_lnk--> Badayuni, described him as having a commanding personality. He was fearless in the chase as well as in the field of battle, and, "like <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander</a> of Macedon, was always ready to risk his life, regardless of political consequences". He often plunged his horse into the full-flooded river during the rainy seasons and safely crossed over to the other side. Though a mighty conqueror, he did not usually indulge in cruelty. He is said to have been affectionate towards his relatives. He pardoned his brother Hakim, who was a repented rebel. However, on some rare occasions, he dealt cruelly with the offenders, as is shown by his behaviour towards his maternal uncle, Muazzam, and his foster-brother, Adam Khan.<p>He is said to have been extremely moderate in his diet. According to records, he was fond of fruits and had little liking for meat, which he ceased to eat altogether in his later years.<p><a id="Views_on_religion" name="Views_on_religion"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Views on religion</span></h2>
<p>At the time of Akbar's rule, the Mughal Empire included both <!--del_lnk--> Hindus and <!--del_lnk--> Muslims. Profound differences separate the Islamic and Hindu faith. When Akbar commenced his rule, a majority of the subjects in the Mughal Empire were Hindu. However, the rulers of the empire were almost exclusively Muslim. In this highly polarized society, Akbar fostered tolerance for all religions. He not only appointed Hindus to high posts, but also tried to remove all distinctions between the Muslims and non-Muslims. He abolished the pilgrim tax in the eighth year and the <!--del_lnk--> jizya in the ninth year of his reign, and inaugurated a policy of universal toleration. He also enjoyed a good relationship with the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Catholic_Church.htm" title="Roman Catholic Church">Roman Catholic Church</a>, who routinely sent <!--del_lnk--> Jesuit priests to debate in his court, and at least three of his Grandsons were baptized as Catholics (though they did become Muslim later in life).<p>Akbar built a building called <i>Ibadat Khana</i> (House of Worship), where he encouraged religious debate. Originally, this debating house was open only to <!--del_lnk--> Sunnis, but following a series of petty squabbles which turned ugly, Akbar encouraged Hindus, <!--del_lnk--> Roman Catholics and even <!--del_lnk--> atheists to participate. He tried to reconcile the differences of both religions by creating a new faith called the <!--del_lnk--> Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith of the Divine"), which incorporated both 'pantheistic' versions of Islamic Sufism (most notably the Ibn Arabi's doctrine of 'Wahdat al Wajood' or Unity of existence) and 'bhakti' or devotional cults of Hinduism. Even some elements of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> - like crosses, <!--del_lnk--> Zoroastrianism- fire worship and <!--del_lnk--> Jainism were amalgamated in the new religion. Akbar the Great was particularly famed for this. Akbar was greatly influenced by the teachings of JainAcharyaHir Vijay Suri and Jin Chandra Suri. Akbar gave up non-vegetarian food by their influence.Akbar declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals in the holy days of Jains like Paryushan and Mahavir Jayanti. He rolled back Zazia Tax from Jain Pilgrim places like Palitana. This faith, however, was not for the masses. In fact, the only "converts" to this new religion were the upper nobility of Akbar's court. Historians have so far been able to identify only 18 members of this new religion.<p>He also married several Hindu princesses, though many consider that to be politically motivated rather than a genuine attempt at religious reconciliation.<p>His moves from Islam, while welcomed by the Hindu majority, were not appreciated by the Muslim faithful. Rumours were rife that Mosques were being closed and destroyed, that those who entered his <!--del_lnk--> Harem were required to say "There is no God but Allah, and Akbar is his messenger" a bastardised version of the traditional Muslim <!--del_lnk--> Shahada, or declaration of faith. When Akbar opened a wine shop, it was believed he also ordered pigs blood to be mixed with the mixture. Many members of the ulema began to protest his actions, and Ahmad Sarhindi (who had been nick-named "Mujaddid" or "Renovator" [of islam]) wrote tracts rejecting the <!--del_lnk--> Shirk that he believed Akbar was guilty of. He was to be arrested by <!--del_lnk--> Jahangir upon his successon. Ultimately, despite Akbar's attempts at reconciling the two major faiths, by the end of the 16th century community relations would be worse than when Akbar ascended to power.<p>Akbar passed <!--del_lnk--> decrees against <!--del_lnk--> child marriage and <!--del_lnk--> sati. <p><a id="Patron_of_arts_and_literature" name="Patron_of_arts_and_literature"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Patron of arts and literature</span></h2>
<p>Although Akbar was <!--del_lnk--> illiterate, he had a fine literary taste. He took interest in <a href="../../wp/p/Philosophy.htm" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a>, <!--del_lnk--> theology, history, and politics. He maintained a library full of books on various subjects, and was fond of the society of scholars, poets and philosophers, who read books to him aloud, and thus enabled him to be conversant with <!--del_lnk--> Sufi, Christian, <!--del_lnk--> Zoroastrian, Hindu and Jain literature. He used to invite scholars from different religions for discussions with him. In his book, "Akbar, The Great Mogul" Vincent Smith wrote that "anybody who heard him arguing with acuteness and lucidity on a subject of debate would have credited him with wide literary knowledge and profound erudition and never would have suspected him of illiteracy". He was a patron to many literary figures, including the brothers <!--del_lnk--> Feizi and <!--del_lnk--> Abul-Fazel. The former was commissioned by Akbar to translate a number of <a href="../../wp/s/Sanskrit.htm" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> scientific works into <!--del_lnk--> Persian; and the latter produced the <!--del_lnk--> Akbarnama, an enduring record of the emperor's reign. It is also said that Akbar employed <!--del_lnk--> Jerome Xavier (nephew of <!--del_lnk--> Francis Xavier) , a <!--del_lnk--> Jesuit missionary, to translate the four <!--del_lnk--> Gospels of the <!--del_lnk--> New Testament into Persian. He commissioned the Tarikh-i-Alfi, or "The History of a Thousand Years" to celebrate the year 1000 (1591-92CE) on the Muslim calendar, though only about thirty of the original hundreds of paintings and pages of the manuscript now remain.<p>Akbar also possessed a fair taste of art, architecture and mechanical works. Many pieces, including the magnificent <!--del_lnk--> Hamzanama, were produced under Akbar. Akbar is also credited with many inventions and improvements in the manufacture of <!--del_lnk--> matchlocks. He built a vast administrative machinery on a detailed plan. He looked, as we know from the <!--del_lnk--> Ain-i-Akbari, "upon the smallest details as mirrors capable of reflecting a comprehensive outline<i>.</i><p><a id="Navratnas" name="Navratnas"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline"><i>Navratnas</i></span></h2>
<p>As with many Indian rulers Akbar's court had <i><!--del_lnk--> Navaratnas</i> ("Nine Jewels"), a term denoting a group of nine extraordinary people. Akbar's Navratnas were:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Abul-Fazel - Akbars's chief advisor and author of <!--del_lnk--> Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar's reign.<li><!--del_lnk--> Faizi Akbar's poet laureate who is best known for his <i>Nal u Daman</i>, a poetic rendering of the beloved story of Sanskrit story of Nala and Damayanti.<li><!--del_lnk--> Mian Tansen - a Hindu singer much beloved by Akbar who even called for him on his death bed<li><!--del_lnk--> Birbal - a high noble known for great wit<li><!--del_lnk--> Raja Todar Mal - Akbar's finance minister<li><!--del_lnk--> Raja Man Singh - trusted general of Akbar's<li><!--del_lnk--> Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana - an important noble and a renowned poet in Persian, Sanskrit, and Hindustani.<li><!--del_lnk--> Fakir Aziao-Din<li><!--del_lnk--> Mullah Do Piaza</ul>
<p><a id="Final_years" name="Final_years"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Final years</span></h2>
<p>The last few years of Akbar's reign were troubled by the misconduct of his sons. Two of them died in their youth, the victims of <!--del_lnk--> intemperance. The third, Salim, later known as <!--del_lnk--> Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Jahangir, was frequently in rebellion against his father. <!--del_lnk--> Asirgarh, a fort in the <!--del_lnk--> Deccan, proved to be the last conquest of Akbar, taken in 1599 as he proceeded north to face his son's rebellion. Reportedly, Akbar keenly felt these calamities, and they may even have affected his health and hastened his death, which occurred in Agra. His body was interned in a magnificent mausoleum at Sikandra, near Agra.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbar"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Akhenaten</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Ancient_History_Classical_History_and_Mythology.htm">Ancient History, Classical History and Mythology</a>; <a href="../index/subject.People.Historical_figures.htm">Historical figures</a></h3>
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<table class="metadata persondata" id="persondata">
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<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Persondata</th>
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<td class="metadata-label persondata-label">NAME</td>
<td>Akhenaten / Amenhotep IV</td>
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<tr>
<td class="metadata-label persondata-label">ALTERNATIVE NAMES</td>
<td>Amenophis IV<br /> Naphu(`)rureya<br /> Khuenaten<br />
</td>
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<td class="metadata-label persondata-label">SHORT DESCRIPTION</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Pharaoh of Egypt</td>
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<tr>
<td class="metadata-label persondata-label">DATE OF BIRTH</td>
<td>{{{Birth}}}</td>
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<tr>
<td class="metadata-label persondata-label">PLACE OF BIRTH</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="metadata-label persondata-label">DATE OF DEATH</td>
<td>{{{Death}}}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="metadata-label persondata-label">PLACE OF DEATH</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a></td>
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<td style="width: 30%;">Preceded by:<br /><b><!--del_lnk--> Amenhotep III</b></td>
<td style="width: 40%;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Pharaoh of Egypt</b><br /><i><!--del_lnk--> 18th Dynasty</i></td>
<td style="width: 30%;">Succeeded by:<br /><b><!--del_lnk--> Smenkhkare</b></td>
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<tr>
<th colspan="3" style="background: #d6d6ff; text-align: center; font-size: larger;"><b>Akhenaten / Amenhotep IV</b></th>
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<tr>
<th colspan="3" style="background: #d6d6ff; text-align: center; font-size: smaller;"><b>Amenophis IV<br /> Naphu(`)rureya<br /> Khuenaten<br /></b></th>
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<td colspan="3" style="padding-bottom:1em;text-align:center;">
<div class="center">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/151/15175.jpg.htm" title="A portrait of Akhenaten or Smenkhkare in the naturalistic style of the late-Amarna period, associated with the sculptor Thutmose"><img alt="A portrait of Akhenaten or Smenkhkare in the naturalistic style of the late-Amarna period, associated with the sculptor Thutmose" height="231" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Akhenaten_%28realistic%29.jpg" src="../../images/151/15175.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></div>
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<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Reign</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;"><!--del_lnk--> 1352 BC – <!--del_lnk--> 1336 BC or<br /><!--del_lnk--> 1351–<!--del_lnk--> 1334 BC</td>
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<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Praenomen</b></td>
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<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="ra" height="18px" src="../../images/82/8221.png" style="margin:1px;" title="N5 [ra]" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="nfr" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8222.png" style="margin:1px;" title="F35 [nfr]" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="xpr" height="36px" src="../../images/82/8224.png" style="margin:1px;" title="L1 [xpr]" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="Z3" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8231.png" style="margin:1px;" title="Z3" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="ra" height="18px" src="../../images/82/8221.png" style="margin:1px;" title="N5 [ra]" /><br /><img alt="wa" height="15px" src="../../images/82/8233.png" style="margin:1px;" title="T21 [wa]" /><br /><img alt="n" height="5px" src="../../images/82/8235.png" style="margin:1px;" title="N35 [n]" /></td>
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<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt=">" height="44px" src="../../images/82/8237.png" title=">" /></td>
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<br /><b>Neferkheperre-waenre</b><br /> Beautiful are the forms of Re, the one of Re</td>
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<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Nomen</b></td>
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<td bgcolor="black" height="2px">
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<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="i" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8239.png" style="margin:1px;" title="M17 [i]" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="t" height="11px" src="../../images/82/8241.png" style="margin:1px;" title="X1 [t]" /><br /><img alt="n" height="5px" src="../../images/82/8235.png" style="margin:1px;" title="N35 [n]" /><br /><img alt="ra" height="18px" src="../../images/82/8221.png" style="margin:1px;" title="N5 [ra]" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="G25" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8243.png" style="margin:1px;" title="G25" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="x" height="18px" src="../../images/82/8244.png" style="margin:1px;" title="Aa1 [x]" /><br /><img alt="n" height="5px" src="../../images/82/8235.png" style="margin:1px;" title="N35 [n]" /></td>
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<td bgcolor="black" height="2px">
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<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt=">" height="44px" src="../../images/82/8237.png" title=">" /></td>
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<br /><b>Akhenaten</b><br /><i>He who is beneficial to the Aten</i><br /> (after Year 4 of his reign)<br />
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<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="<" height="44px" src="../../images/82/8220.png" title="<" /></td>
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<td bgcolor="black" height="2px">
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="M17" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8239.png" style="margin:1px;" title="M17" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="Y5" height="13px" src="../../images/82/8245.png" style="margin:1px;" title="Y5" /><br /><img alt="N35" height="5px" src="../../images/82/8235.png" style="margin:1px;" title="N35" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="R4" height="15px" src="../../images/82/8246.png" style="margin:1px;" title="R4" /><br /><img alt="X1" height="11px" src="../../images/82/8241.png" style="margin:1px;" title="X1" /> <img alt="Q3" height="15px" src="../../images/82/8250.png" style="margin:1px;" title="Q3" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="R8" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8253.png" style="margin:1px;" title="R8" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="S38" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8255.png" style="margin:1px;" title="S38" /></td>
<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt="O28" height="38px" src="../../images/82/8256.png" style="margin:1px;" title="O28" /></td>
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<td bgcolor="black" height="2px">
</td>
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<td align="center" valign="middle"><img alt=">" height="44px" src="../../images/82/8237.png" title=">" /></td>
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<br /> Amenhotep<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Horus name</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;">Meryaten</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Nebty name</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;">Wernesytemakhetaten</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Golden Horus</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;">Wetjesrenenaten</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b>Consort(s)</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;"><!--del_lnk--> Nefertiti, <!--del_lnk--> Kiya<br /><!--del_lnk--> Meritaten, <!--del_lnk--> Ankhesenpaaten,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Ankhesenpaaten-ta-sherit</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b>Issues</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;"><!--del_lnk--> Meritaten, <!--del_lnk--> Meketaten,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Ankhesenpaaten,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Neferneferuaten Tasherit,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Neferneferure, <!--del_lnk--> Setepenre,<!--del_lnk--> Tutankhamun</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b>Father</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;"><!--del_lnk--> Amenhotep III</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b>Mother</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;"><!--del_lnk--> Tiye</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b>Died</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;"><!--del_lnk--> 1336 BC or <!--del_lnk--> 1334 BC</td>
</tr>
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<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b>Burial</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;"><!--del_lnk--> Royal Tomb of Akhenaten</td>
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<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><b>Major<br /> Monuments</b></td>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: left;">El-Amarna</td>
</tr>
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<p><b>Akhenaten</b> (original pronunciation <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">ʔxnʔtn</span>, vowels unknown; modern pronunciation <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">axɛnatɛn</span>), known as <b>Amenhotep IV</b> at the start of his reign, was a <!--del_lnk--> Pharaoh of the <!--del_lnk--> Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, especially notable for single-handedly restructuring the Egyptian religion to monotheisticly worship the <!--del_lnk--> Aten. He was born to <!--del_lnk--> Amenhotep III and his Chief Queen <!--del_lnk--> Tiye and was his father's younger son. Akhenaten was not originally designated as the successor to the throne until the untimely death of his older brother, <!--del_lnk--> Tuthmose. Amenhotep IV succeeded his father after Amenhotep III's death at the end of his 38-year reign, possibly after a <!--del_lnk--> coregency lasting between either 1 to 2 or 12 years. Suggested dates for Akhenaten's reign (subject to the debates surrounding <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian chronology) are from <!--del_lnk--> 1353 BC-<!--del_lnk--> 1336 BC or <!--del_lnk--> 1351 BC–<!--del_lnk--> 1334 BC. Akhenaten's chief wife was <!--del_lnk--> Nefertiti, who has been made famous by her exquisitely painted <!--del_lnk--> bust in the <!--del_lnk--> Altes Museum of <a href="../../wp/b/Berlin.htm" title="Berlin">Berlin</a>.<p>
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</script><a id="Atenist_revolution" name="Atenist_revolution"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Atenist revolution</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15176.jpg.htm" title="Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten"><img alt="Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten" height="335" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aten_disk.jpg" src="../../images/151/15176.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15176.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Pharaoh Akhenaten and his family adoring the Aten</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>A religious revolutionary, Amenhotep IV introduced <!--del_lnk--> Atenism in the first year of his reign, raising the previously obscure god <!--del_lnk--> Aten (sometimes spelt Aton) to the position of supreme deity. The early stage of Atenism appears to be a kind of <!--del_lnk--> henotheism familiar in <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian religion, but the later form suggests a proto-monotheism. Aten was the name for the sun-disk itself — hence the fact that it is often referred to in English in the impersonal form "the Aten". The Aten was by this point in Egyptian history considered to be an aspect of the composite deity <b>Ra-Amun-Horus</b>. These previously separate deities had been merged with each other. <!--del_lnk--> Amun was identified with <!--del_lnk--> Ra, who was also identified with <!--del_lnk--> Horus. Akhenaten simplified this <!--del_lnk--> syncretism by proclaiming the visible sun itself to be the sole deity, thus introducing a type of <!--del_lnk--> monotheism. Some commentators interpret this as a proto-<!--del_lnk--> scientific naturalism, based on the observation that the sun's energy is the ultimate source of all life. Others consider it to be a way of cutting through the previously <!--del_lnk--> ritualistic emphasis of Egyptian religion to allow for a new "personal relationship" with god; this interpretation is hampered by the fact that only the Royal family was able to interact with and perform rituals pertaining to the Aten. Others interpret it as a pragmatic political move designed to further centralise power by crushing the independent authority of the traditional Amun priesthood who controlled Egypt's wealth and produce. However, Akhenaten did not formally break with the Amun priests and still used his old Amun inspired royal name--Amunhotep IV--until Fourth Year when the latter defied his authority, according to the text on one of his Amarna border stela.<p>This religious reformation appears to have begun with his decision to celebrate a <!--del_lnk--> Sed festival in his third regnal year — a highly unusual step, since a Sed-festival, a sort of royal <!--del_lnk--> jubilee intended to reinforce the Pharaoh's divine powers of kingship, was traditionally held in the thirtieth year of a Pharaoh's reign.<p>Year 5 marked the beginning of his construction of a new capital, <!--del_lnk--> Akhetaten ('Horizon of Aten'), at the site known today as <!--del_lnk--> Amarna. In the same year, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten ('Effective Spirit of Aten') as evidence of his new worship. Very soon afterward he centralized Egyptian religious practices in Akhetaten, though construction of the city seems to have continued for several more years. In honour of Aten, Akhenaten also oversaw the construction of some of the most massive temple complexes in ancient Egypt, including one at <!--del_lnk--> Karnak, close to the old temple of <!--del_lnk--> Amun. In these new temples, Aten was worshipped in the open sunlight, rather than in dark temple enclosures, as had been the previous custom. Akhenaten is also believed to have composed the <!--del_lnk--> Great Hymn to the Aten.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:342px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15177.jpg.htm" title="Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their children"><img alt="Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their children" height="255" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Akhenaten%2C_Nefertiti_and_their_children.jpg" src="../../images/151/15177.jpg" width="340" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15177.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their children</div>
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<p>Initially, Akhenaten presented Aten as a variant of the familiar supreme deity <b>Amun-Ra</b> (itself the result of an earlier rise to prominence of the cult of <!--del_lnk--> Amun, resulting in Amun becoming merged with the sun god <!--del_lnk--> Ra), in an attempt to put his ideas in a familiar Egyptian religious context. However, by Year 9 of his reign Akhenaten declared that Aten was not merely the supreme god, but the only god, and that he, Akhenaten, was the only intermediary between Aten and his people. He ordered the defacing of Amun's temples throughout Egypt, and in a number of instances inscriptions of the plural 'gods' were also removed.<p>Aten's name is also written differently after Year 9, to emphasise the radicalism of the new regime, which included a ban on <!--del_lnk--> idols, with the exception of a rayed solar disc, in which the rays (commonly depicted ending in hands) appear to represent the unseen spirit of Aten, who by then was evidently considered not merely a sun god, but rather a universal deity. It is important to note, however, that representations of the Aten were always accompanied with a sort of "hieroglyphic footnote", stating that the representation of the sun as All-encompassing Creator was to be taken as just that: a representation of something that, by its very nature as something transcending creation, cannot be fully or adequately represented by any one part of that creation.<p><a id="Depictions_of_the_Pharaoh_and_his_family" name="Depictions_of_the_Pharaoh_and_his_family"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Depictions of the Pharaoh and his family</span></h2>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15178.jpg.htm" title="Bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Egyptian Museum, Cairo "><img alt="Bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Egyptian Museum, Cairo " height="249" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Pharaoh_Akhenaten.jpg" src="../../images/151/15178.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15178.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten. <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian Museum, <a href="../../wp/c/Cairo.htm" title="Cairo">Cairo</a></div>
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<p>Styles of art that flourished during this short period are markedly different from other Egyptian art, bearing a variety of affectations, from elongated heads to protruding stomachs, exaggerated ugliness and the beauty of Nefertiti. Significantly, and for the only time in the history of Egyptian royal art, Akhenaten's family was depicted in a decidedly naturalistic manner, and they are clearly shown displaying affection for each other. Nefertiti also appears beside the king in actions usually reserved for a Pharaoh, suggesting that she attained unusual power for a queen. Artistic representations of Akhenaten give him a strikingly bizarre appearance, with slender limbs, a protruding belly and wide hips, giving rise to controversial theories such as that he may have actually been a woman masquerading as a man, or that he was a <!--del_lnk--> hermaphrodite or had some other <!--del_lnk--> intersex condition. The fact that Akhenaten had several children argues against these suggestions. It has also been suggested that he suffered from <!--del_lnk--> Marfan's syndrome.<p>Until Akhenaten's mummy is located and identified, proposals of actual physical abnormalities are likely to remain speculative. However, it must be kept in mind that there is no good evidence that we are necessarily dealing with a literal representation of Akhenaten's physical form, or that of his wife or children. As <!--del_lnk--> pharaoh, Akhenaten had complete control over how he, his family, and his government in general was represented in art. Rather than a literal representation of his physical appearance, it must be kept in mind that what we see as an odd physical abnormality was the way that Akhenaten <i>wanted</i> to be artistically portrayed.<p>Following Akenaten's death, a peaceful but comprehensive political, religious and artistic reformation returned Egyptian life to the norms it had followed previously during his father's reign. Much of the art and building infrastructure that was created during Akhenaten's reign was defaced or destroyed in the period immediately following his death. Stone building blocks from his construction projects were later used as foundation stones for subsequent rulers temples and tombs.<p><a id="Problems_of_the_reign" name="Problems_of_the_reign"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Problems of the reign</span></h2>
<p>Crucial evidence about the later stages of Akhenaten's reign has been provided by the discovery of the <!--del_lnk--> Amarna Letters, a cache of diplomatic correspondence discovered in modern times at <!--del_lnk--> el-Amarna, the modern designation of the Akhetaten site. This correspondence comprises a priceless collection of incoming messages on clay tablets, sent to Akhetaten from imperial outposts and foreign allies. The letters suggest that Akhenaten's neglect of matters of state were causing disorder across the massive Egyptian empire. The governors and kings of subject domains wrote to beg for <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>, and also complained of being snubbed and cheated.<p>Early on in his reign, Akhenaten fell out with the king of <!--del_lnk--> Mitanni, Tushratta. He may even have concluded an alliance with the <!--del_lnk--> Hittites, who then attacked Mitanni and attempted to carve out their own empire. A group of Egypt's other allies who attempted to rebel against the Hittites were captured, and wrote begging Akhenaten for troops; he evidently did not respond to their pleas. Evidence suggests that the troubles on the northern frontier led to difficulties in <!--del_lnk--> Canaan, particularly in a struggle for power between <!--del_lnk--> Labaya of <!--del_lnk--> Shechem and <!--del_lnk--> Abdi-Kheba of <a href="../../wp/j/Jerusalem.htm" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a>, requiring the Pharaoh to intervene in the area by dispatching Medjay troops northwards. There is some evidence that the spread of plague throughout the Middle East at this time was precipitated by this action.<p><a id="Plague_and_pandemic" name="Plague_and_pandemic"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Plague and pandemic</span></h2>
<p>This Amarna period is also associated with a serious outbreak of a pandemic, possibly the <!--del_lnk--> plague, or perhaps the world's first outbreak of <!--del_lnk--> influenza, which came from Egypt and spread throughout the Middle East, killing <!--del_lnk--> Suppiluliuma I, the <!--del_lnk--> Hittite King. The prevalence of disease may help explain the rapidity with which the site of Akhetaten was subsequently abandoned. It may also explain why later generations considered the gods to have turned against the Amarna monarchs.<p><a id="Family" name="Family"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Family</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd><i>See also</i> : <!--del_lnk--> Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt Family Tree</dl>
<p>Amenhotep IV was married to Nefertiti at the very beginning of his reign, and the couple had six known daughters and possibly one son. This is a list with suggested years of birth:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Meritaten – year 1.<li><!--del_lnk--> Meketaten – year 3.<li><!--del_lnk--> Ankhesenpaaten, later Queen of <!--del_lnk--> Tutankhamun – year 4.<li><!--del_lnk--> Neferneferuaten Tasherit – year 8.<li><!--del_lnk--> Neferneferure – year 9.<li><!--del_lnk--> Setepenre – year 9.<li><!--del_lnk--> Tutankhaten–year 11</ul>
<p>His known consorts were:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Nefertiti, his <!--del_lnk--> Great Royal Wife early in his reign.<li><!--del_lnk--> Kiya, a lesser Royal Wife.<li><!--del_lnk--> Meritaten, recorded as his Great Royal Wife late in his reign.<li><!--del_lnk--> Ankhesenpaaten, his third daughter, and who is thought to have borne a daughter, <!--del_lnk--> Ankhesenpaaten-ta-sherit, to her own father. After his death, Ankhesenpaaten married Akhenaten's successor <!--del_lnk--> Tutankhamun.</ul>
<p>Two other lovers have been suggested, but are not widely accepted:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Smenkhkare, Akhenaten's successor and/or co-ruler for the last years of his reign. Rather than a lover, however, Smenkhkare is likely to have been a half-brother or a son to Akhenaten. Some have even suggested that Smenkhkare was actually an alias of Nefertiti or Kiya, and therefore one of Akhenaten's wives.<li><!--del_lnk--> Tiye, his mother. Twelve years after the death of Amenhotep III, she is still mentioned in inscriptions as Queen and beloved of the King. It has been suggested that Akhenaten and his mother acted as consorts to each other until her death. This would have been considered <!--del_lnk--> incest at the time. Supporters of this theory (notably <!--del_lnk--> Immanuel Velikovsky) consider Akhenaten to be the historical model of legendary King <!--del_lnk--> Oedipus of <!--del_lnk--> Thebes, <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> and Tiy the model for his mother/wife <!--del_lnk--> Jocasta.</ul>
<p><a id="Burial" name="Burial"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Burial</span></h2>
<p>Akhenaten planned to relocate Egyptian burials on the East side of the Nile (sunrise) rather than on the West side (sunset), in the <!--del_lnk--> Royal Wadi in <!--del_lnk--> Akhetaten. His body was probably removed after the court returned to <!--del_lnk--> Thebes, and reburied somewhere in the Valley of the Kings. His sarcophagus was destroyed but has since been reconstructed and now sits outside in the <!--del_lnk--> Cairo Museum.<p><a id="Succession" name="Succession"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Succession</span></h2>
<p>There is much controversy around whether Amenhotep IV succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, <!--del_lnk--> Amenhotep III, or whether there was a coregency (lasting as long as 12 years according to some <!--del_lnk--> Egyptologists). Current literature by Eric Cline, Nicholas Reeves, <!--del_lnk--> Peter Dorman and other scholars comes out strongly against the establishment of a long coregency between the 2 rulers and in favour of either no coregency or a brief one lasting 1 to 2 years, at the most.<p>Similarly, although it is accepted that both Smenkhkare and Akhenaten himself died in Year 17 of Akhenaten's reign, the question of whether Smenkhkare became co-regent perhaps 2 or 3 years earlier is also unclear, as is whether Smenkhkare survived Akhenaten. If Smenkhkare outlived Akhenaten, becoming sole Pharaoh, he ruled for less than a year.<p>The next successor was certainly <!--del_lnk--> Tutankhaten (later, Tutankhamun), at the age of 9, with the country perhaps being run by the chief <!--del_lnk--> vizier (and next Pharaoh), <!--del_lnk--> Ay. Tutankhamun is believed to be a younger brother of Smenkhkare and a son of Akhenaten.<p>It has also been suggested that after the death of Akhenaten, <!--del_lnk--> Nefertiti reigned with the name of Neferneferuaten .<p>With Akhenaten's death, the Aten cult he had founded gradually fell out of favour. Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun in Year 2 of his reign {<!--del_lnk--> 1332 BC) and abandoned the city of Akhetaten, which eventually fell into ruin. His successors <!--del_lnk--> Ay and <!--del_lnk--> Horemheb disassembled temples Akhenaten had built, including the temple at Thebes, using them as a source of easily available building materials and decorations for their own temples.<p>Finally, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun, and Ay were excised from the official lists of Pharaohs, which instead reported that <!--del_lnk--> Amenhotep III was immediately succeeded by <!--del_lnk--> Horemheb. This is thought to be part of an attempt by Horemheb to delete all trace of Atenism and the pharaohs associated with it from the historical record. Akhenaten's name never appeared on any of the king lists compiled by later Pharaohs and it was not until the late <a href="../../wp/1/19th_century.htm" title="19th century">19th century</a> that his identity was re-discovered and the surviving traces of his reign were unearthed by archaeologists.<p><a id="In_the_arts" name="In_the_arts"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">In the arts</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Spelled 'Akenhaten', he appears as a major character in the first of a trilogy of historical novels by <!--del_lnk--> P.C. Doherty, "An Evil Spirit out of the West".<li>The song 'Cast Down the Heretic' by the <!--del_lnk--> death metal band <a href="../../wp/n/Nile.htm" title="Nile">Nile</a> on the album <i><!--del_lnk--> Annihilation of the Wicked.</i><li>The song 'Son Of The Sun' by swedish Symphonic Metal band <!--del_lnk--> Therion on the album <!--del_lnk--> Sirius B.<li><!--del_lnk--> Thomas Mann, in his fictional biblical tetralogy <i><!--del_lnk--> Joseph and His Brothers</i> (1933-1943), makes Akhenaten the "dreaming pharaoh" of <!--del_lnk--> Joseph's story.<li><!--del_lnk--> Savitri Devi: <!--del_lnk--> play <i><!--del_lnk--> Akhnaton: A Play</i> (Philosophical Publishing House [London], 1948)<li><!--del_lnk--> Mika Waltari: <!--del_lnk--> historical novel <i><!--del_lnk--> The Egyptian</i>, first published in Finnish (<i>Sinuhe egyptiläinen</i>) in 1945, translated by <!--del_lnk--> Naomi Walford (<!--del_lnk--> G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1949, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0-399-10234-5; <!--del_lnk--> Chicago Review Press, 2002, paperback, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 1-55652-441-2)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Egyptian</i>, <!--del_lnk--> motion picture (1954, directed by <!--del_lnk--> Michael Curtiz, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation), based on the novel by <!--del_lnk--> Mika Waltari.<li><!--del_lnk--> Gwendolyn MacEwen: historical novel <i><!--del_lnk--> King of Egypt, King of Dreams</i> (1971, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 1-894663-60-8)<li><!--del_lnk--> Agatha Christie: <!--del_lnk--> play, <i><!--del_lnk--> Akhnaton: A Play in Three Acts</i> (<!--del_lnk--> Dodd, Mead [New York], 1973, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0-396-06822-7; <!--del_lnk--> Collins [London], 1973, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0-00-211038-5)<li><i>Nefertiti: The Musical</i> is a stage musical based on the Amarna period in the life of Akhenaten. Book by <!--del_lnk--> Christopher Gore and <!--del_lnk--> Rick Gore, Music by <!--del_lnk--> David Spangler. <!--del_lnk--> <li><!--del_lnk--> Philip Glass: <a href="../../wp/o/Opera.htm" title="Opera">opera</a>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Akhnaten: An Opera in Three Acts</i> (1983; CBS Records, 1987)<li><!--del_lnk--> Naguib Mahfouz, novel, <i><!--del_lnk--> Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth</i> (1985)العائش فى الحقيقة<li><!--del_lnk--> Allen Drury, historical novels, <i><!--del_lnk--> A God Against the Gods</i> (Doubleday, 1976) and <i><!--del_lnk--> Return to Thebes</i> (Doubleday, 1976)<li><!--del_lnk--> Andree Chedid, novel, " Akhenaten and Nefertiti's dream"<li><!--del_lnk--> Wolfgang Hohlbein, <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a> novel, <i>Die Prophezeihung</i> (<i>The Prophecy</i>), in which Echnaton is killed by <!--del_lnk--> Ay and curses him into eternal life until a prophecy is fulfilled.<li><!--del_lnk--> Moyra Caldecott: <a href="../../wp/n/Novel.htm" title="Novel">novel</a> <i><!--del_lnk--> Akhenaten: Son of the Sun</i> (1989; eBook, 2000, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 1-899142-86-X; 2003, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 1-899142-25-8)<li><!--del_lnk--> Judith Tarr, historical <!--del_lnk--> fantasy, <i><!--del_lnk--> Pillar of Fire</i> (1995)<li><!--del_lnk--> Carol Thurston, fiction, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Eye of Horus</i> (William Morrow & Co., 2000), posits the "Akhenaten was Moses" theory.<li><!--del_lnk--> Moyra Caldecott: <a href="../../wp/n/Novel.htm" title="Novel">novel</a> <i><!--del_lnk--> The Ghost of Akhenaten</i> (eBook, 2001, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 1-899142-89-4; 2003, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 1-84319-024-9)<li><!--del_lnk--> Lynda Robinson, historical <!--del_lnk--> mystery, <i><!--del_lnk--> Drinker of Blood</i> (2001, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0-446-67751-5)<li><!--del_lnk--> Edgar P. Jacobs: <!--del_lnk--> comic book, <i><!--del_lnk--> Blake et Mortimer: La Mystère de la Grande Pyramide vol. 1+2 (1950), adventure story using the mystery of Akhenaten as motor</i><li><!--del_lnk--> The Akhenaten Adventure <!--del_lnk--> P.B. Kerr: <a href="../../wp/n/Novel.htm" title="Novel">fiction</a> Akhenaten is said to be the holder of 70 lost <!--del_lnk--> Djinn<li><!--del_lnk--> Dorothy Porter, <!--del_lnk--> verse novel, <i>Akhenaten</i> (1991)</ul>
<p><a id="Speculative_theories" name="Speculative_theories"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Speculative theories</span></h2>
<p>Akhenaten's status as a religious revolutionary has led to much speculation, ranging from the mainstream to <!--del_lnk--> New Age esotericism. He has been called "the first individual in history", as well as the first monotheist, first scientist, and first romantic. As early as 1899 <!--del_lnk--> Flinders Petrie gushingly declared that,<dl>
<dd><cite>If this were a new religion, invented to satisfy our modern scientific conceptions, we could not find a flaw in the correctness of this view of the energy of the solar system. How much Akhenaten understood, we cannot say, but he certainly bounded forward in his views and symbolism to a position which we cannot logically improve upon at the present day. Not a rag of superstition or of falsity can be found clinging to this new worship evolved out of the old Aton of Heliopolis, the sole Lord of the universe.</cite> </dl>
<p>H. R. Hall even claimed that the pharaoh was the "first example of the scientific mind".<p>The idea of Akhenaten as the pioneer of a <!--del_lnk--> monotheistic religion that later became Judaism was promoted by <a href="../../wp/s/Sigmund_Freud.htm" title="Sigmund Freud">Sigmund Freud</a>, the founder of <!--del_lnk--> psychoanalysis, in his book <i><!--del_lnk--> Moses and Monotheism</i> and thereby entered popular consciousness. Freud argued that Moses had been an Atenist priest forced to leave Egypt with his followers after Akhenaten's death.<p>In vivid contrast, the pro-Nazi <!--del_lnk--> Aryanist writer <!--del_lnk--> Savitri Devi insisted in her book <i><!--del_lnk--> The Lightning and the Sun</i> that Akenaten's god bore no resemblance to,<dl>
<dd><cite>the jealous tribal god Jehovah, created in the image of the Jews, — but the equivalent of the immanent, impersonal Tat — That — of the Chandogya Upanishad, no less than of das Gott (as opposed to “der Gott”) of the ancient Germans, and the one conception of Divinity that modern science, far from disproving, on the contrary, suggests.</cite></dl>
<p>More recently, <!--del_lnk--> Ahmed Osman has claimed that that <!--del_lnk--> Moses and Akhenaten were the same individual. While these speculative views have gained acceptance in some quarters (e.g. Laurence Gardner, <i>Bloodline of the Holy Grail</i>, <i>Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark</i>; Gary Greenberg, <i>The Moses Mystery: The African Origins of the Jewish People</i>), most mainstream Egyptologists do not take them seriously, pointing out that there are direct connections between early Judaism and other <!--del_lnk--> Semitic religious traditions, and that two of the three principal Judaic terms for God, <!--del_lnk--> Yahweh and <!--del_lnk--> Elohim, have no connection to Aten . Additionally, Akhenaten appears in history almost two-centuries before the first archaeological and written evidence for Judaism and Israelite culture is found in the Levant. Furthermore abundant visual imagery was central to Atenism, which celebrated the natural world, while such imagery is not a feature of Israelite culture. Osman also claimed that Akhenaten's maternal grandfather <!--del_lnk--> Yuya was the same person as the Biblical Joseph. Egyptologists reject this view because Yuya had strong connections to the city of <!--del_lnk--> Akhmin in Upper Egypt, which is indicated in his title "Overseer of the Cattle of Min at Akhmin.<!--del_lnk--> Hence, he most likely belonged to the regional nobility of Akhmim. This makes it very unlikely that he was an <!--del_lnk--> Israelite, as most Asiatic settlers tended to cloister around the <a href="../../wp/n/Nile.htm" title="Nile">Nile</a> delta region of <!--del_lnk--> Lower Egypt . Some Egyptologists, however, give him a Mitannian origin. It is widely accepted that there are strong similarities between Akhenaten's Great Hymn to the Aten and the <!--del_lnk--> Biblical Psalm <!--del_lnk--> 104, though whether this implies a direct influence or a common literary convention remains in dispute.<p>Another claim was made by Immanuel <!--del_lnk--> Velikovsky. Velikovsky argued that Moses was neither Akhenaten, nor one of his followers. Instead, Velikovsky identifies Akhenaten as the history behind <!--del_lnk--> Oedipus and moved the setting from the Greek Thebes to the Egyptian Thebes. His theory also includes that Akhenaten had an incestous relationship with his mother, Tiy. Velikovsky also posited that Akhenaten had <!--del_lnk--> elephantiasis, producing enlarged legs – <!--del_lnk--> Oedipus being Greek for "swollen feet." As part of his argument, Velikovsky uses the fact that Akhenaten viciously carried out a campaign to erase the name of his father, which he argues could have developed into Oedipus killing his father.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhenaten"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Akira Kurosawa</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Producers_directors_and_media_figures.htm">Producers, directors and media figures</a></h3>
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<th colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><big>Akira Kurosawa</big></th>
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<div style="line-height:1.25em;">Akira Kurosawa on the set of <i><!--del_lnk--> Kagemusha</i> (1980).</div>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 23 March <!--del_lnk--> 1910<br /><!--del_lnk--> Ota, Tokyo, <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a></td>
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<th style="text-align:right;">Died</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 6 September <!--del_lnk--> 1998<br /><!--del_lnk--> Setagaya, Tokyo, <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a></td>
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<p><b>Akira Kurosawa</b> <span style="font-weight: normal">(<span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja" xml:lang="ja"><!--del_lnk--> Kyūjitai: 黒澤 明, <!--del_lnk--> Shinjitai: 黒沢 明</span><span class="t_nihongo_comma" style="display:none">,</span> <i><span class="t_nihongo_romaji">Kurosawa Akira</span></i><span class="t_nihongo_help"><sup><!--del_lnk--> <span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color:#00e;font:bold 80% sans-serif;text-decoration:none;padding:0 .1em;">?</span></sup></span>, <!--del_lnk--> 23 March <!--del_lnk--> 1910—<!--del_lnk--> 6 September <!--del_lnk--> 1998)</span> was a prominent <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japanese</a> <!--del_lnk--> film director, <!--del_lnk--> film producer, and <!--del_lnk--> screenwriter.<p>His first credited film (<i><!--del_lnk--> Sugata Sanshiro</i>) was released in 1943; his last (<i><!--del_lnk--> Madadayo</i>) in 1993. His many awards include the <!--del_lnk--> Legion d'Honneur and an <!--del_lnk--> Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_Life" name="Early_Life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early Life</span></h2>
<p>Akira Kurosawa was born to Isamu and Shima Kurosawa on March 23, 1910. He was the youngest of eight children born to the Kurosawas in a suburb of Tokyo. Shima Kurosawa was forty years old at the time of Akira's birth and his father Isamu was forty-five. Akira Kurosawa grew up in a household with one older brother and three older sisters. Of his three older brothers, one died before Akira was born and one was already grown and out of the household. One of his four older sisters had also left the home to begin her own family before Kurosawa was born.<p>Kurosawa's father worked as the director of a junior high school operated by the Japanese military and the Kurosawas descended from a line of former Samurai. Financially, the family was above average. Isamu Kurosawa embraced western culture both in the athletic programs that he directed and by taking the family to see films, which were then just beginning to appear in Japanese theaters. Later when Japanese culture turned away from western films, Isamu Kurosawa continued to believe that films were a positive educational experience.<p>In primary school Akira Kurosawa was encouraged to draw by a teacher who took an interest in mentoring his talents. His older brother, Heigo, had a profound impact on him. Heigo was very intelligent and won several academic competitions, but also had what was later called a cynical or dark side. In 1923, the <!--del_lnk--> Great Kantō earthquake destroyed Tokyo and left 100,000 people dead. In the wake of this event, Heigo, 17, and Akira, 13, made a walking tour of the devastation. Corpses of humans and animals were piled everywhere. When Akira would attempt to turn his head away, Heigo urged him not to. According to Akira, this experience would later instruct him that to look at a frightening thing head-on is to defeat its ability to cause fear.<p>Heigo eventually began a career as a <!--del_lnk--> benshi in Tokyo film theaters. Benshi narrated silent films for the audience and were a uniquely Japanese addition to the theatre experience. However with the impact of talking pictures on the rise, benshi were losing work all over Japan. Heigo organized a benshi strike that failed. Akira was likewise involved in labor-management struggles, writing several articles for a radical newspaper while improving and expanding his skills as a painter and reading literature. Akira never considered himself a <a href="../../wp/c/Communism.htm" title="Communism">Communist</a> despite his activities that he later would describe as reckless.<p>When Akira Kurosawa was in his early 20s, his older brother Heigo committed suicide. Four months later, the oldest of Kurosawa's brothers also died, leaving Akira as the only surviving son of an original four at age 23. Kurosawa's next-oldest sibling, a sister he called "Little Big Sister," had also died suddenly after a short illness when he was ten.<p><a id="Early_career" name="Early_career"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early career</span></h2>
<p>In 1936, Kurosawa learned of an apprenticeship program for directors through a major film studio, <!--del_lnk--> Nikkatsu. He was hired and worked as an assistant director to Kajiro Yamamoto . After his directorial debut with <i>Sanshiro Sugata</i>, his next few films were made under the watchful eye of the wartime Japanese government and sometimes contained nationalistic themes. For instance, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Most Beautiful</i> is a propaganda film about Japanese women working in a military optics factory. <i><!--del_lnk--> Judo Saga 2</i> has been held to be explicitly anti-American in the way that it portrays Japanese <!--del_lnk--> judo as superior to western (American) <!--del_lnk--> boxing.<p>His first post-war film <i><!--del_lnk--> No Regrets for Our Youth</i>, by contrast, is critical of the old Japanese regime and is about the wife of a left-wing dissident arrested for his political leanings. Kurosawa made several more films dealing with contemporary Japan, most notably <i><!--del_lnk--> Drunken Angel</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Stray Dog</i>. However, it was a period film – <i><!--del_lnk--> Rashomon</i>– that made him internationally famous and won the <!--del_lnk--> Golden Lion at the <!--del_lnk--> Venice Film Festival.<p><a id="Directorial_approach" name="Directorial_approach"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Directorial approach</span></h2>
<p>Kurosawa had a distinctive cinematic technique, which he had developed by the 1950s, and which gave his films a unique look. He liked using telephoto lenses for the way they flattened the frame and also because he believed that placing cameras farther away from his actors produced better performances. He also liked using multiple cameras, which allowed him to shoot an action from different angles. Another Kurosawa trademark was the use of weather elements to heighten mood: for example the heavy rain in the opening scene of <i>Rashomon</i>, and the final battle in <i><!--del_lnk--> Seven Samurai</i> and the fog in <i><!--del_lnk--> Throne of Blood</i>. Kurosawa also liked using <!--del_lnk--> frame wipes, sometimes cleverly hidden by motion within the frame, as a transition device.<p>He was known as "Tenno", literally "Emperor", for his dictatorial directing style. He was a perfectionist who spent enormous amounts of time and effort to achieve the desired visual effects. In <i>Rashomon</i>, he dyed the rain water black with calligraphy ink in order to achieve the effect of heavy rain, and ended up using up the entire local water supply of the location area in creating the rainstorm. In <i>Throne of Blood</i>, in the final scene in which Mifune is shot by arrows, Kurosawa used real arrows shot by expert archers from a short range, landing within centimetres of Mifune's body. In <i><a href="../../wp/r/Ran_%2528film%2529.htm" title="Ran (film)">Ran</a></i>, an entire castle set was constructed on the slopes of <!--del_lnk--> Mt. Fuji only to be burned to the ground in a climactic scene.<p>Other stories include demanding a stream be made to run in the opposite direction in order to get a better visual effect, and having the roof of a house removed, later to be replaced, because he felt the roof's presence to be unattractive in a short sequence filmed from a train.<p>His perfectionism also showed in his approach to costumes: he felt that giving an actor a brand new costume made the character look less than authentic. To resolve this, he often gave his cast their costumes weeks before shooting was to begin and required them to wear them on a daily basis and “bond with them.” In some cases, such as with <i>Seven Samurai</i>, where most of the cast portrayed poor farmers, the actors were told to make sure the costumes were allowed to gradually get worn down and tattered.<p>Kurosawa did not believe that “finished” music went well with film. When choosing a musical piece to accompany his scenes, he usually had it stripped down to one element (e.g., trumpets only). Only towards the end of his films do we hear more finished pieces.<p><a id="Influences" name="Influences"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Influences</span></h2>
<p>A notable feature of Kurosawa's films is the breadth of his artistic influences. Some of his plots are adaptations of <a href="../../wp/w/William_Shakespeare.htm" title="William Shakespeare">William Shakespeare</a>'s works: <i>Ran</i> is based on <i><!--del_lnk--> King Lear</i> and <i>Throne of Blood</i> is based on <i><a href="../../wp/m/Macbeth.htm" title="Macbeth">Macbeth</a></i>, while <i><!--del_lnk--> The Bad Sleep Well</i> parallels <i><!--del_lnk--> Hamlet</i>, but is not affirmed to be based on it. Kurosawa also directed film adaptations of Russian literary works, including <i><!--del_lnk--> The Idiot</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Dostoevsky and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Lower Depths</i>, a play by <!--del_lnk--> Maxim Gorky. <i><!--del_lnk--> Ikiru</i> was based on <a href="../../wp/l/Leo_Tolstoy.htm" title="Leo Tolstoy">Leo Tolstoy</a>'s <i><!--del_lnk--> The Death of Ivan Ilyich</i>. <i><!--del_lnk--> High and Low</i> was based on <i><!--del_lnk--> King's Ransom</i> by <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">American</a> <a href="../../wp/c/Crime.htm" title="Crime">crime</a> writer <!--del_lnk--> Ed McBain, <i><!--del_lnk--> Yojimbo</i> may have been based on <!--del_lnk--> Dashiell Hammett's <i><!--del_lnk--> Red Harvest</i> and also borrows from American <!--del_lnk--> Westerns, and <i><!--del_lnk--> Stray Dog</i> was inspired by the detective novels of <!--del_lnk--> Georges Simenon. Story lines in Red Beard can be found in <i><!--del_lnk--> The Insulted and Humiliated</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Dostoevsky. The American film director <!--del_lnk--> John Ford also had a large influence on his work.<p>Despite criticism by some Japanese critics that Kurosawa was "too Western", he was deeply influenced by Japanese culture as well, including the <!--del_lnk--> Kabuki and <!--del_lnk--> Noh theaters and the jidaigeki (period drama) genre of Japanese cinema. Indeed, <i>Throne of Blood</i> can be considered a <!--del_lnk--> Noh drama on film.<p><a id="His_influence" name="His_influence"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">His influence</span></h2>
<p>Kurosawa's films have had a major influence on <!--del_lnk--> world cinema and continue to inspire filmmakers, and others, around the globe.<p><i>Seven Samurai</i> was officially remade into the <!--del_lnk--> John Sturges western <i><!--del_lnk--> The Magnificent Seven</i><!--del_lnk--> and unofficially in such genres as comedy, <i><!--del_lnk--> Three Amigos</i>, science-fiction, <!--del_lnk--> Roger Corman's <i><!--del_lnk--> Battle Beyond the Stars</i>, and animation in <!--del_lnk--> Pixar's <i><!--del_lnk--> A Bug's Life</i><!--del_lnk--> . It has inspired two <!--del_lnk--> Bollywood films, <!--del_lnk--> Ramesh Sippy's <i><!--del_lnk--> Sholay</i> and <!--del_lnk--> Rajkumar Santoshi's <i><!--del_lnk--> China Gate</i>, which feature similar plots. The story was also used as inspiration in numerous <a href="../../wp/n/Novel.htm" title="Novel">novels</a>, among them <!--del_lnk--> Stephen King's 5th <i><!--del_lnk--> Dark Tower</i> novel, <i><!--del_lnk--> Wolves of Calla</i>.<p><i>Rashomon</i> was also remade by <!--del_lnk--> Martin Ritt in 1964's <i><!--del_lnk--> The Outrage</i>. The <!--del_lnk--> Tamil films <i><!--del_lnk--> Andha Naal</i> (1954) and <i><!--del_lnk--> Virumaandi</i> (2004), starring <!--del_lnk--> Shivaji Ganesan and <!--del_lnk--> Kamal Hassan, respectively, employ a storytelling method similar to that Kurosawa uses in <i>Rashomon</i>.<p><i>Yojimbo</i> was the basis for the <!--del_lnk--> Sergio Leone western <i><!--del_lnk--> A Fistful of Dollars</i> and the <!--del_lnk--> Bruce Willis prohibition-era <i><!--del_lnk--> Last Man Standing</i>.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> The Hidden Fortress</i> is an acknowledged influence on <!--del_lnk--> George Lucas's <i><a href="../../wp/s/Star_Wars.htm" title="Star Wars">Star Wars</a></i> films, in particular Episodes <a href="../../wp/s/Star_Wars_Episode_IV__A_New_Hope.htm" title="Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope">IV</a> and <!--del_lnk--> VI and most notably in the characters of <!--del_lnk--> R2-D2 and <!--del_lnk--> C-3PO. Lucas also used a modified version of Kurosawa's "trademarked" <!--del_lnk--> wipe transition effect throughout the <i>Star Wars</i> saga.<p><i>Rashomon</i> not only helped open Japanese cinema to the world but entered the English language as a term for fractured, inconsistent narratives (see <!--del_lnk--> rashomon effect).<p><a id="Collaboration" name="Collaboration"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Collaboration</span></h2>
<p>During his most productive period, from the late 40s to the mid-60s, Kurosawa often worked with the same group of collaborators. <!--del_lnk--> Fumio Hayasaka composed music for seven of his films — notably <i>Rashomon</i>, <i>Ikiru</i> and <i>Seven Samurai</i>. Many of Kurosawa's scripts, including <i>Throne of Blood</i>, <i>Seven Samurai</i> and <i>Ran</i> were co-written with <!--del_lnk--> Hideo Oguni. <!--del_lnk--> Yoshiro Muraki was Kurosawa's <!--del_lnk--> production designer or <!--del_lnk--> art director for most of his films after <i>Stray Dog</i> in 1949, and <!--del_lnk--> Asakazu Naki was his <!--del_lnk--> cinematographer on 11 films including <i>Ikiru</i>, <i>Seven Samurai</i> and <i>Ran</i>. Kurosawa also liked working with the same group of actors, especially <!--del_lnk--> Takashi Shimura, <!--del_lnk--> Tatsuya Nakadai, and <!--del_lnk--> Toshiro Mifune. His collaboration with the latter, which began with 1948's <i><!--del_lnk--> Drunken Angel</i> and ended with 1965's <i><!--del_lnk--> Red Beard</i>, is one of the most famous director-actor combinations in cinema history.<p><a id="Later_films" name="Later_films"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Later films</span></h2>
<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Red Beard</i> marked a turning point in Kurosawa's career in more ways than one. In addition to being his last film with Mifune, it was his last in black-and-white. It was also his last as a major director within the Japanese studio system making roughly a film a year. Kurosawa was signed to direct a Hollywood project, <i><!--del_lnk--> Tora! Tora! Tora!</i>; but <!--del_lnk--> 20th Century Fox replaced him with <!--del_lnk--> Toshio Masuda and <!--del_lnk--> Kinji Fukasaku before it was completed. His next few films were a lot harder to finance and were made at intervals of five years. The first, <i><!--del_lnk--> Dodesukaden</i>, about a group of poor people living around a rubbish dump, was not a success.<p>After an attempted suicide, Kurosawa went on to make several more films although arranging domestic financing was highly difficult despite his international reputation. <i><!--del_lnk--> Dersu Uzala</i>, made in the <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> and set in Siberia in the early 20th century, was the only Kurosawa film made outside Japan and not in Japanese. It is about the friendship of a Russian explorer and a nomadic hunter. It won the <!--del_lnk--> Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. <i><!--del_lnk--> Kagemusha</i>, financed with the help of the director's most famous admirers, <!--del_lnk--> George Lucas and <!--del_lnk--> Francis Ford Coppola, is the story of a man who is the body double of a medieval Japanese lord and takes over his identity after the lord's death. <i>Ran</i> was the director's version of King Lear, set in medieval Japan. It was by far the greatest project of Kurosawa's late career, and he spent a decade planning it and trying to obtain funding, which he was finally able to do with the help of the French producer <!--del_lnk--> Serge Silberman. The film was a phenomenal international success and is generally considered Kurosawa's last masterpiece.<p>Kurosawa made three more films during the 1990s which were more personal than his earlier works. <i><!--del_lnk--> Dreams</i> is a series of vignettes based on his own dreams. <i><!--del_lnk--> Rhapsody in August</i> is about memories of the <!--del_lnk--> Nagasaki atom bomb and his final film, <i><!--del_lnk--> Madadayo</i>, is about a retired teacher and his former students. Kurosawa died in <!--del_lnk--> Setagaya, Tokyo, at age 88.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> After the Rain</i> (雨あがる, <i>Ame Agaru</i>) is a 1998 posthumous film directed by Kurosawa's closest collaborator, <!--del_lnk--> Takashi Koizumi, co-produced by Kurosawa Production (Hisao Kurosawa) and starring Tatsuda Nakadai and <!--del_lnk--> Shiro Mifune (son of Toshiro). Screenplay, script and dialogues are both written by Akira Kurosawa. The story is based on a short novel by <!--del_lnk--> Shugoro Yamamoto, <i>Ame Agaru</i>.<p><a id="Trivia" name="Trivia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trivia</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Kurosawa was a notoriously lavish gourmet, and spent huge quantities of money on film sets providing an uneatably large quantity and quality of delicacies, especially meat, for the cast and crew.</ul>
<ul>
<li>On one occasion Kurosawa got to meet <!--del_lnk--> John Ford, a director commonly said to be the most influential to Kurosawa. And not knowing what to say Ford simply said, "You really like rain." Kurosawa responded "You've really been paying attention to my films"</ul>
<ul>
<li>Kurosawa considered <b><a href="../../wp/r/Ran_%2528film%2529.htm" title="Ran (film)">Ran</a></b> the best film he ever made. <!--del_lnk--> </ul>
<p><a id="Awards" name="Awards"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Awards</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>1951 – Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for <i>Rashomon</i><li>1952 – Honorary Academy Award: Best Foreign Language Film for <i>Rashomon</i><li>1955 – Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for <i>Seven Samurai</i><li>1975 – Academy Award: Best Foreign Language Film for <i>Dersu Uzala</i><li>1980 – Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival for <i>Kagemusha</i><li>1982 – Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival<li>1984 – Legion d'Honneur<li>1990 – Honorary Academy Award<li>2006 – 10th Iran Cinema Celebration, Special honour</ul>
<p><a id="Filmography" name="Filmography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Filmography</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Sanshiro Sugata</i> (1943)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Most Beautiful</i> (1944)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Sanshiro Sugata Part II</i> aka <i>Judo Saga 2</i> (1945)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail</i> (1945)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> No Regrets for Our Youth</i> (1946)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> One Wonderful Sunday</i> (1946)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Drunken Angel</i> (1948)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Quiet Duel</i> (1949)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Stray Dog</i> (1949)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Scandal</i> (1950)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Rashomon</i> (1950)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Idiot</i> (1951)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Ikiru</i> aka <i>To Live</i> (1952)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Seven Samurai</i> (1954)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Record of a Living Being</i> aka <i>I Live in Fear</i> (1955)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Throne of Blood</i> aka <i>Spider Web Castle</i> (1957)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Lower Depths</i> (1957)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Hidden Fortress</i> (1958)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Bad Sleep Well</i> (1960)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Yojimbo</i> aka <i>The Bodyguard</i> (1961)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Sanjuro</i> (1962)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> High and Low</i> aka <i>Heaven and Hell</i> (1963)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Red Beard</i> (1965)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Dodesukaden</i> (1970)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Dersu Uzala</i> (1975)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Kagemusha</i> aka <i>Shadow Warrior</i> (1980)<li><i><a href="../../wp/r/Ran_%2528film%2529.htm" title="Ran (film)">Ran</a></i> (1985)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Dreams</i> aka <i>Akira Kurosawa's Dreams</i> (1990)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Rhapsody in August</i> (1991)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Madadayo</i> aka <i>Not Yet</i> (1993)</ul>
<p><a id="Further_reading" name="Further_reading"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Akkadian Empire</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Ancient_History_Classical_History_and_Mythology.htm">Ancient History, Classical History and Mythology</a></h3>
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<table class="infobox" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%;">
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<th style="background:#F6E6AE;"><b><a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Ancient Mesopotamia</a></b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/e/Euphrates.htm" title="Euphrates">Euphrates</a> – <a href="../../wp/t/Tigris.htm" title="Tigris">Tigris</a></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Assyriology</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="background:#F6E6AE;"><b>Cities / Empires</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><a href="../../wp/s/Sumer.htm" title="Sumer">Sumer</a></b>: <!--del_lnk--> Uruk – <!--del_lnk--> Ur – <!--del_lnk--> Eridu</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Kish – <!--del_lnk--> Lagash – <!--del_lnk--> Nippur</td>
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<td><b><strong class="selflink">Akkadian Empire</strong></b>: <!--del_lnk--> Akkad</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Babylon – <!--del_lnk--> Isin – <!--del_lnk--> Susa</td>
</tr>
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<td><b><a href="../../wp/a/Assyria.htm" title="Assyria">Assyria</a></b>: <!--del_lnk--> Assur – <!--del_lnk--> Nineveh</td>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Dur-Sharrukin – <!--del_lnk--> Nimrud</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><a href="../../wp/b/Babylonia.htm" title="Babylonia">Babylonia</a></b> – <b><!--del_lnk--> Chaldea</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Elam</b> – <b><!--del_lnk--> Amorites</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Hurrians</b> – <b><!--del_lnk--> Mitanni</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Kassites</b> – <b><!--del_lnk--> Urartu</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="background:#F6E6AE;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Chronology</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Kings of Sumer</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Kings of Assyria</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Kings of Babylon</td>
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<th style="background:#F6E6AE;"><b>Language</b></th>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Cuneiform script</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sumerian – <!--del_lnk--> Akkadian</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Elamite – <!--del_lnk--> Hurrian</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="background:#F6E6AE;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Mythology</b></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Enûma Elish</td>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Gilgamesh – <!--del_lnk--> Marduk</td>
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</table>
<p>The <b>Akkadian Empire</b> usually refers to the <!--del_lnk--> Semitic speaking state that grew up around the city of <!--del_lnk--> Akkad north of <a href="../../wp/s/Sumer.htm" title="Sumer">Sumer</a>, and reached its greatest extent under <!--del_lnk--> Sargon of Akkad. Although ascertaining exact dates during this period is subject to significant disagreement, the Akkadian Empire lasted from <i>circa</i> <!--del_lnk--> 2350 BC to <!--del_lnk--> 2150 BC—approximately 200 years.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>Rulers with Semitic names had already established themselves at <!--del_lnk--> Kish. One of them, contemporary with the last Sumerian ruler, <!--del_lnk--> Lugal-Zage-Si, was Alusarsid (or Urumus) who "subdued <!--del_lnk--> Elam and Barahs." But the fame of these early establishers of Semitic supremacy was far eclipsed by that of Sargon (<i>Sharru-kin</i>), who defeated and captured Lugal-Zage-Si, conquering his empire. A lengthy inscription of Sargon's son, <!--del_lnk--> Manishtushu, was discovered at <!--del_lnk--> Susa by J. de Morgan. The date of Sargon is placed by modern scholars around <!--del_lnk--> 2300 BC (although the later "archaeologist king" of Babylonia, <!--del_lnk--> Nabonidus, calculated it at <!--del_lnk--> 3800 BC).<p>Sargon was the son of La'ibum or Itti-Bel, and one legend related how he had been born in concealment and set adrift in an ark of bulrushes on the waters of the <a href="../../wp/e/Euphrates.htm" title="Euphrates">Euphrates</a>. Here he was rescued and brought up by "Akki the husbandman"; but the day arrived at length when his true origin became known. Originally a cupbearer to a king of Kish with a Semitic name, Ur Zababa, the crown was set upon Sargon's head, and he entered upon a career of foreign conquest. Four times he invaded <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Canaan, and spent three years thoroughly subduing the countries of "the west" to unite them with Mesopotamia "into a single empire."<p>Images of Sargon were erected on the shores of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean</a> in token of his victories, and cities and palaces were built at home with the spoils of the conquered lands. <!--del_lnk--> Elam and the northern part of Mesopotamia were also subjugated, and rebellions were put down Sumer itself. <!--del_lnk--> Contract tablets have been found dated in the years of the campaigns against Canaan and Sarlak, king of <!--del_lnk--> Gutium nowadays North Iraq; and <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a> is mentioned as being brought from <!--del_lnk--> Magan (probably modern <a href="../../wp/o/Oman.htm" title="Oman">Oman</a>).<p>Sargon's two sons and successors, Rimush and Manishtushu, were not so illustrious, and both were assassinated; but his grandson, <!--del_lnk--> Naram-Sin, followed up the earlier successes by marching into Magan, whose king he took captive. He assumed the imperial title of "King Naram-Sin, of the four quarters", and, like his grandfather, was addressed as "the god of Agade" (Akkad), reminiscent of the divine honours claimed by the <!--del_lnk--> Pharaohs of <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>.<p><a id="Culture" name="Culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Culture</span></h2>
<p><a id="Art" name="Art"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Art</span></h3>
<p>A bas relief representing Naram-Sin, and bearing a striking resemblance to early <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian art in many of its features, has been found at <!--del_lnk--> Diarbekr, in modern <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Babylonian art, however, had already attained a high degree of excellence; two cylinder seals of the time of Sargon are among the most beautiful specimens of the gem-cutter's art ever discovered.<p><a id="Achievements" name="Achievements"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Achievements</span></h3>
<p>The empire was bound together by roads, along which there was a regular <!--del_lnk--> postal service. Clay seals that took the place of stamps bear the names of Sargon and his son. A <!--del_lnk--> cadastral survey seems also to have been instituted, and one of the documents relating to it states that a certain Uru-Malik, whose name appears to indicate his <!--del_lnk--> Canaanite origin, was governor of the land of the <!--del_lnk--> Amorites, or <i>Amurru</i> as the semi-<!--del_lnk--> nomadic people of Syria and Canaan were called in Akkadian. It is probable that the first collection of <a href="../../wp/a/Astronomy.htm" title="Astronomy">astronomical</a> observations and terrestrial omens was made for a library established by Sargon.<p><a id="Collapse" name="Collapse"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Collapse</span></h2>
<p>Naram-Sin recorded the Akkadian's wars against the Armani or Armeni people in <!--del_lnk--> Ararat. The Armeni is a reference to <!--del_lnk--> Armen who was the ruler of the Armenian tribe (Armen's followers, the Armenians [Uraštu in Akkadian language], were referred to as Armeni or Armens at the time). It is also unknown if <!--del_lnk--> Sargon, grandfather of <!--del_lnk--> Naram-Sin, and <!--del_lnk--> Manishtushu, father of <!--del_lnk--> Naram-Sin, also fought against the Armeni people of <!--del_lnk--> Ararat during their rule of the Akkadian Empire. It is highly probable however considering that Naram-Sin recorded multiple wars with the Armeni people of <!--del_lnk--> Ararat.<p>It is still unknown at this time if the wars with the Armeni people of <!--del_lnk--> Ararat contributed to the collapse of the Akkadian kingdom. However, the Akkadian Empire was already starting to crumble during Shar-kali-sharri's reign, the son of Naram-Sin, and by the end of Shar-kali-sharri's reign, the Akkadian Empire collapsed outright from the invasion of barbarians of the <!--del_lnk--> Zagros known as "<!--del_lnk--> Gutians".<p><a id="After_the_Akkadian_Empire" name="After_the_Akkadian_Empire"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">After the Akkadian Empire</span></h2>
<p>The fall of the empire established by Sargon seems to have been as sudden as its rise, and little is known about the <!--del_lnk--> Gutian period. From the fall of Akkad until around <!--del_lnk--> 2100 BC, there is much that is still dark. A relatively well known king from that period is <!--del_lnk--> Gudea, king of Lagash.<p>The period between ca. <!--del_lnk--> 2100 BC and <!--del_lnk--> 2000 BC is sometimes called the <!--del_lnk--> 3rd dynasty of Ur or "Sumerian Renaissance", founded by <!--del_lnk--> Ur-Nammu (originally a general). Though documents again began to be written in Sumerian, this dynasty may actually have been Semitic; Sumerian was becoming a dead language, much as Latin later would be in <!--del_lnk--> Medieval <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>. The power of these kings extended to the Mediterranean.<p>After the fall of the Ur III dynasty owing to an Elamite invasion in <!--del_lnk--> 2004 BC, <a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a> passed under foreign influence. This period is called Old <a href="../../wp/b/Babylonia.htm" title="Babylonia">Babylonian</a>, and lasted from ca. <!--del_lnk--> 2000 BC until <!--del_lnk--> 1595 BC. During the first centuries of this period, kings and people in high position often had <!--del_lnk--> Amorite names, and supreme power rested at <!--del_lnk--> Isin. The city of <!--del_lnk--> Babylon was given hegemony over Mesopotamia by king <b><a href="../../wp/h/Hammurabi.htm" title="Hammurabi">Hammurabi</a></b> <!--del_lnk--> 1792 BC - <!--del_lnk--> 1750 BC(dates highly uncertain).<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_Empire"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Akrotiri and Dhekelia</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.European_Geography.htm">European Geography</a></h3>
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<td align="center" class="mergedtoprow" colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; font-size:1.2em;"><b><span style="line-height:1.33em;">Akrotiri and Dhekelia<br /> (Western and Eastern)<br /> Sovereign Base Areas</span></b></td>
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<tr class="mergedrow">
<td align="center" class="maptable" colspan="2" style="padding:0.4em 0.8em 0.4em 0.8em;">
<table style="margin:0 auto; background:none; text-align:center;" width="100%">
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<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><span style="border:1px solid #bbbbbb; display:table-cell;"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/789.png.htm" title="Flag of United Kingdom"><img alt="Flag of United Kingdom" height="63" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg" src="../../images/0/82.png" width="125" /></a></span></td>
<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/0/83.png.htm" title="Coat of arms of United Kingdom"><img alt="Coat of arms of United Kingdom" height="84" longdesc="/wiki/Image:UK_Royal_Coat_of_Arms.png" src="../../images/0/83.png" width="85" /></a></td>
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<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Flag</small></td>
<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Coat of arms</small></td>
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</td>
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<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Anthem: <i><!--del_lnk--> God Save the Queen</i></td>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 1em;">
<div class="center">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/0/84.png.htm" title="Location of United Kingdom"><img alt="Location of United Kingdom" height="127" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cyprus_SBAsInRed.png" src="../../images/0/84.png" width="250" /></a></span></div>
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<p><small>Akrotiri (left) and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas indicated in pink.</small></td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Capital</th>
<td>Episkopi Cantonment</td>
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<tr>
<th><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><!--del_lnk--> Official languages</span></th>
<td><a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a></td>
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<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;"><b><a href="../../wp/l/List_of_countries_by_system_of_government.htm" title="List of countries by system of government">Government</a></b></td>
<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;"><!--del_lnk--> Sovereign Base Areas</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Administrator</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Richard Lacey</td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> British<br /> overseas territory</th>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Established</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 1960 </td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Area</th>
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<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Total</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 254 km²<br /> 98 sq mi </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Population</th>
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<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Density</td>
<td>n/a/km² (<!--del_lnk--> n/a)<br /> n/a/sq mi</td>
</tr>
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<th><a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">Currency</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Cypriot pound (<code><!--del_lnk--> CYP</code>)</td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><a href="../../wp/t/Time_zone.htm" title="Time zone">Time zone</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> EET (<!--del_lnk--> UTC+2)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Summer (<!--del_lnk--> DST)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> EEST (<!--del_lnk--> UTC+3)</td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Internet TLD</th>
<td>n/a</td>
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<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Calling code</th>
<td>+n/a</td>
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</table>
<p><b>Akrotiri</b> and <b>Dhekelia</b> are two areas on the island of <a href="../../wp/c/Cyprus.htm" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> that comprise the <!--del_lnk--> Sovereign Base Areas Overseas Territory of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>. The bases were retained by the UK following the transition of Cyprus' status from a <!--del_lnk--> colony in the <a href="../../wp/b/British_Empire.htm" title="British Empire">British Empire</a> to an independent <!--del_lnk--> Commonwealth republic within the <!--del_lnk--> Commonwealth of Nations. The United Kingdom retained the bases arising from the strategic location of Cyprus in the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a>.<p>The Bases are split into Akrotiri (<!--del_lnk--> Greek: Ακρωτήρι; <!--del_lnk--> Turkish: Agrotur, along with Episkopi Garrison, is part of an area known as the Western Sovereign Base Area or WSBA) and Dhekelia (Greek: Δεκέλεια; Turkish: Dikelya, along with <!--del_lnk--> Ayios Nikolaos, is part of the Eastern Sovereign Base Area or ESBA).<p>
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<p>The Sovereign Base Areas were created in <!--del_lnk--> 1960 by the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Establishment, when Cyprus, a colony within the <a href="../../wp/b/British_Empire.htm" title="British Empire">British Empire</a>, was granted independence. The United Kingdom wished to retain sovereignty over these areas, as this guaranteed the use of UK military bases in Cyprus, including <!--del_lnk--> RAF Akrotiri, and a garrison of the <!--del_lnk--> British Army. The importance of the Bases to the British is based on the strategic location of Cyprus, at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean, close to the <a href="../../wp/s/Suez_Canal.htm" title="Suez Canal">Suez Canal</a> and the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>; the ability to use the RAF base as staging post for military aircraft; and for general training purposes.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 1974, <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> <!--del_lnk--> invaded the North of Cyprus, leading to the establishment of the <a href="../../wp/t/Turkish_Republic_of_Northern_Cyprus.htm" title="Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus">Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus</a>. However, this did not affect the status of the Bases, and the British were not involved in the fighting. <!--del_lnk--> Greek-Cypriots fleeing from the <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turks</a> were permitted to travel through the Dhekelia base, and were given humanitarian aid. The Turkish advance halted when it reached the edge of the base area, rather than risk war with Britain. The <!--del_lnk--> Ayia Napa area was thus preserved in Greek hands.<p>Cyprus has occasionally demanded the return of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, citing that the bases take up a large amount of territory that could be used for civilian development. For four years after Cypriot independence in 1960, the British government paid the Republic of Cyprus rent for the bases. After the <!--del_lnk--> intercommunal conflict of 1963-64 they stopped, claiming there was no guarantee that both communities would benefit equally from that money. The Cypriot government is still claiming money for the years from 1964 to now. Estimates for the debt range from several hundred thousand to over one <!--del_lnk--> billion <a href="../../wp/e/Euro.htm" title="Euro">Euros</a>.<p>In July <!--del_lnk--> 2001, violent protests were held at the Bases by local Cypriots, angry at British plans to construct radio masts at the bases, as part of an upgrade of British military communication posts around the world. Locals had claimed the masts would endanger local lives and cause cancer, as well as have a negative impact on wildlife in the area. The British government denied these claims.<p>The UK has shown no intention of surrendering the Bases, although it has offered to surrender 117 square kilometres of farmland as part of the rejected <!--del_lnk--> Annan Plan for Cyprus. Today, around 3,000 troops of <!--del_lnk--> British Forces Cyprus are based at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. <!--del_lnk--> Ayios Nikolaos, in the ESBA, is believed to be a listening station of the intelligence network <a href="../../wp/e/ECHELON.htm" title="ECHELON">ECHELON</a>.<p><a id="Politics" name="Politics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Politics</span></h2>
<p>The Bases are administered by the Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas, who is the Commander British Forces Cyprus. The Administrator is officially appointed by the <!--del_lnk--> British monarch, on the advice of the <!--del_lnk--> Ministry of Defence. The Administrator has all the executive and legislative authority of a Governor of an <!--del_lnk--> overseas territory. A Chief Officer is appointed, and is responsible to the Administrator for the day-to-day running of the civil government. No elections are held in the Bases, although British citizens are normally entitled to vote in United Kingdom elections (as British Forces or overseas electors).<p><a id="Law" name="Law"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Law</span></h2>
<p>The Bases have their own legal system, distinct from the UK and Cyprus. This consists of the laws of the Colony of Cyprus as at August 1960, amended as necessary. The laws of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are kept, as far as possible, the same as the laws of Cyprus.<p>The Court of the Sovereign Base Area is concerned with non-military offences committed by any person within Akrotiri and Dhekelia.<p>Law and order is maintained by the <!--del_lnk--> Sovereign Base Areas Police, while military law is upheld by the Cyprus Joint Police Unit.<p><a id="Geography" name="Geography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Geography</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/87.png.htm" title="Map of Akrotiri (Western) SBA"><img alt="Map of Akrotiri (Western) SBA" height="268" longdesc="/wiki/Image:CIA-Akrotiri.png" src="../../images/0/87.png" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/87.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Map of Akrotiri (Western) SBA</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/88.png.htm" title="Map of Dhekelia (Eastern) SBA"><img alt="Map of Dhekelia (Eastern) SBA" height="268" longdesc="/wiki/Image:CIA-Dhekelia.png" src="../../images/0/88.png" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/88.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Map of Dhekelia (Eastern) SBA</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Akrotiri and Dhekelia cover 3% of the land area of Cyprus, a total of 98 square miles (47.5 at Akrotiri and 50.5 at Dhekelia). 60% of the land is privately owned, either by British or Cypriot citizens. The other 40% is owned by the Ministry of Defence, or is classed as <!--del_lnk--> Crown land. In addition to Akrotiri and Dhekelia themselves, the Treaty of Establishment also provides for the continued use by the British Government of certain facilities within Cyprus, known as <i>Retained Sites</i>.<p>Akrotiri is located in the south of the island, near the city of <!--del_lnk--> Limassol (or <!--del_lnk--> Lemesos). Dhekelia is in the southeast, near <!--del_lnk--> Larnaca. Both of these areas include military bases, as well as farmland and some residential land. Akrotiri is surrounded by territory controlled by the <!--del_lnk--> Republic of Cyprus, but Dhekelia also borders on the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Nations.htm" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> (UN) buffer zone and the <a href="../../wp/t/Turkish_Republic_of_Northern_Cyprus.htm" title="Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus">Turkish-occupied part of the island</a>.<p><!--del_lnk--> Ayia Napa lies to the East of Dhekelia. The villages of <!--del_lnk--> Xylotymvou and <!--del_lnk--> Ormidhia, also in the Republic of Cyprus, are enclaves surrounded by Dhekelia SBA. The Dhekelia Power Station, divided by a British road into two parts, also belongs to Cyprus. The northern part is an enclave, like the two villages, whereas the southern part is located by the sea, and therefore not an enclave, though it has no territorial waters of its own.<p><a id="Demographics" name="Demographics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demographics</span></h2>
<p>When the Bases were being established, the boundaries were drawn up to avoid centres of population. However, around 14,000 people live in the Bases. Around 7,000 native Cypriots live in the Bases, who either work in the Bases themselves, or on farmland within the boundaries of the Bases. The British military and their families make up the rest of the population.<p>There is no specific citizenship available for the Bases, although some people may be able to claim <!--del_lnk--> British Overseas Territories citizenship (BOTC) status. Unlike all other British territories, BOTCs connected solely with the Sovereign Base Areas do not have any entitlement to full British citizenship.<p>Under the terms of the 1960 agreement with Cyprus establishing the Sovereign Base Areas, the United Kingdom is committed not to use the Areas for civilian purposes. This was stated in 2002 as the primary reason for the exclusion of the Areas from the scope of the <!--del_lnk--> British Overseas Territories Act 2002<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
<p>There are no economic statistics gathered for Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The main economic activities are the provision of services to the military, as well as limited agriculture.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrotiri_and_Dhekelia"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Aksumite currency</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Ancient_History_Classical_History_and_Mythology.htm">Ancient History, Classical History and Mythology</a></h3>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16415.jpg.htm" title="5th century gold coin of King Ebana."><img alt="5th century gold coin of King Ebana." height="151" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ebana3.jpg" src="../../images/164/16415.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16415.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> 5th century gold coin of King <!--del_lnk--> Ebana.</div>
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<p><b>Aksumite currency</b> was the only native <a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">currency</a> to be issued in <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a> without direct influence by an outside culture like the <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Romans</a> or <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greeks</a>, e.g. it was issued and circulated from the middle of the height of the <b><!--del_lnk--> Kingdom</b> under <!--del_lnk--> King <!--del_lnk--> Endubis around AD <!--del_lnk--> 270 until it began its decline in the first half of the 7th century. No <a href="../../wp/s/Sub-Saharan_Africa.htm" title="Sub-Saharan Africa">sub-Saharan</a> state would mint coins after Aksum until the <!--del_lnk--> Kilwa sultanate in the tenth century.<p>Aksum's currency served as a vessel of propaganda demonstrating the kingdom's wealth and promoting the national religion (first polytheistic and later <!--del_lnk--> Oriental Christianity), as well as facilitating the Red Sea trade on which it thrived. The coinage has also proved invaluable in providing a reliable chronology of Aksumite kings due to the lack of extensive archaeological work in the area.<p>
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</script><a id="Influences" name="Influences"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Influences</span></h3>
<p>Though Aksumite coins are indigenous in design and creation, some outside influences encouraging the use of coins is undeniable. By the time coins were first minted in Aksum, there was widespread trade with <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Romans</a> on the <!--del_lnk--> Red sea; <!--del_lnk--> Kushana or <!--del_lnk--> Persian influence also cannot be ruled out. Roman, <!--del_lnk--> Himyarite, and Kushana coins have all been found in major Aksumite cities, however, only very small quantities have been attested and the circulation of foreign currency seems to have been limited. Though <!--del_lnk--> South Arabian kingdoms had also minted coins, they had already gone out of use by the time of certain Aksumite involvement in South Arabia under <a href="../../wp/g/GDRT.htm" title="GDRT">GDRT</a>, and only very rarely produced <!--del_lnk--> electrum or <!--del_lnk--> gold denominations (<!--del_lnk--> silver mainly in <!--del_lnk--> Saba' and Himyar, while <!--del_lnk--> bronze in <!--del_lnk--> Hadhramaut), making influence unlikely. The major impetus, however, was not emulation but economical; the Red sea and its coasts had always been an international trade area and coins would greatly facilitate trade and wealth in the now "world power." Despite these influences, the coins were of genuinely indigenous design, and foreign influences were relatively weak and few in number.<p><a id="Pre-Christian_period" name="Pre-Christian_period"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Pre-Christian period</span></h2>
<p>Aksumite currency came in the later stages of the growth of the empire when its <!--del_lnk--> golden age had already begun. The minting of coins began around 270, beginning with the reign of Endubis.<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Value</span></h2>
<p>Though the gold coins were certainly the most valuable issue, followed by the silver one, the exact relationship between the three issues (gold, silver, and bronze) is not known. The supply of gold was closely controlled by the Aksumite state, as noted by Cosmas Indicopleustes, and other precious metals were undoubtedly also closely controlled, allowing the Aksumite state to ensure the usage of its currency. <p>The quality of the Aksumite coins were also closely controlled, usually of high purity. For example, the lowest purity of gold recorded thus far for Aphilas is 90%. Early issues were often very close to their theoretical weights, and some were even over.) However, the weight of the coins tended to decrease over time (though not continuously or uniformly). This may have reflected a desire to conform to the Diocletian monetary reform of 312, when the <!--del_lnk--> aureus was decreased from 1/60th of a pound to 1/72nd. Despite decreases in weight, the purity of the gold was largely maintained, even by later kings. The abundance of relative abundant Aksumite coins as well as the many that have yet to be found indicate that Aksum must have had access to large quantities of gold.<p><a id="Design" name="Design"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Design</span></h2>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16416.png.htm" title="Sketch of gold coin of Wazeba using the Ge'ez script and language."><img alt="Sketch of gold coin of Wazeba using the Ge'ez script and language." height="189" longdesc="/wiki/Image:WazebaGe%27ezLegend.png" src="../../images/164/16416.png" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16416.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Sketch of gold coin of Wazeba using the Ge'ez script and language.</div>
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<p>The coins were often inscribed in <!--del_lnk--> Greek, as much of its trade was with the "Graecised Orient." Later inscriptions would make more use of <!--del_lnk--> Ge'ez, the language of the Aksumites, perhaps indicating a decline in its use for more international trade (i.e. with Rome and India). The obverse of the coins would always feature an image of the king (almost always in profile) wearing either a crown or helmet/regnal headcloth. The headcloth had some image perhaps representing pleats, rays, or sunburst in the front, as well as the tied end of a cloth or fillet to hold the helmet or headcloth in place. Most coins also included an inscription (usually in Greek) meaning "King of Aksum" or King of the Aksumites" (<i>Basileus AXWMITW</i>). However, many coins were also minted anonymously (or even posthumously), especially during the 5th century. Inscriptions on the coins could include a <i>bisi</i> name ("man of," <!--del_lnk--> Ge'ez bə'əsyä ብእስየ) or an epithet (beginning with <i>Əllä</i>, Ge'ez እለ "he who") in addition to the king's personal name. <i>Bisi</i> names were used more often in conjuncture with personal names on earlier coins, while the epithets were more common in later years, being the only inscribed name in a few sources. Greek text was used in conjunction with <!--del_lnk--> Ge'ez inscriptions, but was the only language used on the gold coins, with the exception of the <!--del_lnk--> Ge'ez language coins of <!--del_lnk--> Wazeba and <!--del_lnk--> MHDYS. Over time, the Greek used on the coins (gold, silver and bronze) deteriorated, indicative of Aksum's decline. Moreover, beginning with <!--del_lnk--> MHDYS for bronze coins and Wazeba for silver coins, Ge'ez gradually replaced Greek on the legends.<p><a id="Mottoes" name="Mottoes"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Mottoes</span></h3>
<p>Aksumite coins used a number of mottos throughout the period in which they were minted, beginning in the early 4th century. Around this time, numerous anonymous bronze coins with simply <i>Βασιλεύς</i> (Basileus, "King") on the obverse were minted by either <!--del_lnk--> King Ezana or one of his successors. The coins bore the first example of an Aksumite motto on the reverse, "May this please the people" (<!--del_lnk--> Greek TOYTOAPECHTHXWPA). It was later written in unvocalized Ge'ez as ለሐዘበ ፡ ዘየደአ <i>LʾḤZB ZYDʾ</i> and under <!--del_lnk--> King Kaleb also ለሀገረ ፡ ዘየደአ <i>LHGR ZYDʾ</i>, "may this please the city [country]."<p><a id="Endubis" name="Endubis"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Endubis</span></h3>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16417.jpg.htm" title="Gold coin of King Endubis with royal headcloth/helmet, grains, and Star and crescent representing the moon god Ilumqah."><img alt="Gold coin of King Endubis with royal headcloth/helmet, grains, and Star and crescent representing the moon god Ilumqah." height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Endubis5.jpg" src="../../images/164/16417.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16417.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Gold coin of King <!--del_lnk--> Endubis with royal headcloth/helmet, grains, and <!--del_lnk--> Star and crescent representing the moon god <!--del_lnk--> Ilumqah.</div>
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<p>Endubis, the first known <!--del_lnk--> Aksumite king to mint coins, focused almost entirely on his image on both the obverse and reverse. The images were of his head and upper half of his chest in profile, wearing a regnal headcloth or helmet and abundant jewelry. In addition to inscribing his regnal name, Endubis also noted his "<i>bisi</i> name, a practice continued by his early successors, but often missing in later coins. The <i>bisi</i> name was a sort of tribal affiliation or "ethnikon" (i.e. a reference to the king's lineage) that was different for every king. Endubis also emphasized his religion through the pre-Christian symbol of the disk and cresent as a propaganda method (a purpose which the coins already served). A second motif used by Endubis and continued by following coins was that of two (though sometimes one in later years) ears of barley or wheat around the image of his head in profile. Though no inscriptional evidence exists, given its prominent position around the image of the king, the two ears of barley (or wheat) may have been representative symbols of the Aksumite state. Though later coins would be smaller, Endubis chose the Roman aureus to standardize Aksumite coin weights against, with gold issues at half-aureus around 2.70 grams (more precisely, the theoretical weight may have been 2.725g).<p><a id="Aphilas" name="Aphilas"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Aphilas</span></h3>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16418.jpg.htm" title="Gold coin of King Aphilas with royal tiara and features inherited from Endubis; the coin was pierced for use as jewellery and is typical of Aksumite gold coins found in India."><img alt="Gold coin of King Aphilas with royal tiara and features inherited from Endubis; the coin was pierced for use as jewellery and is typical of Aksumite gold coins found in India." height="175" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aphilas5.jpg" src="../../images/164/16418.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16418.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Gold coin of King <!--del_lnk--> Aphilas with royal tiara and features inherited from Endubis; the coin was pierced for use as jewellery and is typical of Aksumite gold coins found in <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>.</div>
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<p>Whereas all of Endubis's coins feature the king with a headcloth or helmet, Aphilas's coins show the king wearing an impressive high crown on top of the headcloth. The crown featured colonnades of arches supporting high spikes, on top of which rested large discs of unidentified composition. In addition to the crown and headcloth, Aphilas's coins included further images of regalia, such as a spear, a branch with berries, the depiction of the arms, the addition of tassels with fringes to the imperial robe, and more jewelry, such as amulets and bracelets. Despite this innovation, Aphilas continued to use the image of himself in the regnal headcloth in some coins, sometimes as the reverse, while his crowned image is only found on the obverse.<p>One of his issues included his frontal image on the obverse, which ended with his reign and was only revived by the late kings. Two other minting features of Aphilas were also abandoned by later rulers. One of these was the use of just the inscription "King Aphilas" as the reverse of a coin, the only purely epigraphical side ever used on an Aksumite coin. The other was his use of a single ear of barely or wheat as a reverse, though his use of two ears circling around the king's image continued.<p>Aphilas introduced a number of different standards for all three metals, some of which lasted through to the 7th century, while the use of others ended with his reign. His new gold coins (issued in conjunction with the older) of a quarter aureus and eighth aureus were soon abandoned (each are known from only one specimen), and 1/16th aureus coins have been found, though these are more likely to be deliberate debasements to increase profit (Aksumite gold was generally very pure, however). Aphilas's silver coin, however, issued at half the weight of the former, became the new Aksumite standard for silver up until the end of coinage. The older coin was presumably more valuable than needed, and the new coin remedied the problem. Aphilas's bronze issue, however, was instead doubled to 4.83 grams. The coin's rarity may attest to its quick withdrawal from the market, as is assumed with his quarter-aureus. These two issues are the only one of Aphilas's issues to portray him frontally, rather than in profile.<p><a id="Ezana" name="Ezana"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ezana</span></h3>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16419.jpg.htm" title="Anonymous bronze coin with Christian cross on reverse."><img alt="Anonymous bronze coin with Christian cross on reverse." height="177" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ezana6.jpg" src="../../images/164/16419.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16419.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Anonymous bronze coin with <!--del_lnk--> Christian cross on reverse.</div>
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<p>During Ezana's reign a major change in both the <!--del_lnk--> Aksumite kingdom and its coinage took place as a result of the change of the official religion to <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a>, one of the first states ever to do so. While Ezana's coins in the first half of his reign are almost identical to thos of Aphilas, barring minimal weight reductions, those of his second half employ revolutionary designs. With his conversion to Christianity, Ezana began to feature the <!--del_lnk--> Cross on his coins, the first time the Christian cross had ever been featured in coinage in the world. Some of his gold Christian coins are of the weight before <!--del_lnk--> Constantine's weight reform in 324, indicating a conversion before this date or perhaps a few years after, as the Aksumite coinage may not have changed weights immediately. Along with the adoption of the Cross on his coins came, of course, the abandonment of the <!--del_lnk--> star and crescent symbol on the coins. Later Christian coins reflect the adoptment of the 4.54 g standard by Constantine, with theoretical weights in Aksumite coins likewise dropping to 1.70 g for the gold coins.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16420.jpg.htm" title="Silver coin of King Ousanas with no religious symbol."><img alt="Silver coin of King Ousanas with no religious symbol." height="175" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ousanas9.jpg" src="../../images/164/16420.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16420.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Silver coin of King Ousanas with no religious symbol.</div>
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<p>Coins of Ezana without any symbol at all have also been found, along with similar symboless coins of his father, <!--del_lnk--> Ousanas. These may reflect a transition in the religion in Aksum when <!--del_lnk--> Frumentius was influencing Ezana's father and gathering Christians in the country, giving weight to the writings of <!--del_lnk--> Rufinus. The lack of symbol altogether may reflect an uncertainty as how best to exhibit the change in religion of the Aksumite state.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16421.jpg.htm" title="Gold coin of King Israel."><img alt="Gold coin of King Israel." height="125" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Israel2.jpg" src="../../images/164/16421.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16421.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Gold coin of King <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a>.</div>
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<p><a id="Weight_standards" name="Weight_standards"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Weight standards</span></h2>
<p><a id="Gold_coins" name="Gold_coins"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><!--del_lnk--> Gold coins</span></h3>
<p>The gold coin weighed on average 2.5-2.8 grams and was 15-21 mm in diameter at the start of issue, in <!--del_lnk--> 270-<!--del_lnk--> 300. This would make it half an Aureus which weighed 4.62-6.51 grams at the time of <!--del_lnk--> Probus. The issue of <!--del_lnk--> Israel (<!--del_lnk--> 570-<!--del_lnk--> 600) weighed 1.5 grams and was 17 mm in <!--del_lnk--> diameter. The Roman <!--del_lnk--> solidus of <!--del_lnk--> Maurice Tiberius was 4.36-4.47 grams. A majority of these coins were found in <!--del_lnk--> South Arabia and not Aksum. The name is unknown so it is referred to as an <!--del_lnk--> AU Unit.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16422.jpg.htm" title="Silver coin of King MHDYS (vocalized Mehadeyis) with cross."><img alt="Silver coin of King MHDYS (vocalized Mehadeyis) with cross." height="125" longdesc="/wiki/Image:MHDYS2.jpg" src="../../images/164/16422.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16422.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Silver coin of King <!--del_lnk--> MHDYS (vocalized Mehadeyis) with cross.</div>
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<p><a id="Silver_coinage" name="Silver_coinage"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><!--del_lnk--> Silver coinage</span></h3>
<p>Also starting with Endubis these coins were 2.11-2.5 grams in weight which is half the weight of a Roman <!--del_lnk--> antoninianus of 3.5-4.5 <!--del_lnk--> grams. A <!--del_lnk--> Denarius in the early 3rd century was 2.5-3.00 grams of 52% or less of silver, but the Aksum coins were almost pure silver at first later debased. The name is unknown so it is referred to as an <!--del_lnk--> AR Unit.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16423.jpg.htm" title="Coin of King Armah seated on throne."><img alt="Coin of King Armah seated on throne." height="125" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Armah1.jpg" src="../../images/164/16423.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16423.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Coin of King <!--del_lnk--> Armah seated on throne.</div>
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<p><a id="Base_coinage" name="Base_coinage"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><!--del_lnk--> Base coinage</span></h3>
<p>Most bronze and silver coins have mainly been found in Aksum territory with very few pieces found in <!--del_lnk--> Judea, <!--del_lnk--> Meroe and <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>. They are based roughlty on the size of older roman <!--del_lnk--> As and <!--del_lnk--> Sestertius in shape and thickness. The design also developed like Roman coins in first being good but then the pictures turn archaic and non recognisable. The name is unknown so it is referred to as a <!--del_lnk--> AE diameter im mm Unit, like AE17 for a coin of 17 mm.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16424.jpg.htm" title="Coin of King Ousanas with two holes, typical of Aksumite gold coins found in India."><img alt="Coin of King Ousanas with two holes, typical of Aksumite gold coins found in India." height="122" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ousanas5upload.jpg" src="../../images/164/16424.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16424.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Coin of King <!--del_lnk--> Ousanas with two holes, typical of Aksumite gold coins found in India.</div>
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<p><a id="Trade" name="Trade"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trade</span></h2>
<p>At the time of Aksum's minting of currency, the state already had a long trade history with Greece, Rome, the Persian Empire, and India. That coinage began so late is in fact a little surprising. The late use of coinage may be attributed to the lack of a developed economy, required for coinage to be accepted. Most Aksumite coins were found in the large trade centres with very few in remote villages, where trade would be more through <!--del_lnk--> barter and not coinage based. In fact, the motivation for Aksum's initial minting of coins was for foreign trade and markets, as evidenced by the use of Greek on most of its coins. Moreover, gold coins seem to have been intended primarily for external trade, while copper and silver coins probably mainly circulated within the Aksumite empire, as the gold issues generally specified "king of the Aksumites" as title of the Aksumite king, whereas the title of silver and copper issues generally only read "king." International use of Aksumite coins seems to have begun early on, as coins of King Ezana and even of King Aphilas (the second Aksumite ruler to issue coins) have been found in India.<p><a id="Decline" name="Decline"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Decline</span></h2>
<p>During the 7th century, Aksumite power began to fail, and Ethiopian society began to withdraw further into the <!--del_lnk--> highland hinterlands, with the coastal areas becoming peripheral areas (whereas <!--del_lnk--> Adulis on the coast was once the <!--del_lnk--> second city of Aksum). The coins continued circulation, but were restricted to more local areas such as <!--del_lnk--> Nubia, South Arabia and the <a href="../../wp/h/Horn_of_Africa.htm" title="Horn of Africa">Horn of Africa</a>.<p><a id="Archaeology" name="Archaeology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Archaeology</span></h2>
<p>Due to the nature of the coins (e.g. providing kings' names), they have proved essential in constructing a chronology of the Kings of Aksum. An estimated 98% of the city of <!--del_lnk--> Aksum remains unexcavated, and other areas even more so. Through analysis of the number of coins produced and the style of coins, archaeologists have been able to construct a rough chronology, generally agreed upon until the late 6th and 7th century kings. Of the 20 Aksumite Kings attested by their coins, inscriptions corroborate the existence of only two, who happen to be the most famous kings: <!--del_lnk--> Ezana and <!--del_lnk--> Kaleb, both of whose reigns were periods of exceptional prosperity during the height of the Aksumite kingdom.<p>Many coins have been found in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, the central region of Aksum, though Aksumite coins are reported to have been found in <!--del_lnk--> Arato and <!--del_lnk--> Lalibela. Many coins have been also found further afield. Numerous hoards of coins (always gold save one silver coin) have been found in Southern Arabia, much more than in Aksum itself, attesting perhaps to an Aksumite presence in parts of the region (perhaps supporting the use of titles claiming control over parts of South Arabia from <a href="../../wp/g/GDRT.htm" title="GDRT">GDRT</a>'s time). The hoards may be the remnants of hoards left in Kaleb's time (perhaps used to pay soldiers), when it was under an Aksumite governor. Outside of the <a href="../../wp/h/Horn_of_Africa.htm" title="Horn of Africa">Horn of Africa</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Arabian peninsula, coins have been found as far as <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Meroe, Egypt, and India. Silver and copper coins are mainly found in Aksum, though some can be traced to <!--del_lnk--> Palestinian pilgrim centers.<p>In addition to historical evidence, the coins' use of Ge'ez provides valuable linguistic information. Though rarely used, the <!--del_lnk--> vocalization of Ge'ez sometimes employed on Aksumite coins allows linguists to analyze vowel changes and shifts that cannot be represented in the older <!--del_lnk--> Semitic <!--del_lnk--> abjads such as <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrew_language.htm" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>, <!--del_lnk--> South Arabian, and earlier, unvocalized Ge'ez.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksumite_currency"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Al Jazeera</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Citizenship.Media.htm">Media</a>; <a href="../index/subject.Citizenship.Politics_and_government.htm">Politics and government</a></h3>
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<dd><i>"Al Jazeera" is a common Arabic phrase and is used to identify geographical locations and other unrelated media outlets. For other meanings of</i> Al Jazeera<i>, see <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazira.</i></dl>
<table class="infobox" style="width: 23em; font-size: 90%;cellpadding:2px">
<caption style="text-align: center; font-size:12pt;"><b>Al Jazeera</b></caption>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 10px 0 10px 0;"><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="" height="179" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aljazeeralogo.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="100" /></td>
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<th style="text-align:right;">Type</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Satellite <!--del_lnk--> television network</td>
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<th style="text-align:right;">Country</th>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/56/5654.png.htm" title="Flag of Qatar"><img alt="Flag of Qatar" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Qatar_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/4/400.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/q/Qatar.htm" title="Qatar">Qatar</a></td>
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<th style="text-align:right;">Availability</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Worldwide</td>
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<th style="text-align:right;">Launch date</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 1996</td>
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<th style="text-align:right;"><!--del_lnk--> Website</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> www.aljazeera.net (Arabic)<br /><!--del_lnk--> english.aljazeera.net (English)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Al Jazeera</b> (<a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>: <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" style="white-space: nowrap;" xml:lang="ar">الجزيرة</span>‎ <span class="Unicode">al-Ǧazīrä</span>), meaning "The Island", is an <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic-language</a> and <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English language</a> <a href="../../wp/t/Television.htm" title="Television">television</a> channel based in <a href="../../wp/d/Doha.htm" title="Doha">Doha</a>, <a href="../../wp/q/Qatar.htm" title="Qatar">Qatar</a>. Its willingness to broadcast dissenting views, including on call-in shows, created controversies in the autocratic <!--del_lnk--> Persian Gulf Arab States. The station gained worldwide attention following the <a href="../../wp/s/September_11%252C_2001_attacks.htm" title="September 11, 2001 attacks">September 11, 2001 attacks</a>, when it broadcast video statements by <a href="../../wp/o/Osama_bin_Laden.htm" title="Osama bin Laden">Osama bin Laden</a> and other <!--del_lnk--> al-Qaeda leaders (see <!--del_lnk--> Videos of Osama bin Laden).<p>Al Jazeera operates several specialized television channels in addition to its primary news channel. These include <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera English, an <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English-language</a> channel, <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Sports, a popular Arabic-language sports channel, <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Live, which broadcasts conferences in real time without editing or commentary, and the <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Children's Channel. Future announced products include <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Urdu, an <!--del_lnk--> Urdu language version catering mainly to <!--del_lnk--> South Asians, and a channel specializing in <!--del_lnk--> documentaries. It is also considering possible music channels and an international newspaper.<p>In addition to its TV channels, Al Jazeera operates <!--del_lnk--> Arabic and <!--del_lnk--> English-language websites.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>Al Jazeera claims to be the only <a href="../../wp/p/Politics.htm" title="Politics">politically</a> independent television station in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>. It now rivals the <a href="../../wp/b/BBC.htm" title="BBC">BBC</a> in worldwide audiences with an estimated 50 million viewers. Al Jazeera was started with a <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_dollar.htm" title="United States dollar">US$</a>150 million grant from the <!--del_lnk--> emir of Qatar. It aimed to become self-sufficient through advertising by 2001, but when this failed to occur, the emir agreed to continue subsidizing it on a year-by-year basis (US$30 million in 2004, according to <!--del_lnk--> Arnaud de Borchgrave). Other major sources of income include advertising, cable subscription fees, broadcasting deals with other companies, and sale of footage (according to <i><!--del_lnk--> Pravda,</i> "Al Jazeera received $20,000 per minute for Bin Laden's speech.") In 2000, advertising accounted for 40% of the station's revenue.<p>The channel began broadcasting in late 1996. In April of that year, <!--del_lnk--> BBC World Service's <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic language</a> TV station, faced with <!--del_lnk--> censorship demands by the <a href="../../wp/s/Saudi_Arabia.htm" title="Saudi Arabia">Saudi Arabian</a> government, had shut down after two years of operation. Many former BBC World Service staff members joined Al Jazeera.<p>In the beginning, Al Jazeera tried to increase its viewership by means of presenting controversial views regarding the governments of many Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar; Syria's relationship with Lebanon; and the Egyptian judiciary. Its well-presented documentary on the <!--del_lnk--> Lebanese Civil War in 2000-2001 gave its viewer ratings a boost. However, it wasn't until late 2001 that Al Jazeera achieved worldwide popularity when it broadcast video statements by <!--del_lnk--> al-Qaeda leaders.<p>In 2003, it poached its first English-language journalist, Afshin Rattansi, from the BBC's <i>Today Programme</i> which was at the heart of UK events when it came to Tony Blair's decision to back the U.S. invasion of Iraq.<p>In response to Al Jazeera, a group of Saudi investors created <!--del_lnk--> Al Arabiya in the first quarter of 2003.<p><a id="Al_Jazeera_Channels" name="Al_Jazeera_Channels"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Al Jazeera Channels</span></h2>
<ol>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera News<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Sport 1<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Sport 2<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Sport 1+<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Sport 2+<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Children<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera Docomentries<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera International</ol>
<div class="floatright"><span><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="" height="100" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aljazeerainternational.gif" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="200" /></span></div>
<p><a id="Al_Jazeera_outside_the_Middle_East" name="Al_Jazeera_outside_the_Middle_East"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Al Jazeera outside the Middle East</span></h3>
<p>On <!--del_lnk--> July 4, <!--del_lnk--> 2005 Al Jazeera officially announced plans to launch a new English-language satellite service called <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera International. Al Jazeera has announced this long-expected move in an attempt to provide news about the <!--del_lnk--> Arab world, especially <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a>, from the Middle Eastern perspective. The new channel started <!--del_lnk--> November 15, <!--del_lnk--> 2006 under the name <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera English and has broadcast centers in <a href="../../wp/d/Doha.htm" title="Doha">Doha</a> (current Al Jazeera headquarters and broadcast centre), <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Buenos_Aires.htm" title="Buenos Aires">Buenos Aires</a>, <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, <a href="../../wp/k/Kuala_Lumpur.htm" title="Kuala Lumpur">Kuala Lumpur</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Washington D.C.. The channel is a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week news channel with 12 hours broadcast from Doha and four hours from each of London, Kuala Lumpur, and Washington D.C.<p>In September 2005, <!--del_lnk--> Josh Rushing joined Al Jazeera International. He was the press officer for the <!--del_lnk--> United States Central Command during the <!--del_lnk--> 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and in that role was featured in the documentary "<!--del_lnk--> Control Room." Rushing will be working from the Washington, DC Bureau. He commented that "In a time when American media has become so nationalized, I'm excited about joining an organization that truly wants to be a source of global information..." Former <!--del_lnk--> CNN and <a href="../../wp/b/BBC.htm" title="BBC">BBC</a> news anchorwoman and award winning journalist <!--del_lnk--> Veronica Pedrosa and veteran UK broadcaster <!--del_lnk--> David Frost have also joined the team, along with <!--del_lnk--> Riz Khan, a former CNN news anchor who most recently was host of the CNN <!--del_lnk--> talk show <!--del_lnk--> Q&A, CNN producer <!--del_lnk--> James Wright, and <!--del_lnk--> Kieran Baker, a former editor and producer for CNN who most recently was Acting General Manager, Communications and Public Participation for <!--del_lnk--> ICANN. On <!--del_lnk--> 2 December <!--del_lnk--> 2005, <!--del_lnk--> Stephen Cole, a senior anchor on <!--del_lnk--> BBC World and <!--del_lnk--> Click Online presenter, announced he was joining Al Jazeera International. The network announced on <!--del_lnk--> 12 January <!--del_lnk--> 2006 that former <!--del_lnk--> Nightline correspondent <!--del_lnk--> Dave Marash would be the co-anchor from their Washington studio. He described his new position as "the most interesting job on Earth." On <!--del_lnk--> 6 February <!--del_lnk--> 2006 it was announced that the former BBC reporter <!--del_lnk--> Rageh Omaar would host a daily weeknights documentary series, <i>Witness</i>. With Al Jazeera's growing global outreach and influence, some scholars including <!--del_lnk--> Adel Iskandar have described the station as a transformation of the very definition of "alternative media."<p><a id="Viewership" name="Viewership"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Viewership</span></h2>
<p>It is widely believed internationally that inhabitants of the Arab world are given limited information by their governments and media, and that what is conveyed is <!--del_lnk--> biased towards the governments' views. Many people see Al Jazeera as a more trustworthy source of information than government and foreign channels. Some scholars and commentators use the notion of <i><!--del_lnk--> contextual objectivity</i>, which highlights the tension between objectivity and audience appeal, to describe the station's controversial yet popular news approach. As a result, it is probably the most watched news channel in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>.<p>Increasingly, Al Jazeera's exclusive interviews and other footage are being rebroadcast in <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">American</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">British</a>, and other western media outlets such as <!--del_lnk--> CNN and the <a href="../../wp/b/BBC.htm" title="BBC">BBC</a>. In January 2003, the <a href="../../wp/b/BBC.htm" title="BBC">BBC</a> announced that it had signed an agreement with Al Jazeera for sharing facilities and information, including news footage. Al Jazeera is now considered a fairly mainstream media network, though more controversial than most. In the United States, video footage from the network is largely limited to showing video segments of hostages.<p>Al Jazeera's programming is available worldwide through various satellite and cable systems. In the U.S., it is available through subscription satellite TV. Al Jazeera can be freely viewed with a <!--del_lnk--> DVB-S receiver in Europe, <!--del_lnk--> Northern Africa, and the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a> as it is broadcast on the <!--del_lnk--> Astra and <!--del_lnk--> Hot Bird satellites. In the UK, it is no longer available on Sky as of 29 September 2006 <p>Al Jazeera's English service started officially at 12h <!--del_lnk--> GMT on <!--del_lnk--> November 15, <!--del_lnk--> 2006 and is available for <!--del_lnk--> North-American viewers on <!--del_lnk--> Intelsat Americas 5 on the <!--del_lnk--> Ku band, transponder 16 (11.999 GHz) in <!--del_lnk--> DVB format. It transmits on the Sky Digital service on channel 514.<p>Al Jazeera's web-based service is accessible subscription-free throughout the world, though the English and Arabic sections appear to be editorially distinct, with their own selection of news and comment.<p><a id="Staff" name="Staff"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Staff</span></h2>
<p>The Chairman of Al Jazeera is Sheikh <!--del_lnk--> Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani, a distant cousin of <a href="../../wp/q/Qatar.htm" title="Qatar">Qatari</a> Emir Sheikh <!--del_lnk--> Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.<p>Al Jazeera recently restructured its operations and have formed a Network that contains all their different channels. <!--del_lnk--> Wadah Khanfar, the managing director of the Arabic Channel was appointed as the Director General of the AlJazeera Network. He also acts as the Managing Director of the Arabic channel. He is supported by <!--del_lnk--> Ahmed Sheikh, Editor-in-Chief, and <!--del_lnk--> Amen Jaballah.<p>The managing director for <!--del_lnk--> Al Jazeera English is <!--del_lnk--> Nigel Parsons.<p>The Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic website is <!--del_lnk--> Abdel Aziz Al Mahmoud, and the editorial head is <!--del_lnk--> Mohammad Dawood. It has more than one hundred editorial staff. The Editor-in-Chief of the English-language site is <!--del_lnk--> Russell Merryman, who took over in August 2005. He replaced Omar Bec who was caretaking the site after the departure of Managing Editor Alison Balharry. Previous incumbents include Joanne Tucker and Ahmed Sheikh.<p>Prominent on-air personalities include <!--del_lnk--> Faisal al-Qassem, host of the talk show <i>The Opposite Direction</i>.<p><a id="Criticism_and_controversy" name="Criticism_and_controversy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Criticism and controversy</span></h2>
<p>An incorrect, but widely reported, criticism is that Al Jazeera has shown videos of masked terrorists beheading western hostages. When this is reported in reputable media, Al Jazeera presses for retractions to be made. This allegation was again repeated by <!--del_lnk--> Fox News in the USA on the launch day of Al Jazeera's English service, 15 November 2006.<p><a id="From_Algeria" name="From_Algeria"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">From Algeria</span></h3>
<p>The <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algerian</a> government froze the activities of Al Jazeera's Algerian correspondent on <!--del_lnk--> July 4, <!--del_lnk--> 2004. The official reason given was that a reorganization of the work of foreign correspondents was in progress. The international pressure group <!--del_lnk--> Reporters Without Borders says, however, that the measure was really taken in reprisal for a broadcast the previous week of a debate on the political situation in Algeria. Also, it is alleged that several Algerian cities lost power simultaneously to keep residents from watching a program that implicated the Algerian military in a series of massacres.<p><a id="From_Bahrain" name="From_Bahrain"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">From Bahrain</span></h3>
<p><a href="../../wp/b/Bahrain.htm" title="Bahrain">Bahrain</a> Information Minister Nabeel Yacoob Al Hamer banned Al Jazeera correspondents from reporting from inside the country on <!--del_lnk--> 10 May <!--del_lnk--> 2002, saying that the station was biased towards <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a> and against <a href="../../wp/b/Bahrain.htm" title="Bahrain">Bahrain</a>. After improvements in relations between Bahrain and Qatar in 2004, Al Jazeera correspondents returned to Bahrain.<p><a id="Al_Jazeera_and_Qatar" name="Al_Jazeera_and_Qatar"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Al Jazeera and Qatar</span></h3>
<p>Al Jazeera has been critcized for failing to report on many hard hitting news stories that originate from <a href="../../wp/q/Qatar.htm" title="Qatar">Qatar</a>, where Al Jazeera is based. The two most frequently critcized stories were the revoking of citizenship from the Al Ghafran clan of the Al Murrah tribe in response to a failed coup that members of the Al Ghafran clan were implicated in, and Qatar's growing relations with and diplomatic visits to <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a>.<p><a id="From_Spain" name="From_Spain"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">From Spain</span></h3>
<p>Reporter <!--del_lnk--> Taysir Allouni was arrested in <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> on <!--del_lnk--> 5 September <!--del_lnk--> 2003, on a charge of having provided support for members of <!--del_lnk--> al-Qaeda. Judge <!--del_lnk--> Baltasar Garzón, who had issued the arrest warrant, ordered Allouni held indefinitely without bail. He was nevertheless released several weeks later for health concerns, but was prohibited from leaving the country.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> 19 September, a Spanish court issued an arrest warrant for Allouni, before the expected verdict. Allouni asked the court for permission to visit his family in <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a> to attend the funeral of his mother, but authorities denied his request and ordered him back to jail.<p>Although he pleaded not guilty of all the charges against him, Allouni was sentenced on <!--del_lnk--> 26 September <!--del_lnk--> 2005 to seven years in prison for being a financial courier for al-Qaeda. Allouni insisted he merely interviewed <a href="../../wp/o/Osama_bin_Laden.htm" title="Osama bin Laden">bin Laden</a> after the September 11th attack on the United States.<p>Many international and private organizations condemned the arrest and called on the Spanish court to free Taysir Allouni. Websites such as <!--del_lnk--> Free Taysir Allouni and <!--del_lnk--> Alony Solidarity were created to support Allouni.<p><a id="From_the_United_States" name="From_the_United_States"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">From the United States</span></h3>
<p>In 1999, <!--del_lnk--> New York Times reporter <!--del_lnk--> Thomas L. Friedman called Al-Jazeera "the freest, most widely watched TV network in the Arab world." The station first gained widespread attention in the west following the <a href="../../wp/s/September_11%252C_2001_attacks.htm" title="September 11, 2001 attacks">September 11, 2001 attacks</a>, when it broadcast videos in which <a href="../../wp/o/Osama_bin_Laden.htm" title="Osama bin Laden">Osama bin Laden</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Sulaiman Abu Ghaith defended and justified the attacks. This led to criticism by the United States government that Al Jazeera was engaging in <a href="../../wp/p/Propaganda.htm" title="Propaganda">propaganda</a> on behalf of terrorists. Al Jazeera countered that it was merely making information available without comment, and indeed several western television channels later followed suit in broadcasting portions of the tapes.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> 25 March <!--del_lnk--> 2003, two of its reporters covering the <!--del_lnk--> New York Stock Exchange had their credentials revoked. NYSE spokesman Ray Pellechia claimed "security reasons" and that the exchange had decided to give access only to networks that focus "on responsible business coverage". He denied the revocation has anything to do with the network's <a href="../../wp/i/Iraq.htm" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> war coverage.<p><a id="From_the_U.S._government" name="From_the_U.S._government"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">From the U.S. government</span></h4>
<p>While prior to September 11th, 2001, the <!--del_lnk--> United States government lauded Al Jazeera for its role as an independent media outlet in the Middle East, since then US Government spokespersons have often cited their belief that Al Jazeera's news coverage has a strong anti-American bias. In 2004 the competing Arabic-language satellite TV station <!--del_lnk--> Al Hurra was launched, funded by the U.S. government.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> January 30, <!--del_lnk--> 2005 the <i><!--del_lnk--> New York Times</i> reported that the <a href="../../wp/q/Qatar.htm" title="Qatar">Qatari</a> government, under pressure from the <a href="../../wp/g/George_W._Bush.htm" title="George W. Bush">Bush</a> administration, was speeding up plans to sell the station.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> November 22, <!--del_lnk--> 2005, the UK <!--del_lnk--> tabloid <i><!--del_lnk--> The Daily Mirror</i> published a story claiming that it had obtained a leaked memo from <!--del_lnk--> 10 Downing Street saying that <!--del_lnk--> U.S. President <a href="../../wp/g/George_W._Bush.htm" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a> had considered bombing Al Jazeera's Doha headquarters in April 2004, when <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Marines were conducting a contentious assault on <!--del_lnk--> Fallujah.<p>In light of this allegation, Al Jazeera has questioned whether it has been targeted deliberately in the past — Al Jazeera's <!--del_lnk--> Kabul office was bombed in 2001 and a missile hit its office in <a href="../../wp/b/Baghdad.htm" title="Baghdad">Baghdad</a> during the invasion of Iraq, killing correspondent Tariq Ayoub. Both of these attacks occurred despite Al Jazeera's provision of the locations of their offices to the United States.<p>Al Jazeera cameraman <!--del_lnk--> Sami Al Hajj was detained while in transit to Afghanistan as an "<!--del_lnk--> enemy combatant" in December 2001, and is now held without charge in <!--del_lnk--> Camp Delta at <!--del_lnk--> Guantánamo Bay.<p><a id="Al_Jazeera_and_Iraq" name="Al_Jazeera_and_Iraq"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Al Jazeera and Iraq</span></h2>
<p>On <!--del_lnk--> March 4, <!--del_lnk--> 2003, during the run-up to the invasion of <a href="../../wp/i/Iraq.htm" title="Iraq">Iraq</a>, the <!--del_lnk--> New York Stock Exchange banned Al Jazeera (as well as several other news organizations whose identities were not revealed) from its trading floor indefinitely, citing "security concerns" as the official reason. The move was quickly mirrored by <!--del_lnk--> Nasdaq stock market officials.<p>During the Iraq war, Al Jazeera faced the same reporting and movement restrictions as other news-gathering organizations. In addition, one of its reporters, <!--del_lnk--> Tayseer Allouni, was banned from the country by the Iraqi Information Ministry, while another one, Diyar Al-Omari, was banned from reporting in Iraq (both decisions were later retracted). On <!--del_lnk--> April 3, <!--del_lnk--> 2003, Al Jazeera withdrew its journalists from the country, citing unreasonable interference from Iraqi officials.<p>Also in the run-up to the war the U.S. Pentagon hired the <!--del_lnk--> Rendon Group to target and possibly punish Al Jazeera reporters who did not stay on message.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> April 8, <!--del_lnk--> 2003 Al Jazeera's office in <a href="../../wp/b/Baghdad.htm" title="Baghdad">Baghdad</a> was attacked by U.S. forces, killing reporter <!--del_lnk--> Tareq Ayyoub and wounding another, despite the U.S. being informed of the office's precise coordinates prior to the incident. Similarly, on <!--del_lnk--> November 13, <!--del_lnk--> 2001 the U.S. launched a missile attack on Al Jazeera's office in <!--del_lnk--> Kabul during the U.S. invasion of <a href="../../wp/a/Afghanistan.htm" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>, also after being informed of its location. Al Jazeera cameraman <!--del_lnk--> Sami Al-Haj, a <a href="../../wp/s/Sudan.htm" title="Sudan">Sudanese</a> national, has also been held by U.S. forces since the start of 2002 at <!--del_lnk--> Guantanamo Bay, <a href="../../wp/c/Cuba.htm" title="Cuba">Cuba</a>. On <!--del_lnk--> 23 November <!--del_lnk--> 2005, Sami Al-Haj's lawyer <!--del_lnk--> Clive Stafford-Smith reported that, during (125 of 130) interviews, U.S. officials had questioned Sami as to whether Al Jazeera was a front for <!--del_lnk--> al-Qaeda. The reasons for his detention remain unknown, although the U.S. official statements on detainees is that they are security threats.<p>In May 2003, the <!--del_lnk--> CIA, through the <!--del_lnk--> Iraqi National Congress, released documents purportedly showing that Al Jazeera had been infiltrated by Iraqi <!--del_lnk--> spies, and was regarded by Iraqi officials as part of their propaganda effort. As reported by the <!--del_lnk--> Sunday Times, the alleged spies were described by an Al Jazeera executive as having minor roles with no input on editorial decisions.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> 23 September <!--del_lnk--> 2003, <a href="../../wp/i/Iraq.htm" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> suspended Al Jazeera (and <!--del_lnk--> Al-Arabiya) from reporting on official government activities for two weeks for what the Council stated as supporting recent attacks on council members and Coalition occupational forces. The move came after allegations by Iraqis who stated that the channel had incited anti-occupation violence (by airing statements from <!--del_lnk--> Iraqi resistance leaders), increasing ethnic and sectarian tensions, and being supportive of the resistance.<p>During 2004, Al Jazeera broadcast several video tapes of various kidnapping victims which had been sent to the network. The videos were filmed by the groups after kidnapping a hostage. The hostages are shown, often blindfolded, pleading for their release. They often appear to be forced to read out prepared statements of their kidnappers. Al Jazeera has assisted authorities from the home countries of the victims in an attempt to secure the release of kidnapping victims. This included broadcasting pleas from family members and government officials. Contrary to some allegations, including the oft-reported comments of <!--del_lnk--> Donald Rumsfeld on <!--del_lnk--> June 4, <!--del_lnk--> 2005, Al Jazeera has never shown <!--del_lnk--> beheadings which often appear on internet websites.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> August 7, <!--del_lnk--> 2004, the Iraqi <!--del_lnk--> Allawi government shut down the Iraq office of Al Jazeera, claiming that it was responsible for presenting a negative image of Iraq, and charging the network with fueling anti-Coalition hostilities. Al Jazeera vowed to continue its reporting from inside Iraq. News photographs showed United States and Iraqi military personnel working together to close the office. Initially closed by a one-month ban, the shutdown was extended indefinitely in September 2004, and the offices sealed.<p><a id="On_the_Internet" name="On_the_Internet"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">On the Internet</span></h2>
<p><a id="Arabic_language" name="Arabic_language"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Arabic language</span></h3>
<p>The Arabic version of the site was brought offline for about 10 hours by an <a href="../../wp/f/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation.htm" title="FBI">FBI</a> raid on its ISP, <!--del_lnk--> InfoCom Corporation, on <!--del_lnk--> September 5, <!--del_lnk--> 2001. InfoCom was later convicted of exporting to <a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a>, of knowingly being invested in by a <!--del_lnk--> Hamas member (both of which are illegal in the United States), and of underpaying customs duties.<p><a id="English_language" name="English_language"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">English language</span></h3>
<p>The station launched an <!--del_lnk--> English-language edition of its online content in March, 2003. English broadcasts via satellite began in November 2006.<p><a id="Hacker_attacks" name="Hacker_attacks"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Hacker attacks</span></h4>
<p>Immediately after its launch, the site was attacked by <!--del_lnk--> hackers, who launched <!--del_lnk--> denial-of-service attacks and redirected visitors to a site featuring an <!--del_lnk--> American flag. In November, 2003, <!--del_lnk--> John William Racine II, also known as 'John Buffo', was sentenced to 1000 hours of community service and a $2000 U.S. fine for the online disruption. Racine posed as an Al Jazeera employee to get a password to the network's site, then redirected visitors to a page he created that showed an American flag shaped like a U.S. map and a <!--del_lnk--> patriotic motto, court documents said. In June 2003, Racine pleaded guilty to <!--del_lnk--> wire fraud and unlawful interception of an electronic communication.<p><a id="Provider" name="Provider"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Provider</span></h4>
<p>The site was forced to change <!--del_lnk--> internet hosting providers several times, due, in its opinion, to political pressure. Initially its English-language site was provided by the U.S.-based <!--del_lnk--> DataPipe, which gave it notice, soon followed by <!--del_lnk--> Akamai Technologies. They later shifted to the French branch of <!--del_lnk--> NavLink, and then to (and currently) <a href="../../wp/a/AT%2526T.htm" title="AT&T">AT&T</a> WorldNet Services.<p><a id="Documentaries" name="Documentaries"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Documentaries</span></h2>
<p>Al Jazeera's coverage of the invasion of <a href="../../wp/i/Iraq.htm" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> was the focus of an award-winning 2004 <!--del_lnk--> documentary film, <i><!--del_lnk--> Control Room</i> by Egyptian-American director <!--del_lnk--> Jehane Noujaim. In July 2003, PBS broadcast a documentary, called "Exclusive to al-Jazeera" on its program "<!--del_lnk--> Wide Angle." Another documentary, <i>Al-Jazeera, An Arab Voice for Freedom or Demagoguery? The UNC Tour</i> was filmed two months after the <!--del_lnk--> September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.<p><a id="Awards" name="Awards"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Awards</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>In November 2005, Al Jazeera was awarded by <!--del_lnk--> Index on Censorship for its "courage in circumventing censorship and contributing to the free exchange of information in the Arab world."<li>In April 2004, <!--del_lnk--> Webby Awards nominated Al Jazeera as one of the five best news Web sites, along with <!--del_lnk--> BBC News, <!--del_lnk--> National Geographic, <!--del_lnk--> RocketNews and <!--del_lnk--> The Smoking Gun. According to <!--del_lnk--> Tifanny Schlain, the founder of the Webby Awards, this caused a controversy as [other media organisations] "felt it was a risk-taking site,".<li>In December 1999, <!--del_lnk--> Ibn Rushd (Averoes) Fund for Freedom of Thought in <a href="../../wp/b/Berlin.htm" title="Berlin">Berlin</a> awarded the "Ibn Rushd Award" for media and journalism for the year to Al Jazeera.<li>In 2004, Al Jazeera was voted by <!--del_lnk--> brandchannel.com readers as the fifth most influential global <!--del_lnk--> brand behind <!--del_lnk--> Apple Computer, <a href="../../wp/g/Google.htm" title="Google">Google</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Ikea and <!--del_lnk--> Starbucks.</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alamosaurus</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Dinosaurs.htm">Dinosaurs</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><i><b>Alamosaurus</b></i><br />
<center><small>Fossil range: <!--del_lnk--> Late Cretaceous</small></center>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/150/15049.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="159" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alamosaurus_sanjuanensis_dinosaur.png" src="../../images/150/15049.png" width="200" /></a><br />
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Chordate.htm" title="Chordate">Chordata</a><br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Sauropsid">Sauropsida</a><br />
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<td>Superorder:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/d/Dinosaur.htm" title="Dinosaur">Dinosauria</a><br />
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<td>Order:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/s/Saurischia.htm" title="Saurischia">Saurischia</a><br />
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<td>Suborder:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/s/Sauropodomorpha.htm" title="Sauropodomorpha">Sauropodomorpha</a><br />
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<td>Infraorder:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sauropoda<br />
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<td>(unranked)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Titanosauria<br />
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<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Saltasauridae?<br />
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<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><b>Alamosaurus</b></i><br />
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<td>Species:</td>
<td><span style="white-space: nowrap"><i><b>A. sanjuanensis</b></i></span><br />
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<center><a href="../../wp/b/Binomial_nomenclature.htm" title="Binomial nomenclature">Binomial name</a></center>
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<td><i><b>Alamosaurus sanjuanensis</b></i><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Gilmore, <!--del_lnk--> 1922</small></td>
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<p><i><b>Alamosaurus</b></i>, (AL-a-mo-SAWR-us; meaning "Alamo lizard"), is a <!--del_lnk--> genus of <!--del_lnk--> titanosaurian <!--del_lnk--> sauropod <a href="../../wp/d/Dinosaur.htm" title="Dinosaur">dinosaur</a> from the Late <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> <!--del_lnk--> Period of what is now <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a>. It was a large <!--del_lnk--> quadrupedal <a href="../../wp/h/Herbivore.htm" title="Herbivore">herbivore</a>, up to 53 feet (16 metres) in length and up to 33 tons (30 metric tonnes) in weight. <i>Alamosaurus</i>, like other sauropods, had a long neck and a long tail, which may have ended in a 'whiplash' structure.<p>
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</script><a id="Naming" name="Naming"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Naming</span></h2>
<p>Contrary to popular assertions, this dinosaur is not named after the <!--del_lnk--> Alamo in <!--del_lnk--> San Antonio, <!--del_lnk--> Texas, or the <!--del_lnk--> battle that was fought there. The <!--del_lnk--> holotype, or original specimen, was discovered in <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico and, at the time of its naming, <i>Alamosaurus</i> had not yet been found in Texas. Instead, the name <i>Alamosaurus</i> comes from Ojo Alamo, the former name for the <!--del_lnk--> geologic formation in which it was found (that part of the Ojo Alamo Formation has since been reassigned to <!--del_lnk--> Kirtland Shale) and which was, in turn, named after the nearby Ojo Alamo trading post. The term <i>alamo</i> itself is a <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a> word meaning "poplar" and is used for the local subspecies of <!--del_lnk--> cottonwood <a href="../../wp/t/Tree.htm" title="Tree">tree</a>. The term <i>saurus</i> is derived from <i>saura</i> (σαυρα), <!--del_lnk--> Greek for "lizard" and is the most common suffix used in dinosaur names. There is one <!--del_lnk--> species (<i>A. sanjuanensis</i>), which is named after <!--del_lnk--> San Juan County, New Mexico, where the first remains were found. Both genus and species were named by <!--del_lnk--> Smithsonian <!--del_lnk--> paleontologist <!--del_lnk--> Charles. W. Gilmore in <!--del_lnk--> 1922.<p><a id="Classification" name="Classification"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Classification</span></h2>
<p><i>Alamosaurus</i> is undoubtedly a <!--del_lnk--> derived member of <!--del_lnk--> Titanosauria, but relationships within that group are far from certain. One major analysis unites <i>Alamosaurus</i> with <i><!--del_lnk--> Opisthocoelicaudia</i> in a subfamily <!--del_lnk--> Opisthocoelicaudinae of the family <!--del_lnk--> Saltasauridae (Wilson, 2002). A major competing analysis finds <i>Alamosaurus</i> as a <!--del_lnk--> sister taxon to <i><!--del_lnk--> Pellegrinisaurus</i>, with both genera located just outside Saltasauridae (Upchurch et al., 2004). Other scientists have also noted particular similarities with the saltasaurid <i><!--del_lnk--> Neuquensaurus</i> and the as-yet-unnamed <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazilian</a> "Peiropolis titanosaur" which is used in many <!--del_lnk--> cladistic and <!--del_lnk--> morphologic analyses of titanosaurians (Lehman and Coulson, 2002).<p><a id="History_of_discovery" name="History_of_discovery"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History of discovery</span></h2>
<p><i>Alamosaurus</i> remains have been discovered throughout the <!--del_lnk--> southwestern United States. The <!--del_lnk--> holotype was discovered in the Lower <!--del_lnk--> Kirtland Formation of <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico and, since then, <i>Alamosaurus</i> has also been found in the upper part of the Kirtland, a <!--del_lnk--> formation which was deposited during the <!--del_lnk--> Maastrichtian stage of the <!--del_lnk--> Late Cretaceous Period and is commonly known as the "Kirtland Shale." Bones have also been recovered from other Maastrichtian formations, like the <!--del_lnk--> North Horn Formation of <!--del_lnk--> Utah and the <!--del_lnk--> Black Peaks, <!--del_lnk--> El Picacho and <!--del_lnk--> Javelina Formations of <!--del_lnk--> Texas. These formations start around 74 million years ago and last right up to the <!--del_lnk--> end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years ago. <i>Alamosaurus</i> may have been one of the last dinosaurs to go extinct.<p>Gilmore originally described a <!--del_lnk--> scapula (shoulder bone) and <!--del_lnk--> ischium (<!--del_lnk--> pelvic bone) in <!--del_lnk--> 1922. In <!--del_lnk--> 1946, he found a more complete specimen in Utah, consisting of a complete tail, a right forelimb complete except for the tips of the toes, and both ischia. Since then, many other bits and pieces from Texas, New Mexico, and Utah have been referred to <i>Alamosaurus</i>, often without much description. The most completely known specimen is a recently-discovered juvenile skeleton from Texas, which allowed educated estimates of length and mass (Lehman & Coulson, 2002).<p>No skull material is known, except for a few slender teeth, and no <!--del_lnk--> armor <!--del_lnk--> scutes have been reported, such as those found in other advanced titanosaurians like <i><a href="../../wp/s/Saltasaurus.htm" title="Saltasaurus">Saltasaurus</a></i>.<p>Skeletal elements of <i>Alamosaurus</i> are among the most common Late Cretaceous dinosaur <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossils</a> found in the United States Southwest and are now used to define the <!--del_lnk--> fauna of that time and place. Other contemporaneous dinosaurs from that part of the world include <!--del_lnk--> tyrannosaurs, smaller <!--del_lnk--> theropods, <i><!--del_lnk--> Nodocephalosaurus</i>, <i><a href="../../wp/p/Parasaurolophus.htm" title="Parasaurolophus">Parasaurolophus</a></i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Torosaurus</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Pentaceratops</i>, among others.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamosaurus"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alan Turing</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Mathematicians.htm">Mathematicians</a></h3>
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<p><b>Alan Mathison Turing</b>, <!--del_lnk--> OBE (<!--del_lnk--> June 23, <!--del_lnk--> 1912 – <!--del_lnk--> June 7, <!--del_lnk--> 1954), was an <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">English</a> <!--del_lnk--> mathematician, <a href="../../wp/l/Logic.htm" title="Logician">logician</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> cryptographer. Turing is often considered to be the father of modern <a href="../../wp/c/Computer_science.htm" title="Computer science">computer science</a>.<p>Turing provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the <a href="../../wp/a/Algorithm.htm" title="Algorithm">algorithm</a> and computation with the <!--del_lnk--> Turing machine, formulating the now widely accepted "Turing" version of the <!--del_lnk--> Church–Turing thesis, namely that any practical computing model has either the equivalent or a subset of the capabilities of a Turing machine. With the <!--del_lnk--> Turing test, he made a significant and characteristically provocative contribution to the debate regarding <!--del_lnk--> artificial intelligence: whether it will ever be possible to say that a machine is <!--del_lnk--> conscious and can <!--del_lnk--> think. During <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a>, Turing worked at <!--del_lnk--> Bletchley Park, Britain's <!--del_lnk--> codebreaking centre, and was for a time head of <!--del_lnk--> Hut 8, the section responsible for German Naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the <!--del_lnk--> bombe, an electromechanical machine which could find settings for the <a href="../../wp/e/Enigma_machine.htm" title="Enigma machine">Enigma machine</a>.<p>After the war, he worked at the <!--del_lnk--> National Physical Laboratory, creating one of the first designs for a stored-program computer, although it was never actually built. In 1947 he moved to the <!--del_lnk--> University of Manchester to work, largely on software, on the <!--del_lnk--> Manchester Mark I then emerging as one of the world's earliest true computers.<p>In 1952, Turing was convicted of "acts of gross indecency" after admitting to a sexual relationship with a man in <a href="../../wp/m/Manchester.htm" title="Manchester">Manchester</a>. He was placed on probation and required to undergo <!--del_lnk--> hormone therapy.<p>Turing died after eating an apple laced with <!--del_lnk--> cyanide in 1954, sixteen days short of his 42nd birthday. His death is regarded by most as an act of <!--del_lnk--> suicide.<p>
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</script><a id="Childhood_and_youth" name="Childhood_and_youth"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Childhood and youth</span></h2>
<p>Turing was conceived in 1911 in Chatrapur, <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>. His father, Julius Mathison Turing, was a member of the <!--del_lnk--> Indian civil service. Julius and wife Ethel (<i>née</i> Stoney) wanted Alan to be brought up in <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>, so they returned to <!--del_lnk--> Paddington, <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, where Alan Turing was born June 23, 1912, as recorded by a <!--del_lnk--> blue plaque on the outside of the building, now the Colonnade Hotel. His father's civil service commission was still active, and during Turing's childhood years his parents travelled between <!--del_lnk--> Guildford, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a> and <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>, leaving their two sons to stay with friends in England, rather than risk their health in the British colony. Very early in life, Turing showed signs of the genius he was to display more prominently later. He is said to have taught himself to read in three weeks, and to have shown an early affinity for numbers and puzzles.<p>His parents enrolled him at St. Michael's, a day school, at the age of six. The headmistress recognized his genius early on, as did many of his subsequent educators. In 1926, at the age of 14, he went on to <!--del_lnk--> Sherborne School in <a href="../../wp/d/Dorset.htm" title="Dorset">Dorset</a>. His first day of term coincided with a <!--del_lnk--> general strike in England, and so determined was he to attend his first day that he rode his bike unaccompanied over sixty miles from <a href="../../wp/s/Southampton.htm" title="Southampton">Southampton</a> to school, stopping overnight at an <!--del_lnk--> inn — a feat reported in the local press.<p>Turing's natural inclination toward mathematics and science did not earn him respect with the teachers at Sherborne, a famous and expensive <!--del_lnk--> public school (a British private school with charitable status), whose definition of education placed more emphasis on the <!--del_lnk--> classics. His headmaster wrote to his parents: "I hope he will not fall between two schools. If he is to stay at Public School, he must aim at becoming <i>educated</i>. If he is to be solely a <i>Scientific Specialist</i>, he is wasting his time at a Public School".<p>Despite this, Turing continued to show remarkable ability in the studies he loved, solving advanced problems in 1927 without having even studied elementary <a href="../../wp/c/Calculus.htm" title="Calculus">calculus</a>. In 1928, aged sixteen, Turing encountered <a href="../../wp/a/Albert_Einstein.htm" title="Albert Einstein">Albert Einstein</a>'s work; not only did he grasp it, but he extrapolated Einstein's questioning of <!--del_lnk--> Newton's laws of motion from a text in which this was never made explicit.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:322px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15189.jpg.htm" title="The computer room at King's is now named after Turing, who became a student there in 1931 and a Fellow in 1935."><img alt="The computer room at King's is now named after Turing, who became a student there in 1931 and a Fellow in 1935." height="226" longdesc="/wiki/Image:KingsCollegeChapel.jpg" src="../../images/151/15189.jpg" width="320" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15189.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The computer room at King's is now named after Turing, who became a student there in 1931 and a Fellow in 1935.</div>
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<p>Turing's hopes and ambitions at school were raised by his strong feelings for his friend <!--del_lnk--> Christopher Morcom, with whom he fell in love, though the feeling was not reciprocated. Morcom suddenly died only a few weeks into their last term at Sherborne, from complications of <!--del_lnk--> bovine <a href="../../wp/t/Tuberculosis.htm" title="Tuberculosis">tuberculosis</a>, contracted after drinking infected cow's milk as a boy. Turing was heart-broken.<p><a id="University_and_his_work_on_computability" name="University_and_his_work_on_computability"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">University and his work on computability</span></h2>
<p>Due to his unwillingness to work as hard on his classical studies as on science and mathematics, Turing failed to win a scholarship to <a href="../../wp/t/Trinity_College%252C_Cambridge.htm" title="Trinity College, Cambridge">Trinity College, Cambridge</a>, and went on to the college of his second choice, <!--del_lnk--> King's College, Cambridge. He was an undergraduate from 1931 to 1934, graduating with a distinguished degree, and in 1935 was elected a Fellow at King's on the strength of a dissertation on the Gaussian <!--del_lnk--> error function.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:322px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15190.jpg.htm" title="Alan Turing, on the steps of the bus, with members of the Walton Athletic Club, 1946."><img alt="Alan Turing, on the steps of the bus, with members of the Walton Athletic Club, 1946." height="212" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Turingbus.jpg" src="../../images/151/15190.jpg" width="320" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15190.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Alan Turing, on the steps of the bus, with members of the Walton Athletic Club, 1946.</div>
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<p>In his momentous paper "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the <i><!--del_lnk--> Entscheidungsproblem</i>" (submitted on <!--del_lnk--> May 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1936), Turing reformulated <!--del_lnk--> Kurt Gödel's 1931 results on the limits of proof and computation, substituting Gödel's universal arithmetics-based formal language by what are now called <!--del_lnk--> Turing machines, formal and simple devices. He proved that such a machine would be capable of performing any conceivable mathematical problem if it were representable as an <a href="../../wp/a/Algorithm.htm" title="Algorithm">algorithm</a>, even if no actual Turing machine would be likely to have practical applications, being much slower than alternatives.<p>Turing machines are to this day the central object of study in <!--del_lnk--> theory of computation. He went on to prove that there was no solution to the <i><!--del_lnk--> Entscheidungsproblem</i> by first showing that the <!--del_lnk--> halting problem for Turing machines is <!--del_lnk--> undecidable: it is not possible to decide algorithmically whether a given Turing machine will ever halt. While his proof was published subsequent to <!--del_lnk--> Alonzo Church's equivalent proof in respect to his <!--del_lnk--> lambda calculus, Turing's work is considerably more accessible and intuitive. It was also novel in its notion of a "Universal (Turing) Machine," the idea that such a machine could perform the tasks of any other machine. The paper also introduces the notion of <!--del_lnk--> definable numbers.<p>Most of 1937 and 1938 he spent at <a href="../../wp/p/Princeton_University.htm" title="Princeton University">Princeton University</a>, studying under Alonzo Church. In 1938 he obtained his <!--del_lnk--> Ph.D. from Princeton; his dissertation introduced the notion of relative computing where Turing machines are augmented with so-called <!--del_lnk--> oracles, allowing a study of problems that cannot be solved by a Turing machine.<p>Back in Cambridge in 1939, he attended lectures by <a href="../../wp/l/Ludwig_Wittgenstein.htm" title="Ludwig Wittgenstein">Ludwig Wittgenstein</a> about the <!--del_lnk--> foundations of mathematics. The two argued and disagreed, with Turing defending <!--del_lnk--> formalism and Wittgenstein arguing that mathematics is overvalued and does not discover any absolute truths.<p><a id="Cryptanalysis" name="Cryptanalysis"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Cryptanalysis</span></h2>
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<div style="width:242px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15191.jpg.htm" title="Two cottages in the stable yard at Bletchley Park. Turing worked here from 1939–1940 until he moved to Hut 8."><img alt="Two cottages in the stable yard at Bletchley Park. Turing worked here from 1939–1940 until he moved to Hut 8." height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Turing_flat.jpg" src="../../images/151/15191.jpg" width="240" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15191.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Two cottages in the stable yard at Bletchley Park. Turing worked here from 1939–1940 until he moved to Hut 8.</div>
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<p>During <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a>, Turing was a major participant in the efforts at <!--del_lnk--> Bletchley Park to break German ciphers. Building on cryptanalysis work carried out in Poland prior to the outbreak of war, he contributed several insights into breaking both the <a href="../../wp/e/Enigma_machine.htm" title="Enigma machine">Enigma machine</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> Lorenz SZ 40/42 (a teletype cipher attachment codenamed "Tunny" by the British), and was, for a time, head of Hut 8, the section responsible for reading German Naval signals.<p>Since September 1938, Turing had been working part-time for the <!--del_lnk--> Government Code and Cypher School. Turing reported to <!--del_lnk--> Bletchley Park on <!--del_lnk--> 4 September <!--del_lnk--> 1939, the day after Britain declared war on Germany.<p><a id="The_Turing-Welchman_bombe" name="The_Turing-Welchman_bombe"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The Turing-Welchman bombe</span></h3>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15192.jpg.htm" title="Replica of a bombe machine"><img alt="Replica of a bombe machine" height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Bombe-rebuild.jpg" src="../../images/151/15192.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15192.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Replica of a bombe machine</div>
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<p>Within weeks of arriving at Bletchley Park, Turing had devised an electromechanical machine which could help break Enigma: the <!--del_lnk--> bombe, named after the Polish-designed <i><!--del_lnk--> bomba</i>. The bombe, with an enhancement suggested by mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Gordon Welchman, became the primary tool used to read Enigma traffic.<p>The bombe searched for the correct settings of the Enigma rotors, and required a suitable "<!--del_lnk--> crib": a piece of matching <!--del_lnk--> plaintext and <!--del_lnk--> ciphertext. For each possible setting of the rotors, the bombe performed a chain of logical deductions based on the crib, implemented electrically. The bombe detected when a contradiction had occurred, and ruled out that setting, moving onto the next. Most of the possible settings would cause contradictions and be discarded, leaving only a few to be investigated in detail. Turing's bombe was first installed on <!--del_lnk--> 18 March <!--del_lnk--> 1940. Over 200 bombes were in operation by the end of the war.<p><a id="Hut_8_and_Naval_Enigma" name="Hut_8_and_Naval_Enigma"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Hut 8 and Naval Enigma</span></h3>
<p>In December 1940, Turing solved the naval Enigma indicator system, which was more complex than the indicator systems used by the other services. Turing also invented a <!--del_lnk--> Bayesian statistical technique termed "<!--del_lnk--> Banburismus" to assist in breaking Naval Enigma. Banburismus could rule out certain orders of the Enigma rotors, reducing time needed to test settings on the bombes.<p>In the spring of 1941, Turing proposed marriage to Hut 8 co-worker <!--del_lnk--> Joan Clarke, although the engagement was broken off by mutual agreement in the summer.<p>In July 1942, Turing devised a technique termed <i>Turingismus</i> or <i>Turingery</i> for use against the Lorenz cipher. A frequent misconception is that Turing was a key figure in the design of the <!--del_lnk--> Colossus computer; this was not the case.<p>Turing travelled to the United States in November 1942 and liaised with US Navy cryptanalysts on Naval Enigma and bombe construction in Washington, and assisted at <!--del_lnk--> Bell Labs with the development of <!--del_lnk--> secure speech devices. He returned to Bletchley Park in March 1943. During his absence, <!--del_lnk--> Hugh Alexander had assumed the position of head of Hut 8, although Alexander had been <i>de facto</i> head for some time, Turing having little interest in the day-to-day running of the section. Turing became a general consultant for cryptanalysis at Bletchley Park.<p>In the latter part of the war, teaching himself electronics at the same time, Turing undertook (assisted by engineer <!--del_lnk--> Donald Bayley) the design of a portable machine codenamed <i><!--del_lnk--> Delilah</i> to allow <!--del_lnk--> secure voice communications. Intended for different applications, Delilah lacked capability for use with long-distance radio transmissions, and was completed too late to be used in the war. Though Turing demonstrated it to officials by encrypting/decrypting a recording of a <a href="../../wp/w/Winston_Churchill.htm" title="Winston Churchill">Winston Churchill</a> speech, Delilah was not adopted for use.<p>In 1945, Turing was awarded the <!--del_lnk--> OBE for his wartime services, but his work remained secret until many years. A biography published by the Royal Society shortly after his death recorded:<dl>
<dd>"Three remarkable papers written just before the war, on three diverse mathematical subjects, show the qualilty of the work that might have been produced if he had settled down to work on some big problem at that critical time. For his work at the Foreign Office he was awarded the OBE."</dl>
<p><a id="Early_computers_and_the_Turing_Test" name="Early_computers_and_the_Turing_Test"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early computers and the Turing Test</span></h2>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15193.jpg.htm" title="Turing achieved world-class Marathon standards. His best time of 2 hours, 46 minutes, 3 seconds, was only 11 minutes slower than the winner in the 1948 Olympic Games. "><img alt="Turing achieved world-class Marathon standards. His best time of 2 hours, 46 minutes, 3 seconds, was only 11 minutes slower than the winner in the 1948 Olympic Games. " height="314" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Turingrunning.jpeg" src="../../images/151/15193.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">Turing achieved world-class <!--del_lnk--> Marathon standards. His best time of 2 hours, 46 minutes, 3 seconds, was only 11 minutes slower than the winner in the <!--del_lnk--> 1948 Olympic Games. </div>
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<p>From 1945 to 1947 he was at the <!--del_lnk--> National Physical Laboratory, where he worked on the design of the <!--del_lnk--> ACE (Automatic Computing Engine). He presented a paper on February 19, 1946, which was the first complete design of a <!--del_lnk--> stored-program computer in Britain. Although he succeeded in designing the ACE, there were delays in starting the project and he became disillusioned. In late 1947 he returned to Cambridge for a 'sabbatical' year. While he was at Cambridge, ACE was completed in his absence and executed its first program on May 10, 1950. In 1949 he became deputy director of the computing laboratory at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Manchester, and worked on software for one of the earliest true computers — the <!--del_lnk--> Manchester Mark I. During this time he continued to do more abstract work, and in "<!--del_lnk--> Computing machinery and intelligence" (Mind, October 1950), Turing addressed the problem of <!--del_lnk--> artificial intelligence, and proposed an experiment now known as the <!--del_lnk--> Turing test, an attempt to define a standard for a machine to be called "sentient".<p>In 1948, Turing, working with his former undergraduate colleague, <!--del_lnk--> D.G. Champernowne, began writing a chess program for a computer that did not yet exist. In 1952, lacking a computer powerful enough to execute the program, Turing played a game in which he simulated the computer, taking about half an hour per move. <!--del_lnk--> The game was recorded; the program lost to Turing's colleague <!--del_lnk--> Alick Glennie, although it is said that it won a game against Champernowne's wife.<p><a id="Pattern_formation_and_mathematical_biology" name="Pattern_formation_and_mathematical_biology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Pattern formation and mathematical biology</span></h2>
<p>Turing worked from 1952 until his death in 1954 on <!--del_lnk--> mathematical biology, specifically <!--del_lnk--> morphogenesis. He published one paper on the subject called "The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis" in 1952. His central interest in the field was understanding <!--del_lnk--> Fibonacci <!--del_lnk--> phyllotaxis, the existence of <!--del_lnk--> Fibonacci numbers in plant structures. He used reaction-diffusion equations which are now central to the field of <!--del_lnk--> pattern formation. Later papers went unpublished until 1992 when <i>Collected Works of A.M. Turing</i> was published.<p><a id="Prosecution_for_homosexual_acts_and_Turing.27s_death" name="Prosecution_for_homosexual_acts_and_Turing.27s_death"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Prosecution for homosexual acts and Turing's death</span></h2>
<p>Turing was a homosexual during a period when homosexual acts were illegal and homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness. In 1952, Arnold Murray, a 19-year-old recent acquaintance of his helped an accomplice to break into Turing's house, and Turing went to the police to report the crime. As a result of the police investigation, Turing acknowledged a sexual relationship with Murray, and they were charged with gross indecency under <!--del_lnk--> Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. Turing was unrepentant and was convicted. He was given the choice between imprisonment and probation, conditional on him undergoing <!--del_lnk--> hormonal <!--del_lnk--> treatment designed to reduce <!--del_lnk--> libido. In order to avoid going to jail, he accepted the <!--del_lnk--> oestrogen hormone injections, which lasted for a year, with side effects including the <!--del_lnk--> development of breasts. His conviction led to a removal of his security clearance and prevented him from continuing consultancy for <!--del_lnk--> GCHQ on cryptographic matters.<p>In 1954, he died of <!--del_lnk--> cyanide <!--del_lnk--> poisoning, apparently from a cyanide-laced apple he left half-eaten. The apple itself was never tested for contamination with cyanide, and cyanide poisoning as a cause of death was established by a post-mortem. Most believe that his death was intentional, and the death was ruled a <!--del_lnk--> suicide. It is rumoured that this method of self-poisoning was in tribute to Turing's beloved film <i><!--del_lnk--> Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i>. His mother, however, strenuously argued that the ingestion was accidental due to his careless storage of laboratory chemicals. Friends of his have said that Turing may have killed himself in this ambiguous way quite deliberately, to give his mother some plausible deniability. The possibility of assassination has also been suggested, owing to Turing's involvement in the <!--del_lnk--> Secret Service and the perception of Turing as a security risk due to his homosexuality.<p>In the book <i>Zeroes and Ones</i>, author <!--del_lnk--> Sadie Plant speculates that the <a href="../../wp/r/Rainbow.htm" title="Rainbow">rainbow</a> <!--del_lnk--> Apple logo with a bite taken out of it was a homage to Turing. This is unlikely: firstly because Apple's original logo depicted Isaac Newton under an apple tree, so any connection to Turing was at most an afterthought; and secondly because Gilbert Baker's <!--del_lnk--> rainbow pride flag, a <!--del_lnk--> gay pride emblem, was designed two years after the Apple logo, making it unlikely that the logo was meant to have a gay theme. In his book <i><!--del_lnk--> iWoz</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Steve Wozniak confirms that the naming of Apple was done when he and <!--del_lnk--> Steve Jobs passed an apple orchard while driving, and was not a tribute to Turing.<p><a id="Posthumous_recognition" name="Posthumous_recognition"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Posthumous recognition</span></h2>
<p>Since 1966, the <!--del_lnk--> Turing Award has been given annually by the <!--del_lnk--> Association for Computing Machinery to a person for technical contributions to the computing community. It is widely considered to be the computing world's equivalent to the <!--del_lnk--> Nobel Prize.<p>Various tributes to Turing have been made in Manchester, the city where he worked towards the end of his life. In 1994 a stretch of the <a href="../../wp/m/Manchester.htm" title="Manchester">Manchester</a> city inner ring road was named Alan Turing Way.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15194.jpg.htm" title="Alan Turing memorial statue in Sackville Park"><img alt="Alan Turing memorial statue in Sackville Park" height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alan_Turing_Memorial_Closer.jpg" src="../../images/151/15194.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15194.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Alan Turing memorial statue in Sackville Park</div>
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<p>A <!--del_lnk--> statue of Turing was unveiled in <a href="../../wp/m/Manchester.htm" title="Manchester">Manchester</a> on <!--del_lnk--> June 23, <!--del_lnk--> 2001. It is in <!--del_lnk--> Sackville Park, between the <!--del_lnk--> University of Manchester building on Whitworth Street and the <!--del_lnk--> Canal Street '<!--del_lnk--> gay village'. A celebration of Turing's life and achievements arranged by the <!--del_lnk--> British Logic Colloquium and the <!--del_lnk--> British Society for the History of Mathematics was held at the on <!--del_lnk--> 5 June <!--del_lnk--> 2004 at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Manchester and the <!--del_lnk--> Alan Turing Institute was initiated in the university, that summer.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> 23 June <!--del_lnk--> 1998, on what would have been Turing's 86th birthday, <!--del_lnk--> Andrew Hodges, his biographer, unveiled an official <!--del_lnk--> English Heritage <!--del_lnk--> Blue Plaque on his childhood home in Warrington Crescent, <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, now the Colonnade hotel. To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, a memorial plaque was unveiled at his former residence, Hollymeade, in Wilmslow on <!--del_lnk--> June 7, <!--del_lnk--> 2004.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15195.jpg.htm" title="Plaque marking Turing's home"><img alt="Plaque marking Turing's home" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Turing_Plaque.jpg" src="../../images/151/15195.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15195.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Plaque marking Turing's home</div>
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<p>For his achievements in computing, various universities have honoured him. On <!--del_lnk--> October 28, <!--del_lnk--> 2004 a bronze statue of Alan Turing sculpted by <!--del_lnk--> John W. Mills was unveiled at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Surrey <!--del_lnk--> . The statue marks the 50th anniversary of Turing's death. It portrays Turing carrying his books across the campus. The <!--del_lnk--> Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico and Los Andes University of Bogotá, Colombia, both have computer laboratories named after Turing. The <a href="../../wp/u/University_of_Texas_at_Austin.htm" title="University of Texas at Austin">University of Texas at Austin</a> has an honours computer science program named the <!--del_lnk--> Turing Scholars. <!--del_lnk--> Istanbul Bilgi University organizes an annual conference on the theory of computation called <!--del_lnk--> Turing Days. <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Mellon University has a granite bench, situated in The Hornbostel Mall, with the name "Alan Turing" carved across the top, "Read" down the left leg, and "Write" down the other.<p>The <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston</a> <!--del_lnk--> GLBT pride organization named Turing their 2006 <!--del_lnk--> Honorary Grand Marshal<p><a id="Turing_biographies" name="Turing_biographies"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Turing biographies</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Turing's mother, Sara Turing, who survived him by many years, wrote a biography of her son glorifying his life.<li>Andrew Hodges wrote a definitive biography <i>Alan Turing: The Enigma</i> in 1983 (see references below).<li>The play <i>Breaking the Code</i> by Hugh Whitemore is about the life and death of Turing. In the original <!--del_lnk--> West End and <!--del_lnk--> Broadway runs, the role of Turing was played by <!--del_lnk--> Derek Jacobi, who also played Turing in a 1996 television adaptation of the play.<li>Turing is examined in <i><!--del_lnk--> A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Janna Levin.<li><cite class="book" style="font-style:normal">Leavitt, David (2005). <i>The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer</i>. New York: W. W. Norton. <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0-393-05236-2.</cite></ul>
<ul>
<li>Code-Breaker, by Jim Holt is reviewed by the New Yorker here: <!--del_lnk--> http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?060206crbo_books</ul>
<p><a id="Further_reading" name="Further_reading"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Turing in fiction</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Physicist <!--del_lnk--> Janna Levin's novel <i><!--del_lnk--> A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines</i> focuses on the lives of both Alan Turing and <!--del_lnk--> Kurt Gödel.<li>Turing appears as a character in <!--del_lnk--> Neal Stephenson's <i><!--del_lnk--> Cryptonomicon</i>.<li>A young Alan Turing introduces the title character to <!--del_lnk--> Gödel's first <!--del_lnk--> incompleteness theorem in <!--del_lnk--> Apostolos Doxiadis's novel <i><!--del_lnk--> Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture</i>.<li>In the 1989 <i><a href="../../wp/d/Doctor_Who.htm" title="Doctor Who">Doctor Who</a></i> serial <i><!--del_lnk--> The Curse of Fenric</i>, the character of Dr. Judson is based on Turing. Turing himself is a narrator of the <!--del_lnk--> <i>Doctor Who</i> spin-off <!--del_lnk--> novel <i><!--del_lnk--> The Turing Test</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Paul Leonard.<li><!--del_lnk--> Greg Egan's novella, <i><!--del_lnk--> Oracle</i>, is about an alternate universe version of Turing<li>In <!--del_lnk--> John Banville's <i>The Untouchable</i>, the character Alastair Sykes is modeled on Alan Turing.<li>In William Gibson's seminal science fiction novel "Neuromancer", the sinister body tasked with the regulation and suppression of Artificial Intelligences is called the "Turing Police".</ul>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Albania</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Countries.htm">Countries</a>; <a href="../index/subject.Geography.European_Geography.European_Countries.htm">European Countries</a></h3><div class="soslink"> SOS Children works in Albania. For more information see <a href="../../wp/a/Albania_B.htm" title="SOS Children in Albania">SOS Children in Albania</a></div>
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<table class="infobox geography" style="width:23em;">
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<td align="center" class="mergedtoprow" colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; font-size:1.2em;"><i><b>Republika e Shqipërisë</b></i><br /><b>Republic of Albania</b></td>
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<td align="center" class="maptable" colspan="2" style="padding:0.4em 0.8em 0.4em 0.8em;">
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<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><span style="border:1px solid #bbbbbb; display:table-cell;"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/746.png.htm" title="Flag of Albania"><img alt="Flag of Albania" height="83" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Albania.svg" src="../../images/158/15871.png" width="125" /></a></span></td>
<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/158/15872.png.htm" title="Coat of arms of Albania"><img alt="Coat of arms of Albania" height="128" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albania_state_emblem.png" src="../../images/158/15872.png" width="85" /></a></td>
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<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Flag</small></td>
<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Coat of arms</small></td>
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<td colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Anthem: <i><!--del_lnk--> Hymni i Flamurit</i><br /> ("Hymn to the Flag")</td>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 1em;">
<div class="center">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/158/15873.png.htm" title="Location of Albania"><img alt="Location of Albania" height="115" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LocationAlbania.png" src="../../images/158/15873.png" width="250" /></a></span></div>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> <b>Capital</b><br /><!--del_lnk--> (and largest city)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Tirana<br /><small><span class="plainlinksneverexpand"><!--del_lnk--> 41°20′N 19°48′E</span></small></td>
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<th><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><!--del_lnk--> Official languages</span></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Albanian</td>
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<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;"><b><a href="../../wp/l/List_of_countries_by_system_of_government.htm" title="List of countries by system of government">Government</a></b></td>
<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;">Emerging <a href="../../wp/d/Democracy.htm" title="Democracy">democracy</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> President</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Alfred Moisiu</td>
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<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Prime Minister</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sali Berisha</td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Independence</th>
<td>From <a href="../../wp/o/Ottoman_Empire.htm" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a> </td>
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<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Date</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> November 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1912 </td>
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<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Area</th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Total</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 28 748 km² (<!--del_lnk--> 139th)<br /> 11,100 sq mi </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Water (%)</td>
<td>4.7%</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Population</th>
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<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - 2006 estimate</td>
<td>3,581,655 (<!--del_lnk--> 134th)</td>
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<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Density</td>
<td>123/km²/km² (<!--del_lnk--> 63)<br /> 318.6/sq mi</td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> GDP (<!--del_lnk--> PPP)</th>
<td>2005 estimate</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Total</td>
<td>$16.9 billion (<!--del_lnk--> 112th)</td>
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<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Per capita</td>
<td>$5,405 (<!--del_lnk--> 100th)</td>
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<th><b><!--del_lnk--> HDI</b> (2003)</th>
<td>0.780 (<font color="#FFCC00">medium</font>) (<!--del_lnk--> 72nd)</td>
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<th><a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">Currency</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Lek (<code><!--del_lnk--> ALL</code>)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><a href="../../wp/t/Time_zone.htm" title="Time zone">Time zone</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CET (<!--del_lnk--> UTC+1)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Summer (<!--del_lnk--> DST)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CEST (<!--del_lnk--> UTC+2)</td>
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<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Internet TLD</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> .al</td>
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<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Calling code</th>
<td>+355</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The <b>Republic of Albania</b> (<!--del_lnk--> Albanian: <i>Republika e Shqipërisë</i>, <!--del_lnk--> IPA <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɾɛˈpubliˌka ɛ ˌʃcipəˈɾis]</span>) is a <!--del_lnk--> Balkan country in <!--del_lnk--> Southeastern Europe. It borders <a href="../../wp/m/Montenegro.htm" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a> to the north, <a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> to the northeast, the <a href="../../wp/r/Republic_of_Macedonia.htm" title="Republic of Macedonia">Republic of Macedonia</a> in the east, and <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> in the south. It has a coast on the <!--del_lnk--> Adriatic Sea to the west and a coast on the <!--del_lnk--> Ionian Sea to the southwest. Despite having a troubled history, the country has been classified as an emerging <a href="../../wp/d/Democracy.htm" title="Democracy">democracy</a> since the 1990s.<p>
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<p><a id="Prehistory" name="Prehistory"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Prehistory</span></h3>
<p>Many historians believe Albanians to be the direct descendants of <!--del_lnk--> Illyrians. Some, however, disagree over the origin of the Illyrians. Some maintain that the Illyrians descended from the <!--del_lnk--> Pelasgians while other scholars place them in the later wave of Indo-European invasions. Their presence can be traced back to the formulation of their political structure in the <!--del_lnk--> 7th and <!--del_lnk--> 6th centuries BC. Excellent metal craftsmen and fierce warriors, the Illyrians formed warlord-based kingdoms that fought amongst themselves for most of their history. Only during the 6th century BC did the Illyrians venture significant raids against their immediate neighbours: the kingdom of the <!--del_lnk--> Molossians in southern Albania, the kingdom of <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedon</a>, and the kingdom of <!--del_lnk--> Paionia.<p>The lands that are today inhabited by Albanians were first populated in the Paleolithic Age (<a href="../../wp/s/Stone_Age.htm" title="Stone Age">Stone Age</a>), over 100,000 years ago. The first zones that were initially settled were those with adequate geographical conditions. In Albania, the earliest settlements have been discovered in the Gajtan cavern (Shkodra), in Konispol, at mount Dajti, and at Xara (Saranda). Primitive peoples lived in secluded groups, mainly in dry caves that would also protect from the wind. They used stones and bones as their tools. Places such as caverns and terrains close to rivers were used to work on stone. In any case, the tools from this age were simple and created primarily from stone. Paleolithic peoples fed on collected products from plants and hunted wild animals. Because of the harsh conditions that they lived in, they had a short lifespan of around 21-30 years, with higher youth mortality. The fight against harsh living conditions led to strengthened connections among the members of each group and in a change of organization of primitive peoples. At the end of the Paleolithic Age, the primitives transformed into a grouping among bloodlines where the origins were traced to the mother. Thus a matriarchal society developed, which became common in later periods in the Neolithic age (<!--del_lnk--> New Stone Age). The inhabitation of Albanian lands increased in the Neolithic age. People began to abandon caverns and settle in open areas. Neolithic people were more prone to build their settlements in open fields or next to rivers. A large number of such settlements are discovered in Albania, <a href="../../wp/k/Kosovo.htm" title="Kosovo">Kosovo</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Montenegro.htm" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a>, and the <a href="../../wp/r/Republic_of_Macedonia.htm" title="Republic of Macedonia">Republic of Macedonia</a>.<p>Aboriginals gradually developed stable settlements and started an agricultural economy. They knew how to plant barley, millet, and rice. This was associated with the development of matriarchy and this epoch saw the beginning of paired marriages.<p><a id="Aboriginal_discoveries" name="Aboriginal_discoveries"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Aboriginal discoveries</span></h3>
<p>Among the most prominent inventions during the Paleolithic Age was the discovery of fire, which aided ancient inhabitants in cooking food and provided warmth. The cooking of food by fire brought qualitative changes to the digestive organs of humans. Economic changes and social organization of the epoch influenced other technical inventions. Humans learned to work with mud and make utensils, which were frequently artistically decorated. They also learned to work with fabric and build huts made of canes and layered with mud for protection against the wind. Tools in the Neolithic epoch were far superior to those of earlier times.<p>A bonanza of new tools were invented. Spades for working the land and hammers were made out of deer horns. Fishing increased and was improved with the creation of fishing nets and hooks. Tools for hunting wild animals were also invented or refined. The economy was further expanded with the taming of wild animals. Although primitive, hunting enabled people of this epoch to tame the sheep, goat, horse, and dog. All of these circumstances forced the connection of generic groups, improved connections with other groups and stimulated exchanges even in far away regions. In the Bronze Age, 3000-2100 B.C., new changes came about. The stockbreeding and agricultural economies separated, enabling specific groups to master either stockbreeding or agriculture. Shepherds were more nomadic and began to live again in caves. New settlements were founded and people began to build settlements next to rivers, with the foundations being in the rivers. Tools were now made from bronze and sparked a variety of new techniques. Domesticated animals helped to cultivate the land. The stockbreeding economy gave an advantage to men and the matriarchal system began to weaken. This epoch produced the patriarchal system, which was further strengthened in the Iron age.<p><a id="Pelasgians" name="Pelasgians"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Pelasgians</span></h3>
<p>The <a href="../../wp/b/Bronze_Age.htm" title="Bronze Age">Bronze Age</a> is characterized with shifting demographics. Stockbreeding people came from the east around the mid 3000s B.C. to the early 2000s B.C.. They mixed with the indigenous peoples and thus created the Indo-European peoples of the <!--del_lnk--> Balkans. This population is believed to be the ancient Pelasgians, which have been mentioned frequently by ancient writers such as <a href="../../wp/h/Homer.htm" title="Homer">Homer</a>, <a href="../../wp/h/Herodotus.htm" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a>, and <a href="../../wp/t/Thucydides.htm" title="Thucydides">Thucydides</a>. The Pelasgians are known as the most ancient inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula, living before Illyrian or Greek times. From their first appearance in the region, the Pelasgians adopted a matriarchal system. Several different opinions arise when their ethnicity is analyzed. From the 17th century, specifically from the Albanian Rilindja (Rebirth), the theory that the Pelasgian language was connected with Albanian was dominant among Albanian and foreign researchers. The most active supporter of this theory was Austrian linguist <!--del_lnk--> Hahn.<p>The differentiation of populations by ethnicity began during the Bronze Age. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian in the 5th century B.C., writes about the Pelasgians that continued to live in Greece. According to him, the language of the Pelasgians was different from Greek. They dealt with agriculture and the sea and were excellent builders. The Pelasgians built the wall around the <!--del_lnk--> Acropolis of Athens and were rewarded with lands in <!--del_lnk--> Attica by the Athenians. These worthless lands were turned into excellent agricultural resources by the Pelasgians.<p><a id="Illyrians" name="Illyrians"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Illyrians</span></h3>
<p>The Illyrians created and developed their culture, language and anthropological features in the western part of the Balkans, where ancient writers mention them in their works. The regions that the Illyrians inhabited are considerably expansive. They include the entire western peninsula, north to central Europe, south to the <!--del_lnk--> Ambracian Gulf (Preveza, Greece), and east around the Lyhind Lake (<!--del_lnk--> Ohrid Lake). Other Illyrian tribes also migrated and developed in Italy. Among them were the <!--del_lnk--> Messapii and <!--del_lnk--> Iapyges. The name 'Illyria' is mentioned in works since the 5th century B.C. while some tribe names are mentioned as early as the 12th century B.C. by Homer. The ethnic formation of the Illyrians, however, is much older.<p>The beginning of Illyrian origins in by the 15th century B.C., from the mid-Bronze Age, when Illyrian ethnic features began to form. By the Iron Age, the Illyrians were fully distinct and had inherited their developing anthropological features and language from the Neolithic and Bronze ages. The old theory that the Illyrians came from Central Europe during the 7th-9th centuries has been disproved and disbanded by studies performed following World War II. The fact that graves with urns, characteristic of Central Europe, are not found in Illyrian settlements severely damage the theory. Central European influence on the Illyrians is a result of cultural exchanges and movement of artisans.<p><a id="Roman_and_Byzantine_rule" name="Roman_and_Byzantine_rule"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Roman and Byzantine rule</span></h3>
<p>After being conquered by the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Illyria was reorganized as a <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Roman</a> province. <!--del_lnk--> Illyricum was later divided into the provinces of <!--del_lnk--> Dalmatia and <!--del_lnk--> Pannonia, the lands comprising modern-day Albania mostly being included in the former. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a> governed the region. It was also ruled by the <!--del_lnk--> Bulgarian and the <!--del_lnk--> Serbian Empire at various points in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>.<p><a id="Ottoman_rule" name="Ottoman_rule"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ottoman rule</span></h3>
<p>In the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>, the name <i>Albania</i> (see <i><!--del_lnk--> Origin and history of the name Albania</i>) began to be increasingly applied to the region now comprising the nation of Albania. From 1443 to 1468 <!--del_lnk--> Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg led a successful resistance against the invading <!--del_lnk--> Ottomans. After the death of Skanderbeg, resistance continued until 1478, although with only moderate success. The loyalties and alliances created and nurtured by Skanderbeg faltered and fell apart, and the Ottomans conquered the territory of Albania shortly after the fall of <!--del_lnk--> Kruje's castle. Albania then became part of the <a href="../../wp/o/Ottoman_Empire.htm" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a>. Following this, many Albanians fled to neighboring <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, mostly to <!--del_lnk--> Calabria and <!--del_lnk--> Sicily. The majority of the Albanian population that remained converted to <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islam</a>. They would remain a part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15875.jpg.htm" title="Statue of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Skanderbeg is considered the national hero of Albania."><img alt="Statue of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Skanderbeg is considered the national hero of Albania." height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Skenderbeustatue.jpg" src="../../images/158/15875.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15875.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Statue of <!--del_lnk--> Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Skanderbeg is considered the national hero of Albania.</div>
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<p><a id="Effects_of_the_Balkan_Wars" name="Effects_of_the_Balkan_Wars"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Effects of the Balkan Wars</span></h3>
<p>After the <!--del_lnk--> Second Balkan War, the <!--del_lnk--> Ottomans were removed from Albania and there was a possibility of some of the lands being absorbed by <a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> and the southern tip by <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a>. This decision angered the <!--del_lnk--> Italians, who did not want <a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> to have an extended coastline, and it also angered the <!--del_lnk--> Austro-Hungarians, who did not want a powerful Serbia on their southern border. Despite Serbian, Montenegrin, and Greek occupation forces on the ground, and under immense pressure from Austria-Hungary, it was decided that the country should not be divided but instead consolidated into the <a href="../../wp/p/Principality.htm" title="Principality">Principality</a> of Albania. From 1928, the country was ruled by Ahmet Zogu, who renamed himself <!--del_lnk--> King Zog I.<p><a id="World_War_II_and_Enver_Hoxha_rule" name="World_War_II_and_Enver_Hoxha_rule"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">World War II and Enver Hoxha rule</span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15876.jpg.htm" title="Enver Hoxha"><img alt="Enver Hoxha" height="279" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Enver.jpg" src="../../images/158/15876.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15876.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Enver Hoxha</div>
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<p>Italy invaded Albania on <!--del_lnk--> 7 April <!--del_lnk--> 1939, meeting little resistance, and took control of the country. Albanian communists and nationalists actively fought a partisan war against the Italian and German invasions in <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a>. The socialists (most often called communists) took over after World War II. In November 1944 the communists gained control of the government under the leader of the resistance, <!--del_lnk--> Enver Hoxha. The <!--del_lnk--> Communist Party was created on <!--del_lnk--> November 8, <!--del_lnk--> 1941 with the help of <!--del_lnk--> Bolshevik <a href="../../wp/c/Communism.htm" title="Communist">Communist</a> Parties.<p>For the many decades under his totalitarian domination, Hoxha created and destroyed relationships with <a href="../../wp/y/Yugoslavia.htm" title="Yugoslavia">Yugoslavia</a>, the <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>, and <a href="../../wp/p/People%2527s_Republic_of_China.htm" title="People's Republic of China">China</a>. Towards the end of the Hoxha era, Albania was isolated, first from the capitalist West (Western Europe, North America and Australasia) and later even from the communist East.<p><a id="The_fall_of_communism.2C_and_democratic_Albania" name="The_fall_of_communism.2C_and_democratic_Albania"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The fall of communism, and democratic Albania</span></h3>
<p>In 1985, Hoxha died and <!--del_lnk--> Ramiz Alia took his place. Initially, Alia tried hard to follow in Hoxha's footsteps, but in Eastern Europe changes had already started: <a href="../../wp/m/Mikhail_Gorbachev.htm" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> had appeared in the <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> with new policies (<!--del_lnk--> glasnost and <!--del_lnk--> perestroika). The Albanian totalitarian regime was under pressure from the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, Europe, and the anger and despair of its own people. After <!--del_lnk--> Nicolae Ceauşescu, the communist leader of <a href="../../wp/r/Romania.htm" title="Romania">Romania</a>, was executed in a revolution in 1989, Alia signed the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Nations.htm" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> <!--del_lnk--> Helsinki Agreement, which had already been signed by many other countries in 1975, that respected some <a href="../../wp/h/Human_rights.htm" title="Human rights">human rights</a>. He also allowed <!--del_lnk--> pluralism, and even though his party won the election of 1991, it was clear that change would not be stopped. In 1992 general elections were held again and won by the new Democratic Party with 62% of the votes. Alia resigned and <!--del_lnk--> Sali Berisha was the first post-communist president elected.<p>In the general elections of June 1996 the Democratic Party tried to win an absolute majority and manipulated the results , winning over 85% of parliamentary seats. In 1997 an epidemic of <!--del_lnk--> pyramid schemes sent shockwaves through the entire country's economy, which resulted in widespread riots. Police stations and military bases were looted of millions of <!--del_lnk--> Kalashnikovs and other weapons. Anarchy prevailed, and militia and even less-organized armed citizens controlled many cities. Even American military advisors left the country for their own safety. The government of <!--del_lnk--> Aleksander Meksi resigned and a government of national unity was built. In response to the anarchy, the Socialist Party won the early elections of 1997 and Berisha resigned the Presidency.<p>However, stability was far from being restored in the years after the <!--del_lnk--> 1997 riots. The power feuds raging inside the Socialist Party led to a series of short-lived Socialist governments. The country was flooded with refugees from neighboring <a href="../../wp/k/Kosovo.htm" title="Kosovo">Kosovo</a> in 1998 and 1999 during the <!--del_lnk--> Kosovo War. In June 2002, a compromise candidate, <!--del_lnk--> Alfred Moisiu, a former general, was elected to succeed President <!--del_lnk--> Rexhep Meidani. Parliamentary elections in July 2005 brought Sali Berisha, as leader of the Democratic Party, back to power, mostly owing to Socialist infighting and a series of corruption scandals plaguing the government of <!--del_lnk--> Fatos Nano.<p>The Euro-Atlantic integration of Albania has been the ultimate goal of the post-communist governments. Albania's <a href="../../wp/e/European_Union.htm" title="European Union">EU</a> membership bid, along with the rest of the Western Balkans, has been set as a priority by the European Commission. On 2006 Albania signed a <!--del_lnk--> Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, thus completing the first major step towards joining the bloc. Albania, along with Croatia and Macedonia, is also expected to receive a <a href="../../wp/n/NATO.htm" title="NATO">NATO</a> membership invitation within 2008.<p>The workforce of Albania has continued to migrate to Greece, Italy, Germany and other parts of Europe, and North America. However, the migration flux is slowly decreasing, as more and more opportunities are emerging in Albania itself.<p><a id="Geography" name="Geography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Geography</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15878.jpg.htm" title="Albania's Adriatic coastline"><img alt="Albania's Adriatic coastline" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Durres.jpg" src="../../images/158/15878.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15878.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Albania's Adriatic coastline</div>
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<p>Albania consists of mostly hilly and mountainous terrain, with the highest mountain, <!--del_lnk--> Korab in the district of Dibra, reaching up to 2,753 metres (9,032 <!--del_lnk--> ft). The country mostly has a <!--del_lnk--> continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. Besides the capital city of <!--del_lnk--> Tirana, which has 800,000 inhabitants, the principal cities are <!--del_lnk--> Durrës, <!--del_lnk--> Elbasan, <!--del_lnk--> Shkodër, <!--del_lnk--> Gjirokastër, <!--del_lnk--> Vlorë, <!--del_lnk--> Korçë and <!--del_lnk--> Kukës. In Albanian grammar, a word can have indefinite and definite forms, and this also applies to city names: both Tiranë and Tirana, Shkodër and Shkodra are used.<p><a id="Demographics" name="Demographics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demographics</span></h2>
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<p>Unusual among Balkan nations, indeed anywhere in the world, Albania is a nearly homogeneous country with only small minorities. Most of the population, roughly 95%, is ethnically Albanian. Many <!--del_lnk--> ethnic Albanians also live in the bordering countries of <a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbia</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Montenegro.htm" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a>, and the <a href="../../wp/r/Republic_of_Macedonia.htm" title="Republic of Macedonia">Republic of Macedonia</a>. These amount to over 2,000,000; of that, about 1,800,000 reside in <a href="../../wp/k/Kosovo.htm" title="Kosovo">Kosovo</a>), 60,000 in Montenegro, and roughly 500,000 live in the Republic of Macedonia (see <!--del_lnk--> Demographics of the Republic of Macedonia). Since 1991, large numbers of Albanians have emigrated to <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a>, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a> and other European countries.<p>The dominant language is <!--del_lnk--> Albanian. Many Albanians are also fluent in <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Greek and <!--del_lnk--> Italian. Albanians are mostly non-denominational believers. During the communist era religion was prohibited. Since that time Albania has been proclaimed as the only officially <!--del_lnk--> atheist country in the world, claiming the religion to be <!--del_lnk--> Albanianism. The most widely-practiced religions are <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islam</a> (70%), <!--del_lnk--> Albanian Orthodoxy (20%), <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Catholic_Church.htm" title="Roman Catholic Church">Catholicism</a> (10%), the percentages are estimates; there are no available current statistics on religious affiliation. Though small, other main religions of the world also have some representation in Albania. Religious fanaticism has never been a problem, with people from different religious groups living in peace and even inter-marrying. Intermarriage across religions is very common, and an immensely strong sense of Albanian identity has tended to bind Albanians of all religious practices together. <p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
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<p>A poor country by Western European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more open-market <!--del_lnk--> economy. The collapse of <a href="../../wp/c/Communism.htm" title="Communism">communism</a> in Albania came later, was more chaotic than in other east European countries, and was marked by a mass exodus of refugees to <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> and <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> in 1991 and 1992. Attempts at reform began in earnest in early 1992 after real GDP fell by more than 50% from its peak in 1989.<p>The democratically elected government that assumed office in April 1992 launched an ambitious economic reform program to halt economic deterioration and put the country on the path toward a market economy. Key elements included price and exchange system liberalization, fiscal consolidation, monetary restraint, and a firm income policy. These were complemented by a comprehensive package of structural reforms, including privatization, enterprise, and financial sector reform, and creation of the legal framework for a market economy and private sector activity. As a result, <!--del_lnk--> GDP per capita expanded by a remarkable 85% in the nineties. Most prices were liberalized and are now at or near international levels. Most <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agriculture</a>, state housing, and small industry were privatized. Progress continued in the privatization of transport, services, and small and medium-sized enterprises. In 1995, the government began privatizing large state enterprises.<p>Despite many institutional and legislative problems, Tirana is committed to joining the EU. In June (July) 2006, the country signed a <!--del_lnk--> Stabilisation and Association Agreement as a first step toward joining the European Union. EU ministers urged Albania to push ahead with reforms, focusing on press freedom, property rights, institution building, respect for ethnic minorities and observing international standards in municipal elections.<p>Albania is one of the poorest European states, with a GDP per capita half that of Bulgaria and almost one tenth that of the United Kingdom. It is poorly linked by road and rail to its neighbours and between its own cities. In Albania, half of the economically active population is engaged in agriculture and a fifth works abroad.<p>Albania's coastline on the Ionian Sea, especially near the Greek tourist island of <!--del_lnk--> Corfu, is becoming increasingly popular with tourists due to its relatively unspoiled nature and its beaches. The tourism industry is still in its infancy but is growing rapidly.<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Neighbouring countries</span></h2>
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<table class="toccolours" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%; text-align:center; width: 80%;">
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<td rowspan="5" style="text-align: center; !important" width="5%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/510.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="65" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Armillary_sphere.png" src="../../images/5/510.png" width="50" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/20/2015.png.htm" title="Flag of Montenegro"><img alt="Flag of Montenegro" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Montenegro.svg" src="../../images/20/2015.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/m/Montenegro.htm" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/14/1446.png.htm" title="Flag of Serbia"><img alt="Flag of Serbia" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Serbia_%28state%29_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/14/1446.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbia</a></td>
<td rowspan="5" style="text-align: center; !important" width="5%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/510.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="65" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Armillary_sphere.png" src="../../images/5/510.png" width="50" /></a></td>
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<td rowspan="3" style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/551.png.htm" title="Flag of Italy"><img alt="Flag of Italy" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Italy.svg" src="../../images/5/551.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> <a class="image" href="../../images/5/515.png.htm" title="Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation West.png"><img alt="Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation West.png" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_West.png" src="../../images/5/515.png" width="17" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Adriatic Sea</td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/513.png.htm" title="North"><img alt="North" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_North.png" src="../../images/5/513.png" width="17" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="3" style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/20/2017.png.htm" title="Republic of Macedonia"><img alt="Republic of Macedonia" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Macedonia.svg" src="../../images/20/2017.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/r/Republic_of_Macedonia.htm" title="Republic of Macedonia">Republic of Macedonia</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/515.png.htm" title="West"><img alt="West" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_West.png" src="../../images/5/515.png" width="17" /></a> <b><a class="image" href="../../images/7/746.png.htm" title="Flag of Albania"><img alt="Flag of Albania" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Albania.svg" src="../../images/7/746.png" width="22" /></a> <strong class="selflink">Albania</strong></b> <a class="image" href="../../images/5/516.png.htm" title="East"><img alt="East" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_East.png" src="../../images/5/516.png" width="17" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/517.png.htm" title="South"><img alt="South" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_South.png" src="../../images/5/517.png" width="17" /></a></td>
</tr>
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<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><!--del_lnk--> Ionian Sea<br /><a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/790.png.htm" title="Flag of Greece"><img alt="Flag of Greece" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Greece.svg" src="../../images/7/790.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a></td>
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<p><span style="white-space: nowrap"><strong class="selflink">Albania</strong> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/a/Andorra.htm" title="Andorra">Andorra</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/a/Armenia.htm" title="Armenia">Armenia</a><sup><small>1</small></sup> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/a/Austria.htm" title="Austria">Austria</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/a/Azerbaijan.htm" title="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a><sup><small>2</small></sup> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/b/Belarus.htm" title="Belarus">Belarus</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/b/Belgium.htm" title="Belgium">Belgium</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/b/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.htm" title="Bosnia and Herzegovina">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/b/Bulgaria.htm" title="Bulgaria">Bulgaria</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/c/Croatia.htm" title="Croatia">Croatia</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/c/Cyprus.htm" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a><sup><small>1</small></sup> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/c/Czech_Republic.htm" title="Czech Republic">Czech Republic</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/d/Denmark.htm" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/e/Estonia.htm" title="Estonia">Estonia</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/f/Finland.htm" title="Finland">Finland</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/g/Georgia_%2528country%2529.htm" title="Georgia (country)">Georgia</a><sup><small>2</small></sup> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/h/Hungary.htm" title="Hungary">Hungary</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/i/Iceland.htm" title="Iceland">Iceland</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/r/Republic_of_Ireland.htm" title="Republic of Ireland">Ireland</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/k/Kazakhstan.htm" title="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a><sup><small>2</small></sup> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/l/Latvia.htm" title="Latvia">Latvia</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/l/Liechtenstein.htm" title="Liechtenstein">Liechtenstein</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/l/Lithuania.htm" title="Lithuania">Lithuania</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/l/Luxembourg.htm" title="Luxembourg">Luxembourg</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/r/Republic_of_Macedonia.htm" title="Republic of Macedonia">Republic of Macedonia</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/m/Malta.htm" title="Malta">Malta</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/m/Moldova.htm" title="Moldova">Moldova</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/m/Monaco.htm" title="Monaco">Monaco</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/m/Montenegro.htm" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/n/Norway.htm" title="Norway">Norway</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/p/Poland.htm" title="Poland">Poland</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portugal</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/r/Romania.htm" title="Romania">Romania</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a><sup><small>2</small></sup> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/s/San_Marino.htm" title="San Marino">San Marino</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/s/Slovakia.htm" title="Slovakia">Slovakia</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/s/Slovenia.htm" title="Slovenia">Slovenia</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/s/Sweden.htm" title="Sweden">Sweden</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a><sup><small>2</small></sup> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/u/Ukraine.htm" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> ·</span> <span style="white-space: nowrap"><a href="../../wp/v/Vatican_City.htm" title="Vatican City">Vatican City</a></span><p>(1) Entirely in <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a> but having socio-political connections with Europe. (2) Has <!--del_lnk--> significant territory in Asia.</div>
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<p><strong class="selflink">Albania</strong> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/b/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.htm" title="Bosnia and Herzegovina">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/c/Croatia.htm" title="Croatia">Croatia</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/c/Cyprus.htm" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/l/Lebanon.htm" title="Lebanon">Lebanon</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/m/Malta.htm" title="Malta">Malta</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/m/Monaco.htm" title="Monaco">Monaco</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/m/Montenegro.htm" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/m/Morocco.htm" title="Morocco">Morocco</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/s/Slovenia.htm" title="Slovenia">Slovenia</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/t/Tunisia.htm" title="Tunisia">Tunisia</a> <small>•</small> <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a><p>For dependent and other territories, see <!--del_lnk--> Dependent territory and <!--del_lnk--> List of unrecognized countries.</div>
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<p><a class="image" href="../../images/7/746.png.htm" title="Flag of Albania"><img alt="Flag of Albania" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Albania.svg" src="../../images/7/746.png" width="22" /></a> <strong class="selflink">Albania</strong> • <a class="image" href="../../images/20/2014.png.htm" title="Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina"><img alt="Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.svg" src="../../images/20/2014.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/b/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.htm" title="Bosnia and Herzegovina">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> • <a class="image" href="../../images/20/2013.png.htm" title="Flag of Croatia"><img alt="Flag of Croatia" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Croatia.svg" src="../../images/20/2013.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/c/Croatia.htm" title="Croatia">Croatia</a> • <a class="image" href="../../images/5/551.png.htm" title="Flag of Italy"><img alt="Flag of Italy" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Italy.svg" src="../../images/5/551.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> • <a class="image" href="../../images/20/2015.png.htm" title="Flag of Montenegro"><img alt="Flag of Montenegro" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Montenegro.svg" src="../../images/20/2015.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/m/Montenegro.htm" title="Montenegro">Montenegro</a> • <a class="image" href="../../images/7/747.png.htm" title="Flag of Slovenia"><img alt="Flag of Slovenia" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Slovenia.svg" src="../../images/7/747.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/s/Slovenia.htm" title="Slovenia">Slovenia</a></div>
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<div class="NavHead" style="background-color:#eee; height: 1.6em; font-weight: bold; font-size: 1em; position:relative"><b><!--del_lnk--> Black Sea Economic Cooperation</b></div>
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<p><strong class="selflink">Albania</strong> • <a href="../../wp/a/Armenia.htm" title="Armenia">Armenia</a> • <a href="../../wp/a/Azerbaijan.htm" title="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a> • <a href="../../wp/b/Bulgaria.htm" title="Bulgaria">Bulgaria</a> • <a href="../../wp/g/Georgia_%2528country%2529.htm" title="Georgia (country)">Georgia</a> • <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> • <a href="../../wp/m/Moldova.htm" title="Moldova">Moldova</a> • <a href="../../wp/r/Romania.htm" title="Romania">Romania</a> • <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a> • <a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> • <a href="../../wp/u/Ukraine.htm" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a></div>
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<div class="NavHead" style="background-color:#eee; height: 1.6em; font-weight: bold; font-size: 1em; position:relative"><b><!--del_lnk--> Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)</b></div>
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<div class="floatright"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/15/1531.png.htm" title="Flag of the OIC"><img alt="Flag of the OIC" height="37" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_OIC.svg" src="../../images/15/1531.png" width="55" /></a></span></div>
<p><a href="../../wp/a/Afghanistan.htm" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> • <strong class="selflink">Albania</strong> • <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> • <a href="../../wp/a/Azerbaijan.htm" title="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a> • <a href="../../wp/b/Bahrain.htm" title="Bahrain">Bahrain</a> • <a href="../../wp/b/Bangladesh.htm" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a> • <a href="../../wp/b/Benin.htm" title="Benin">Benin</a> • <a href="../../wp/b/Burkina_Faso.htm" title="Burkina Faso">Burkina Faso</a> • <a href="../../wp/b/Brunei.htm" title="Brunei">Brunei</a> • <a href="../../wp/c/Cameroon.htm" title="Cameroon">Cameroon</a> • <a href="../../wp/c/Chad.htm" title="Chad">Chad</a> • <a href="../../wp/c/Comoros.htm" title="Comoros">Comoros</a> • <a href="../../wp/c/C%25C3%25B4te_d%2527Ivoire.htm" title="Côte d'Ivoire">Côte d'Ivoire</a> • <a href="../../wp/d/Djibouti.htm" title="Djibouti">Djibouti</a> • <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> • <a href="../../wp/g/Gabon.htm" title="Gabon">Gabon</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Gambia • <a href="../../wp/g/Guinea.htm" title="Guinea">Guinea</a> • <a href="../../wp/g/Guinea-Bissau.htm" title="Guinea-Bissau">Guinea-Bissau</a> • <a href="../../wp/g/Guyana.htm" title="Guyana">Guyana</a> • <a href="../../wp/i/Indonesia.htm" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a> • <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a> • <a href="../../wp/i/Iraq.htm" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> • <a href="../../wp/j/Jordan.htm" title="Jordan">Jordan</a> • <a href="../../wp/k/Kuwait.htm" title="Kuwait">Kuwait</a> • <a href="../../wp/k/Kazakhstan.htm" title="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a> • <a href="../../wp/k/Kyrgyzstan.htm" title="Kyrgyzstan">Kyrgyzstan</a> • <a href="../../wp/l/Lebanon.htm" title="Lebanon">Lebanon</a> • <a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a> • <a href="../../wp/m/Maldives.htm" title="Maldives">Maldives</a> • <a href="../../wp/m/Malaysia.htm" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a> • <a href="../../wp/m/Mali.htm" title="Mali">Mali</a> • <a href="../../wp/m/Mauritania.htm" title="Mauritania">Mauritania</a> • <a href="../../wp/m/Morocco.htm" title="Morocco">Morocco</a> • <a href="../../wp/m/Mozambique.htm" title="Mozambique">Mozambique</a> • <a href="../../wp/n/Niger.htm" title="Niger">Niger</a> • <a href="../../wp/n/Nigeria.htm" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a> • <a href="../../wp/o/Oman.htm" title="Oman">Oman</a> • <a href="../../wp/p/Pakistan.htm" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> • <!--del_lnk--> State of Palestine • <a href="../../wp/q/Qatar.htm" title="Qatar">Qatar</a> • <a href="../../wp/s/Saudi_Arabia.htm" title="Saudi Arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> • <a href="../../wp/s/Senegal.htm" title="Senegal">Senegal</a> • <a href="../../wp/s/Sierra_Leone.htm" title="Sierra Leone">Sierra Leone</a> • <a href="../../wp/s/Somalia.htm" title="Somalia">Somalia</a> • <a href="../../wp/s/Sudan.htm" title="Sudan">Sudan</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Surinam • <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Tajikistan.htm" title="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Tunisia.htm" title="Tunisia">Tunisia</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Togo.htm" title="Togo">Togo</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Turkmenistan.htm" title="Turkmenistan">Turkmenistan</a> • <a href="../../wp/u/Uganda.htm" title="Uganda">Uganda</a> • <a href="../../wp/u/Uzbekistan.htm" title="Uzbekistan">Uzbekistan</a> • <a href="../../wp/u/United_Arab_Emirates.htm" title="United Arab Emirates">United Arab Emirates</a> • <a href="../../wp/y/Yemen.htm" title="Yemen">Yemen</a><p><b>Observer countries:</b> <a href="../../wp/b/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.htm" title="Bosnia and Herzegovina">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> • <a href="../../wp/c/Central_African_Republic.htm" title="Central African Republic">Central African Republic</a> • <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Thailand.htm" title="Thailand">Thailand</a> • <a href="../../wp/t/Turkish_Republic_of_Northern_Cyprus.htm" title="Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus">Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus</a><p><b>Observer Muslim organizations and communities:</b> <!--del_lnk--> Moro National Liberation Front<p><b>Observer international organizations:</b> <!--del_lnk--> Economic Cooperation Organization • <!--del_lnk--> Organisation of African Unity • <!--del_lnk--> League of Arab States • <!--del_lnk--> Non-Aligned Movement • <a href="../../wp/u/United_Nations.htm" title="United Nations">United Nations</a></div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Albatross</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Birds.htm">Birds</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><b>Albatross</b></th>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/150/15050.jpg.htm" title="Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus)"><img alt="Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus)" height="345" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Short_tailed_albatross.jpeg" src="../../images/150/15050.jpg" width="230" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align:center"><small><!--del_lnk--> Short-tailed Albatross (<i>Phoebastria albatrus</i>)</small></div>
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Chordate.htm" title="Chordate">Chordata</a><br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/b/Bird.htm" title="Bird">Aves</a><br />
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<td>Order:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Procellariiformes<br />
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<td>Family:</td>
<td><b>Diomedeidae</b><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> G.R. Gray, 1840</small></td>
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<center>Genera</center>
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<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Diomedea</i><br /><i><!--del_lnk--> Thalassarche</i><br /><i><!--del_lnk--> Phoebastria</i><br /><i><!--del_lnk--> Phoebetria</i></td>
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<p><b>Albatrosses</b>, of the biological <!--del_lnk--> family <b>Diomedeidae</b>, are large <!--del_lnk--> seabirds allied to the <!--del_lnk--> procellariids, <!--del_lnk--> storm-petrels and <!--del_lnk--> diving-petrels in the order <!--del_lnk--> Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the <a href="../../wp/s/Southern_Ocean.htm" title="Southern Ocean">Southern Ocean</a> and the North <a href="../../wp/p/Pacific_Ocean.htm" title="Pacific Ocean">Pacific</a>. They are absent from the North <a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic</a>, although <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a> remains show they once occurred there too. Albatrosses are amongst the largest of <!--del_lnk--> flying birds, and the <!--del_lnk--> great albatrosses (<!--del_lnk--> genus <i>Diomedea</i>) have the largest wingspans of any <!--del_lnk--> extant birds. The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but there is disagreement over the number of <!--del_lnk--> species.<p>Albatrosses are highly efficient in the air, using <!--del_lnk--> dynamic soaring and <!--del_lnk--> slope soaring to cover great distances with little exertion. They feed on <!--del_lnk--> squid, <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fish</a> and <a href="../../wp/k/Krill.htm" title="Krill">krill</a> by either scavenging, surface seizing or diving. Albatrosses are <!--del_lnk--> colonial, nesting for the most part on remote oceanic islands, often with several species nesting together. <!--del_lnk--> Pair bonds between males and females form over several years, with the use of ritualised dances, and will last for the life of the pair. A breeding season can take over a year from laying to <!--del_lnk--> fledging, with a single <!--del_lnk--> egg laid in each breeding attempt.<p>Of the 21 species of albatrosses recognised by the <!--del_lnk--> IUCN, 19 are threatened with <a href="../../wp/e/Extinction.htm" title="Extinction">extinction</a>. Numbers of albatrosses have declined in the past due to harvesting for <a href="../../wp/f/Feather.htm" title="Feather">feathers</a>, but today the albatrosses are threatened by <!--del_lnk--> introduced species such as <!--del_lnk--> rats and <!--del_lnk--> feral cats that attack eggs, chicks and nesting adults; by <a href="../../wp/p/Pollution.htm" title="Pollution">pollution</a>; by a serious decline in fish stocks in many regions largely due to overfishing; and by <!--del_lnk--> long-line fishing. Long-line fisheries pose the greatest threat, as feeding birds are attracted to the <!--del_lnk--> bait and become hooked on the lines and drown. Governments, conservation organisations and fishermen are all working towards reducing this by-catch.<p>
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</script><a id="Albatross_biology" name="Albatross_biology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Albatross biology</span></h2>
<p><a id="Taxonomy_and_evolution" name="Taxonomy_and_evolution"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Taxonomy and evolution</span></h3>
<p>The albatrosses comprise between 13 and 24 <!--del_lnk--> species (the number of species is still a matter of some debate, 21 being the most commonly accepted number) in 4 genera. The four genera are the <!--del_lnk--> great albatrosses (<i>Diomedea</i>), the <!--del_lnk--> mollymawks (<i>Thalassarche</i>), the <!--del_lnk--> North Pacific albatrosses (<i>Phoebastria</i>), and the <!--del_lnk--> sooty albatrosses or sooties (<i>Phoebetria</i>). Of the four genera, the North Pacific albatrosses are considered to be a sister taxon to the great albatrosses, while the sooty albatrosses are considered closer to the mollymawks.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> taxonomy of the albatross group has been a source of a great deal of debate. The <!--del_lnk--> Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy places seabirds, <a href="../../wp/b/Bird_of_prey.htm" title="Bird of prey">birds of prey</a> and many others in a greatly enlarged order <!--del_lnk--> Ciconiiformes, whereas the ornithological organisations in North America, Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand retain the more traditional order <!--del_lnk--> Procellariiformes. The albatrosses can be separated from the other Procellariiformes both <a href="../../wp/g/Genetics.htm" title="Genetics">genetically</a> and through morphological characteristics, size, their legs and the arrangement of their nasal tubes (<i>see Morphology and flight</i>).<p>Within the family the assignment of genera has been debated for over a hundred years. Originally placed into a single genus, <i>Diomedea</i>, they were rearranged by <!--del_lnk--> Reichenbach into four different genera in 1852, then <!--del_lnk--> lumped back together and split apart again several times, acquiring 12 different genus names in total (though never more than eight at one time) by 1965 (<i>Diomedea</i>, <i>Phoebastria</i>, <i>Thalassarche</i>, <i>Phoebetria</i>, <i>Thalassageron</i>, <i>Diomedella</i>, <i>Nealbutrus</i>, <i>Rhothonia</i>, <i>Julietata</i>, <i>Galapagornis</i>, <i>Laysanornis</i>, and <i>Penthirenia</i>).<p>By 1965, in an attempt to bring some order back to the classification of albatrosses, they were lumped into two genera, <i>Phoebetria</i> (the sooty albatrosses which most closely seemed to resemble the procellarids and were at the time considered "primitive" ) and <i>Diomedea</i> (the rest). Though there was a case for the simplification of the family (particularly the nomenclature), the classification was based on the morphological analysis of <!--del_lnk--> Elliott Coues in 1866, and paid little attention to more recent studies and even ignored some of Coues's suggestions.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15051.png.htm" title="Phylogenetic relationships of the 4 albatross genera. Based on Nunn et al 1996."><img alt="Phylogenetic relationships of the 4 albatross genera. Based on Nunn et al 1996." height="160" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albatross_phylogeny.svg" src="../../images/150/15051.png" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15051.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Phylogenetic relationships of the 4 albatross genera. Based on Nunn et al 1996.</div>
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<p>More recent research by Gary Nunn of the <!--del_lnk--> American Museum of Natural History (1996) and other researchers around the world studied the <!--del_lnk--> mitochondrial DNA of all 14 accepted species, finding that there were four, not two, monophyletic groups within the albatrosses. They proposed the resurrection of two of the old genus names, <i>Phoebastria</i> for the North Pacific albatrosses and <i>Thalassarche</i> for the mollymawks, with the great albatrosses retaining <i>Diomedea</i> and the sooty albatrosses staying in <i>Phoebetria</i>. Both the <!--del_lnk--> British Ornithologists' Union and the South African authorities split the albatrosses into four genera as Nunn suggested, and the change has been accepted by the majority of researchers.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15052.jpg.htm" title="Black-browed Albatross, a mollymawk."><img alt="Black-browed Albatross, a mollymawk." height="242" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albatros_ceja_negra_-_paso_drake_-_noviembre_2005.jpg" src="../../images/150/15052.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15052.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Black-browed Albatross, a mollymawk.</div>
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<p>While there is some agreement on the number of genera, there is less agreement on the number of species. Historically, up to 80 different taxa have been described by different researchers; most of these were incorrectly identified juvenile birds. Based on the work on albatross genera, Robertson and Nunn went on in 1998 to propose a revised taxonomy with 24 different species, compared to the 14 then accepted. This interim taxonomy elevated many established <!--del_lnk--> subspecies to full species, but was criticised for not using, in every case, <!--del_lnk--> peer reviewed information to justify the splits. Since then further studies have in some instances supported or disproved the splits; a 2004 paper analysing the <!--del_lnk--> mitochondrial DNA and <!--del_lnk--> microsatellites agreed with the conclusion that the <!--del_lnk--> Antipodean Albatross and the <!--del_lnk--> Tristan Albatross were distinct from the <!--del_lnk--> Wandering Albatross, per Robertson and Nunn, but found that the suggested Gibson's Albatross, <i>Diomedea gibsoni</i>, was not distinct from the Antipodean Albatross. For the most part, an interim taxonomy of 21 species is accepted by the <!--del_lnk--> IUCN and many other researchers, though by no means all — in 2004 Penhallurick and Wink called for the number of species to be reduced to 13 (including the lumping of the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Albatross with the <!--del_lnk--> Wandering Albatross), although this paper was itself controversial . On all sides, there is the widespread agreement on the need for further research to clarify the issue.<p><!--del_lnk--> Sibley and Ahlquist's molecular study of the <a href="../../wp/e/Evolution.htm" title="Evolution">evolution</a> of the bird families has put the <!--del_lnk--> radiation of the <!--del_lnk--> Procellariiformes in the <a href="../../wp/o/Oligocene.htm" title="Oligocene">Oligocene</a> period (35–30 million years ago), though this group probably originated earlier, with a <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a> sometimes attributed to the order, a seabird known as <i><!--del_lnk--> Tytthostonyx</i>, being found in late <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> rocks (70 <!--del_lnk--> mya). The molecular evidence suggests that the storm-petrels were the first to diverge from the ancestral stock, and the albatrosses next, with the procellarids and diving petrels separating later. The earliest fossil albatrosses were found in <a href="../../wp/e/Eocene.htm" title="Eocene">Eocene</a> to Oligocene rocks, although some of these are only tentatively assigned to the faimly and none appear to be particularly close to the living forms. They are <i>Murunkus</i> (Middle Eocene of <a href="../../wp/u/Uzbekistan.htm" title="Uzbekistan">Uzbekistan</a>), <i><!--del_lnk--> Manu</i> (early Oligocene of <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>), and an undescribed from from the Late Oligocene of <!--del_lnk--> South Carolina. Similar to the last was <i>Plotornis</i>, formerly often considered a petrel but now accepted as an albatross. It is from the Middle <a href="../../wp/m/Miocene.htm" title="Miocene">Miocene</a> of <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>, a time when the split between the four modern genera was already underway as evidenced by <i>Phoebastria californica</i> and <i>Diomedea milleri</i>, both being mid-Miocene species from <!--del_lnk--> Sharktooth Hill, <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>. These show that the split between the great albatrosses and the North Pacific albatrosses occurred by 15 mya. Similar fossil finds in the southern hemisphere put the split between the sooties and mollymawks at 10 mya. The fossil record of the albatrosses in the northern hemisphere is more complete than that of the southern, and many fossil forms of albatross have been found in the North <!--del_lnk--> Atlantic, which today has no albatrosses. The remains of a colony of <!--del_lnk--> Short-tailed Albatrosses have been uncovered on the island of <a href="../../wp/b/Bermuda.htm" title="Bermuda">Bermuda</a>, and the majority of fossil albatrosses from the North Atlantic have been of the genus <i>Phoebastria</i> (the North Pacific albatrosses); one, <i>Phoebastria anglica</i>, has been found in deposits in both <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina and <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>. See the genus accounts for more data on fossil species.<p><a id="Morphology_and_flight" name="Morphology_and_flight"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Morphology and flight</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:201px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15053.jpg.htm" title="Unlike most Procellariiformes, albatrosses, like this Black-footed Albatross, can walk well on land."><img alt="Unlike most Procellariiformes, albatrosses, like this Black-footed Albatross, can walk well on land." height="324" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Black_footed_albatross.jpg" src="../../images/150/15053.jpg" width="199" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15053.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Unlike most Procellariiformes, albatrosses, like this Black-footed Albatross, can walk well on land.</div>
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<p>The albatrosses are a group of large to very large <a href="../../wp/b/Bird.htm" title="Bird">birds</a>; they are the largest of the procellariiformes. The <!--del_lnk--> bill is large, strong and sharp-edged, the upper mandible terminating in a large hook. This bill is composed of several horny plates, and along the sides are the two "tubes", long nostrils that give the <!--del_lnk--> order its name. The tubes of all albatrosses are along the sides of the bill, unlike the rest of the <!--del_lnk--> Procellariiformes where the tubes run along the top of the bill. These tubes allow the albatrosses to have an acute sense of smell, an unusual ability for birds. Like other Procellariiformes they use this olfactory ability while foraging in order to locate potential food sources. The feet have no hind toe and the three anterior toes are completely webbed. The legs are strong for Procellariiformes, in fact, almost uniquely amongst the order in that they and the <!--del_lnk--> giant petrels are able to walk well on land.<p>The adult <!--del_lnk--> plumage of most of the albatrosses is usually some variation of dark upper-wing and back, white undersides, often compared to that of a <a href="../../wp/g/Gull.htm" title="Gull">gull</a>. Of these, the species range from the <!--del_lnk--> Southern Royal Albatross which is almost completely white except for the ends of the wings, to the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Albatross which has an almost juvenile-like breeding plumage with a great deal of brown, particularly a strong brown band around the chest. Several species of <!--del_lnk--> mollymawks and <!--del_lnk--> North Pacific albatrosses have face markings like eye patches or have grey or yellow on the head and nape. Three albatross species, the <!--del_lnk--> Black-footed Albatross and the two <!--del_lnk--> sooty albatrosses, vary completely from the usual patterns and are almost entirely black (or dark grey in the case of the <!--del_lnk--> Light-mantled Sooty Albatross). Albatrosses take several years to get their full adult breeding plumage.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> wingspans of the largest great albatrosses (genus <i>Diomedea</i>) are the largest of any bird, exceeding 340 cm (over 11 feet), although the other species' wingspans are considerably smaller. The wings are stiff and cambered, with thickened streamlined leading edges. Albatrosses travel huge distances with two techniques used by many long-winged seabirds, dynamic soaring and slope soaring. Dynamic soaring enables them to minimise the effort needed by gliding across wave fronts gaining <a href="../../wp/e/Energy.htm" title="Energy">energy</a> from the vertical <!--del_lnk--> wind gradient. Slope soaring is more straightforward: the albatross turns to the wind, gaining height, from where it can then glide back down to the sea. Albatross have high <!--del_lnk--> glide ratios, around 1:22 to 1:23, meaning that for every metre they drop, they can travel forward 22 metres. They are aided in soaring by a shoulder-lock, a sheet of <!--del_lnk--> tendon that locks the wing when fully extended, allowing the wing to be kept up and out without any muscle expenditure, a morphological adaptation they share with the giant petrels.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15054.jpg.htm" title="Taking off is one of the few times albatrosses use flapping in order to fly, and is the most energetically demanding part of a journey."><img alt="Taking off is one of the few times albatrosses use flapping in order to fly, and is the most energetically demanding part of a journey." height="167" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Phoebastria_albatrus1.jpg" src="../../images/150/15054.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15054.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Taking off is one of the few times albatrosses use flapping in order to fly, and is the most energetically demanding part of a journey.</div>
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<p>Albatrosses combine these soaring techniques with the use of predictable <a href="../../wp/w/Weather.htm" title="Weather">weather</a> systems; albatrosses in the southern hemisphere flying north from their colonies will take a clockwise route, and those flying south will fly counterclockwise. Albatrosses are so well adapted to this lifestyle that their <!--del_lnk--> heart rates while flying are close to their basal heart rate when resting. This efficiency is such that the most energetically demanding aspect of a foraging trip is not the distance covered, but the landings, take-offs and hunting they undertake having found a food source. This efficient long-distance travelling underlies the albatross's success as a long-distance forager, covering great distances and expending little energy looking for patchily distributed food sources. Their adaptation to gliding flight makes them dependent on wind and waves, however, as their long wings are ill-suited to powered flight and most species lack the muscles and energy to undertake sustained flapping flight. Albatrosses in calm seas are forced to rest on the ocean's surface until the wind picks up again. They also sleep while resting on the surface (and not while on the wing as is sometimes thought). The North Pacific albatrosses can use a flight style known as flap-gliding, where the bird progresses by bursts of flapping followed by gliding. When taking off, albatrosses need to take a run up to allow enough air to move under the wing to provide <!--del_lnk--> lift. <a id="Distribution_and_range_at_sea" name="Distribution_and_range_at_sea"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Distribution and range at sea</span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15055.png.htm" title="The distribution of albatrosses across the world."><img alt="The distribution of albatrosses across the world." height="93" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Diomedeidae_distribution.png" src="../../images/150/15055.png" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15055.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The distribution of albatrosses across the world.</div>
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<p>Most albatrosses range in the southern hemisphere from <a href="../../wp/a/Antarctica.htm" title="Antarctica">Antarctica</a> to <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/South_Africa.htm" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a>. The exceptions to this are the four North Pacific albatrosses, of which three occur exclusively in the North Pacific, from Hawaii to Japan, California and Alaska; and one, the <!--del_lnk--> Waved Albatross, breeds in the <!--del_lnk--> Galapagos Islands and feeds off the coast of South America. The need for wind in order to glide is the reason albatrosses are for the most part confined to higher latitudes; being unsuited to sustained flapping flight makes crossing the <!--del_lnk--> doldrums extremely difficult. The exception, the Waved Albatross, is able to live in the <!--del_lnk--> equatorial waters around the Galapagos Islands because of the cool waters of the <!--del_lnk--> Humboldt Current and the resulting winds.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15056.png.htm" title="Albatrosses range over huge areas of ocean and regularly circle the globe."><img alt="Albatrosses range over huge areas of ocean and regularly circle the globe." height="279" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albatross_shape.png" src="../../images/150/15056.png" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15056.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Albatrosses range over huge areas of ocean and regularly circle the globe.</div>
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<p>It is not known for certain why the albatrosses became <!--del_lnk--> extinct in the North <!--del_lnk--> Atlantic, although rising sea levels due to an <!--del_lnk--> interglacial warming period are thought to have submerged the site of a Short-tailed Albatross colony that has been excavated in Bermuda. Some southern species have occasionally turned up as <!--del_lnk--> vagrants in the North Atlantic and can become exiled, remaining there for decades. One of these exiles, a <!--del_lnk--> Black-browed Albatross, returned to <!--del_lnk--> gannet colonies in <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a> for many years in a lonely attempt to breed.<p>The use of <!--del_lnk--> satellite tracking is teaching scientists a great deal about the way albatrosses forage across the ocean in order to find food. They undertake no annual <a href="../../wp/b/Bird_migration.htm" title="Bird migration">migration</a>, but disperse widely after breeding, in the case of southern hemisphere species, often undertaking circumpolar trips. There is also evidence that there is separation of the ranges of different species at sea. A comparison of the foraging <!--del_lnk--> niches of two related species that breed on <!--del_lnk--> Campbell Island, the <!--del_lnk--> Campbell Albatross and the <!--del_lnk--> Grey-headed Albatross, showed the Campbell Albatross primarily fed over the <!--del_lnk--> Campbell Plateau whereas the Grey-Headed Albatross fed in more <!--del_lnk--> pelagic, oceanic waters. <!--del_lnk--> Wandering Albatrosses also react strongly to <!--del_lnk--> bathymetry, feeding only in waters deeper than 1000 m (3281 feet); so rigidly did the satellite plots match this contour that one scientist remarked, "It almost appears as if the birds notice and obey a 'No Entry' sign where the water shallows to less than 1000 m". There is also evidence of different ranges for the two sexes of the same species; a study of <!--del_lnk--> Tristan Albatrosses breeding on <!--del_lnk--> Gough Island showed that males foraged to the west of Gough and females to the east.<p><a id="Diet" name="Diet"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Diet</span></h3>
<p>The albatross diet is dominated by <!--del_lnk--> cephalopods, <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fish</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Crustacean.htm" title="Crustacean">crustaceans</a>, although they will also scavenge <!--del_lnk--> carrion and feed on other <!--del_lnk--> zooplankton. It should be noted that for most species, a comprehensive understanding of diet is only known for the breeding season, when the albatrosses regularly return to land and study is possible. The importance of each of these food sources varies from species to species, and even from population to population; some concentrate on <!--del_lnk--> squid alone, others take more <a href="../../wp/k/Krill.htm" title="Krill">krill</a> or <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fish</a>. Of the two albatross species found in <!--del_lnk--> Hawaii, one, the <!--del_lnk--> Black-footed Albatross, takes mostly fish while the <!--del_lnk--> Laysan feeds on squid.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:247px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15057.jpg.htm" title="Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses regularly dive in order to feed and can dive to below 12m."><img alt="Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses regularly dive in order to feed and can dive to below 12m." height="184" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Light_sooty_albatross_flying.jpg" src="../../images/150/15057.jpg" width="245" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15057.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses regularly dive in order to feed and can dive to below 12m.</div>
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<p>The use of dataloggers at sea that record ingestion of water against time (providing a likely time of feeding) suggest that albatross predominantly feed during the day. Analysis of the squid beaks regurgitated by albatrosses has shown that many of the squid eaten are too large to have been caught alive, and include mid-water species likely to be beyond the reach of albatross, suggesting that, for some species (like the <!--del_lnk--> Wandering Albatross), <!--del_lnk--> scavenged squid may be an important part of the diet. The source of these dead squid is a matter of debate; some certainly comes from squid <!--del_lnk--> fisheries, but in nature it primarily comes from the die-off that occurs after squid spawning and the vomit of squid-eating <a href="../../wp/w/Whale.htm" title="Whale">whales</a> (<!--del_lnk--> sperm whales, <!--del_lnk--> pilot whales and <!--del_lnk--> Southern Bottlenose Whales). The diet of other species, like the <!--del_lnk--> Black-browed Albatross or the <!--del_lnk--> Grey-headed Albatross, is rich with smaller species of squid that tend to sink after death, and scavenging is not assumed to play a large role in their diet.<p>Until recently it was thought that albatross were predominantly surface feeders, swimming at the surface and snapping up squid and fish pushed to the surface by currents, predators or death. The deployment of capillary depth recorders, which record the maximum dive depth undertaken by a bird (between attaching it to a bird and recovering it when it returns to land), has shown that while some species, like the <!--del_lnk--> Wandering Albatross, do not dive deeper than a metre, some species, like the <!--del_lnk--> Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, have a mean diving depth of almost 5 m and can dive as deep as 12.5 m. In addition to surface feeding and diving, they have now also been observed plunge diving from the air to snatch prey.<p><a id="Breeding" name="Breeding"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Breeding</span></h3>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15058.jpg.htm" title="Wandering Albatrosses are colonial but have large widely spaced territories. Here a pair performs their famous breeding dance."><img alt="Wandering Albatrosses are colonial but have large widely spaced territories. Here a pair performs their famous breeding dance." height="199" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wandering_dance.jpg" src="../../images/150/15058.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15058.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Wandering Albatrosses are colonial but have large widely spaced territories. Here a pair performs their famous breeding dance.</div>
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<p>Albatrosses are <!--del_lnk--> colonial, usually nesting on isolated islands; where colonies are on larger landmasses, they are found on exposed headlands with good approaches from the sea in several directions, like the colony on the <!--del_lnk--> Otago Peninsula in <!--del_lnk--> Dunedin, New Zealand. Colonies vary from the very dense aggregations favoured by the mollymawks (<!--del_lnk--> Black-browed Albatross colonies on the <a href="../../wp/f/Falkland_Islands.htm" title="Falkland Islands">Falkland Islands</a> have densities of 70 nests per 100 m²) to the much looser groups and widely spaced individual nests favoured by the sooty and great albatrosses. All albatross colonies are on islands that historically were free of land <a href="../../wp/m/Mammal.htm" title="Mammal">mammals</a>. Albatrosses are highly <!--del_lnk--> philopatric, meaning they will usually return to their natal colony to breed. This tendency to return is so strong that a study of <!--del_lnk--> Laysan Albatross showed that the average distance between hatching site and the site where a bird established its own territory was 22 metres.<p>Like most seabirds, albatrosses are <!--del_lnk--> K-selected with regard to their life history, meaning they live much longer than other birds, they delay breeding for longer, and invest more effort into fewer young. Albatrosses are very long lived; most species survive upwards of 50 years, the oldest recorded being a <!--del_lnk--> Northern Royal Albatross that was <!--del_lnk--> ringed as an adult and survived for another 51 years, giving it an estimated age of 61. Given that most albatross ringing projects are considerably younger than that, it is thought likely that other species will prove to live that long and even longer.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:249px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15059.jpg.htm" title="Sky-pointing is one of the stereotyped actions of Laysan Albatross breeding dances."><img alt="Sky-pointing is one of the stereotyped actions of Laysan Albatross breeding dances." height="385" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LAAL_adult_sky_call.jpg" src="../../images/150/15059.jpg" width="247" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15059.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Sky-pointing is one of the stereotyped actions of Laysan Albatross breeding dances.</div>
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<p>Albatrosses reach <!--del_lnk--> sexual maturity slowly, after about five years, but even once they have reached maturity, they will not begin to breed for another couple of years (even up to 10 years for some species). Young non-breeders will attend a colony prior to beginning to breed, spending many years practicing the elaborate breeding rituals and "dances" that the family is famous for. Birds arriving back at the colony for the first time already have the stereotyped behaviours that compose albatross <a href="../../wp/l/Language.htm" title="Language">language</a>, but can neither "read" that behaviour as exhibited by other birds nor respond appropriately. After a period of trial and error <!--del_lnk--> learning, the young birds learn the <!--del_lnk--> syntax and perfect the dances. This language is mastered more rapidly if the younger birds are around older birds.<p>The repertoire of behaviour involves synchronised performances of various actions such as <!--del_lnk--> preening, pointing, calling, bill clacking, staring, and combinations of such behaviours (like the sky-call). When a bird first returns to the colony it will dance with many partners, but after a number of years the number of birds an individual will interact with drops, until one partner is chosen and a pair is formed. They then continue to perfect an individual language that will eventually be unique to that one pair. Having established a <!--del_lnk--> pair bond that will last for life, however, most of that dance will never be used ever again.<p>Albatrosses are thought to undertake these elaborate and painstaking rituals to ensure that the correct partner has been chosen and to perfect recognition of their partner, as egg laying and chick rearing is a huge investment. Even species that can complete an egg-laying cycle in under a year seldom lay eggs in consecutive years. The great albatrosses (like the <!--del_lnk--> Wandering Albatross) take over a year to raise a chick from laying to <!--del_lnk--> fledging. Albatrosses lay a single <!--del_lnk--> egg in a breeding season; if the egg is lost to predators or accidentally broken, then no further breeding attempts are made that year. The "divorce" of a pair is a rare occurrence, usually only happening after several years of breeding failure.<p>All the southern albatrosses create large <!--del_lnk--> nests for their egg, whereas the three species in the north Pacific make more rudimentary nests. The <!--del_lnk--> Waved Albatross, on the other hand, makes no nest and will even move its egg around the pair's territory, as much as 50 m, sometimes causing it to lose the egg. In all albatross species, both parents <!--del_lnk--> incubate the egg in stints that last between one day and three weeks. Incubation lasts around 70 to 80 days (longer for the larger albatrosses), the longest incubation period of any bird. It can be an energetically demanding process, with the adult losing as much as 83 g of body weight a day.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:192px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15060.jpg.htm" title="Albatrosses brood young chicks until they are large enough to defend themselves and thermoregulate."><img alt="Albatrosses brood young chicks until they are large enough to defend themselves and thermoregulate." height="128" longdesc="/wiki/Image:BFAL_Adult_w_chick.jpg" src="../../images/150/15060.jpg" width="190" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15060.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Albatrosses brood young chicks until they are large enough to defend themselves and thermoregulate.</div>
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<p>After hatching, the chick is brooded and guarded for three weeks until it is large enough to defend and <!--del_lnk--> thermoregulate itself. During this period the parents feed the chick small meals when they relieve each other from duty. After the brooding period is over, the chick is fed in regular intervals by both parents. The parents adopt alternative patterns of short and long foraging trips, providing meals that weigh around 12% of their body weight (around 600 g). The meals are composed of both fresh <!--del_lnk--> squid, <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fish</a> and <a href="../../wp/k/Krill.htm" title="Krill">krill</a>, as well as <!--del_lnk--> stomach oil, an <!--del_lnk--> energy-rich food that is lighter to carry than undigested prey items. This oil is created in a stomach organ known as a proventriculus from digested prey items by most tubenoses, and gives them their distinctive musty smell.<p>Albatross chicks take a long time to fledge. In the case of the great albatrosses, it can take up to 280 days; even for the smaller albatrosses, it takes anywhere between 140 and 170 days. Like many seabirds, albatross chicks will gain enough weight to be heavier than their parents, and prior to fledging they use these reserves to build up body condition (particularly growing all their flight feathers), usually fledging at the same weight as their parents. Albatross chicks fledge on their own and receive no further help from their parents, who return to the nest after fledging, unaware their chick has left. Studies of juveniles dispersing at sea have suggested an innate migration behaviour, a genetically coded navigation route, which helps young birds when they are first out at sea.<p><a id="Albatrosses_and_humans" name="Albatrosses_and_humans"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Albatrosses and humans</span></h2>
<p><a id="Etymology" name="Etymology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Etymology</span></h3>
<p>The name <i>albatross</i> is derived from the <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> <i>al-câdous</i> or <i>al-ġaţţās</i> (a <!--del_lnk--> pelican; literally, "the diver"), which travelled to English via the <a href="../../wp/p/Portuguese_language.htm" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a> form <i>alcatraz</i> ("<!--del_lnk--> gannet"), which is also the origin of the title of the former prison, <!--del_lnk--> Alcatraz. The <i><!--del_lnk--> OED</i> notes that the word <i>alcatraz</i> was originally applied to the <!--del_lnk--> frigatebird; the modification to <i>albatross</i> was perhaps influenced by <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> <i>albus</i>, meaning "white", in contrast to frigatebirds which are black. The Portuguese word <i>albatroz</i> is of <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> origin.<p>They were once commonly known as <b>Goonie birds</b> or <b>Gooney birds</b>, particularly those of the North <!--del_lnk--> Pacific. In the southern hemisphere, the name <b>mollymawk</b> is still well established in some areas, which is a corrupted form of <i>malle-mugge</i>, an old <a href="../../wp/d/Dutch_language.htm" title="Dutch language">Dutch</a> name for the <!--del_lnk--> Northern Fulmar. The name <i>Diomedea</i>, assigned to the albatrosses by <a href="../../wp/c/Carolus_Linnaeus.htm" title="Carolus Linnaeus">Linnaeus</a>, references the mythical metamorphosis of the companions of the Greek warrior <!--del_lnk--> Diomedes into birds.<p><a id="Albatrosses_and_culture" name="Albatrosses_and_culture"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Albatrosses and culture</span></h3>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15061.jpg.htm" title="A Northern Royal Albatross in flight at the colony in Taiaroa Head, New Zealand."><img alt="A Northern Royal Albatross in flight at the colony in Taiaroa Head, New Zealand." height="350" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Royal_Albatross_near_Dunedin.jpg" src="../../images/150/15061.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15061.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A Northern Royal Albatross in flight at the colony in Taiaroa Head, New Zealand.</div>
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<p>Albatrosses have been described as "the most legendary of all birds". An albatross is a central emblem in <i><a href="../../wp/t/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner.htm" title="The Rime of the Ancient Mariner">The Rime of the Ancient Mariner</a></i> by <a href="../../wp/s/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge.htm" title="Samuel Taylor Coleridge">Samuel Taylor Coleridge</a>; a captive albatross is also a <!--del_lnk--> metaphor for the <!--del_lnk--> poète maudit in a poem of <!--del_lnk--> Charles Baudelaire. It is from the former poem that the usage of albatross as a <!--del_lnk--> metaphor is derived; someone with a burden or obstacle is said to have 'an albatross around their neck', the punishment given in the poem to the mariner who killed the albatross. In part due to the poem, there is a widespread <!--del_lnk--> myth that sailors believe it disastrous to shoot or harm an albatross; in truth, however, sailors regularly killed and ate them, but they were often regarded as the souls of lost sailors. More recently, they have become part of <a href="../../wp/p/Popular_culture.htm" title="Popular culture">popular culture</a>, for example, in a <a href="../../wp/m/Monty_Python.htm" title="Monty Python">Monty Python</a> <!--del_lnk--> sketch, or the song "<!--del_lnk--> Echoes" by <!--del_lnk--> Pink Floyd. In the movie <i><a href="../../wp/s/Serenity_%2528film%2529.htm" title="Serenity (film)">Serenity</a></i>, the character <!--del_lnk--> River was referred to as an albatross by The Operative, reflecting the widespread adoption of the word as a metaphor. <!--del_lnk--> The Classic Crime's first album is entitled "Albatross".<p>Albatrosses are popular birds for <!--del_lnk--> birdwatchers and their colonies popular destinations for <!--del_lnk--> ecotourists. Regular birdwatching trips are taken out of many costal towns and cities, like <!--del_lnk--> Monterey, <!--del_lnk--> Kaikoura, <!--del_lnk--> Wollongong and <a href="../../wp/s/Sydney.htm" title="Sydney">Sydney</a>, to see <!--del_lnk--> pelagic <!--del_lnk--> seabirds, and albatrosses are easily attracted to these sightseeing boats by the deployment of fish oil into the sea. Visits to colonies can be very popular; the <!--del_lnk--> Northern Royal Albatross colony at <!--del_lnk--> Taiaroa Head in New Zealand attracts 40,000 visitors a year, and more isolated colonies are regular attractions on cruises to sub-Antarctic islands.<p><a id="Threats_and_conservation" name="Threats_and_conservation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Threats and conservation</span></h3>
<p>In spite of often being accorded legendary status, albatrosses have not escaped either indirect or direct pressure from humans. Early encounters with albatrosses by <!--del_lnk--> Polynesians and <!--del_lnk--> Aleut Indians resulted in hunting and in some cases extirpation from some islands (such as <a href="../../wp/e/Easter_Island.htm" title="Easter Island">Easter Island</a>). As <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="European">Europeans</a> began sailing the world, they too began to hunt albatross, "fishing" for them from boats to serve at the table or blasting them for sport. This sport reached its peak on emigration lines bound for <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a>, and only died down when ships became too fast to fish from, and regulations stopped the discharge of weapons for safety reasons. In the 19th century, albatross colonies, particularly those in the North Pacific, were harvested for the feather trade, leading to the near extinction of the <!--del_lnk--> Short-tailed Albatross.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:228px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15062.jpg.htm" title="This Black-browed Albatross has been hooked on a long-line."><img alt="This Black-browed Albatross has been hooked on a long-line." height="149" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albatross_hook.jpg" src="../../images/150/15062.jpg" width="226" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15062.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> This Black-browed Albatross has been hooked on a long-line.</div>
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<p>Of the 21 albatross species recognised by IUCN on their <!--del_lnk--> Red List, 19 are threatened, and the other two are <i>near threatened</i>. Two species (as recognised by the IUCN) are considered critically <!--del_lnk--> endangered: the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Albatross and the <!--del_lnk--> Chatham Albatross. One of the main threats is commercial <!--del_lnk--> long-line fishing, as the albatrosses and other <!--del_lnk--> seabirds which will readily feed on <!--del_lnk--> offal are attracted to the set bait become hooked on the lines and drown. An estimated 100,000 albatross per year are killed in this fashion. Unregulated <!--del_lnk--> pirate fisheries exacerbate the problem.<p>Another threat to albatrosses is <!--del_lnk--> introduced species, such as rats or <!--del_lnk--> feral cats, which directly attack the albatross or its chicks and eggs. Albatrosses have evolved to breed on islands where land mammals are absent and have not evolved defences against them. Even species as small as mice can be detrimental; on <!--del_lnk--> Gough Island the chicks of <!--del_lnk--> Tristan Albatrosses are attacked and eaten alive by introduced <!--del_lnk--> house mice that are almost 300 times smaller than they are. Introduced species can have other indirect effects: <a href="../../wp/c/Cattle.htm" title="Cattle">cattle</a> overgrazed essential cover on <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Island threatening the Amsterdam Albatross; on other islands introduced plants reduce potential nesting habitat.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15063.jpg.htm" title="The remains of this Laysan Albatross chick show the plastic ingested prior to death, including a bottle cap and lighter."><img alt="The remains of this Laysan Albatross chick show the plastic ingested prior to death, including a bottle cap and lighter." height="162" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Laysan_albatross_chick_remains.jpg" src="../../images/150/15063.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15063.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The remains of this Laysan Albatross chick show the plastic ingested prior to death, including a bottle cap and lighter.</div>
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<p>Ingestion of <!--del_lnk--> plastic <!--del_lnk--> flotsam is another problem, one faced by many seabirds. The amount of plastic in the seas has increased dramatically since the first record in the 1960s, coming from waste discarded by ships, offshore dumping, litter on beaches and waste washed to sea by rivers. It is impossible to digest and takes up space in the stomach or <!--del_lnk--> gizzard that should be used for food, or can cause an obstruction that starves the bird directly. Studies of birds in the North Pacific have shown that ingestion of plastics results in declining <!--del_lnk--> body weight and body condition. This plastic is sometimes regurgitated and fed to chicks; a study of <!--del_lnk--> Laysan Albatross chicks on <a href="../../wp/m/Midway_Atoll.htm" title="Midway Atoll">Midway Atoll</a> showed large amounts of ingested plastic in naturally dead chicks compared to healthy chicks killed in accidents. While not the direct cause of death, this plastic causes physiological stress and causes the chick to feel full during feedings, reducing its food intake and the chances of survival.<p>Scientists and conservationists (most importantly <!--del_lnk--> BirdLife International and their partners, who run the Save the Albatross campaign) are working with governments and <!--del_lnk--> fishermen to find solutions to the threats albatrosses face. Techniques such as setting long-line bait at night, dying the bait blue, setting the bait underwater, increasing the amount of weight on lines and using bird scarers can all reduce the seabird by-catch. For example, a collaborative study between scientists and fishermen in <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a> successfully tested an underwater setting device for long-liners which set the lines below the reach of vulnerable albatross species. The use of some of these techniques in the <!--del_lnk--> Patagonian Toothfish fishery in the <a href="../../wp/f/Falkland_Islands.htm" title="Falkland Islands">Falkland Islands</a> is thought to have reduced the number of <!--del_lnk--> Black-browed Albatross taken by the fleet in the last 10 years. Conservationists have also worked on the field of <!--del_lnk--> island restoration, removing introduced species that threaten native wildlife, which protects albatrosses from introduced predators.<p>One important step towards protecting albatrosses and other <!--del_lnk--> seabirds is the 2001 <!--del_lnk--> treaty the <!--del_lnk--> Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, which came into force in 2004 and has been ratified by eight countries, <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Ecuador.htm" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a>, <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/South_Africa.htm" title="South Africa">South Africa</a>, <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> and the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>. The treaty requires these countries to take specific actions to reduce by-catch, pollution and to remove introduced species from nesting islands. The treaty has also been signed but not ratified by another three countries, <a href="../../wp/a/Argentina.htm" title="Argentina">Argentina</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Chile.htm" title="Chile">Chile</a>.<p><a id="Species" name="Species"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Species</span></h2>
<p>Current thinking divides the albatrosses into four genera. The number of species is a matter of some debate. The <!--del_lnk--> IUCN and <!--del_lnk--> BirdLife International among others recognise the interim taxonomy of 21 extant species, other authorities retain the more traditional 14 species, and one recent paper proposed a reduction to 13:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Great albatrosses (<i>Diomedea</i>) <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Wandering Albatross <i>D. exulans</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Antipodean Albatross <i>D. (exulans) antipodensis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Albatross <i>D. (exulans) amsterdamensis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Tristan Albatross <i>D. (exulans) dabbenena</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Northern Royal Albatross <i>D. (epomorpha) sanfordi</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Southern Royal Albatross <i>D. epomophora</i></ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> North Pacific albatrosses (<i>Phoebastria</i>) <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Waved Albatross <i>P. irrorata</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Short-tailed Albatross <i>P. albatrus</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Black-footed Albatross <i>P. nigripes</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Laysan Albatross <i>P. immutabilis</i></ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Mollymawks (<i>Thalassarche</i>) <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Black-browed Albatross <i>T. melanophris</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Campbell Albatross <i>T. (melanophris) impavida</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Shy Albatross <i>T. cauta</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Chatham Albatross <i>T. (cauta) eremita</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Salvin's Albatross <i>T. (cauta) salvini</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Grey-headed Albatross <i>T. chrysostoma</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross <i>T. chlororhynchos</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross <i>T. (chlororhynchos) carteri</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Buller's Albatross <i>T. bulleri</i></ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Sooty albatrosses (<i>Phoebetria</i>) <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Dark-mantled Sooty Albatross <i>P. fusca</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Light-mantled Sooty Albatross <i>P. palpebrata</i>.</ul>
</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatross"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Albert Einstein</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Astronomers_and_physicists.htm">Astronomers and physicists</a></h3>
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<caption><b>Albert Einstein</b></caption>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><a class="image" href="../../images/189/18942.jpg.htm" title="Photographed by Oren J. Turner (1947)"><img alt="Photographed by Oren J. Turner (1947)" height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albert_Einstein_Head.jpg" src="../../images/231/23151.jpg" width="225" /></a><br /> Photographed by Oren J. Turner (1947)</td>
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<th>Born</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> March 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1879<br /><!--del_lnk--> Ulm, <!--del_lnk--> Württemberg, <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a></td>
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<th>Died</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> April 18, <!--del_lnk--> 1955<br /><!--del_lnk--> Princeton, <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey</td>
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<th>Residence</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">USA</a></td>
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<th>Nationality</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">German</a> (1879-96, 1914-33)<br /><a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Swiss</a> (1901-55)<br /><a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">American</a> (1940-55)</td>
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<th>Field</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/p/Physics.htm" title="Physics">Physics</a></td>
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<th>Institution</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Swiss <!--del_lnk--> Patent Office <!--del_lnk--> (Berne)<br /><!--del_lnk--> Univ. of Zürich<br /><!--del_lnk--> Charles Univ.<br /><!--del_lnk--> Kaiser Wilhelm Inst.<br /><!--del_lnk--> Univ. of Leiden<br /><!--del_lnk--> Inst. for Advanced Study</td>
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<th>Alma Mater</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> ETH Zürich</td>
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<th>Known for</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> General relativity, <a href="../../wp/s/Special_relativity.htm" title="Special relativity">Special relativity</a><br /><!--del_lnk--> Brownian motion, <!--del_lnk--> Photoelectric effect</td>
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<th>Notable Prizes</th>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/52/5262.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="20" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Nobel.png" src="../../images/52/5262.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Nobel Prize in Physics (1921)<br /><!--del_lnk--> Copley Medal (1925)</td>
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<p><b>Albert Einstein</b> (<span class="unicode audiolink"><!--del_lnk--> German pronunciation</span> ) (<!--del_lnk--> March 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1879 – <!--del_lnk--> April 18, <!--del_lnk--> 1955) was a <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">German</a>-born <!--del_lnk--> theoretical physicist widely known as one of the <!--del_lnk--> greatest <!--del_lnk--> physicists of all time. He formulated the <!--del_lnk--> special and general theories of relativity. In addition, he made significant advancements to <a href="../../wp/q/Quantum_mechanics.htm" title="Quantum mechanics">quantum theory</a> and <!--del_lnk--> statistical mechanics. While best known for the <!--del_lnk--> Theory of Relativity (and specifically <!--del_lnk--> mass-energy equivalence, <!--del_lnk--> <i>E</i>=<i>mc</i><sup>2</sup>), he was awarded the 1921 <!--del_lnk--> Nobel Prize for Physics for his 1905 (his "<!--del_lnk--> wonderful year" or "miraculous year") explanation of the <!--del_lnk--> photoelectric effect and "for his services to <!--del_lnk--> Theoretical Physics". In popular culture, the name "Einstein" has become synonymous with great <a href="../../wp/i/Intelligence.htm" title="Intelligence">intelligence</a> and <!--del_lnk--> genius.<p>Among his many investigations were: <!--del_lnk--> capillary action, his <!--del_lnk--> special theory of relativity which stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of <!--del_lnk--> mechanics with the laws of the <!--del_lnk--> electromagnetic field, his <!--del_lnk--> general theory of relativity which extended the <!--del_lnk--> principle of relativity to include <a href="../../wp/g/Gravitation.htm" title="Gravitation">gravitation</a>, <!--del_lnk--> relativistic cosmology, <!--del_lnk--> critical opalescence, classical problems of <!--del_lnk--> statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory, including an explanation of <!--del_lnk--> Brownian motion; <!--del_lnk--> atomic transition <!--del_lnk--> probabilities, the <!--del_lnk--> probabilistic interpretation of quantum theory, the quantum theory of a <!--del_lnk--> monatomic gas, the <a href="../../wp/t/Thermodynamics.htm" title="Thermodynamics">thermal</a> properties of <a href="../../wp/l/Light.htm" title="Light">light</a> with a low <!--del_lnk--> radiation density which laid the foundation of the <a href="../../wp/p/Photon.htm" title="Photon">photon</a> theory of light, the theory of radiation, including <!--del_lnk--> stimulated emission; the construction of a <!--del_lnk--> unified field theory, and the geometrization of <a href="../../wp/p/Physics.htm" title="Physics">physics</a>.<p>
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</script><a id="Biography" name="Biography"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Biography</span></h2>
<p><a id="Youth_and_college" name="Youth_and_college"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Youth and college</span></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/173/17387.jpg.htm" title="Young Albert before the Einsteins moved from Germany to Italy."><img alt="Young Albert before the Einsteins moved from Germany to Italy." height="221" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Young_Albert_Einstein.jpg" src="../../images/231/23152.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><b>Einstein</b> was born on <!--del_lnk--> March 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1879, around 11:30 AM <!--del_lnk--> LMT, to a <a href="../../wp/j/Jew.htm" title="Jewish">Jewish</a> family, in the city of <!--del_lnk--> Ulm in <!--del_lnk--> Württemberg, <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>, about 100 km east of <a href="../../wp/s/Stuttgart.htm" title="Stuttgart">Stuttgart</a>. His father was Hermann Einstein, a salesman who later ran an <!--del_lnk--> electrochemical works, and his mother was Pauline <i>née</i> Koch. They were married in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt.<p>At his birth, Albert's mother was reputedly frightened that her infant's head was so large and oddly shaped. Though the size of his head appeared to be less remarkable as he grew older, it's evident from photographs of Einstein that his head was disproportionately large for his body throughout his life, a trait regarded as "benign <!--del_lnk--> macrocephaly" in large-headed individuals with no related disease or cognitive deficits.<p>Another more famous aspect of Einstein's childhood is the fact that he spoke much later than the average child. Einstein claimed that he did not begin speaking until the age of three and only did so hesitantly, even beyond the age of nine (see "Speculation and controversy" section). Because of Einstein's late speech development and his later childhood tendency to ignore any subject in school that bored him — instead focusing intensely only on what interested him — some observers at the time suggested that he might be "retarded", such as one of the Einstein family's housekeepers. This latter observation was not the only time in his life that controversial labels and <!--del_lnk--> pathology would be applied to Einstein. (See again, "Speculation and controversy".)<p>Albert's family members were all non-observant <a href="../../wp/j/Jew.htm" title="Jew">Jews</a> and he attended a <!--del_lnk--> Catholic elementary school. At the insistence of his mother, he was given <!--del_lnk--> violin lessons. Though he initially disliked the lessons, and eventually discontinued them, he would later take great solace in <a href="../../wp/w/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart.htm" title="Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart">Mozart</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> violin sonatas.<p>When Einstein was five, his father showed him a small pocket <!--del_lnk--> compass, and Einstein realized that something in "empty" space acted upon the needle; he would later describe the experience as one of the most revelatory events of his life. He built <!--del_lnk--> models and <!--del_lnk--> mechanical devices for fun and showed great mathematical ability early on.<p>In 1889, a medical student named Max Talmud (later: Talmey), who visited the Einsteins on Thursday nights for six years, introduced Einstein to key science and philosophy texts, including <a href="../../wp/i/Immanuel_Kant.htm" title="Immanuel Kant">Kant's</a> <i><!--del_lnk--> Critique of Pure Reason</i>. Two of his uncles would further foster his intellectual interests during his late childhood and early adolescence by recommending and providing books on science, mathematics and philosophy.<p>Einstein attended the <!--del_lnk--> Luitpold Gymnasium, where he received a relatively progressive education. He began to learn <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematics.htm" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a> around age twelve; in 1891, he taught himself <a href="../../wp/e/Euclidean_geometry.htm" title="Euclidean geometry">Euclidean plane geometry</a> from a school booklet and began to study <a href="../../wp/c/Calculus.htm" title="Calculus">calculus</a>; Einstein realized the power of axiomatic <!--del_lnk--> deductive reasoning from <a href="../../wp/e/Euclid.htm" title="Euclid">Euclid</a>'s <i><!--del_lnk--> Elements</i>, which Einstein called the "holy little geometry book" (given by Max Talmud). While at the Gymnasium, Einstein clashed with authority and resented the school regimen, believing that the spirit of learning and creative thought were lost in such endeavors as strict <!--del_lnk--> memorization.<p>In 1894, following the failure of Hermann Einstein's electrochemical business, the Einsteins moved from <a href="../../wp/m/Munich.htm" title="Munich">Munich</a> to <!--del_lnk--> Pavia, a city in <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> near <a href="../../wp/m/Milan.htm" title="Milan">Milan</a>. Einstein's first scientific work, called "<i>The Investigation of the State of <!--del_lnk--> Aether in <!--del_lnk--> Magnetic Fields</i>", was written contemporaneously for one of his uncles. Albert remained behind in Munich lodgings to finish school, completing only one term before leaving the <!--del_lnk--> gymnasium in the spring of 1895 to rejoin his family in Pavia. He quit a year and a half prior to final examinations without telling his parents, convincing the school to let him go with a medical note from a friendly doctor, but this meant that he had no <!--del_lnk--> secondary-school certificate. That year, at the age of 16, he performed the <!--del_lnk--> thought experiment known as "Albert Einstein's mirror". After gazing into a mirror, he examined what would happen to his image if he were moving at the <a href="../../wp/s/Speed_of_light.htm" title="Speed of light">speed of light</a>; his conclusion, that the speed of light is independent of the observer, would later become one of the two <!--del_lnk--> postulates of special relativity.<p>Although he excelled in the mathematics and science part of entrance examinations for the <!--del_lnk--> Federal Polytechnic Institute in <a href="../../wp/z/Z%25C3%25BCrich.htm" title="Zürich">Zürich</a>, today the <!--del_lnk--> ETH Zürich, his failure of the liberal arts portion was a setback; his family sent him to <!--del_lnk--> Aarau, <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a> to finish secondary school, and it became clear that he was not going to be an <a href="../../wp/e/Electrical_engineering.htm" title="Electrical engineering">electrical engineer</a> as his father intended for him. There, he studied the seldom-taught <a href="../../wp/j/James_Clerk_Maxwell.htm" title="James Clerk Maxwell">Maxwell's</a> <!--del_lnk--> electromagnetic theory and received his diploma in September 1896. During this time, he lodged with Professor Jost Winteler's family and became enamoured with Sofia Marie-Jeanne Amanda Winteler, commonly referred to as Sofie or Marie, their daughter and his first sweetheart. Einstein's sister, Maja, who was perhaps his closest confidant, was to later marry their son, Paul, and his friend, <!--del_lnk--> Michele Besso, married their other daughter, Anna. Einstein subsequently enrolled at the <!--del_lnk--> Federal Polytechnic Institute in October and moved to <a href="../../wp/z/Z%25C3%25BCrich.htm" title="Zürich">Zürich</a>, while Marie moved to <!--del_lnk--> Olsberg, Switzerland for a teaching post. The same year, he renounced his <!--del_lnk--> Württemberg citizenship.<p>In the spring of 1896, the <a href="../../wp/s/Serbia.htm" title="Serbia">Serbian</a> <!--del_lnk--> Mileva Marić started initially as a medical student at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Zürich, but after a term switched to the <!--del_lnk--> Federal Polytechnic Institute to study as the only woman that year for the same diploma as Einstein. Marić's relationship with Einstein developed into romance over the next few years, though his mother would cry that she was too old, not Jewish, and physically defective.<p>In 1900, Einstein was granted a teaching diploma by the <!--del_lnk--> Federal Polytechnic Institute. Einstein then submitted his first paper to be published, on the <!--del_lnk--> capillary forces of a drinking straw, titled "<i>Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen</i>", which translated is "<i>Consequences of the observations of capillarity phenomena</i>" (found in "<i>Annalen der Physik</i>" volume 4, page 513). In it, he tried to unify the <!--del_lnk--> laws of physics, an attempt he would continually make throughout his life. Through his friend <!--del_lnk--> Michele Besso, an <!--del_lnk--> engineer, Einstein was presented with the works of <!--del_lnk--> Ernst Mach, and would later consider him "the best sounding board in Europe" for physical ideas. During this time, Einstein discussed his scientific interests with a group of close friends, including Besso and Marić. The men referred to themselves as the "Olympia Academy". Einstein and Marić had a daughter out of wedlock, <!--del_lnk--> Lieserl Einstein, born in January 1902. Her fate is unknown; some believe she died in infancy, while others believe she was given out for adoption.<p><a id="Works_and_doctorate" name="Works_and_doctorate"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Works and doctorate</span></h3>
<p>Einstein could not find a teaching post upon graduation, mostly because his brashness as a young man had apparently irritated most of his professors. The father of a classmate helped him obtain employment as a technical assistant <!--del_lnk--> examiner at the Swiss Patent Office in 1902. There, Einstein judged the worth of <!--del_lnk--> inventors' <!--del_lnk--> patent applications for devices that required a knowledge of physics to understand — in particular he was chiefly charged to evaluate <!--del_lnk--> patents relating to electromagnetic devices. He also learned how to discern the essence of applications despite sometimes poor descriptions, and was taught by the director how "to express [him]self correctly". He occasionally rectified their design errors while evaluating the practicality of their work.<p>Einstein married <!--del_lnk--> Mileva Marić on <!--del_lnk--> January 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1903. Einstein's marriage to Marić, who was a mathematician, was both a personal and intellectual partnership: Einstein referred to Mileva as "a creature who is my equal and who is as strong and independent as I am". <!--del_lnk--> Ronald W. Clark, a biographer of Einstein, claimed that Einstein depended on the distance that existed in his marriage to Mileva in order to have the solitude necessary to accomplish his work; he required intellectual isolation. <!--del_lnk--> Abram Joffe, a Soviet physicist who knew Einstein, wrote in an obituary of him, "The author of [the papers of 1905] was… a bureaucrat at the Patent Office in Bern, Einstein-Marić" and this has recently been taken as evidence of a collaborative relationship. However, according to Alberto A. Martínez of the Centre for Einstein Studies at <!--del_lnk--> Boston University, Joffe only ascribed authorship to Einstein, as he believed that it was a Swiss custom at the time to append the spouse's last name to the husband's name. The extent of her influence on Einstein's work is a controversial and debated question.<p>In 1903, Einstein's position at the Swiss Patent Office had been made permanent, though he was passed over for promotion until he had "fully mastered machine technology". He obtained his <!--del_lnk--> doctorate under <!--del_lnk--> Alfred Kleiner at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Zürich after submitting his thesis "<i>A new determination of molecular dimensions</i>" ("<i>Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen</i>") in 1905.<p><a id="Annus_Mirabilis_Papers" name="Annus_Mirabilis_Papers"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">Annus Mirabilis Papers</span></h4>
<p>During 1905, in his spare time, he wrote four articles that participated in the foundation of <!--del_lnk--> modern physics, without much <!--del_lnk--> scientific literature to which he could refer or many scientific colleagues with whom he could discuss the theories. Most physicists agree that three of those papers (on <!--del_lnk--> Brownian motion, the <!--del_lnk--> photoelectric effect, and <a href="../../wp/s/Special_relativity.htm" title="Special relativity">special relativity</a>) deserved <!--del_lnk--> Nobel Prizes. Only the paper on the photoelectric effect would be mentioned by the Nobel committee in the award; at the time of the award, it had the most unchallenged experimental evidence behind it, although the Nobel committee expressed the opinion that Einstein's other work would be confirmed in due course.<p>Some might regard the award for the photoelectric effect ironic, not only because Einstein is far better-known for relativity, but also because the photoelectric effect is a quantum phenomenon, and Einstein became somewhat disenchanted with the path <a href="../../wp/q/Quantum_mechanics.htm" title="Quantum mechanics">quantum theory</a> would take.<p>Einstein submitted this series of papers to the "<i>Annalen der Physik</i>". They are commonly referred to as the "<i><!--del_lnk--> Annus Mirabilis Papers</i>" (from <!--del_lnk--> <i>Annus mirabilis</i>, <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> for 'year of wonders'). The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (<!--del_lnk--> IUPAP) commemorated the 100th year of the publication of Einstein's extensive work in 1905 as the '<!--del_lnk--> World Year of Physics 2005'.<p>The first paper, named "<i>On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light</i>", ("<i>Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt</i>") was specifically cited for his Nobel Prize. In this paper, Einstein extends <a href="../../wp/m/Max_Planck.htm" title="Max Planck">Planck's</a> hypothesis (<span class="texhtml"><i>E</i> = <i>h</i>ν</span>) of discrete energy elements to his own hypothesis that electromagnetic <a href="../../wp/e/Energy.htm" title="Energy">energy</a> is absorbed or emitted by <a href="../../wp/m/Matter.htm" title="Matter">matter</a> in <!--del_lnk--> quanta of <span class="texhtml"><i>h</i>ν</span> (where <i>h</i> is <!--del_lnk--> Planck's constant and <span class="texhtml">ν</span> is the <!--del_lnk--> frequency of the <a href="../../wp/l/Light.htm" title="Light">light</a>), proposing a new law<dl>
<dd><img alt="E_{\mathrm{max}} = h\nu - P\," class="tex" src="../../images/88/8816.png" /></dl>
<p>to account for the <!--del_lnk--> photoelectric effect, as well as other properties of <!--del_lnk--> photoluminescence and <!--del_lnk--> photoionization. In later papers, Einstein used this law to describe the <!--del_lnk--> Volta effect (1906), the production of secondary <!--del_lnk--> cathode rays (1909) and the high-frequency limit of <!--del_lnk--> Bremsstrahlung (1911). Einstein's key contribution is his assertion that energy quantization is a general, intrinsic property of <a href="../../wp/l/Light.htm" title="Light">light</a>, rather than a particular constraint of the interaction between matter and light, as <a href="../../wp/m/Max_Planck.htm" title="Max Planck">Planck</a> believed. Another, often overlooked result of this paper was Einstein's excellent estimate (6.17 <img alt="\times" class="tex" src="../../images/88/8827.png" /> 10<sup>23</sup>) of <!--del_lnk--> Avogadro's number (6.02 <img alt="\times" class="tex" src="../../images/88/8827.png" /> 10<sup>23</sup>). However, Einstein does <i>not</i> propose that light is a particle in this paper; the "photon" concept was not proposed until 1909 (see below).<p>His second article in 1905, named "<i>On the Motion—Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat—of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid</i>", ("<i><!--del_lnk--> Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen</i>") covered his study of <!--del_lnk--> Brownian motion, and provided empirical evidence for the existence of atoms. Before this paper, <a href="../../wp/a/Atom.htm" title="Atom">atoms</a> were recognized as a useful concept, but <!--del_lnk--> physicists and <!--del_lnk--> chemists hotly debated whether atoms were real entities. Einstein's statistical discussion of atomic behaviour gave <!--del_lnk--> experimentalists a way to count atoms by looking through an ordinary <a href="../../wp/m/Microscope.htm" title="Microscope">microscope</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Wilhelm Ostwald, one of the leaders of the anti-atom school, later told <!--del_lnk--> Arnold Sommerfeld that he had been converted to a belief in atoms by Einstein's complete explanation of Brownian motion. Brownian motion was also explained by <!--del_lnk--> Louis Bachelier in 1900.<p>Einstein's third paper that year, "<i>On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies</i>" ("<i>Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper</i>"), was published in June 1905. This paper introduced the <a href="../../wp/s/Special_relativity.htm" title="Special relativity">special theory of relativity</a>, a theory of <a href="../../wp/t/Time.htm" title="Time">time</a>, <!--del_lnk--> distance, mass and energy which was consistent with <!--del_lnk--> electromagnetism, but omitted the force of <a href="../../wp/g/Gravitation.htm" title="Gravity">gravity</a>. While developing this paper, Einstein wrote to Mileva about "our work on relative motion", and this has led some to speculate that Mileva played a part in its development.<p>A few historians of science believe that Einstein and his wife were both aware that the famous French mathematical physicist <!--del_lnk--> Henri Poincaré had already published the equations of relativity, a few weeks before Einstein submitted his paper. Most believe their work was independent and varied in many crucial ways, namely, regarding the "ether" (Einstein denied ether, Poincaré considered it superfluous). Similarly, it is debatable if he knew the 1904 paper of <!--del_lnk--> Hendrik Antoon Lorentz which contained most of the theory and to which Poincaré referred. Most historians, however, believe that Einsteinian relativity varied in many key ways from other theories of relativity which were circulating at the time, and that many of the questions about priority stem from the misleading trope of portraying Einstein as a genius working in total isolation. Although Einstein discussed physics with Mileva, there is no solid evidence that she made any significant contribution to his work.<p>In a fourth paper, "<i>Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?</i>", ("<i>Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig?</i>"), published late in 1905, he showed that from relativity's <!--del_lnk--> axioms, it is possible to deduce the famous equation which shows the equivalence between matter and energy. The <a href="../../wp/e/Energy.htm" title="Energy">energy</a> equivalence (<i>E</i>) of some amount of mass (<i>m</i>) is that mass times the speed of light (<i>c</i>) squared: <!--del_lnk--> <i>E</i> = <i>mc</i><sup>2</sup>. However, it was Poincaré who in 1900 first published the "energy equation" in slightly different form, namely as: <i>m</i> = <i>E</i> / <i>c</i><sup>2</sup> — see also <!--del_lnk--> relativity priority dispute.<p><a id="Middle_years" name="Middle_years"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Middle years</span></h3>
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<div style="width:166px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23155.jpg.htm" title="Einstein at the 1911 Solvay Conference."><img alt="Einstein at the 1911 Solvay Conference." height="299" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Einstein_1911_Solvay.jpg" src="../../images/231/23155.jpg" width="164" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">Einstein at the 1911 <!--del_lnk--> Solvay Conference.</div>
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<p>In 1906, Einstein was promoted to technical examiner second class. In 1908, Einstein was licensed in <!--del_lnk--> Bern, Switzerland, as a <!--del_lnk--> Privatdozent (unsalaried teacher at a university). During this time, Einstein described why the sky is blue in his paper on the phenomenon of <!--del_lnk--> critical opalescence, which shows the cumulative effect of <!--del_lnk--> scattering of light by individual molecules in the atmosphere. In 1911, Einstein became first associate <!--del_lnk--> professor at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Zürich, and shortly afterwards full professor at the German language-section of the <!--del_lnk--> Charles University of Prague. While at <a href="../../wp/p/Prague.htm" title="Prague">Prague</a>, Einstein published a paper calling on astronomers to test two predictions of his developing theory of relativity: a bending of light in a gravitational field, measurable at a solar eclipse; and a redshift of solar spectral lines relative to spectral lines produced on Earth's surface. A young German astronomer, Erwin Freundlich, began collaborating with Einstein and alerted other astronomers around the world about Einstein's astronomical tests. In 1912, Einstein returned to <a href="../../wp/z/Z%25C3%25BCrich.htm" title="Zürich">Zürich</a> in order to become full professor at the <!--del_lnk--> ETH Zürich. At that time, he worked closely with the <!--del_lnk--> mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Marcel Grossmann, who introduced him to Riemannian geometry. In 1912, Einstein started to refer to <a href="../../wp/t/Time.htm" title="Time">time</a> as the <!--del_lnk--> fourth dimension (although <!--del_lnk--> H.G. Wells had done this earlier, in 1895 in <i><!--del_lnk--> The Time Machine</i>).<p>In 1914, just before the start of <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_I.htm" title="World War I">World War I</a>, Einstein settled in <a href="../../wp/b/Berlin.htm" title="Berlin">Berlin</a> as professor at the local <!--del_lnk--> university and became a member of the <!--del_lnk--> Prussian Academy of Sciences. He took <!--del_lnk--> Prussian citizenship. From 1914 to 1933, he served as director of the <!--del_lnk--> Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin. He also held the position of <!--del_lnk--> extraordinary professor at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Leiden from 1920 until 1946, where he regularly gave guest lectures.<p>In 1917, Einstein published <i>"On the Quantum Mechanics of Radiation"</i> (<i>"Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung,"</i> Physkalische Zeitschrift 18, 121–128). This article introduced the concept of <!--del_lnk--> stimulated emission, the physical principle that allows light amplification in the <!--del_lnk--> laser. He also published a paper that year that used the general theory of relativity to model the behaviour of the entire universe, setting the stage for modern <!--del_lnk--> cosmology. In this work Einstein created the <!--del_lnk--> cosmological constant, which he later considered his "biggest blunder".<p>On <!--del_lnk--> May 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1904, Albert and Mileva's first son, <!--del_lnk--> Hans Albert Einstein, was born. Their second son, <!--del_lnk--> Eduard Einstein, was born on <!--del_lnk--> July 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1910. Hans Albert became a professor of <!--del_lnk--> hydraulic engineering at the <!--del_lnk--> University of California, Berkeley, having little interaction with his father, but sharing his love for sailing and music. Eduard, the younger brother, intended to practice as a <!--del_lnk--> Freudian analyst but was institutionalized for <a href="../../wp/s/Schizophrenia.htm" title="Schizophrenia">schizophrenia</a> and died in an asylum. Einstein divorced Mileva on <!--del_lnk--> February 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1919, and married his cousin Elsa Löwenthal (born Einstein: Löwenthal was the surname of her first husband, Max) on <!--del_lnk--> June 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1919. Elsa was Albert's first cousin (maternally) and his second cousin (paternally). She was three years older than Albert, and had nursed him to health after he had suffered a partial nervous breakdown combined with a severe stomach ailment; there were no children from this marriage.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:224px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23156.png.htm" title=""Einstein theory triumphs," declared the New York Times on November 10, 1919."><img alt=""Einstein theory triumphs," declared the New York Times on November 10, 1919." height="418" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Einstein_theory_triumphs.png" src="../../images/231/23156.png" width="222" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23156.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> "Einstein theory triumphs," declared the <i><!--del_lnk--> New York Times</i> on <!--del_lnk--> November 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1919.</div>
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<p><a id="General_relativity" name="General_relativity"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">General relativity</span></h4>
<p>In November 1915, Einstein presented a series of lectures before the Prussian Academy of Sciences in which he described a new theory of <a href="../../wp/g/Gravitation.htm" title="Gravity">gravity</a>, known as <!--del_lnk--> general relativity. The final lecture ended with his introduction of an equation that replaced <!--del_lnk--> Newton's law of gravity, the <!--del_lnk--> Einstein field equation. This theory considered all observers to be equivalent, not only those moving at a uniform speed. In general relativity, gravity is no longer a force (as it is in Newton's law of gravity) but is a consequence of the curvature of <!--del_lnk--> space-time.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/123/12306.jpg.htm" title="1919 solar eclipse"><img alt="1919 solar eclipse" height="231" longdesc="/wiki/Image:1919_eclipse_negative.jpg" src="../../images/231/23157.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/123/12306.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> 1919 solar eclipse</div>
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<p>Einstein's published papers on general relativity were not available outside of Germany due to the war. News of Einstein's new theory reached English-speaking astronomers in England and America via Dutch physicists <!--del_lnk--> Hendrik Antoon Lorentz and <!--del_lnk--> Paul Ehrenfest and their colleague <!--del_lnk--> Willem de Sitter, Director of Leiden Observatory. <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Stanley Eddington in England, who was Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, asked de Sitter to write a series of articles in English for the benefit of astronomers. He was fascinated with the new theory and became a leading proponent and popularizer of relativity. Most astronomers did not like Einstein's geometrization of gravity and believed that his light bending and gravitational redshift predictions would not be correct. In 1917, astronomers at Mt. Wilson Observatory in southern California published results of spectroscopic analysis of the solar spectrum that seemed to indicate that there was no gravitational redshift in the Sun. In 1918, astronomers at Lick Observatory in northern California obtained photographs at a solar eclipse visible in the United States. After the war ended, they announced results claiming that Einstein's general relativity prediction of light bending was wrong; but they never published their results due to large probable errors.<p>In May, 1919 during British <a href="../../wp/s/Solar_eclipse.htm" title="Solar eclipse">solar-eclipse</a> expeditions (carried out in <!--del_lnk--> Sobral, Ceará, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>, as well as on the island of <!--del_lnk--> Principe, at the west coast of <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a>) <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Eddington supervised measurements of the <!--del_lnk--> bending of star light as it passed close to the Sun, resulting in star positions appearing further away from the Sun. This effect is called <!--del_lnk--> gravitational lensing and the positions of the stars observed were twice that which would be predicted by Newtonian physics. These observations match that predicted by the <!--del_lnk--> Field Equation of <!--del_lnk--> general relativity. Eddington announced that the results confirmed Einstein's prediction and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Times</i> reported that confirmation on <!--del_lnk--> November 7 of that year, with the headline: "<i>Revolution in science – New theory of the Universe – Newtonian ideas overthrown</i>". Nobel laureate <!--del_lnk--> Max Born viewed <!--del_lnk--> General Relativity as the "greatest feat of human thinking about nature"; fellow laureate <a href="../../wp/p/Paul_Dirac.htm" title="Paul Dirac">Paul Dirac</a> called it "probably the greatest scientific discovery ever made". These comments and resulting publicity cemented Einstein's fame. He became world-famous – an unusual achievement for a scientist.<p>Many scientists were still unconvinced for various reasons ranging from the scientific (disagreement with Einstein's interpretation of the experiments, belief in the ether or that an absolute frame of reference was necessary) to the psycho-social (conservatism, anti-Semitism). In Einstein's view, most of the objections were from experimentalists with very little understanding of the theory involved. Einstein's public fame which followed the 1919 article created resentment among these scientists, some of which lasted well into the 1930s.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> March 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1921, Einstein went to <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York</a> to give a lecture on his new Theory of Relativity, the same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Though he is now most famous for his work on relativity, it was for his earlier work on the <!--del_lnk--> photoelectric effect that he was given the Prize, as his work on general relativity was still disputed. The Nobel committee decided that citing his less-contested theory in the Prize would gain more acceptance from the scientific community.<p><a id="Copenhagen_interpretation" name="Copenhagen_interpretation"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">Copenhagen interpretation</span></h4>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/97/9722.jpg.htm" title="Einstein and Niels Bohr sparred over quantum theory during the 1920s. Photo taken by Paul Ehrenfest during their visit to Leiden in December 1925"><img alt="Einstein and Niels Bohr sparred over quantum theory during the 1920s. Photo taken by Paul Ehrenfest during their visit to Leiden in December 1925" height="289" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Niels_Bohr_Albert_Einstein_by_Ehrenfest.jpg" src="../../images/231/23158.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/97/9722.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Einstein and <a href="../../wp/n/Niels_Bohr.htm" title="Niels Bohr">Niels Bohr</a> sparred over <!--del_lnk--> quantum theory during the 1920s. Photo taken by <!--del_lnk--> Paul Ehrenfest during their visit to Leiden in December 1925</div>
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<p>In 1909, Einstein presented a paper (<i>Über die Entwicklung unserer Anschauungen über das Wesen und die Konstitution der Strahlung</i>, available in its English translation <!--del_lnk--> The Development of Our Views on the Composition and Essence of Radiation) to a gathering of physicists on the history of <a href="../../wp/l/Luminiferous_aether.htm" title="Luminiferous aether">aether theories</a> and, more importantly, on the quantization of light. In this and an earlier 1909 paper, Einstein showed that the <i><a href="../../wp/e/Energy.htm" title="Energy">energy</a></i> <!--del_lnk--> quanta introduced by <a href="../../wp/m/Max_Planck.htm" title="Max Planck">Max Planck</a> also carried a well-defined <i><a href="../../wp/m/Momentum.htm" title="Momentum">momentum</a></i> and acted in many respects as if they were independent, <!--del_lnk--> point-like particles. This paper marks the introduction of the modern "photon" concept (although the term itself was introduced much later, in a 1926 paper by <!--del_lnk--> Gilbert N. Lewis). Even more importantly, Einstein showed that light must be <i>simultaneously</i> a <a href="../../wp/w/Wave.htm" title="Wave">wave</a> and a <!--del_lnk--> particle, and foretold correctly that physics stood on the brink of a revolution that would require them to unite these <!--del_lnk--> dual natures of light. However, his own proposal for a solution — that <!--del_lnk--> Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic fields be modified to allow wave solutions that are bound to singularities of the field — was never developed, although it may have influenced <!--del_lnk--> Louis de Broglie's <!--del_lnk--> pilot wave hypothesis for <a href="../../wp/q/Quantum_mechanics.htm" title="Quantum mechanics">quantum mechanics</a>.<p><a id="Determinism" name="Determinism"></a><h5><span class="mw-headline">Determinism</span></h5>
<p>Beginning in the mid-1920s, as the original quantum theory was replaced with a new theory of <a href="../../wp/q/Quantum_mechanics.htm" title="Quantum mechanics">quantum mechanics</a>, Einstein voiced his objections to the <!--del_lnk--> Copenhagen interpretation of the new equations. His opposition in this regard would continue all his life. The majority see the reason for his objection in terms of the view that he was a rigid determinist (see <!--del_lnk--> determinism). They would cite a 1926 letter to <!--del_lnk--> Max Born, where Einstein made the remark which history recalls the most:<blockquote>
<p>Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the Old One. I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.</blockquote>
<p>To this, <a href="../../wp/n/Niels_Bohr.htm" title="Niels Bohr">Bohr</a>, who sparred with Einstein on quantum theory, retorted, "Stop telling God what He must do!" The <!--del_lnk--> Bohr-Einstein debates on foundational aspects of quantum mechanics happened during the <!--del_lnk--> Solvay Conferences. Another important part of Einstein's viewpoint is the famous 1935 <!--del_lnk--> paper written by Einstein, <!--del_lnk--> Podolsky, and <!--del_lnk--> Rosen. Some physicists see this work as further supporting the notion that Einstein was a determinist.<p>There is a case to be made, however, for a quite different view of Einstein's objections to quantum orthodoxy. Einstein himself made further statements beyond that just given, and an emphatic comment on the matter was made by his contemporary Wolfgang Pauli. The above 'God does not play dice' quotation was something stated quite early, and Einstein's later statements were concerned with other issues. The Wolfgang Pauli quotation is as follows:<blockquote>
<p>…I was unable to recognize Einstein whenever you talked about him in either your letter or your manuscript. It seemed to me as if you had erected some dummy Einstein for yourself, which you then knocked down with great pomp. In particular Einstein does not consider the concept of `determinism' to be as fundamental as it is frequently held to be (as he told me emphatically many times) …he <i>disputes</i> that he uses as a criterion for the admissibility of a theory the question "Is it rigorously deterministic?"… he was not at all annoyed with you, but only said that you were a person who will not listen.<br /> (emphasis due to Pauli)</blockquote>
<p><a id="Incompleteness_and_Realism" name="Incompleteness_and_Realism"></a><h5><span class="mw-headline">Incompleteness and Realism</span></h5>
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<div style="width:217px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23159.jpg.htm" title="The Albert Einstein Memorial, Washington DC at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC."><img alt="The Albert Einstein Memorial, Washington DC at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC." height="161" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Einstein_Memorial.jpg" src="../../images/231/23159.jpg" width="215" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23159.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> Albert Einstein Memorial, Washington DC at the <!--del_lnk--> National Academy of Sciences in <!--del_lnk--> Washington, DC.</div>
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<p>Many of Einstein's comments indicate his belief that quantum mechanics is 'incomplete'. This was first asserted in the famous 1935 Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen (<!--del_lnk--> EPR paradox) paper, and it appears again in the 1949 book <i>Albert Einstein, Philosopher-Scientist</i>. The "EPR" paper — entitled "Can Quantum Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?" — concluded: "While we have thus shown that the wave function does not provide a complete description of the physical reality, we left open the question of whether or not such a description exists. We believe, however, that such a theory is possible."<p>In the Schilpp book, Einstein sets up a fascinating experimental proposal somewhat similar to <!--del_lnk--> Schrödinger's cat. He begins by addressing the problem of the radioactive decay of an atom. If one begins with an undecayed atom and one waits a certain time interval, then quantum theory gives the probability that the atom has undergone the transformation of radioactive decay. Einstein then imagines the following system as a means to detect the decay:<table align="center" cellpadding="10" class="cquote" style="border-collapse:collapse; background-color:transparent; border-style:none;">
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Albert Einstein"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/147.png.htm" title="Albert Einstein"><img alt="Albert Einstein" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote1.png" src="../../images/1/147.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<td>Rather than considering a system which comprises only a radioactive atom (and its process of transformation), one considers a system which includes also the means for ascertaining the radioactive transformation — for example, a Geiger-counter with automatic registration mechanism. Let this include a registration-strip, moved by a clockwork, upon which a mark is made by tripping the counter. True, from the point of view of quantum mechanics this total system is very complex and its configuration space is of very high dimension. But there is in principle no objection to treating this entire system from the standpoint of quantum mechanics. Here too the theory determines the probability of each configuration of all coordinates for every time instant. If one considers all configurations of the coordinates, for a time large compared with the average decay time of the radioactive atom, there will be (at most) one such registration-mark on the paper strip. To each co-ordinate- configuration must correspond a definite position of the mark on the paper strip. But, inasmuch as the theory yields only the relative probability of the thinkable coordinate-configurations, it also offers only relative probabilities for the positions of the mark on the paperstrip, but no definite location for this mark.</td>
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Albert Einstein"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/148.png.htm" title="Albert Einstein"><img alt="Albert Einstein" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote2.png" src="../../images/1/148.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<p>Einstein continues:<table align="center" cellpadding="10" class="cquote" style="border-collapse:collapse; background-color:transparent; border-style:none;">
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Albert Einstein"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/147.png.htm" title="Albert Einstein"><img alt="Albert Einstein" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote1.png" src="../../images/1/147.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<td>If we attempt [to work with] the interpretation that the quantum-theoretical description is to be understood as a complete description of the individual system, we are forced to the interpretation that the location of the mark on the strip is nothing which belongs to the system <i>per se</i>, but that the existence of that location is essentially dependent upon the carrying out of an observation made on the registration-strip. Such an interpretation is certainly by no means absurd from a purely logical point of standpoint; yet there is hardly anyone who would be inclined to consider it seriously. For, in the macroscopic sphere it simply is considered certain that one must adhere to the program of a realistic description in space and time; whereas in the sphere of microscopic situations, one is more readily inclined to give up, or at least to modify, this program."<br /> (emphasis due to Einstein)</td>
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Albert Einstein"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/148.png.htm" title="Albert Einstein"><img alt="Albert Einstein" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote2.png" src="../../images/1/148.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<p>Einstein never rejected probabilistic techniques and thinking, in and of themselves. Einstein himself was a great statistician, using statistical analysis in his works on Brownian motion and photoelectricity and in papers published before 1905; Einstein had even discovered <!--del_lnk--> Gibbs ensembles. According to the majority of physicists, however, he believed that indeterminism constituted a criteria for strong objection to a physical theory. Pauli's testimony contradicts this, and Einstein's own statements indicate a focus on incompleteness, as his major concern.<p>More recent times have given us another twist to this business. <!--del_lnk--> John Stewart Bell discovered further interesting results (<!--del_lnk--> Bell's Theorem and <!--del_lnk--> Bell's inequality) in his researches on the Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen paper. There is a divergence in thinking as to the conclusions derivable from this, in conjunction with the EPR analysis. According to Bell, quantum nonlocality has been established, while others see the death of determinism.<p><a id="Summary" name="Summary"></a><h5><span class="mw-headline">Summary</span></h5>
<p>Whatever his inner convictions, Einstein agreed that the quantum theory was the best available, but he looked for a more "complete" explanation, i.e., either more deterministic or one that could more fundamentally explain the reason for probabilities in a logical way. He could not abandon the belief that physics described the laws that govern "real things", nor could he abandon the belief that there are no explanations that contain contradictions, which had driven him to his successes explaining photons, relativity, atoms, and gravity.<p><a id="Bose-Einstein_statistics" name="Bose-Einstein_statistics"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">Bose-Einstein statistics</span></h4>
<p>In 1924, Einstein received a short paper from a young <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">Indian</a> physicist named <!--del_lnk--> Satyendra Nath Bose describing light as a gas of photons and asking for Einstein's assistance in publication. Einstein realized that the same statistics could be applied to atoms, and published an article in <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a> (then the <!--del_lnk--> lingua franca of physics) which described Bose's model and explained its implications. <!--del_lnk--> Bose-Einstein statistics now describe any assembly of these <!--del_lnk--> indistinguishable particles known as <!--del_lnk--> bosons. The <!--del_lnk--> Bose-Einstein condensate phenomenon was predicted in the 1920s by Bose and Einstein, based on Bose's work on the statistical mechanics of photons, which was then formalized and generalized by Einstein. The first such condensate in alkali gases was produced by <!--del_lnk--> Eric Cornell and <!--del_lnk--> Carl Wieman in 1995 at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Colorado at Boulder, though Bose-Einstein Condensation has been observed in superfluid <!--del_lnk--> Helium-4 since the 1930s. Einstein's original sketches on this theory were recovered in August 2005 in the library of <!--del_lnk--> Leiden University.<p>Einstein also assisted <!--del_lnk--> Erwin Schrödinger in the development of the <!--del_lnk--> quantum Boltzmann distribution, a mixed classical and quantum mechanical gas model although he realized that this was less significant than the Bose-Einstein model and declined to have his name included on the paper.<p><a id="Einstein_refrigerator" name="Einstein_refrigerator"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">Einstein refrigerator</span></h4>
<p>In 1926, Einstein and former student <!--del_lnk--> Leó Szilárd co-invented the <!--del_lnk--> Einstein refrigerator. On <!--del_lnk--> November 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1930, <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Patent 1,781,541 was awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for the <!--del_lnk--> refrigerator. The patent covered a thermodynamic refrigeration cycle providing cooling with no moving parts, at a constant <!--del_lnk--> pressure, with only <a href="../../wp/h/Heat.htm" title="Heat">heat</a> as an input. The refrigeration cycle used <a href="../../wp/a/Ammonia.htm" title="Ammonia">ammonia</a>, <!--del_lnk--> butane, and <!--del_lnk--> water.<p><a id="World_War_II" name="World_War_II"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">World War II</span></h4>
<p>When <a href="../../wp/a/Adolf_Hitler.htm" title="Adolf Hitler">Adolf Hitler</a> came to power in January 1933, Einstein was a guest professor at <a href="../../wp/p/Princeton_University.htm" title="Princeton University">Princeton University</a>, a position which he took in December 1932, after an invitation from the American educator, <!--del_lnk--> Abraham Flexner. In 1933, the <a href="../../wp/n/Nazism.htm" title="Nazism">Nazis</a> passed "<!--del_lnk--> The Law of the Restoration of the Civil Service," which forced all Jewish university professors out of their jobs. Throughout the 1930s, a campaign to label Einstein's work as "Jewish physics"—in contrast with "German" or "Aryan physics"—was led by <!--del_lnk--> Nobel laureates <!--del_lnk--> Philipp Lenard and <!--del_lnk--> Johannes Stark. With the assistance of the <!--del_lnk--> SS, the <i><!--del_lnk--> Deutsche Physik</i> supporters worked to publish pamphlets and textbooks denigrating Einstein's theories and attempted to politically <!--del_lnk--> blacklist German physicists who taught them, notably <!--del_lnk--> Werner Heisenberg. Einstein renounced his <!--del_lnk--> Prussian citizenship and stayed in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, where he was given permanent residency. He accepted a position at the newly founded <!--del_lnk--> Institute for Advanced Study in <!--del_lnk--> Princeton, New Jersey, where he concentrated on developing a <i><!--del_lnk--> unified field theory</i> (see below). Einstein became an American citizen in 1940, though he still retained Swiss citizenship.<p>In 1939, under the encouragement of Szilárd, Einstein <!--del_lnk--> sent a letter to President <!--del_lnk--> Franklin Delano Roosevelt urging the study of <a href="../../wp/n/Nuclear_fission.htm" title="Nuclear fission">nuclear fission</a> for military purposes, under fears that the Nazi government would be first to develop <a href="../../wp/n/Nuclear_weapon.htm" title="Nuclear weapon">nuclear weapons</a>. Roosevelt started a small investigation into the matter which eventually became the massive <!--del_lnk--> Manhattan Project. Einstein himself did not work on the bomb project, however, and, according to <a href="../../wp/l/Linus_Pauling.htm" title="Linus Pauling">Linus Pauling</a>, he later regretted having signed this letter.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> International Rescue Committee was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein to assist opponents of Adolf Hitler.<p>For more information, see the section below on Einstein's <a href="#Political_views" title="">political views</a>.<p><a id="Unified_field_theory" name="Unified_field_theory"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">Unified field theory</span></h4>
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<p>Einstein's research efforts after developing the theory of general relativity consisted primarily of a long series of attempts to generalize his theory of gravitation in order to unify and simplify the fundamental <!--del_lnk--> laws of physics, particularly gravitation and electromagnetism. In 1950, he described this work, which he referred to as the <i><!--del_lnk--> Unified Field Theory</i>, in a <i><!--del_lnk--> Scientific American</i> article. Einstein was guided by a belief in a single origin for the entire set of physical laws.<p>Einstein became increasingly isolated in his research on a generalized theory of gravitation and his attempts were ultimately unsuccessful. In particular, his pursuit of a unification of the fundamental forces ignored work in the physics community at large (and vice versa), most notably the discovery of the <!--del_lnk--> strong and <!--del_lnk--> weak nuclear forces, which were not understood independently until around 1970, fifteen years after Einstein's death. Einstein's goal of unifying the laws of physics under a single model survives in the current drive for <!--del_lnk--> unification of the forces.<p><a id="Final_years" name="Final_years"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Final years</span></h3>
<p>In 1948, Einstein served on the original committee which resulted in the founding of <!--del_lnk--> Brandeis University. A portrait of Einstein was taken by <!--del_lnk--> Yousuf Karsh on <!--del_lnk--> February 11 of that same year. In 1952, the <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israeli</a> government proposed to Einstein that he take the post of second president. He declined the offer, and is believed to be the only United States citizen ever to have been offered a position as a foreign head of state. Einstein's refusal might have stemmed from his disapproval of some of the Israeli policies during the war of independence.<p>He died at 1:15 AM in Princeton hospital in <!--del_lnk--> Princeton, New Jersey, on <!--del_lnk--> April 18, <!--del_lnk--> 1955 at the age of 76 from internal bleeding, which was caused by the rupture of an <!--del_lnk--> aortic aneurism, leaving the <!--del_lnk--> Generalized Theory of Gravitation unsolved. The only person present at his deathbed, a hospital nurse, said that just before his death he mumbled several words in <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a> that she did not understand. He was <!--del_lnk--> cremated without ceremony on the same day he died at <!--del_lnk--> Trenton, New Jersey, in accordance with his wishes. His ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.<p>An autopsy was performed on Einstein by Dr. <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Stoltz Harvey, who removed and preserved <!--del_lnk--> his brain. Harvey found nothing unusual with his brain, but in 1999 further analysis by a team at <!--del_lnk--> McMaster University revealed that his parietal <!--del_lnk--> operculum region was missing and, to compensate, his inferior <!--del_lnk--> parietal lobe was 15% wider than normal. The inferior parietal region is responsible for mathematical thought, visuospatial cognition, and imagery of movement. Einstein's brain also contained 73% more <!--del_lnk--> glial cells than the average brain.<p><a id="Beliefs" name="Beliefs"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Beliefs</span></h2>
<p><a id="Religious_views" name="Religious_views"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Religious views</span></h3>
<p>Einstein was an Honorary Associate of the <!--del_lnk--> Rationalist Press Association beginning in 1934, and was an admirer of <!--del_lnk--> Ethical Culture. He served on the advisory board of the <!--del_lnk--> First Humanist Society of New York.<p><a id="Quotations_on_religion" name="Quotations_on_religion"></a><h4><span class="mw-headline">Quotations on religion</span></h4>
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<dd><i>I came — though the child of entirely irreligious (Jewish) parents — to a deep religiousness, which, however, reached an abrupt end at the age of twelve.</i></dl>
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<dd><i>I do not think that it is necessarily the case that science and religion are natural opposites. In fact, I think that there is a very close connection between the two. Further, I think that science without religion is lame and, conversely, that religion without science is blind. Both are important and should work hand-in-hand.</i></dl>
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<dd><i>A Jew who sheds his faith along the way, or who even picks up a different one, is still a Jew.</i></dl>
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<dd><i>It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.</i></dl>
<p>As an adult, he called his religion a "cosmic religious sense".<p>In <i>The World As I See It</i> he wrote:<dl>
<dd><i>You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a peculiar religious feeling of his own. But it is different from the religion of the naive man.</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd><i>For the latter God is a being from whose care one hopes to benefit and whose punishment one fears; a sublimation of a feeling similar to that of a child for its father, a being to whom one stands to some extent in a personal relation, however deeply it may be tinged with awe.</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd><i>But the scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation. The future, to him, is every whit as necessary and determined as the past. There is nothing divine about morality, it is a purely human affair. His religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.</i></dl>
<p>In response to the telegrammed question of New York's Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein in 1929: "Do you believe in God? Stop. Answer paid 50 words." Einstein replied "I believe in <!--del_lnk--> Spinoza's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind." Note that Einstein replied in only 25 (German) words. Spinoza was a <!--del_lnk--> naturalistic pantheist.<p><a id="Scientific_philosophy" name="Scientific_philosophy"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Scientific philosophy</span></h3>
<p>In the "Copenhagen Interpretation" section (1.3.2) above, reference was made to the disagreement regarding Einstein's actual position regarding the quantum theory. The famous quotation "<i>God does not play dice</i>" is often used to support the majority view that he disliked the theory due to its indeterminism.<p>Others make the case for a different view. They note that the 1926 "Dice" quotation occurred when the quantum theory was just in its first year of discovery and in the subsequent 30 years of his life, one would be hard pressed to find a similar comment from the man. Instead Einstein focused on the conceptually independent subject of 'incompleteness'. This attention is shown both in his 1935 "EPR" paper, and in his 1949 Geiger counter registration strip thought-experiment (see section 1.3.2.2). Further evidence against the "Einstein-determinist" view is W. Pauli's quotation: "he (Einstein) <i>disputes</i> that he uses as a criterion for the admissibility of a theory the question 'Is it rigorously deterministic?'".<p>The following general assessment was given by his colleague Nathan Rosen:<dl>
<dd><i>I think that the things which impressed me most were the simplicity of his thinking and his faith in the ability of the human mind to understand the workings of nature. Throughout his life, Einstein believed the human reason was capable of leading to theories that would provide correct descriptions of physical phenomena. In building a theory, his approach had something in common with that of an artist; he would aim for simplicity and beauty (and beauty for him was, after all, essentially simplicity). The crucial question that he would ask, when weighing an element of a theory was: "Is it reasonable?" No matter how successful a theory appeared to be, if it seemed to him not to be reasonable (the German word that he used was "</i>vernunftig<i>"), he was convinced that the theory could not provide a really fundamental understanding of nature.</i></dl>
<p><a id="Political_views" name="Political_views"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Political views</span></h3>
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<div style="width:224px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23163.jpg.htm" title="Einstein and Solomon Mikhoels, the chairman of the Soviet Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, in 1943."><img alt="Einstein and Solomon Mikhoels, the chairman of the Soviet Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, in 1943." height="252" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Mikhoels_and_Einstein_1943.jpg" src="../../images/231/23163.jpg" width="222" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23163.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Einstein and <!--del_lnk--> Solomon Mikhoels, the chairman of the <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet</a> <!--del_lnk--> Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, in 1943.</div>
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<p>Einstein considered himself a <!--del_lnk--> pacifist and <!--del_lnk--> humanitarian, and in later years, a committed <!--del_lnk--> democratic socialist. He once said, <i>"I believe <a href="../../wp/m/Mahatma_Gandhi.htm" title="Mahatma Gandhi">Gandhi's</a> views were the most enlightened of all the political men of our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence for fighting for our cause, but by non-participation of anything you believe is evil."</i> Deeply influenced by Gandhi, Einstein once said of Gandhi, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." Einstein's views were sometimes controversial. In a 1949 article entitled "Why Socialism?", Albert Einstein described the "predatory phase of human development", exemplified by a chaotic <a href="../../wp/c/Capitalism.htm" title="Capitalism">capitalist</a> society, as a source of evil to be overcome. He disapproved of the <!--del_lnk--> totalitarian regimes in the <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> and elsewhere, and argued in favour of a <!--del_lnk--> democratic socialist system which would combine a <!--del_lnk--> planned economy with a deep respect for <a href="../../wp/h/Human_rights.htm" title="Human rights">human rights</a>. Einstein was a co-founder of the liberal <!--del_lnk--> German Democratic Party and a member of the <!--del_lnk--> AFL-CIO-affiliated union the <!--del_lnk--> American Federation of Teachers.<p>Einstein was very much involved in the <!--del_lnk--> Civil Rights movement. He was a close friend of <!--del_lnk--> Paul Robeson for over 20 years. Einstein was a member of several civil rights groups (including the Princeton chapter of the <!--del_lnk--> NAACP) many of which were headed by Paul Robeson. He served as co-chair with <!--del_lnk--> Paul Robeson of the <i>American Crusade to End Lynching</i>. When <!--del_lnk--> W.E.B. DuBois was frivolously charged with being a communist spy during the McCarthy era while he was in his 80s, Einstein volunteered as a character witness in the case. The case was dismissed shortly after it was announced that he was to appear in that capacity. Einstein was quoted as saying that "racism is America's greatest disease".<p>The U.S. <a href="../../wp/f/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation.htm" title="Federal Bureau of Investigation">FBI</a> kept a 1,427 page file on his activities and recommended that he be barred from immigrating to the United States under the <!--del_lnk--> Alien Exclusion Act, alleging that Einstein <i>"believes in, advises, advocates, or teaches a doctrine which, in a legal sense, as held by the courts in other cases, 'would allow <a href="../../wp/a/Anarchism.htm" title="Anarchism">anarchy</a> to stalk in unmolested' and result in 'government in name only'"</i>, among other charges. They also alleged that Einstein <i>"was a member, sponsor, or affiliated with thirty-four <a href="../../wp/c/Communism.htm" title="Communism">communist</a> fronts between 1937 and 1954"</i> and <i>"also served as honorary chairman for three communist organizations"</i>. Many of the documents in the file were submitted to the FBI, mainly by civilian political groups, and not written by the FBI.<p>Einstein opposed tyrannical forms of government, and for this reason (and his Jewish background), opposed the Nazi regime and fled Germany shortly after it came to power. Einstein initially favored construction of the <!--del_lnk--> atomic bomb, in order to ensure that <a href="../../wp/a/Adolf_Hitler.htm" title="Adolf Hitler">Hitler</a> did not do so first, and even <!--del_lnk--> sent a letter to President <a href="../../wp/f/Franklin_D._Roosevelt.htm" title="Franklin D. Roosevelt">Roosevelt</a> (dated <!--del_lnk--> August 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1939, before <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a> broke out, and probably written by <!--del_lnk--> Leó Szilárd) encouraging him to initiate a program to create a nuclear weapon. Roosevelt responded to this by setting up a committee for the investigation of using <a href="../../wp/u/Uranium.htm" title="Uranium">uranium</a> as a weapon, which in a few years was superseded by the <!--del_lnk--> Manhattan Project.<p>After the war, though, Einstein lobbied for <!--del_lnk--> nuclear disarmament and a <!--del_lnk--> world government: "I do not know how the <!--del_lnk--> Third World War will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:224px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23165.jpg.htm" title="A 5 Israeli pound note from 1968 with the portrait of Einstein."><img alt="A 5 Israeli pound note from 1968 with the portrait of Einstein." height="109" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Einstein_paper_money.jpg" src="../../images/231/23165.jpg" width="222" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23165.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A 5 <!--del_lnk--> Israeli pound note from 1968 with the portrait of Einstein.</div>
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<p>While Einstein was a supporter of <a href="../../wp/z/Zionism.htm" title="Zionism">Zionism</a> in the cultural sense, he often expressed reservations regarding its application in terms of nationalism. During a speech at the Commodore Hotel in New York, he told the crowd "My awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain." He also signed an <!--del_lnk--> open letter published in the New York Times condemning <!--del_lnk--> Menachem Begin and his nationalistic <!--del_lnk--> Herut party, especially for the treatment of the indigenous Arabs at <!--del_lnk--> Deir Yassin by Herut’s predecessor <!--del_lnk--> Irgun.<p>Despite these reservations, he was active in the establishment of the <!--del_lnk--> Hebrew University in <a href="../../wp/j/Jerusalem.htm" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a>, which published (1930) a volume titled <i>About Zionism: Speeches and Lectures by Professor Albert Einstein</i>, and to which Einstein bequeathed his papers. In later life, in 1952, he was offered the post of second president of the newly created state of <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a>, but declined the offer, saying that he lacked the necessary people skills. However, Einstein was deeply committed to the welfare of Israel and the Jewish people for the rest of his life.<p>Albert Einstein was closely associated with plans for what the press called "a Jewish-sponsored non-quota university," from <!--del_lnk--> August 19, <!--del_lnk--> 1946, with the announcement of the formation of the Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning, Inc. until <!--del_lnk--> June 22, <!--del_lnk--> 1947, when he withdrew support and barred the use of his name by the foundation. The university opened in 1948 as <!--del_lnk--> Brandeis University.<p>Einstein, along with <!--del_lnk--> Albert Schweitzer and <a href="../../wp/b/Bertrand_Russell.htm" title="Bertrand Russell">Bertrand Russell</a>, fought against nuclear tests and bombs. As his last public act, and just days before his death, he signed the <!--del_lnk--> Russell-Einstein Manifesto, which led to the <!--del_lnk--> Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.<p><a id="Citizenship" name="Citizenship"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Citizenship</span></h2>
<p>Einstein was born a <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">German</a> citizen. At the age of 17, on <!--del_lnk--> January 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1896, he was released from his German citizenship by his own request and with the approval of his father. He remained <!--del_lnk--> stateless for five years. On <!--del_lnk--> February 21, <!--del_lnk--> 1901, he gained <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Swiss</a> citizenship, which he never revoked. Einstein obtained Prussian citizenship in <!--del_lnk--> April 1914 when he entered the <!--del_lnk--> Prussian civil service, but due to the political situation and the persecution of Jewish people in <a href="../../wp/n/Nazi_Germany.htm" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a>, he left civil service in <!--del_lnk--> March 1933 and thus also lost the Prussian citizenship. On <!--del_lnk--> October 1, 1940, Einstein became an <!--del_lnk--> American citizen. He remained both an American and a Swiss citizen until his death on <!--del_lnk--> April 18, 1955.<p><a id="Popularity_and_cultural_impact" name="Popularity_and_cultural_impact"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Popularity and cultural impact</span></h2>
<p>According to "A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History", Einstein is "the greatest scientist of the twentieth century and one of the supreme intellects of all time". His popularity has also led to widespread use of Einstein's image in <a href="../../wp/a/Advertising.htm" title="Advertising">advertising</a> and <!--del_lnk--> merchandising, including the registration of "Albert Einstein" as a <!--del_lnk--> trademark.<p><a id="Entertainment" name="Entertainment"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Entertainment</span></h3>
<p>Albert Einstein has been the subject of and inspiration for a number of novels, <a href="../../wp/f/Film.htm" title="Film">films</a> and plays, including Jean-Claude Carrier's 2005 French novel, <i>Einstein S'il Vous Plait</i> (Please Mr Einstein), <!--del_lnk--> Nicolas Roeg's film <i><!--del_lnk--> Insignificance</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Fred Schepisi's film <i><!--del_lnk--> I.Q.</i> (where he was portrayed by <!--del_lnk--> Walter Matthau), <!--del_lnk--> Alan Lightman's collection of short stories <i>Einstein's Dreams</i>, and <!--del_lnk--> Steve Martin's comedic play <i><!--del_lnk--> Picasso at the Lapin Agile</i>. He was the subject of <!--del_lnk--> Philip Glass's groundbreaking 1976 <a href="../../wp/o/Opera.htm" title="Opera">opera</a> <i><!--del_lnk--> Einstein on the Beach</i>. His humorous side is also the subject of <!--del_lnk--> Ed Metzger's one-man play <i><!--del_lnk--> Albert Einstein: The Practical Bohemian</i>.<p>He is often used as a model for depictions of <!--del_lnk--> mad scientists and <!--del_lnk--> absent-minded professors in works of fiction; his own character and distinctive hairstyle suggest eccentricity, or even lunacy, and are widely copied or exaggerated. <!--del_lnk--> TIME magazine writer Frederic Golden referred to Einstein as "a cartoonist's dream come true."<p>On Einstein's 72nd birthday in 1951, the <!--del_lnk--> UPI photographer <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Sasse was trying to persuade him to smile for the camera. Having done this for the photographer many times that day, Einstein stuck out his tongue instead. The image has become an icon in pop culture for its contrast of the genius scientist displaying a moment of levity. <!--del_lnk--> Yahoo Serious, an Australian film maker, used the photo as an inspiration for the intentionally anachronistic movie <i><!--del_lnk--> Young Einstein</i>. The image is also used in a poster used in the UK as part of <!--del_lnk--> dyslexia education, which has a string of posters showing great scientists, thinkers and artists and talks about the unfounded (not specified within the posters) claims that they had/have dyslexia.<p><a id="Speculation_and_controversy" name="Speculation_and_controversy"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Speculation and controversy</span></h3>
<p>There are innumerable speculations which suggest that Einstein was a poor student, a slow learner, or had a form of autism (such as <!--del_lnk--> High-functioning autism, or <a href="../../wp/a/Asperger_syndrome.htm" title="Asperger syndrome">Asperger syndrome</a>), <!--del_lnk--> dyslexia, and/or <a href="../../wp/a/Attention-deficit_hyperactivity_disorder.htm" title="Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder">attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder</a>. According to the biography by <!--del_lnk--> Pais (page 36, among others), such speculations are unfounded. Some researchers have periodically claimed otherwise, but most historians and doctors are skeptical of retrospective medical diagnoses, especially for complex and, in the case of ADHD, diagnostically-controversial conditions. Examinations of <!--del_lnk--> Albert Einstein's brain after his death have not produced any conclusive evidence of any particular condition.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23166.jpg.htm" title="Einstein's matura, obtained in 1896. 6 is the best possible mark."><img alt="Einstein's matura, obtained in 1896. 6 is the best possible mark." height="245" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Einstein-matura.jpg" src="../../images/231/23166.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>The recurring rumor that Einstein failed in mathematics during his education is untrue. On the contrary, Einstein always showed great talent at mathematics; when he obtained his <!--del_lnk--> matura, he obtained the best mark (6/6) in algebra, geometry, physics and history, among all of the classes that he took. The grading system of Switzerland, where <i>6</i> is the best mark, may have been confused with the German system, in which <i>1</i> is the best mark. As can be seen from his Matura grades, indicated in the graphic to the right (also found in "Einstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity" by <!--del_lnk--> W. Andrew Robinson, p.27), Albert Einstein failed French (3/6) and received poor grades (4/6) in drawing, (both artistic- and technical) and <a href="../../wp/g/Geography.htm" title="Geography">geography</a>. His performance (5/6) in all other subjects studied in high school, namely <!--del_lnk--> Natural history, <!--del_lnk--> German literature and <!--del_lnk--> Italian literature as well as <a href="../../wp/c/Chemistry.htm" title="Chemistry">chemistry</a>, was significantly above average. Furthermore, Robinson states on pages 33 through to 35 that Einstein's interests mainly spanned in science and mathematics and that he disliked "games and physical training". Einstein also had problems with the heavy emphasis on the <a href="../../wp/h/Humanities.htm" title="Humanities">humanities</a>; that is on <!--del_lnk--> classical studies and to a "lesser extent <!--del_lnk--> German history and literature, to the detriment of modern foreign languages." Robinson states that this explains Einstein's lack of competence in <!--del_lnk--> French literature and <!--del_lnk--> English studies, for instance. In 1920 Einstein told a Berlin interviewer that the school of <!--del_lnk--> matriculation exam should be abolished. "Let us return to <a href="../../wp/n/Nature.htm" title="Nature">Nature</a>, which upholds the principle of getting the maximum amount of effect from the minimum effort, whereas the matriculation test does exactly the opposite."<p>As for Einstein's childhood trait of delayed speech development, a few have speculated that Einstein had <!--del_lnk--> elective mutism and may have refused to speak until he could do so in complete sentences. Though this concept fits with a profile of a sensitive perfectionist (when Einstein did begin to speak, he would often softly "rehearse" what he meant to say before uttering the statement outright), it is somewhat dated insofar as <!--del_lnk--> selective mutism- as it is now known- is no longer considered to be a matter of willful silence: it presently refers to individuals with verbal ability who cannot speak in certain social circumstances. This would not apply to Einstein, who could not speak at all until the time that he did.<p>According to neuroscientist <!--del_lnk--> Steven Pinker, the autopsy of Einstein's brain exhibited a more likely possibility that Einstein, as a child, had been displaying a lesser known type of <!--del_lnk--> language delay relating to extraordinary and rapid prenatal development of areas of the brain responsible for spatial and analytical reasoning which, in competing for "brain real estate", had temporarily robbed resources from functions of the brain responsible for speech development. Pinker and others have extended this speculation to explain the asynchronous development of other famously <!--del_lnk--> gifted late-talkers, such as mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Julia Robinson, pianists <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Rubinstein and <!--del_lnk--> Clara Schumann, and physicists <a href="../../wp/r/Richard_Feynman.htm" title="Richard Feynman">Richard Feynman</a> and <a href="../../wp/e/Edward_Teller.htm" title="Edward Teller">Edward Teller</a>, to name a few, who were also said to have shared several of Einstein's other childhood peculiarities, such as monumental tantrums, rugged individualism and highly selective interests. A <!--del_lnk--> syndrome — the "Einstein syndrome" — was even coined by journalist and economist <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Sowell as a non-pathologizing means to describe this series of traits seen in a small percentage (though how small is debatable) of late-talking children who go on to develop into analytically advanced and socially conscious adults without (or in spite of) intense therapeutic intervention.<p><a id="Personal_relations" name="Personal_relations"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Personal relations</span></h3>
<p>Letters written by Einstein to his relatives and kept at the <!--del_lnk--> Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have revealed that during the course of his life, he had a dozen lovers, two of whom he married. Barbara Wolff of the <!--del_lnk--> Hebrew University's Albert Einstein Archives has made public about 3,500 pages of correspondence including letters to his first and second wives and children between the years 1912–1955. In letters to his second wife Elsa and her daughter Margot he claimed that he had been showered with unwanted attention from women. One of his lovers, a Berlin socialite Ethel Michanowski, "followed me [to England], and her chasing me is getting out of control." His son Eduard's <a href="../../wp/s/Schizophrenia.htm" title="Schizophrenia">schizophrenia</a> troubled Einstein greatly, and he often expressed the idea that it would have been better if Eduard had not been born. He adored his stepdaughter and in a letter to Elsa in 1924, he writes: "I love her [Margot] as much as if she were my own daughter, perhaps even more so, since who knows what kind of brat she would have become [had I fathered her]." The letters have been claimed as evidence to dispel myths that Einstein was cold toward his family.<p><a id="Licensing" name="Licensing"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Licensing</span></h3>
<p>Einstein bequeathed his estate, as well as the use of his image (see <!--del_lnk--> personality rights), to the <!--del_lnk--> Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Einstein actively supported the university during his life and this support continues with the <!--del_lnk--> royalties received from licensing activities. <!--del_lnk--> The Roger Richman Agency <!--del_lnk--> licences the commercial use of the name "Albert Einstein" and associated imagery and likenesses of Einstein, as <!--del_lnk--> agent for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As head licensee the agency can control commercial usage of Einstein's name which does not comply with certain standards (e.g., when Einstein's name is used as a <!--del_lnk--> trademark, the ™ symbol must be used). As of May, 2005, the Roger Richman Agency was acquired by <!--del_lnk--> Corbis.<p><a id="Honors" name="Honors"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Honours</span></h3>
<p>Einstein has received a number of posthumous honours. For example:<ul>
<li>In 1999, he was named <i><!--del_lnk--> Person of the Century</i> by <!--del_lnk--> TIME magazine.<li>Also in 1999, <!--del_lnk--> Gallup Poll recorded him as the fourth most <!--del_lnk--> admired person of the 20th century.<li>The year 2005 was designated as the "<!--del_lnk--> World Year of Physics" by <!--del_lnk--> UNESCO for its coinciding with the centennial of the "<!--del_lnk--> Annus Mirabilis" papers.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> National Academy of Sciences commissioned the "<!--del_lnk--> Albert Einstein Memorial", a monumental bronze sculptor by <!--del_lnk--> Robert Berks, at its Washington, D.C. campus, adjacent to the <!--del_lnk--> National Mall.</ul>
<p>Among Einstein's many namesakes are:<ul>
<li>a unit used in <!--del_lnk--> photochemistry, the <i><!--del_lnk--> einstein</i>.<li>the <a href="../../wp/c/Chemical_element.htm" title="Chemical element">chemical element</a> 99, <a href="../../wp/e/Einsteinium.htm" title="Einsteinium">einsteinium</a>.<li>the <a href="../../wp/a/Asteroid.htm" title="Asteroid">asteroid</a> <!--del_lnk--> 2001 Einstein.<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Albert Einstein Award.<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Albert Einstein Peace Prize.<li>the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University opened in 1955.<li>the Albert Einstein Medical Centre in <a href="../../wp/p/Philadelphia.htm" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania.</ul>
<p><a id="Works_by_Einstein" name="Works_by_Einstein"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Works by Einstein</span></h2>
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<p>Einstein published over fifty scientific papers during his lifetime. He also published several non-scientific works, including <i>About Zionism</i> (1930), <i>Why War?</i> (1933, co-authored by Sigmund Freud), <i>The World As I See It</i> (1934), and <i>Out of My Later Years</i> (1950).<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alberto Santos-Dumont</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Engineers_and_inventors.htm">Engineers and inventors</a></h3>
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<div style="width:197px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16427.jpg.htm" title="Santos-Dumont in his trademark Panama hat. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution "><img alt="Santos-Dumont in his trademark Panama hat. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution " height="305" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alberto_santos_dumont.jpg" src="../../images/164/16427.jpg" width="195" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">Santos-Dumont in his trademark <!--del_lnk--> Panama hat. Image courtesy of the <!--del_lnk--> Smithsonian Institution</div>
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<p><b>Alberto Santos-Dumont</b> (<!--del_lnk--> 20 July <!--del_lnk--> 1873 – <!--del_lnk--> 23 July <!--del_lnk--> 1932) was an important early pioneer of <!--del_lnk--> aviation. He was born, grew up, and died in <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>. His contributions to aviation took place while he was living in <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a> <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>.<p>Santos-Dumont designed, built, and flew the first practical <a href="../../wp/a/Airship.htm" title="Airship">dirigible balloons</a> (i.e., airships). In doing so he became the first person to demonstrate that routine, controlled flight was possible. This "conquest of the air", in particular winning the <i>Deutsch de la Meurthe</i> prize on <!--del_lnk--> 19 October <!--del_lnk--> 1901 on a flight that rounded the <!--del_lnk--> Eiffel Tower, made him one of the most famous persons in the world during the early <!--del_lnk--> 1900s.<p>In addition to his pioneering work in airships, Santos-Dumont made the first public flight of an <!--del_lnk--> airplane in <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a> in October 1906. That aircraft, designated <i><!--del_lnk--> 14 Bis</i> or <i>Oiseau de proie</i> (French for "bird of prey"), is considered to be the first to take off, fly, and land without the use of catapults, high winds, launch rails, or other external assistance. Thus some, particularly in Brazil, consider him to the "Father of Aviation" as well as the inventor of the airplane.<p><i>Much controversy persists around the many competing claims of early aviators. See <!--del_lnk--> first flying machine for more discussion.</i><p>
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<p>Santos-Dumont was born in Cabangu, a village in the Brazilian town of Palmira, today named <i>Santos Dumont</i> in the state of <!--del_lnk--> Minas Gerais. He grew up as the youngest of eleven children on a coffee plantation owned by his family in the state of <!--del_lnk--> São Paulo. His French-born father was an engineer, and made extensive use of the latest labor-saving inventions on his vast property. So successful were these innovations that Santos-Dumont's father gathered a large fortune and became known as the "Coffee King of Brazil."<p>Santos-Dumont was fascinated by machinery, and while still a young child he learned to drive the steam tractors and locomotive used on his family's plantation. He was also a fan of <!--del_lnk--> Jules Verne and had read all his books before his tenth birthday. He wrote in his <!--del_lnk--> autobiography that the dream of flying came to him while contemplating the magnificent skies of <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> in the long, sunny afternoons at the plantation.<p>According to the custom of wealthy families of the time, after receiving basic instruction at home with private instructors including his parents, young Alberto was sent out alone to larger cities to do his secondary studies. He studied for a while in "<!--del_lnk--> Colégio Culto à Ciência", in <!--del_lnk--> Campinas.<p><a id="Move_to_France" name="Move_to_France"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Move to France</span></h2>
<p>In 1891, Alberto's father had an accident while inspecting some machinery. He fell from his horse and became a <!--del_lnk--> paraplegic. He decided then to sell the plantation and move to Europe with his wife and his youngest son. At seventeen, Santos-Dumont left the prestigious <!--del_lnk--> Escola de Minas in <!--del_lnk--> Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, for the city <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a> in <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>. The first thing he did there was to buy an <a href="../../wp/a/Automobile.htm" title="Automobile">automobile</a>. Later, he pursued studies in <a href="../../wp/p/Physics.htm" title="Physics">physics</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Chemistry.htm" title="Chemistry">chemistry</a>, <!--del_lnk--> mechanics, and <a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">electricity</a>, with the help of a private tutor.<p><a id="Balloons_and_dirigibles" name="Balloons_and_dirigibles"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Balloons and dirigibles</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16428.jpg.htm" title="Santos-Dumont #6 rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch Prize. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution (SI Neg. No. 85-3941)"><img alt="Santos-Dumont #6 rounding the Eiffel Tower in the process of winning the Deutsch Prize. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution (SI Neg. No. 85-3941)" height="243" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Sd_num6_rounding_tower.jpg" src="../../images/164/16428.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Santos-Dumont described himself as the first "sportsman of the air." He started flying by hiring an experienced balloon pilot and took his first <!--del_lnk--> balloon rides as a passenger. He quickly moved on to piloting balloons himself, and shortly thereafter to designing his own balloons. In <!--del_lnk--> 1898, Santos-Dumont flew his first balloon design, the <i>Brésil</i>.<p>After numerous balloon flights, he turned to the design of steerable balloons or <i>dirigible</i> type balloons that could be propelled through the air rather than drifting along with the breeze (See <a href="../../wp/a/Airship.htm" title="Airship">Airship</a>).<p>Between 1898 and 1905, he built and flew 11 dirigibles. With <!--del_lnk--> air traffic control restrictions still decades in the future, he would glide along Paris boulevards at rooftop level in one of his airships, commonly landing in front of a fashionable outdoor cafe for lunch. On one occasion he even flew an airship early one morning to his own apartment at No. 9, Rue Washington, just off Avenue des Champs-Élysées, not far from the <!--del_lnk--> Arc de Triomphe.<p>To win the Deutsch de la Meurthe price Santos-Dumont decided to build a bigger balloon, the dirigible Number 5. On August 8, 1901 during one of his attempts, his dirigible lost hydrogen gas and started to decend while he was piloting the dirigible and was unable to clear the roof of the Trocadero Hotel. A large explosion was heard and miraculously he survived from the explosion and he was hanging in a basket from the side of the hotel. With the help of the crowd he climbed to the roof and survived this accident without any injuries.<p>The zenith of his lighter-than-air career came when he won the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize. The challenge called for flying from the <!--del_lnk--> Parc Saint Cloud to the <!--del_lnk--> Eiffel Tower and back in less than thirty minutes. The winner of the prize would need to maintain an average ground speed of at least 22 km/h (14 mph) to cover the round trip distance of 11 km (6.8 miles) in the allotted time.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> 19 October <!--del_lnk--> 1901, after several attempts and trials, Santos-Dumont succeeded in using his dirigible <!--del_lnk--> <i>Number 6</i>. Immediately after the flight, a controversy broke out around a last minute rule change regarding the precise timing of the flight. There was much public outcry and comment in the press. Finally, after several days of vacillating by the committee of officials, Santos-Dumont was awarded the prize as well as the prize money of 100,000 <!--del_lnk--> francs. In a charitable gesture, he donated half of the prize money to the poor of Paris. The other half was given to his workmen as a bonus.<p>Santos-Dumont's aviation feats made him a celebrity in Europe and throughout the world. He won several more prizes and became a friend to millionaires, <!--del_lnk--> aviation pioneers, and royalty. In 1901 he was considered by many to be the most famous person in the world. In 1904, he went to the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> and was invited to the <!--del_lnk--> White House to meet <a href="../../wp/p/President_of_the_United_States.htm" title="President of the United States">US President</a> <a href="../../wp/t/Theodore_Roosevelt.htm" title="Theodore Roosevelt">Theodore Roosevelt</a>. The public eagerly followed his daring exploits. Parisians affectionately dubbed him <i>le petit Santos</i>. The fashionable folk of the day mimicked various aspects of his style of dress from his high collared shirts to singed Panama hat. He was, and remains to this day, a prominent folk hero in his native Brazil.<p><a id="Heavier_than_air" name="Heavier_than_air"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Heavier than air</span></h2>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16429.jpg.htm" title="Santos-Dumont's balloon Number 14 with the 14-bis, meaning "14 again", tethered below it for trials. Later the balloon was removed."><img alt="Santos-Dumont's balloon Number 14 with the 14-bis, meaning "14 again", tethered below it for trials. Later the balloon was removed." height="160" longdesc="/wiki/Image:14-bis-wth-air-ballon-aid.jpg" src="../../images/164/16429.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16429.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Santos-Dumont's balloon Number 14 with the <i>14-bis</i>, meaning "14 again", tethered below it for trials. Later the balloon was removed.</div>
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<p>Although Santos-Dumont continued to work on dirigibles, his primary interest soon turned to heavier-than-air craft. By 1905 he had finished his first <!--del_lnk--> airplane design, and also a <!--del_lnk--> helicopter. He finally achieved his dream of flying an airplane on <!--del_lnk--> 23 October <!--del_lnk--> 1906, when, piloting the <i><!--del_lnk--> 14-bis</i> before a large crowd of witnesses, he flew a distance of 60 metres (200 ft) at a height of two to three metres (10 ft). This well-documented event was the first flight verified by the <!--del_lnk--> Aero-Club De France of a powered heavier-than-air machine in Europe, and the first public demonstration in the world of an aircraft taking off from an ordinary <!--del_lnk--> airstrip with a non-detachable <!--del_lnk--> landing gear and on its own power (self-propelled) in calm weather, proving to the spectators that a machine "heavier than air" could take off from the ground by its own means. With this accomplishment, he won the <!--del_lnk--> Archdeacon Prize founded by the Frenchman <!--del_lnk--> Ernest Archdeacon in July of 1906, to be awarded to the first aviator to fly more than 25 meters. On <!--del_lnk--> 12 November <!--del_lnk--> 1906, Santos-Dumont succeeded in setting the first world record in aviation by flying 220 meters in less than 22 seconds.<p>Santos-Dumont made numerous contributions to the field of aircraft control. The most noteworthy one was the use of effective <!--del_lnk--> ailerons at the outer wings. Although <!--del_lnk--> ailerons had been used in sailplanes before, Dumont pioneered their application for aircraft. He also pushed for and exploited substantial improvements in engine power-to-weight ratio, and other refinements in aircraft construction techniques.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16430.jpg.htm" title="The 14-bis on its historic first flight."><img alt="The 14-bis on its historic first flight." height="164" longdesc="/wiki/Image:14bis2.jpg" src="../../images/164/16430.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16430.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <i>14-bis</i> on its historic first flight.</div>
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<p>Santos-Dumont's final design was the Demoiselle monoplane (Nos. 19 to 22). This aircraft was employed as Dumont's personal transportation and he willingly let others make use of his design. The fuselage consisted of a specially reinforced bamboo boom, and the pilot sat beneath between the main wheels of a tricycle landing gear. The Demoiselle was controlled in flight partially by a tail unit that functioned both elevator and rudder and by wing warping (No. 20).<p>The high-wing Demoiselle aircraft had a wingspan of 5.10 m and an overall length of 8 m. Its weight was little more than 110 kg with Santos-Dumont at the controls. The pilot was seated below the fuselage-wing junction, just behind the wheels, and commanded the tail surfaces using a steering wheel. The cables supporting the wing were made from piano wire. Initially, Santos-Dumont employed a liquid-cooled Dutheil & Chalmers engine with 20 hp. Later, the inventor repositioned the engine to a lower location, placing it in front of the pilot. Santos-Dumont also replaced the former 20-hp engine by a 24-hp Antoniette and carried out some wing reinforcements. This version received the designation No. 20. Due to structural problems and continuing lack of power Santos-Dumont introduced additional modifications in Demoiselle’s design: a triangular and shortened fuselage made of bamboo; the engine was moved back to its original position, in front of the wing; and increased wingspan. Thus, the No. 21 was born. The design of No. 22 was basically similar to No. 21. Santos-Dumont tested opposed-cylinder (he patented a solution for cooling this kind of engine) and water-cooled engines, with power settings ranging from 20 to 40 hp, in the two variants. An interesting feature of the water-cooled variant was the liquid-coolant pipeline which followed the wing lower side lofting to improve aerodynamics.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16431.jpg.htm" title="The Demoiselle"><img alt="The Demoiselle" height="240" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Demoiselle2.jpg" src="../../images/164/16431.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16431.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Demoiselle</div>
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<p>The Demoiselle airplane could be constructed in only fifteen days. Possessing outstanding performance, easily covering 200 m of ground during the initial flights and flying at speeds of more than 100 km/h, the Demoiselle was the last aircraft built by Santos-Dumont. He used to perform flights with the airplane in Paris and some small trips to nearby places. Flights were continued at various times through 1909, including the first cross-country flight with steps of about 8 km, from St. Cyr to Buc on <!--del_lnk--> 13 September <!--del_lnk--> 1909, returning the following day, and another on <!--del_lnk--> 17 September <!--del_lnk--> 1909 of 18 km in 16 min. The Demoiselle that was fitted with two-cylinder engine became rather popular. The French <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_I.htm" title="World War I">World War I</a>-ace <a href="../../wp/f/French_Open_%2528tennis%2529.htm" title="Roland Garros">Roland Garros</a> flew it at the Belmont Park, New York, in 1910. The June 1910 edition of the <!--del_lnk--> Popular Mechanics magazine published drawings of the Demoiselle and affirmed that Santos-Dumont's plane was better than any other that had been built to that date, for those who wish to reach results with the least possible expense and with a minimum of experimenting. American companies sold drawings and parts of Demoiselle for several years thereafter. Santos-Dumont was so enthusiastic about <!--del_lnk--> aviation that he released the drawings of Demoiselle for free, thinking that <!--del_lnk--> aviation would be the mainstream of a new prosperous era for mankind. <!--del_lnk--> Clément Bayard, an automotive maker, constructed several units of Demoiselles, which was sold for 50,000 Francs.<p><a id="Controversy_vis-a-vis_Wright_brothers" name="Controversy_vis-a-vis_Wright_brothers"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Controversy vis-a-vis Wright brothers</span></h2>
<p><i>Editors’ Note: The claim to the <!--del_lnk--> first flying machine is still the arena for disputes about definitions, facts, and merits. These polemics are often fueled by strong nationalistic or cultural feelings. The editors of this article have made a sincere effort over time to present a Neutral Point of View. Despite this effort, disagreements persist. The reader is invited to read this section critically, with particular awareness of possibly biased language which might favour one of the many points of view.</i><p>In some countries, particularly Brazil and France, Santos-Dumont is considered to be the inventor of the airplane, because of the official and public character of the <i>14-bis</i> flight as well as some technical points (see below.) This has been traditionally the official position of the Brazilian government, especially since the <!--del_lnk--> Getúlio Vargas dictatorship. Vargas instituted a department within his government for "Information and Propaganda", following the trend in many other countries. This department created schoolbooks praising all things Brazilian; when the Vargas dictatorship ended in 1945, the department-influenced schoolbooks endured.<p>The strongest technical criticism of the Wrights' early aircraft is that, while it is clear that these aircraft could sustain controlled flight, they always used some sort of assistance to become airborne. The assistance ranged in form from requiring a stiff headwind, the use of launch rails, and/or the use of external thrust (a catapult) to obtain the necessary airspeed for launch. As such, none of the Wrights' early craft took off under their own power in calm wind from an ordinary ground surface as was achieved by the flights of the <i>14-bis</i>.<p>In some other countries, particularly the United States, the honour of first effective heavier-than-air flight is most frequently assigned to the <a href="../../wp/w/Wright_brothers.htm" title="Wright brothers">Wright brothers</a> for their flight of 39 meters (120 feet) in 12 seconds on <!--del_lnk--> 17 December <!--del_lnk--> 1903 at Kitty Hawk in <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina. Nonetheless, even in these nations there remains a high regard for Santos-Dumont's accomplishments, and a recognition of the <i>14-bis</i> flight as an important event in early aviation.<p>Supporters of the Wrights' claim point out that the use of ground rails in particular was necessitated by the Wrights' choice of airfields -- the sand at Kitty Hawk and the rough pasture at Huffman prairie -- rather than the relatively smooth and firm parkland available to Santos-Dumont and was not a reflection of any aerodynamic weakness in their design. Accordingly, the catapult used at Huffman Prairie allowed the use of a relatively short ground rail thus avoiding the time-consuming drudgery of positioning hundreds of feet of rail needed for launches without a catapult.<p>Supporters of the Wright Flyer claim also point out that 1) although a stiff head wind was required, the aircraft moved under its own power; 2) the Wrights were the first to develop effective aircraft control, which made practical flight possible, even in breezy or windy conditions which are common, as well as in calm conditions. They introduced far superior control mechanisms well before all other winged aircraft, including Santos-Dumont's 14-bis; 3) the Wright Brothers accurately described several principles of flight (including aerodynamics and propeller design) that previous pioneers had either described inaccurately or not at all; 4) the flight has been reproduced experimentally using a carefully recreated replica of the original aircraft.<p>It is this last point, the construction of replicas of the original Wright Flyer, that has exacerbated the controversy in recent years. Some of these replicas were modified using modern aerodynamic knowledge to improve their flight characteristics. Other replicas failed to fly at some public events. However, at least one flying replica was built without being modified. This aircraft, part of the the Wright Experience project, through painstaking research of original documents, photographs, and artifacts from the original Flyer (conducted much like an archaeological expedition), is believed to be an accurate recreation. The Wright Experience project had the stated purpose of building an exact replica of the original aircraft, whether or not it would actually fly. As it turned out, the aircraft did indeed make several successful flights.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:228px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16432.jpg.htm" title="Headline from page 8 of the 18 December 1903 edition of The Dayton Daily News.From the archives of the Dayton Metro Library[1] Article refers to Wright's flight's without the "gas bag" assistance of Santos-Dumont's earlier Airships."><img alt="Headline from page 8 of the 18 December 1903 edition of The Dayton Daily News.From the archives of the Dayton Metro Library[1] Article refers to Wright's flight's without the "gas bag" assistance of Santos-Dumont's earlier Airships." height="320" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Boys_Emulate_Dumont.JPG" src="../../images/164/16432.jpg" width="226" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">Headline from page 8 of<br /> the 18 December 1903 edition of<br /> The Dayton Daily News.From the archives of the <!--del_lnk--> Dayton Metro Library<!--del_lnk--> <br /> Article refers to Wright's flight's without the "gas bag" assistance of Santos-Dumont's earlier Airships.</div>
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<p>Much of the controversy with regard to Santos-Dumont vs. the Wrights arose from the difference in their approaches to publicity. Santos-Dumont made his flights in public, often accompanied by the scientific elite of the time, then gathered in Paris. In contrast, the Wright Brothers were very concerned about protecting their <!--del_lnk--> intellectual property and made their early flights in remote locations and without many international aviation officials present. The defense of their flight was also complicated by the jealousies of other American aviation enthusiasts and disputes over patents. In November 1905, the <!--del_lnk--> Aero Club of France learned of the Wrights' alleged flight of 24 miles. They sent a correspondent to investigate the Wrights' accounts. In January 1906, members in the <!--del_lnk--> Aero Club of France's meeting were stunned by the reports of the Wrights' flights. Archdeacon sent a taunting letter to the Wrights, demanding that they come to France and prove themselves, but the Wrights did not respond. Thus, the aviation world (of which Paris was the centre at the time) witnessed the products of Santos-Dumont's work first hand. As a result, many members, French and other Europeans, dismissed the Wrights as frauds (like many others at the time) and assigned Santos-Dumont the accolade of the "first to fly".<p>In any case, early reports of the Wrights' activities and the disclosure of key design features in their 1904 European patent filings certainly helped many airplane developers in succeeding years, including Santos-Dumont. Moreover, Santos-Dumont's success was aided by improvements in engine power/weight ratio and other advances in materials and construction techniques that had taken place in previous years.<p>There were many machines that got up into the air in a limited fashion and many variations of heavier-than-air titles to which varying amounts of credit have been awarded by various groups. For example, in the former <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">USSR</a> <!--del_lnk--> Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaiski is sometimes credited as a "Father of Aviation", for his powered heavier-than-air machine going airborne (generally recognized as the second such flight in that category) in 1884.<!--del_lnk--> The disputes about the proper definition of "powered heavier than air flight" still go on. For example, with regard to <!--del_lnk--> gliders fitted with small engines that are used non-continuously; these debates do not extend to methods of take off systems. The issue of assisted takeoff can be an issue with early flights, however, since any help given is more significant for how long they were airborne for short flights.<p>Just as some seek to broaden the accomplishments of the <i>14-bis</i> flights, there are others who seek to narrow them, although this is less common. One criticism is that the low altitude at which the 14-bis flew permitted the lift to be augmented by <!--del_lnk--> ground effect. The often low flights of many aviation pioneers, including some of the Wrights initial flights, fall prey to a complex debate over classifications of machines that are aided by this phenomenon.<p>Also, there have been some questions of the Aero-Club De France's conflict of interest concerning their involvement with Santos-Dumont's claim. The questions largely arise from their incomplete knowledge of the Wrights and their involvement with Santos-Dumont.<p><a id="Santos-Dumont_and_the_wristwatch" name="Santos-Dumont_and_the_wristwatch"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Santos-Dumont and the wristwatch</span></h2>
<p>The wristwatch had already been invented by <!--del_lnk--> Patek Philippe, decades earlier, but Santos-Dumont played an important role popularizing its use by men in the early 1900s. Before him they were generally worn only by women, as men favoured <a href="../../wp/w/Watch.htm" title="Watch">pocket watches</a>. As a result, <!--del_lnk--> Brazilians consider Santos-Dumont the <!--del_lnk--> inventor of the <!--del_lnk--> wristwatch for men.<p>The story goes that in 1904, while celebrating his winning of the <!--del_lnk--> Deutsch Prize at <!--del_lnk--> Maxim's Restaurant, Santos-Dumont complained to his friend <!--del_lnk--> Louis Cartier about the difficulty of checking his pocket watch to time his performance during flight. Santos-Dumont then asked Cartier to come up with an alternative that would allow him to keep both hands on the controls. Cartier went to work on the problem and the result was a watch with a leather band and a small buckle, to be worn on the wrist.<p>Santos-Dumont never took off again without his personal Cartier wristwatch, and he used it to check his personal record for a 220 m (730 ft) flight, achieved in twenty-one seconds, on <!--del_lnk--> 12 November <!--del_lnk--> 1906. The Santos-Dumont watch was officially displayed on <!--del_lnk--> 20 October <!--del_lnk--> 1979 at the <!--del_lnk--> Paris Air Museum next to the <!--del_lnk--> 1908 <i><!--del_lnk--> Demoiselle</i>, the last aircraft that he built.<p>Cartier today has a collection of wristwatches honouring Santos-Dumont called Santos de Cartier. Publicity involved photographs of Santos-Dumont and his achievements.<p><a id="Later_years" name="Later_years"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Later years</span></h2>
<p>Santos-Dumont continued to build and fly <!--del_lnk--> airplanes. His final flight as a pilot was made in Demoiselle on <!--del_lnk--> 4 January <!--del_lnk--> 1910. The flight ended in an accident, but the cause was never completely clear. There were few observers and no reporters on the scene.<p>Santos-Dumont fell seriously ill a few months later. He experienced double vision and vertigo that made it impossible for him to drive, much less fly. He was diagnosed with <a href="../../wp/m/Multiple_sclerosis.htm" title="Multiple sclerosis">multiple sclerosis</a>. He abruptly dismissed his staff and closed his workshop. His illness soon led to a deepening depression.<p>In 1911, Santos-Dumont moved from Paris to the French seaside village of <!--del_lnk--> Bénerville where he took up astronomy as a hobby. Some of the local folk, who knew little of his great fame and exploits in Paris just a few years earlier, mistook his German-made telescope and unusual accent as signs (almost certainly false) that he was a German spy who was tracking French naval activity. These suspicions eventually led to Santos-Dumont having his rooms searched by the French military police. Upset by ignominy of the charge, as well as depressed from his illness, he burned all of his papers, plans, and notes. Thus, there is little direct information available about his designs today.<p>In 1928 (some sources report 1916), he left France to go back to his country of birth, never to return to <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>. His return to Brazil was marred by tragedy. A dozen members of the Brazilian scientific community boarded a seaplane with the intention of paying a flying welcome to the returning aviator on the luxury liner <!--del_lnk--> Cap Arcona. Instead, the seaplane crashed with the loss of all on board. The loss deepened Santos-Dumont's growing despondency.<p>In Brazil, Santos-Dumont bought a small lot on the side of a hill in the city of <!--del_lnk--> Petrópolis, in the mountains near Rio de Janeiro, and built a small house there filled with imaginative mechanical gadgetry.<p><a id="Controversy_regarding_private_life" name="Controversy_regarding_private_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Controversy regarding private life</span></h2>
<p>Some controversy exists over Santos-Dumont's private life, in particular his sexual orientation. Although he was an active member of the Paris social scene, there are no reports, public or private, of his having been romatically involved with anyone. This has led some to speculate that Santos-Dumont was a homosexual. However, historians have noted that any affair, with either a man or a woman, would have been impossible to keep a secret given Santos-Dumont's notoriety in his time. This lack of any evidence of romantic entanglements have led some to speculate that he was <!--del_lnk--> asexual.<p>Historians have noted that both Wright brothers, around whom much controversy still exists vis-a-vis Santos-Dumont, also had personal lives apparently devoid of any overt sexual activity. However, no comparable suggestions of possible homosexuality have been made about them.<p>Santos-Dumont did seem to have a particular affection for a married Cuban/American woman named <!--del_lnk--> Aída de Acosta. He allowed her to fly his No. 9 airship (Thus she likely became the first woman to pilot a powered aircraft.) and he kept a picture of her on his desk until his death.<p><a id="Death_and_beyond" name="Death_and_beyond"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Death and beyond</span></h2>
<p>Alberto Santos-Dumont — seriously ill, and said to be depressed over his multiple sclerosis and the use of aircraft in warfare — is believed to have committed <!--del_lnk--> suicide by hanging himself in the city of <!--del_lnk--> Guarujá in <a href="../../wp/s/S%25C3%25A3o_Paulo.htm" title="São Paulo">São Paulo</a>, on <!--del_lnk--> 23 July <!--del_lnk--> 1932. He was buried in the <!--del_lnk--> Cemitério São João Batista in <a href="../../wp/r/Rio_de_Janeiro.htm" title="Rio de Janeiro">Rio de Janeiro</a>. There are many monuments to his work and his house in <!--del_lnk--> Petropolis, Brazil is now a museum. He never married nor had any known children.<p><a id="Cultural_influences" name="Cultural_influences"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Cultural influences</span></h2>
<div class="floatright"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/164/16433.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="166" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Santosdumonticecream.jpg" src="../../images/164/16433.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></div>
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<li><!--del_lnk--> Santos-Dumont is a small <a href="../../wp/m/Moon.htm" title="Moon">lunar</a> <!--del_lnk--> impact crater that lies in the northern end of the <!--del_lnk--> Montes Apenninus range at the eastern edge of the <!--del_lnk--> Mare Imbrium<li>The aviator gives his name to the city of <!--del_lnk--> Santos Dumont, in the state of <!--del_lnk--> Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this municipality is located the Cabangu farm, where he was born. The <!--del_lnk--> Faculdades Santos Dumont is a group of private higher learning colleges in the same city.<li>The city of <!--del_lnk--> Dumont, in the state of <a href="../../wp/s/S%25C3%25A3o_Paulo.htm" title="São Paulo">São Paulo</a>, near <!--del_lnk--> Ribeirão Preto is so named because it is located where it used to be one the largest <a href="../../wp/c/Coffee.htm" title="Coffee">coffee</a> farms in the world, between 1870 and 1890. The farm was owned by Alberto Santos-Dumont's father, a wealthy engineer of French descent. It was sold in 1896 to a British company, the <i>Dumont Coffee Company</i>.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> airport for domestic flights of <a href="../../wp/r/Rio_de_Janeiro.htm" title="Rio de Janeiro">Rio de Janeiro</a> is also named after him (see <!--del_lnk--> Santos Dumont Regional Airport)<li>The <!--del_lnk--> Rodovia Santos Dumont is a <!--del_lnk--> highway in the state of São Paulo.<li>The Brazilian Air Force (Command of Aeronautics) concedes to important personalities in the world of aviation the Santos Dumont Medal of Merit. The state government of Minas Gerais has a similar medal.<li><i>Réseau Santos-Dumont</i> is the name of a cooperative <a href="../../wp/u/University.htm" title="University">university</a> network between France and Brazil, instituted by the French and Brazilian Ministries of Education in 1994, with 26 universities in each country.<li>The American <!--del_lnk--> Office of Naval Research of <!--del_lnk--> San Diego, <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a> has named one of its research airships as the <i>600B Santos Dumont</i> <!--del_lnk--> .<li>The Historic and Cultural Institute of Aeronautics of Brazil has instituted the Santos Dumont Annual Prize of Journalism to the best reports in the media about aeronautics.<li>Santos-Dumont serves as the inspiration and namesake for a small Coffee and Ice Cream Shop in <!--del_lnk--> Milford, New Hampshire.<li><!--del_lnk--> Lycée Polyvalente Santos-Dumont is a lyceum in <!--del_lnk--> Saint-Cloud, France;<li>Tens of thousands of streets, avenues, plazas, schools, monuments, etc., are dedicated to the national hero in Brazil.<li>The official Brazilian Presidential Aircraft, an <!--del_lnk--> Airbus Corporate Jet tail number FAB2101, was baptized with the name of Alberto Santos Dumont.<li>A popular Chilean rock band of the 1990s adopted the name Santos Dumont.<li>A restaurant located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in New York City, is named Quatorze bis, apparently after the Santos Dumont airplane of the same name. However, on November 12, 2006 they had no observance or recognition of the fact that it was the 100th anniversary of the record breaking flight of Santos Dumont's Quatorze bis.</ol>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Albertosaurus</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Dinosaurs.htm">Dinosaurs</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><i><b>Albertosaurus</b></i><br />
<center><small>Fossil range: <!--del_lnk--> Late Cretaceous</small></center>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/231/23168.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="166" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albertosaurus_model.jpg" src="../../images/231/23168.jpg" width="230" /></a><br />
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Chordata<br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Sauropsid">Sauropsida</a><br />
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<td>Superorder:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Dinosauria<br />
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<td>Order:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/s/Saurischia.htm" title="Saurischia">Saurischia</a><br />
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<td>Suborder:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/t/Theropoda.htm" title="Theropoda">Theropoda</a><br />
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<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Tyrannosauridae<br />
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<td>Subfamily:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Albertosaurinae<br />
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<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><b>Albertosaurus</b></i><br />
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<td>Species:</td>
<td><span style="white-space: nowrap"><i><b>A. sarcophagus</b></i></span><br />
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<center><a href="../../wp/b/Binomial_nomenclature.htm" title="Binomial nomenclature">Binomial name</a></center>
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<td><i><b>Albertosaurus sarcophagus</b></i><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Osborn, 1905</small></td>
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<center><!--del_lnk--> Synonyms</center>
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<center><i><b>A. arctunguis</b></i> <small><!--del_lnk--> Parks, 1928</small></center>
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<p><i><b>Albertosaurus</b></i> (<!--del_lnk--> IPA: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[æl,bɜr.toʊ'soʊr.əs]</span>; meaning "<!--del_lnk--> Alberta lizard") is a <!--del_lnk--> genus of <!--del_lnk--> tyrannosaurid <!--del_lnk--> theropod <a href="../../wp/d/Dinosaur.htm" title="Dinosaur">dinosaur</a> that lived in western <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a> during the <!--del_lnk--> Late Cretaceous <!--del_lnk--> Period, more than 70 <!--del_lnk--> million years ago. The <!--del_lnk--> type species, <i>A. sarcophagus</i>, was restricted in <!--del_lnk--> range to the modern-day <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canadian</a> province of Alberta, after which the genus is named. Scientists disagree on the number of <!--del_lnk--> species represented in the genus, recognizing either one or two species.<p>As a tyrannosaurid, <i>Albertosaurus</i> was a <!--del_lnk--> bipedal <!--del_lnk--> predator with a massive head, jaws lined with dozens of large teeth and tiny, two-fingered 'hands'. It may have been at the top of the <!--del_lnk--> food chain in its local <!--del_lnk--> ecosystem. Although relatively large for a theropod, <i>Albertosaurus</i> was much smaller than its more famous relative <i><a href="../../wp/t/Tyrannosaurus.htm" title="Tyrannosaurus">Tyrannosaurus</a></i>, probably weighing only as much as a modern <!--del_lnk--> black rhinoceros.<p><a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">Fossils</a> of more than twenty individuals have been recovered, providing scientists with a more detailed knowledge of <i>Albertosaurus</i> anatomy than is available for other tyrannosaurids. The discovery of ten individuals at one site provides evidence of pack behaviour and allows studies of <!--del_lnk--> developmental biology which are impossible with lesser-known animals.<p>
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</script><a id="Description" name="Description"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Description</span></h2>
<p><i>Albertosaurus</i> was smaller than the truly gigantic tyrannosaurids like <i><!--del_lnk--> Tarbosaurus</i> and <i>Tyrannosaurus</i>. Adults measured approximately 9 m (30 ft) long. Several independent mass estimates, obtained by different methods, suggest that a full-grown <i>Albertosaurus</i> weighed between 1.282 <!--del_lnk--> tonnes (1.4 <!--del_lnk--> short tons) and 1.685 tonnes (1.85 short tons).<p>The massive <!--del_lnk--> skull of <i>Albertosaurus</i>, perched on a short, <i>S</i>-shaped neck, was approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) long in the largest adults. Wide openings in the skull (<i><!--del_lnk--> fenestrae</i>) reduced the potential weight of the head, and provided areas for <!--del_lnk--> muscle attachment and <!--del_lnk--> sensory organs. Its long jaws contained more than 60 <a href="../../wp/b/Banana.htm" title="Banana">banana</a>-shaped teeth; larger tyrannosaurids possessed fewer teeth. Unlike most other theropods, tyrannosaurids were <i><!--del_lnk--> heterodont</i>; the teeth took different forms depending on their position in the mouth. The <!--del_lnk--> premaxillary teeth at the tip of the upper jaw were much smaller than the rest, more closely packed, and <i>D</i>-shaped in <!--del_lnk--> cross section.<p>All tyrannosaurids, including <i>Albertosaurus</i>, shared a similar body appearance. Typically for a theropod, <i>Albertosaurus</i> was bipedal and balanced the heavy head and <!--del_lnk--> torso with a long tail. However, tyrannosaurid forelimbs were extremely small for their body size and retained only two digits. The <!--del_lnk--> hindlimbs were long and ended in a four-toed foot. The first of these digits, called the <!--del_lnk--> hallux, was very short and only the other three contacted the ground, with the middle digit longer than the rest.<p><a id="Taxonomy" name="Taxonomy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Taxonomy</span></h2>
<p><i>Albertosaurus</i> was named in 1905 by <!--del_lnk--> Henry Fairfield Osborn of the <!--del_lnk--> American Museum of Natural History in a very brief note at the end of his description of <i>Tyrannosaurus rex</i>. The name honours Alberta, the Canadian province in which the first remains were found. The generic name also incorporates the <!--del_lnk--> Greek term <i>σαυρος</i> (<i>sauros</i>, meaning "lizard"), the most common suffix in dinosaur names.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:232px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23169.jpg.htm" title="An albertosaurine skull in the midst of preparation, discovered in New Mexico. This undescribed species may belong to Albertosaurus."><img alt="An albertosaurine skull in the midst of preparation, discovered in New Mexico. This undescribed species may belong to Albertosaurus." height="307" longdesc="/wiki/Image:New_mexico_albertosaurine.jpg" src="../../images/231/23169.jpg" width="230" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23169.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An albertosaurine skull in the midst of preparation, discovered in <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico. This undescribed species may belong to <i>Albertosaurus</i>.</div>
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<p><a id="Classification" name="Classification"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Classification</span></h3>
<p><i>Albertosaurus</i> is a member of the theropod <!--del_lnk--> family Tyrannosauridae. Within this family, <i>Albertosaurus sarcophagus</i> is usually classified with <i><!--del_lnk--> Gorgosaurus libratus</i> (sometimes called <i>Albertosaurus libratus</i>; see below) in the subfamily Albertosaurinae. Albertosaurines were more slender than the robust tyrannosaurines, the other major subfamily of tyrannosaurids. <i><!--del_lnk--> Appalachiosaurus</i> has been called an albertosaurine in at least one study, although this is disputed.<p><a id="Albertosaurus_sarcophagus" name="Albertosaurus_sarcophagus"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><i>Albertosaurus sarcophagus</i></span></h3>
<p>The type species of <i>Albertosaurus</i> is <i>A. sarcophagus</i>, also named by Osborn in 1905. The name means "flesh-eater" and has the same <!--del_lnk--> etymology as the <!--del_lnk--> funeral container with which it shares its name: a combination of the Ancient Greek words <i>σαρξ</i> (<i>sarx</i>, meaning "flesh") and <i>Φαγειν</i> (<i>phagein</i>, meaning "to eat"). More than twenty specimens of all ages are known to science.<p><a id="Gorgosaurus_libratus" name="Gorgosaurus_libratus"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><i>Gorgosaurus libratus</i></span></h3>
<p>In 1913, <!--del_lnk--> paleontologist <!--del_lnk--> Charles Hazelius Sternberg recovered another tyrannosaurid skeleton from slightly older <!--del_lnk--> sediments in Alberta. This dinosaur was named <i>Gorgosaurus libratus</i> in 1914 by <!--del_lnk--> Lawrence Lambe. Finding few differences to separate the two genera, <!--del_lnk--> Dale Russell declared <i>Gorgosaurus</i> a <!--del_lnk--> junior synonym of <i>Albertosaurus</i> in 1970, creating the new combination <i>Albertosaurus libratus</i>. This extended the temporal range of the genus backwards by several million years and its geographic range southwards by hundreds of <!--del_lnk--> kilometers.<p>More recent examination of <i>Albertosaurus</i> and <i>Gorgosaurus</i> has cast doubt on Russell's proposed synonymy. In 2003, <!--del_lnk--> Phil Currie and colleagues examined skulls of the two species and came to the conclusion that the two distinct genera should be retained, although they acknowledged that the two genera are <!--del_lnk--> sister taxa and that the distinction is therefore rather arbitrary. However, according to Currie, <i>Albertosaurus</i> and <i>Gorgosaurus</i> are no more similar than <i><!--del_lnk--> Daspletosaurus</i> and <i>Tyrannosaurus</i>, which are almost always retained as separate genera. In addition, several undescribed albertosaurine specimens have been recovered from other parts of North America, including <!--del_lnk--> Alaska and <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico, so Currie has recommended leaving the two genera separate until more of this diversity is clarified. Most authors have since followed Currie's recommendation, but some have not.<p><a id="Invalid_species" name="Invalid_species"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Invalid species</span></h3>
<p>Other species of <i>Albertosaurus</i> have been named but later invalidated. <!--del_lnk--> William Parks described a partial skeleton from Alberta as <i>Albertosaurus arctunguis</i> in 1928, but this is universally considered a junior synonym of <i>A. sarcophagus</i>. <i>Albertosaurus megagracilis</i> (later renamed <i><!--del_lnk--> Dinotyrannus</i>) was based on a small tyrannosaurid skeleton from the <!--del_lnk--> Hell Creek Formation of <!--del_lnk--> Montana in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>. However, it is now thought to be a juvenile <i>Tyrannosaurus</i>.<p><a id="History_of_discovery" name="History_of_discovery"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History of discovery</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> type specimen is a partial skull, collected in 1884 from an <!--del_lnk--> outcrop alongside the <!--del_lnk--> Red Deer River in Alberta. This specimen, along with an additional smaller skull and some skeletal material, was recovered by an expedition of the <!--del_lnk--> Geological Survey of Canada, led by the famous Canadian <!--del_lnk--> geologist <!--del_lnk--> Joseph B. Tyrrell. The specimen is now stored in the <!--del_lnk--> Canadian Museum of Nature. The two skulls were assigned to the existing species <i><!--del_lnk--> Laelaps incrassatus</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Edward Drinker Cope in 1892. However, as early as 1877 the name <i>Laelaps</i> had been found to be <!--del_lnk--> preoccupied by a genus of <!--del_lnk--> mite, and it was changed to <i><!--del_lnk--> Dryptosaurus</i> by Cope's rival, <!--del_lnk--> Othniel Charles Marsh. (Cope refused to recognize the new name.) Lawrence Lambe moved <i>Laelaps incrassatus</i> to the genus <i>Dryptosaurus</i> in 1904. Finally, because <i>D. incrassatus</i> was only based on generic tyrannosaurid teeth that could not be said to belong to any particular species, and because the Alberta skull material differed markedly from that of <i>Dryptosaurus</i>, Osborn named it <i>Albertosaurus sarcophagus</i> in 1905.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23170.jpg.htm" title="The Red Deer River near Drumheller, Alberta. More than half of all Albertosaurus remains have been discovered alongside the river, in outcrops like the ones on either side of this picture."><img alt="The Red Deer River near Drumheller, Alberta. More than half of all Albertosaurus remains have been discovered alongside the river, in outcrops like the ones on either side of this picture." height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Red_deer_river.jpg" src="../../images/231/23170.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23170.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Red Deer River near <!--del_lnk--> Drumheller, Alberta. More than half of all <i>Albertosaurus</i> remains have been discovered alongside the river, in outcrops like the ones on either side of this picture.</div>
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<p>In 1910, American paleontologist <!--del_lnk--> Barnum Brown uncovered the remains of a large group of <i>Albertosaurus</i> at another <!--del_lnk--> quarry alongside the Red Deer River. Because of the large number of bones and the limited time available, Brown's party did not collect every specimen, but made sure to collect bones from all of the individuals present. Among many other bones deposited in the American Museum of Natural History collections in <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, seven sets of right <!--del_lnk--> metatarsals were collected, along with two isolated toe bones that did not match any of the metatarsals in size. This indicates the presence of at least nine individuals in the quarry. The <!--del_lnk--> Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology rediscovered the site in 1997 and resumed fieldwork there. This further excavation turned up a tenth, very young individual in 2002.<p>The specimen originally named <i>A. arctunguis</i> was also excavated near the Red Deer River and is housed in the <!--del_lnk--> Royal Ontario Museum in <a href="../../wp/t/Toronto.htm" title="Toronto">Toronto</a>, Canada. Six more skulls and skeletons have since been discovered in Alberta and are housed in other Canadian museums.<p>All identifiable fossils of <i>Albertosaurus sarcophagus</i> are known from the <!--del_lnk--> Horseshoe Canyon Formation in Alberta. This <!--del_lnk--> formation dates to the early <!--del_lnk--> Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, 70 to 73 million years ago. Many other dinosaurs have been found there, including smaller theropods like <i><!--del_lnk--> Ornithomimus</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Chirostenotes</i> and several <!--del_lnk--> dromaeosaurids, and a wide variety of <a href="../../wp/h/Herbivore.htm" title="Herbivore">herbivores</a> like <!--del_lnk--> ankylosaurians, <!--del_lnk--> ceratopsians, <!--del_lnk--> pachycephalosaurs and <!--del_lnk--> hadrosaurids. Fossils of <i>Albertosaurus</i> have also been reported from the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">American</a> states of Montana, New Mexico, and <!--del_lnk--> Wyoming, but these probably do not represent <i>A. sarcophagus</i> and may not even belong to the <i>Albertosaurus</i> genus.<p><a id="Paleobiology" name="Paleobiology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Paleobiology</span></h2>
<p>Like many tyrannosaurids, <i>Albertosaurus</i> is well known from several different specimens, allowing detailed studies of its life history and providing evidence of its behaviour.<p><a id="Growth_pattern" name="Growth_pattern"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Growth pattern</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:402px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/138/13825.png.htm" title="A graph showing the hypothesized growth curves (body mass versus age) of four tyrannosaurids. Albertosaurus is drawn in red. Based on Erickson et al. 2004."><img alt="A graph showing the hypothesized growth curves (body mass versus age) of four tyrannosaurids. Albertosaurus is drawn in red. Based on Erickson et al. 2004." height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Tyrantgraph.png" src="../../images/231/23171.png" width="400" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/138/13825.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A graph showing the hypothesized growth curves (body mass versus age) of four tyrannosaurids. <i>Albertosaurus</i> is drawn in <span style="color:red">red</span>. Based on Erickson et al. 2004.</div>
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<p>Most age categories of <i>Albertosaurus</i> are represented in the <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil_record.htm" title="Fossil record">fossil record</a>. Using bone <!--del_lnk--> histology, the age of an individual animal at the time of death can often be determined, allowing growth rates to be estimated and compared to other species. The youngest known <i>Albertosaurus</i> is a two-year-old, recently found in the re-opened <!--del_lnk--> bonebed quarry, and would have weighed about 50 kg (110 lb). A 24-year-old specimen from the collection of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology is the oldest known, weighing approximately 1.14 tonnes (1.25 tons), although the largest is a 1.28-tonne (1.4-ton) individual in the American Museum of Natural History collection. This specimen is estimated to have been 22 years old when it died. When specimens of intermediate age and size are considered, an <i>S</i>-shaped growth curve results, with the most rapid growth occurring in a four-year period ending around the sixteenth year of life, as seen in other tyrannosaurids. The growth rate during this phase was 122 kg (268 lb) per year. Other, similarly-sized tyrannosaurids showed a similar growth rate, but the rate is much lower than that of <i>Tyrannosaurus</i>, which grew almost eight times faster (767 kg [1687 lb] per year) during its growth phase. At about 16 years of age, skeletal maturity—marked by the end of the rapid growth phase—appears to have arrived in <i>Albertosaurus</i>, although growth continued at a slower rate throughout the animals' lives.<p><a id="Pack_behavior" name="Pack_behavior"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Pack behaviour</span></h3>
<p>The <i>Albertosaurus</i> bonebed discovered by Barnum Brown and his crew contains the remains of at least 10 individuals. This group seems to be composed of two or three full-grown individuals over 21 years of age; one younger adult about 17 years old; four sub-adults undergoing their rapid growth phases at between 12 and 16 years old; and a ten-year-old juvenile, who had not yet reached the growth phase. A very young juvenile estimated at around two years of age was also present.<p>The near-absence of <a href="../../wp/h/Herbivore.htm" title="Herbivore">herbivore</a> remains and the similar state of preservation between the many individuals at the <i>Albertosaurus</i> bonebed quarry led Currie to conclude that the locality was not a predator trap like the <!--del_lnk--> La Brea Tar Pits in <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>, and that all of the preserved animals died at the same time, providing evidence of pack behaviour. Other scientists are skeptical, observing that the animals may have been driven together by flood conditions or for other reasons.<p>There is abundant evidence for gregarious behaviour among herbivorous dinosaurs, including ceratopsians and hadrosaurs. However, only rarely are so many dinosaurian predators found at the same site. Small theropods like <i><!--del_lnk--> Coelophysis bauri</i>, <i><a href="../../wp/d/Deinonychus.htm" title="Deinonychus">Deinonychus antirrhopus</a></i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> Megapnosaurus (Syntarsus) rhodesiensis</i> have been found in aggregations, as have larger predators like <i><a href="../../wp/a/Allosaurus.htm" title="Allosaurus">Allosaurus fragilis</a></i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Mapusaurus roseae</i>. There is some evidence of gregarious behaviour in other tyrannosaurids as well. Fragmentary remains of smaller individuals were found alongside "Sue," the <i>Tyrannosaurus rex</i> mounted in the <!--del_lnk--> Field Museum of Natural History in <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>. A bonebed in the <!--del_lnk--> Two Medicine Formation of Montana contains at least three specimens of an unnamed species of <i>Daspletosaurus</i>, preserved alongside several hadrosaurs. These findings may corroborate the evidence for social behaviour in <i>Albertosaurus</i>, although some or all of the above localities may represent temporary or unnatural aggregations.<p>Currie also offers speculation on the pack-hunting habits of <i>Albertosaurus</i>. The leg proportions of the smaller individuals were comparable to those of <!--del_lnk--> ornithomimids, which were probably among the fastest dinosaurs. Younger <i>Albertosaurus</i> were probably equally fleet-footed, or at least faster than their prey, which may have included ceratopsians and hadrosaurs. Currie hypothesized that the younger members of the pack may have been responsible for driving their prey towards the adults, who were larger and more powerful, but also slower. However, as the preservation of behaviour in the fossil record is exceedingly rare, this idea cannot readily be tested.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertosaurus"</div>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Pre_1900_Military.htm">Pre 1900 Military</a>; <a href="../index/subject.Religion.Religious_disputes.htm">Religious disputes</a></h3>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Crusades</th>
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<td><a href="../../wp/f/First_Crusade.htm" title="First Crusade">First</a> – <!--del_lnk--> People's – <a href="../../wp/g/German_Crusade%252C_1096.htm" title="German Crusade, 1096">German</a> – <!--del_lnk--> 1101 – <a href="../../wp/s/Second_Crusade.htm" title="Second Crusade">Second</a> – <!--del_lnk--> Third – <!--del_lnk--> Fourth – <strong class="selflink">Albigensian</strong> – <a href="../../wp/c/Children%2527s_Crusade.htm" title="Children's Crusade">Children's</a> – <!--del_lnk--> Fifth – <!--del_lnk--> Sixth – <!--del_lnk--> Seventh – <!--del_lnk--> Shepherds' – <!--del_lnk--> Eighth – <!--del_lnk--> Ninth – <!--del_lnk--> Aragonese – <!--del_lnk--> Alexandrian – <!--del_lnk--> Nicopolis – <!--del_lnk--> Northern – <!--del_lnk--> Hussite – <!--del_lnk--> Varna</td>
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<p>The <b>Albigensian Crusade</b> or <b>Cathar Crusade</b> (<!--del_lnk--> 1209 - <!--del_lnk--> 1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the religion practiced by the <!--del_lnk--> Cathars of <!--del_lnk--> Languedoc, which the Roman Catholic hierarchy considered <!--del_lnk--> apostasy. It is historically significant for a number of reasons: the violence inflicted was extreme even by medieval standards; the church offered legally sanctioned dominion over conquered lands to northern French nobles and the King of France, acting as essentially Catholic mercenaries, who then acquired regions for <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> which at the time had closer cultural and language ties to <!--del_lnk--> Catalonia (see <!--del_lnk--> Occitan); finally, the Albigensian Crusade had a role in the creation and institutionalization of both the <!--del_lnk--> Dominican Order and the <!--del_lnk--> Medieval Inquisition.<p>
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</script><a id="Origin" name="Origin"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Origin</span></h2>
<p>The Catholic Church had always dealt vigorously with strands of Christianity that it considered <!--del_lnk--> heretical, but prior to the 12th century these groups were organized in small numbers such as wayward street preachers or small localized sects. The <!--del_lnk--> Cathars of the Languedoc represented an alternative and popular mass movement, a phenomenon that the Roman Church had not seen for almost 900 years since <!--del_lnk--> Arianism and <!--del_lnk--> Marcionism in the early days of Christianity. In the twelfth century much of what is now Southern France was converting to Catharism, and the belief was spreading to other areas. Catharism, along with other religious movements of the period such as the <!--del_lnk--> Waldensians, appeared in cities and towns of newly urbanized areas. Although Cathar ideas had not originated in the <!--del_lnk--> Languedoc, one of the most urbanized and populated areas of Europe at the time, it was there that their theology found spectacular success.<p>The Cathars were especially numerous in what is now western Mediterranean France, then part of the <!--del_lnk--> Catalan-Aragonese Confederation or the <!--del_lnk--> Kingdom of Aragon. They were also called Albigensians, after the city of <!--del_lnk--> Albi; there are at least two plausible explanations of this fact - first, simply because of the movement's presence in and around the city, and second, that the name stems from a Church Council held near the city in <!--del_lnk--> 1176 which, after considering the Cathar doctrine, declared it to be a heresy. Political control in Languedoc was divided amongst many local lords and town councils. Before the crusade, there was little oppression in the area and a fairly advanced cultural level.<p>When he came to power in <!--del_lnk--> 1198, <!--del_lnk--> Pope Innocent III was determined to suppress the Cathars. At first he tried peaceful conversion; however priests sent in to convert the Albigensians met with little success. The Cathars were protected by local nobles, and also by bishops who resented papal authority. In 1204 the pope suspended the authority of the bishops in the south of France, appointing <!--del_lnk--> papal legates. In 1206 the Pope sought support for action from the nobles of Languedoc. Noblemen who protected the Cathars were excommunicated.<p>The powerful count <!--del_lnk--> Raymond VI of Toulouse refused to assist and was <!--del_lnk--> excommunicated in May, 1207. The Pope called upon the French king, <!--del_lnk--> Philippe II, to act against those nobles who permitted Catharism, but Philippe declined to act. Count Raymond met with the papal legate, <!--del_lnk--> Pierre de Castelnau, in January 1208, and after an angry meeting, Pierre de Castelnau was killed the following day. The Pope reacted to the killing by issuing a <!--del_lnk--> bull declaring a crusade against Languedoc — offering the land of the heretics to any who would fight. This offer of land drew much of the nobility of the north of France into the conflict, against the nobility of the south.<p><a id="Crusades" name="Crusades"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Crusades</span></h2>
<p>The military campaigns of the Crusade can be divided into a number of periods: the first from 1209 to 1215 was a series of great successes for the crusaders in Languedoc. The captured lands, however, were largely lost between 1215 and 1225 in a series of revolts and reverses. The situation turned again following the intervention of the French king, <!--del_lnk--> Louis VIII in 1226. He died in November of that year, but the efforts continued under <!--del_lnk--> Louis IX. The area was reconquered by 1229, and the main protagonists made peace. From 1233 the efforts of the <!--del_lnk--> Inquisition were crucial in crushing Catharism. Resistance and revolts continued until the military action finally ended in 1255, but Catharism's days were now numbered.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:206px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/92.jpg.htm" title="Cathars being expelled from Carcassone in 1209."><img alt="Cathars being expelled from Carcassone in 1209." height="208" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cathars_expelled.JPG" src="../../images/0/92.jpg" width="204" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">Cathars being expelled from <!--del_lnk--> Carcassone in 1209.</div>
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<p><a id="Initial_success_1209_to_1215" name="Initial_success_1209_to_1215"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Initial success 1209 to 1215</span></h3>
<p>By mid 1209 around 10,000 crusaders had gathered in <a href="../../wp/l/Lyon.htm" title="Lyon">Lyon</a> and began to march south. In June Raymond of Toulouse, recognizing the potential disaster at hand, promised to act against the Cathars, and his excommunication was lifted. The crusaders headed towards <!--del_lnk--> Montpellier and the lands of <!--del_lnk--> Raymond-Roger de Trencavel, aiming for the Cathar communities around Albi and <!--del_lnk--> Carcassonne. Like Raymond of Toulouse, Raymond-Roger sought an accommodation with the crusaders, but he was refused a meeting and raced back to Carcassonne to prepare his defences.<p>In July the crusaders captured the small village of Servian and headed for <!--del_lnk--> Béziers, arriving on <!--del_lnk--> July 21. They surrounded the town and demanded that the Cathars be handed over; the demand was refused. The town fell the following day when an abortive sortie was pursued back into the town. Although Béziers is believed to have held no more than 500 Cathars, the whole population was slaughtered. According to the Cistercian writer <!--del_lnk--> Caesar of Heisterbach, one of the leaders of the Crusader army, the Papal legate <!--del_lnk--> Arnaud-Amaury, was asked by a Crusader how they might distinguish the Cathars, their enemies, from other citizens. He answered: <i>Caedite eos! Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius</i>" — "Kill them [all]! Surely the Lord discerns which [ones] are his." Contemporary sources give estimates of the number of dead that range between seven and nearly twenty thousand; this latter figure appears in Arnaud-Amaury's report to the Pope. The news of the horror at Béziers quickly spread and many settlements were cowed.<p>The next major target for the crusade was <!--del_lnk--> Carcassonne. The town was well fortified, but vulnerable and over-populated with refugees. The crusaders arrived outside the town on <!--del_lnk--> August 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1209. The siege did not last long: by <!--del_lnk--> August 7 the crusaders had cut the town's access to water. Raymond-Roger sought negotiations but was taken prisoner while under truce, and the town surrendered on <!--del_lnk--> August 15. The inhabitants were not massacred, but all were forced to leave the town — naked according to Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay; "in their shifts and breeches" according to another source. <!--del_lnk--> Simon de Montfort, who now took charge of the Crusader army, was granted control of the area encompassing Carcassonne, Albi, and Béziers. After Carcassonne most towns surrendered without a struggle. Albi, <!--del_lnk--> Castelnaudary, <!--del_lnk--> Castres, <!--del_lnk--> Fanjeaux, <!--del_lnk--> Limoux, <!--del_lnk--> Lombers and <!--del_lnk--> Montréal all fell quickly during the autumn. However some of the towns quickly taken later revolted.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:158px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/93.jpg.htm" title="The yellow cross worn by Cathar repentants."><img alt="The yellow cross worn by Cathar repentants." height="241" longdesc="/wiki/Image:CatharCross.JPG" src="../../images/0/93.jpg" width="156" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/93.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> yellow cross worn by Cathar repentants.</div>
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<p>The next struggle centred around <!--del_lnk--> Lastours and the adjacent castle of Cabaret. Attacked in December 1209, <!--del_lnk--> Pierre-Roger de Cabaret repulsed the attackers. Fighting largely halted over the winter, but many new crusaders arrived. In March 1210, <!--del_lnk--> Bram was captured after a short siege. In June the well fortified town of <!--del_lnk--> Minerve was invested; it withstood a heavy bombardment, but in late June the town's main well was destroyed, and on <!--del_lnk--> July 22, the inhabitants surrendered. The Cathar residents were given a chance to convert, and the 140 who refused were burned. In August the crusade proceeded to <!--del_lnk--> Termes, and despite attacks from Pierre-Roger de Cabaret, the siege was solid, and in December the town fell. It was the last action of the year.<p>When operations resumed in 1211 the actions of Arnaud-Amaury and Simon de Montfort had alienated several lords over the winter, including Raymond of Toulouse, who had been excommunicated again. The crusaders returned in force to Lastours in March and Pierre-Roger de Cabaret soon agreed to surrender. In May the castle of <!--del_lnk--> Aimery de Montréal was retaken; he and his senior knights were hanged, and several hundred Cathars were burned. <!--del_lnk--> Cassès and <!--del_lnk--> Montferrand both fell easily in early June, and the crusaders headed for <!--del_lnk--> Toulouse. The town was besieged, but for once the attackers were short of supplies and men, and so Simon de Montfort withdrew before the end of the month. Emboldened, Raymond of Toulouse led a force to attack de Monfort at Castelnaudary in September. De Montfort broke free from the siege but Castelnaudary fell and the forces of Raymond went on to liberate over thirty towns before grinding to a halt at Lastours in the autumn. The following year much of the province of Toulouse was re-captured.<p>In 1213, forces led by King <!--del_lnk--> Peter II of Aragon, I of Catalonia, came to the aid of Toulouse. The force besieged <!--del_lnk--> Muret, but in September a sortie from the castle led to the death of King Peter, and his army fled. It was a serious blow for the resistance, and in 1214 the situation became worse: Raymond was forced to flee to England, and his lands were given by the Pope to the victorious Philippe II, a ploy which succeeded in interesting the king in the conflict. In November the ever active Simon de Montfort entered Périgord and easily captured the castles of <!--del_lnk--> Domme and <!--del_lnk--> Montfort; he also occupied <!--del_lnk--> Castlenaud and destroyed the fortifications of <!--del_lnk--> Beynac. In 1215, Castelnaud was lost and swiftly recaptured by de Montfort, and the crusaders entered Toulouse. Toulouse was gifted to de Montfort, and in April 1216 he ceded his lands to Philippe.<p><a id="Revolts_and_reverses_1216_to_1225" name="Revolts_and_reverses_1216_to_1225"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Revolts and reverses 1216 to 1225</span></h3>
<p>However, Raymond, together with <!--del_lnk--> his son, returned to the region in April, 1216, and soon raised a substantial force from disaffected towns. <!--del_lnk--> Beaucaire was besieged in May and fell after a three month siege; the efforts of de Montfort to relieve the town were repulsed. De Montfort had then to put down an uprising in Toulouse before heading west to captured <!--del_lnk--> Bigorre, but he was repulsed at <!--del_lnk--> Lourdes in December 1216. In 1217, while de Montfort was occupied in the Foix region, Raymond took Toulouse in September. De Montfort hurried back, but his forces were insufficient to take the town before campaigning halted. De Montfort renewed the siege in the spring of 1218; he was killed in June while fighting in a sortie.<p>The crusade was left in temporary disarray. The command passed to the more cautious Philippe II, who was concerned with Toulouse rather than heresy. Innocent III had also died in July 1216. The conflict fell into something a lull until 1219, although the crusaders had taken <!--del_lnk--> Belcaire and besieged <!--del_lnk--> Marmande in late 1218 under <!--del_lnk--> Amaury de Montfort. Marmande fell on <!--del_lnk--> June 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1219 but attempts to retake Toulouse faltered, and a number of de Montfort holds fell. In 1220, Castelnaudary was taken from de Montfort, and while Amaury de Montfort attacked the town from July 1220, the town withstood an eight month siege. In 1221, the success of Raymond and his son continued: Montréal and Fanjeaux were captured, and many Catholics fled. In 1222, Raymond died and was succeeded by his son, also called Raymond. In 1223, Philippe II died and was succeeded by <!--del_lnk--> Louis VIII. In 1224, Amaury de Montfort abandoned Carcassonne and fled. The son of Raymond-Roger de Trencaval returned from exile to reclaim the area. Amaury de Montfort offered his claim to the lands of Languedoc to Louis VIII, who accepted.<p><a id="French_King_intervenes" name="French_King_intervenes"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">French King intervenes</span></h3>
<p>In November 1225 Raymond, like his father, was excommunicated. Louis VIII headed the new crusade into the area in June 1226, towns and castles surrendering without resistance. <!--del_lnk--> Avignon, nominally under the rule of the German emperor, did resist, and it took a three month siege to finally subdue the town into surrendering in September. Louis VIII died in November and was succeeded by the child king Louis IX. But Queen <!--del_lnk--> Blanche of Castile allowed the crusade to continue under <!--del_lnk--> Humbert de Beaujeu. <!--del_lnk--> Labécède fell in 1227 and <!--del_lnk--> Vareilles and Toulouse in 1228. However, Queen Blanche offered Raymond a treaty, recognizing him as ruler of Toulouse in exchange for his fighting Cathars, returning all Church property, turning over his castles and destroying the defences of Toulouse. Raymond agreed and signed a treaty at <!--del_lnk--> Meaux in April 1229. He was then seized, whipped and briefly imprisoned.<p><a id="Inquisition" name="Inquisition"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Inquisition</span></h2>
<p>Languedoc now was firmly under the control of the King of France. The <!--del_lnk--> Inquisition was established in Toulouse in November 1229, and the process of ridding the area of heresy and investing the remaining Cathar strongholds began. Under <!--del_lnk--> Pope Gregory IX the Inquistion was given almost unlimited power to suppress the heretics. A ruthless campaign started in <!--del_lnk--> 1233, burning Cathars wherever they were found, even exhuming bodies for burning. Naturally, many resisted, taking refuge in a few fortresses in Fenouillèdes and Montségur or inciting uprisings. In 1235, the Inquisition was forced out of Albi, <!--del_lnk--> Narbonne, and Toulouse. Raymond-Roger de Trencavel led a military effort in 1240, in which he was defeated at Carcassonne in October and then besieged at Montréal. There, he soon surrendered and was allowed passage to exile in <!--del_lnk--> Aragon. In 1242, Raymond of Toulouse attempted a revolt to coincide with an English invasion, but the English were quickly repulsed and his support collapsed. He was pardoned by the king.<p>The Cathar strongholds gradually fell. <!--del_lnk--> Montségur withstood a nine month siege before being captured in March 1244. The final holdout, a small, isolated fort at <!--del_lnk--> Quéribus, had been overlooked until August 1255 when it quickly fell. The last known Cathar burning by the Inquisition in the Languedoc occurred in 1321.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade"</div>
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| ['First Crusade', 'German Crusade, 1096', 'Second Crusade', "Children's Crusade", 'France', 'Lyon'] |
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 203100 <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 103470</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 203200</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 203280</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 203290</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 203300</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 203310</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 256710</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 278400</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 214450</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 214500</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 220900</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 300500</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 300600</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 300650</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 300700</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 600501</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 604228</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 606574</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 606952</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 607624</span>, <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> 609227</span></td>
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<p><b>Albinism</b> (from <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> <i>albus</i>; <!--del_lnk--> extended etymology), more technically <b>hypomelanism</b> or <b>hypomelanosis</b>, is a form of <!--del_lnk--> hypopigmentary <!--del_lnk--> congenital disorder, characterized by a lack of <!--del_lnk--> melanin <!--del_lnk--> pigment in the eyes, skin and hair (or more rarely the eyes alone). Albinism results from inheritance of <!--del_lnk--> recessive genes. The condition is known to affect mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. While the most common term for an organism affected by albinism is "albino" (noun and adjective), the word is sometimes used in a derogatory way towards people; more neutral terms are "albinistic" (adjective) and "person with albinism" (noun). Additional clinical adjectives sometimes used to refer to animals are "albinoid" and "albinic".<script type="text/javascript">
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<p><a id="Causes" name="Causes"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Causes</span></h2>
<p>Albinism is a genetic disorder; it is not an infectious disease and cannot be transmitted through contact, blood transfusions, etc. The principal gene which results in albinism prevents the body from making the usual amounts of the <!--del_lnk--> pigment <!--del_lnk--> melanin. Most forms of albinism are the result of the <!--del_lnk--> biological inheritance of <!--del_lnk--> genetically recessive <!--del_lnk--> alleles (<!--del_lnk--> genes) passed from both parents of an individual, though some rare forms are inherited from only one parent. There are other <!--del_lnk--> genetic mutations which are proven to be associated with albinism. All alterations, however, lead to changes in melanin production in the body.<p>Albinism used to be categorized as <!--del_lnk--> tyrosinase-positive or -negative. In cases of tyrosinase-positive albinism, the <!--del_lnk--> enzyme tyrosinase is present. The <!--del_lnk--> melanocytes (pigment cells) are unable to produce melanin for any one of a variety of reasons that do not directly involve the tyrosinase enzyme. In tyrosinase negative cases, either the tyrosinase enzyme is not produced or a nonfunctional version is produced. This classification has been rendered obsolete by recent research.<p>The chance of offspring with albinism resulting from the pairing of an organism with albinism and one without albinism is low, as discussed in more detail below. However, because organisms can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, albinistic offspring can be produced by two non-albinistic parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both genders. The only exception from this is ocular albinism, because it is passed on to offspring through X-linked inheritance. Thus, males more frequently have ocular albinism.<p>Because organisms with albinism have skin that lacks (sufficiently or entirely) the dark pigment melanin, which helps protect the skin from <a href="../../wp/u/Ultraviolet.htm" title="Ultraviolet">ultraviolet</a> <!--del_lnk--> radiation coming from the sun, they can <!--del_lnk--> sunburn easily from overexposure. (See <!--del_lnk--> human skin colour for more information). Lack of melanin in the eye also results in problems with vision, related and unrelated to <!--del_lnk--> photosensitivity, which are discussed further below.<p>Most organisms with albinism appear white or very pale; the multiple types of melanin pigment are responsible for brown, black, gray, and some yellow colorations. In some animals, especially birds and reptiles, ruddy and yellow hues or other colors may be present on the entire body or in patches (as is common among pigeons), due to the presence of other pigments unaffected by albinism such as <!--del_lnk--> porphyrins, <!--del_lnk--> pteridines and <!--del_lnk--> psittacins, and <!--del_lnk--> carotenoids derived from the diet. Some animals are white or pale due to <a href="../../wp/c/Chromatophore.htm" title="Chromatophore">chromatophore</a> (pigment cell) defects, do not lack melanin <i>production</i>, and have normal eyes; they are referred to as <!--del_lnk--> leucistic. The direct opposite of albinism, an unusually high level of melanin pigmentation (and sometimes absence of other types of pigment in species that have more than one), is known as <!--del_lnk--> melanism, and results in an appearance darker than non-melanistic specimens from the same genepool. Albinism-like conditions may affect other pigments or pigment-production mechanisms in some animals (e.g. "whiteface", a lack of psittacins that can affect some parrot species.). Another is common in reptiles and amphibians: <!--del_lnk--> axanthism, in which <!--del_lnk--> xanthophore <!--del_lnk--> metabolism, instead of <!--del_lnk--> synthesis of melanin, is affected, resuling in reduction or absence of red and yellow pteridine pigments. Of all these conditions, only albinism and melanism affect humans.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/583.gif.htm" title="An albino Wistar rat, a strain commonly used for both biomedical and basic research."><img alt="An albino Wistar rat, a strain commonly used for both biomedical and basic research." class="thumbimage" height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Rodent.gif" src="../../images/5/583.gif" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/583.gif.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An albino <!--del_lnk--> Wistar rat, a strain commonly used for both <!--del_lnk--> biomedical and basic research.</div>
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<p>The eyes of an animal with albinism occasionally appear red due to the underlying retinal blood vessels showing through where there is not enough pigment to cover them. In humans this is rarely the case, as a human eye is quite large and thus produces enough pigment to lend opacity to the eye. However, there are cases in which the eyes of an albinistic person appear red or purple, depending on the amount of pigment present. The albinistic are generally (but see related disorders below) as healthy as the rest of their species, with growth and development occurring as normal, and albinism by itself does not cause mortality (though the lack of pigment is an elevated risk for skin cancer and other problems.) Many animals with albinism lack their protective <!--del_lnk--> camouflage and are unable to conceal themselves from their predators or prey; the survival rate of animals with albinism in the wild is usually quite low. However the novelty of albino animals has occasionally led to their protection by groups such as the <!--del_lnk--> Albino Squirrel Preservation Society.<p>Intentionally-bred albinistic strains of some animal species are commonly used as <!--del_lnk--> model organisms in biomedical study and experimentation. Examples include the <!--del_lnk--> BALB/c mouse and <!--del_lnk--> Wistar and <!--del_lnk--> Sprague Dawley rat strains, while albino rabbits were historically used for <!--del_lnk--> Draize toxicity testing. Albino <!--del_lnk--> axolotls, <!--del_lnk--> zebrafish, <!--del_lnk--> medaka and <!--del_lnk--> frogs are other common laboratory animals.<p>
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<p><a id="Types_of_human_albinism" name="Types_of_human_albinism"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Types of human albinism</span></h2>
<p>About 1 in 17,000 human beings has some type of albinism, although up to 1 in 70 is a carrier of albinism genes.<p>There are two main categories of albinism in humans:<ul>
<li>In <b>oculocutaneous albinism</b> (despite its Latin-derived name meaning "eye-and-skin" albinism), pigment is lacking in the eyes, skin and hair. (The equivalent mutation in non-humans also results in lack of melanin in the fur, scales or feathers.)<li>In <b>ocular albinism</b>, only the eyes lack pigment. People with oculocutaneous albinism can have anywhere from no pigment at all to almost-normal levels. People who have ocular albinism have generally normal skin and hair colour, and many even have a normal eye appearance.</ul>
<p>While there is only one major type of ocular albinism, there are several varieties of oculocutaneous albinism (and disorders which produce the same or similar results), some of which have subtypes. Some are easily distinguished by appearance, but in most cases, genetic testing is the only way to be certain.<p><a id="Oculocutaneous_albinism_family" name="Oculocutaneous_albinism_family"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Oculocutaneous albinism family</span></h3>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/585.jpg.htm" title="Girl from Honduras with probable OCA1b."><img alt="Girl from Honduras with probable OCA1b." class="thumbimage" height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albino_girl_honduras.jpg" src="../../images/5/585.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/585.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Girl from <a href="../../wp/h/Honduras.htm" title="Honduras">Honduras</a> with probable OCA1b.</div>
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<ul>
<li><b>Oculocutaneous albinism type 1</b> (<b>OCA1</b>) (<!--del_lnk--> Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) <!--del_lnk--> 203100) is the type with (usually) the least amount of pigment. People with this type generally have very pale skin, "white" (actually translucent) hair and light blue eyes, however there are cases in which the irises can appear pink or violet, depending on the amount of blue (non-melanin) pigment present in the irises and the level and direction of light available to the observer. OCA1 is caused by an alteration of the <!--del_lnk--> tyrosinase gene, and can occur in two variations. The first is <b>OCA1a</b>, and means that the organism cannot develop pigment at all. Vision usually ranges from 20/200 to 20/400. The second is <b>OCA1b</b>, which has several subtypes itself. Some individuals with OCA1b can tan and develop pigment. One subtype of OCA1b is called <b>OCA1b TS</b> (temperature sensitive), where the <!--del_lnk--> tyrosinase can only function below a certain temperature, which causes the body hair in cooler body regions to develop pigment (i.e. get darker). (An equivalent mutation produces the coat pattern in <!--del_lnk--> Siamese cats.) Another variant of OCA1b, called <b>Albinism, yellow mutant type</b> (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 606952) is more common among the <a href="../../wp/a/Amish.htm" title="Amish">Amish</a> than in other populations, and results in blonde hair and the eventual development of skin pigmentation during infancy, though at birth is difficult to distinguish from other types. About 1 in 40,000 people have some form of OCA1.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Oculocutaneous albinism type 2</b> (<b>OCA2</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 203200), the most common type of albinism, is caused by mutation of the P gene. People with OCA2 generally have more pigment and better vision than those with OCA1, but cannot tan like some with OCA1b. A little pigment can develop in freckles or moles. People with OCA2 usually have fair skin but not as pale as OCA1, and pale blonde to golden or reddish-blonde hair, and most commonly blue eyes. Affected people of African descent usually have a different <!--del_lnk--> phenotype (appearance): yellow hair, pale skin, and blue, gray or hazel eyes. About 1 in 15,000 people have OCA2.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Oculocutaneous albinism type 3</b> (<b>OCA3</b>, or <!--del_lnk--> rufous albinism) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 203290) has only been partially researched and documented. It is caused by mutation of the tyrosinase-related protein-1 (Tyrp1) gene. Cases have been reported in Africa and New Guinea. Affected individuals typically have red hair, reddish-brown skin and blue or gray eyes. Variants may be the recently-identified <b>minimal pigment type albinism</b> (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 203280) and <b>rufous oculocutaneous albinism</b> (<b>ROCA</b> or <b>xanthism</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 278400). The incidence rate of OCA3 is unknown.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Oculocutaneous albinism type 4</b> (<b>OCA4</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 606574) is very rare outside of Japan, where OCA4 accounts for 24% of albinism cases. OCA4 can only be distinguished from OCA2 through genetic testing, and is caused by mutation of the membrane-associated transporter protein (MATP) gene.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome</b> (<b>HPS</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 203300) is not a type of OCA, technically, but has similar features. HPS has a great range of degrees of pigmentation, from OCA1a-like to almost-normal coloring. Vision usually ranges from 20/60 to 20/200. Apart from the hypopigmentation and impaired vision, people with HPS lack dense bodies in their blood <!--del_lnk--> platelets which are responsible for releasing <!--del_lnk--> clotting factors. For this reason, HPS patients bruise easily and have a hard time stopping bleeding once it begins (<!--del_lnk--> bleeding diathesis, similarly to <!--del_lnk--> hemophilia). HPS has seven known forms (<b>HPS-1</b> through <b>HPS-7</b>), each caused by a different autosomal recessive gene mutation. HPS-1 and HPS-4 may also include <!--del_lnk--> pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of lung tissue that prevents the necessary expansion and contraction during breathing. It is believed that this is due to a buildup of fatty <!--del_lnk--> ceroid in the lungs. <!--del_lnk--> Colitis, or inflammation in the large intestine, is another symptom of most types of HPS, which may cause <!--del_lnk--> diarrhea, <!--del_lnk--> nausea, and blood in the stool. HPS is rare generally, but affects 1 in 1800 Puerto Ricans, and is typically fatal by middle age.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Chediak-Higashi syndrome</b> (<b>CHS</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 214500), like HPS, is not technically a form of OCA, but produces similar results. CHS, caused by mutation of the LYST gene, is very rare, and is associated with other medical problems, such as <!--del_lnk--> immune system dysfunction that leads to a high <!--del_lnk--> infant mortality rate, HPS-like hemophilia, and <!--del_lnk--> neurological problems, among many others, in 85% of sufferers.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Griscelli syndrome</b> (<b>GS</b>) is similar to CHS in symptoms (and also very rare). It is divided into three types, <b>GS1</b> (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 214450), <b>GS2</b> (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 607624) and <b>GS3</b> (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 609227). Each type is due to a different autosomal recessive gene mutation. Type 1 produces mainly neurological problems in addition to albinism, while type 2 produces mainly immunological issues as well as the hypopigmentation, and type 3 only evidences hypomelanosis without either of the other sorts of problems. People affected by GS differ in appearance from those with OCA, having silvery-grey hair. A fourth and even rarer variant, <b>partial albinism and immunodeficiency syndrome</b> (<b>PAID</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 604228), has been identified and requires further study. An additional type called <b>Elejalde syndrome</b> (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 256710) may exist, but some researchers believe it is actually simply GS1. GS2, because of its immune system effects, results in a very high mortality rate among children and young adults that have it.</ul>
<p><a id="Ocular_albinism_family" name="Ocular_albinism_family"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Ocular albinism family</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><b>Ocular albinism, type 1</b> (<b>OA1</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 300500), also known as Nettleship-Falls syndrome, is the most common variety of <i>ocular albinism</i>, which affects the eyes but generally not the skin or hair. OA1 is usually associated with nystagmus, and difficult to otherwise detect in females; males show more readily observable symptoms. There are several other identified types of OA, though researchers are not all agreed on the distinctions and classification. Most are caused by a mutation in a gene on the <!--del_lnk--> X chromosome, and are <!--del_lnk--> X-linked recessive traits.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Ocular albinism, type 2</b> (<b>OA2</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 300600), also known as Forsius-Eriksson syndrome or "Åland Island eye disease", mostly only affects males though females are often carriers and can sometimes be symptomatic; it is frequently linked with <!--del_lnk--> protanopic dichromacy (a form of <a href="../../wp/c/Color_blindness.htm" title="Color blindness">colour blindness</a>) and with night blindness (<!--del_lnk--> nyctalopia).</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Ocular albinism, type 3</b> (<b>OA3</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 203310), also known as ocular albinism, autosomal recessive (OAR) is a non-X-linked variant, which may be more common among the Amish than in other populations.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Ocular albinism with sensorineural deafness</b> (<b>OASD</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 300650), and as its name implies is associated with <!--del_lnk--> loss of hearing.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Waardenburg syndrome, type 2, with ocular albinism</b> (<b>WS2-OA</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 103470) is a rare non-X-linked recessive gene variant.</ul>
<p>The skin colour of people affected by OA <i>can</i> be slightly lighter than those of the rest of their families. The eye colour can vary greatly, and in some cases only examination of the <a href="../../wp/r/Retina.htm" title="Retina">retina</a> or genetic testing can reveal OA for certain. Some form of OA afflicts 1 in 50,000 people, though certain isolated populations are at greater risk.<p><a id="Other_types" name="Other_types"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Other types</span></h3>
<p>Other rare variants of albinism are theorized (by ongoing research as of 2007) to exist, such as<ul>
<li><b>Albinism-deafness syndrome</b> (<b>ADFN</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 300700, which may actually be closer related to <!--del_lnk--> vitiligo); it is predominantly observed among <!--del_lnk--> Hopi Native Americans (with an incidence estimated at 1 in 200 individuals)<li><b>Recessive total albinism with congenital deafness</b> (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 220900)<li><b>Albinism black-lock cell-migration disorder syndrome</b> (<b>ABCD</b>) (OMIM: <!--del_lnk--> 600501)</ul>
<p><a id="Symptoms_and_conditions_associated_with_albinism" name="Symptoms_and_conditions_associated_with_albinism"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Symptoms and conditions associated with albinism</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Genetic testing can confirm albinism and what variety it is, but offers no medical benefits except in the cases of non-OCA disorders (see below) that cause albinism <i>along with</i> other medical problems which may be treatable. The <i>symptoms</i> of albinism can be treated by various methods detailed below.<p>Eye conditions common in albinism may or may not include:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Nystagmus, irregular rapid movement of the eyes back and forth, or in circular motion.<li><!--del_lnk--> Strabismus, eye misalignment ("crossed eyes" or "lazy eye").<li>Refractive errors such as <!--del_lnk--> myopia or <!--del_lnk--> hyperopia and especially <!--del_lnk--> astigmatism are more likely<li><!--del_lnk--> Photophobia, <!--del_lnk--> hypersensitivity to bright light and glare.<li>Foveal hypoplasia, underdevelopment of the <!--del_lnk--> fovea, the centre of the <a href="../../wp/r/Retina.htm" title="Retina">retina</a><li><!--del_lnk--> Optic nerve hypoplasia, underdevelopment of the optic nerve<li>Abnormal decussation (crossing) of the optic nerve fibers in the <!--del_lnk--> optic chiasm<li><!--del_lnk--> Amblyopia, decrease in acuity of one or both eyes due to poor transmission to the brain, often due to other conditions such as strabismus</ul>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="width:242px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/587.jpg.htm" title="Albinistic girl from Papua New Guinea"><img alt="Albinistic girl from Papua New Guinea" class="thumbimage" height="160" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albinistic_girl_papua_new_guinea.jpg" src="../../images/5/587.jpg" width="240" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/587.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Albinistic girl from <a href="../../wp/p/Papua_New_Guinea.htm" title="Papua New Guinea">Papua New Guinea</a></div>
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<p>Organisms with albinism usually have impaired vision due to one or more of the listed conditions. While a person with albinism may suffer from common refractive errors like nearsightedness or farsightedness, the visual problems particularly associated with albinism arise from a poorly-developed <!--del_lnk--> retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) due to the lack of melanin. This degenerate RPE causes foveal <!--del_lnk--> hypoplasia (a failure in the development of normal <!--del_lnk--> foveae), which results in eccentric fixation and lower visual acuity, and often a minor level of strabismus. Nystagmus is usually seen, as is <!--del_lnk--> photophobia or light sensitivity (see below).<p>The <!--del_lnk--> iris is a <!--del_lnk--> sphincter with pigmented tissue (which makes up the colour of the eyes) that contracts to limit the amount of light that can enter through the pupil and relaxes again to allow for better vision in darkness. This mechanism can be observed in humans and mammals (like in cat's eyes) and is needed because too much light is uncomfortable or even painful and decreases vision. In people with albinism, the iris does not have enough pigment to block the light, thus the decrease of pupil diameter is only partially successful in reducing the amount of light that enters the eye.. Additionally, the improper development of the RPE, which in normal eyes absorbs most of the reflected sunlight, further increases glare due to light scattering within the eye. The resulting sensitivity (photophobia) generally leads to a dislike of and discomfort in bright light, but does not prevent people with albinism enjoying the outdoors, especially when using sunglasses and/or brimmed hats.<p>The lack of pigment also makes the skin unusually sensitive to sunlight and thus susceptible to <!--del_lnk--> sunburn, so people with albinism should either avoid prolonged exposure to bright sunlight or protect their skin.<p><a id="Treatment_of_the_symptoms" name="Treatment_of_the_symptoms"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Treatment of the symptoms</span></h2>
<p>Albinism is a condition that cannot be "cured" or "treated" per se, but small things can be done to improve the quality of life for those affected. Most importantly to improve vision, protect the eyes from bright lights, and avoid skin damage from sunlight. The extent and success rate of these measures depend on the type of albinism and severity of the symptoms; in particular, people with ocular albinism are likely to have normally-pigmented skin, and thus do not need to take special precautions against skin damage.<p><a id="Surgical_treatment" name="Surgical_treatment"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Surgical treatment</span></h3>
<p>For the most part, treatment of the eye conditions consists of visual rehabilitation. Surgery is possible on the ocular muscles to decrease <!--del_lnk--> nystagmus, <!--del_lnk--> strabismus and common refractive errors like <!--del_lnk--> astigmatism. Strabismus surgery may improve the appearance of the eyes. <!--del_lnk--> Nystagmus-damping surgery can also be performed, to reduce the "shaking" of the eyes back and forth. The effectiveness of all these procedures varies greatly and depends on individual circumstances. More importantly, since surgery will not restore a normal RPE or foveae, surgery will not provide fine binocular vision. In the case of <!--del_lnk--> esotropia (the "crossed eyes" form of strabismus), surgery may help vision by expanding the <!--del_lnk--> visual field (the area that the eyes can see while looking at one point).<p><a id="Vision_aids" name="Vision_aids"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Sun protection</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/589.jpg.htm" title="Albinistic man from Niger, with melanomas."><img alt="Albinistic man from Niger, with melanomas." class="thumbimage" height="181" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albino_man_from_niger.jpg" src="../../images/5/589.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/5/589.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Albinistic man from <a href="../../wp/n/Niger.htm" title="Niger">Niger</a>, with <!--del_lnk--> melanomas.</div>
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</div>
<p>It is vital that people with albinism use sunscreen when exposed to sunlight to prevent premature skin aging or <!--del_lnk--> skin cancer. This poses a problem for those who cannot afford <!--del_lnk--> sunscreen, especially in regions with high exposure to sunlight, as in Africa. Special <!--del_lnk--> sun protective clothing and swimsuits are available and are a good alternative to excessive use of sunscreen.<p>Use of <!--del_lnk--> sunglasses and hats with wide brims can make the glare outside bearable. Other things that can help people with albinism are avoiding sudden changes of the lighting situation (switching the light on in complete darkness), using dimmable switches and adding tint to car windows or blinds to normal windows. Lights should be yellowish rather than blue and not point towards the usual position of a person with albinism (like their seat at a table). When possible, people with albinism generally prefer to have the light on their backs rather than face it.<p><a id="Misconceptions" name="Misconceptions"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Misconceptions</span></h2>
<p>While some of the very rare albinism disorders that are coupled with deafness and immunodeficiency appear to be linked with inbreeding, the vast majority of sufferers of common albinism are not the product of such unions; the more usual albinism genes are widespread enough that they can easily produce albinistic offspring from parents that are not related.<p>A common misconception is that albinistic individuals of a species are sterile; they are in fact fully capable of reproducing. It is also thought by many that people with albinism live short life spans. This is not true in general, but may be a distorted view of a more reasonable fact that people with albinism have a higher risk of skin cancer if they do not use proper skin protection when in the sun. (Some very rare variants of albinism are lethal in and of themselves by adulthood or sooner, but they are so little-known by the general public that they are unlikely to have contributed to this belief.)<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albinism"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Albrecht Dürer</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Mathematicians.htm">Mathematicians</a></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/99.jpg.htm" title="Self-Portrait (1500) by Albrecht Dürer, oil on canvas, Alte Pinakothek, Munich"><img alt="Self-Portrait (1500) by Albrecht Dürer, oil on canvas, Alte Pinakothek, Munich" height="344" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Durer_self_portarit_28.jpg" src="../../images/0/99.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/99.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Self-Portrait</i> (1500) by Albrecht Dürer, oil on canvas, <!--del_lnk--> Alte Pinakothek, <a href="../../wp/m/Munich.htm" title="Munich">Munich</a></div>
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<p><b>Albrecht Dürer</b> (äl'brekht dür'ur) (<!--del_lnk--> May 21, <!--del_lnk--> 1471 – <!--del_lnk--> April 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1528) was a <!--del_lnk--> German <!--del_lnk--> painter, <!--del_lnk--> printmaker, <!--del_lnk--> mathematician, and, with <a href="../../wp/r/Rembrandt.htm" title="Rembrandt">Rembrandt</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Goya, the greatest creator of <!--del_lnk--> old master prints. Born and died in <!--del_lnk--> Nuremberg, <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>, he is best known for his <!--del_lnk--> prints often done in series, including the <i>Apocalypse</i> (1498) and his two series on the passion of Christ, the <i>Great Passion</i> (1498–1510) and the <i>Little Passion</i> (1510–1511). Dürer's best known individual <!--del_lnk--> engravings include <i><!--del_lnk--> Knight, Death, and the Devil</i> (1513), <i><!--del_lnk--> Saint Jerome in his Study</i> (1514) and <i><!--del_lnk--> Melencolia I</i> (1514), which has been the subject of the most analysis and speculation. With his <i><!--del_lnk--> Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse</i> (1497–1498), from the <i>Apocalypse</i> series, it is his most iconic image, followed by his "<!--del_lnk--> Rhinoceros" and his numerous painted self-portraits.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_life" name="Early_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early life</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/100.jpg.htm" title="Self-Portrait (1493) by Albrecht Dürer, oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris"><img alt="Self-Portrait (1493) by Albrecht Dürer, oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris" height="319" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Albrecht-self.jpg" src="../../images/1/100.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/100.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Self-Portrait</i> (1493) by Albrecht Dürer, oil on canvas, <!--del_lnk--> Louvre, <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a></div>
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<p>Dürer was born on May 21, 1471, the third child and second son of fourteen to eighteen children. His father was a successful goldsmith, named Ajtósi, who had moved in 1455 to Nuremberg from <!--del_lnk--> Ajtós, near <!--del_lnk--> Gyula in <a href="../../wp/h/Hungary.htm" title="Hungary">Hungary</a>. The German name "Dürer" is derived from the Hungarian "Ajtósi". Initially it was "Thürer", meaning doormaker which is "ajtós" in Hungarian (from "ajtó" meaning door). The name "Thürer" became "Dürer"; a door featured in the <!--del_lnk--> coat-of-arms the family acquired. Albrecht Ajtósi-Dürer the Elder married Barbara Holper, from a prosperous Nuremberg family, in 1467.<p>His godfather was Anton Koberger, who in the year of Dürer's birth ceased <!--del_lnk--> goldsmithing to become a printer and publisher. He quickly became the most successful publisher in Germany, eventually owning twenty-four <!--del_lnk--> printing-presses and having many offices in Germany and abroad. His most famous publication was the <!--del_lnk--> Nuremberg Chronicle, published in 1493 in German and Latin editions, with and an unprecedented 1,809 <!--del_lnk--> woodcut illustrations (many repeated uses of the same block) by the <!--del_lnk--> Wolgemut workshop.<p>It is fortunate that Dürer left some autobiographical notes, and also became very famous by his mid-twenties, so that his life is well documented from a number of sources. After a few years of school, Dürer started to learn the basics of <!--del_lnk--> goldsmithing and drawing from his father. Though his father wanted him to continue to train as a goldsmith, he showed such a precocious talent in drawing that he started as an apprentice to <!--del_lnk--> Michael Wolgemut at the age of 15 in <!--del_lnk--> 1486. A superb self-portrait <a href="../../wp/d/Drawing.htm" title="Drawing">drawing</a> in <!--del_lnk--> silverpoint is dated 1484 (<!--del_lnk--> Albertina, Vienna) - "when I was a child" as his later inscription on it says. Wolgemut was the leading artist in Nuremberg at the time, with a large workshop producing a variety of works of art, including woodcuts for books. Nuremberg was a prosperous city, a centre for publishing and many luxury trades. It had strong links with <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, especially <!--del_lnk--> Venice, a relatively short distance across the <!--del_lnk--> Alps.<p><a id="Gap_year.2C_or_four" name="Gap_year.2C_or_four"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Gap year, or four</span></h2>
<p>After completing his term of apprenticeship in 1489, Dürer followed the common German custom of taking a "wanderjahre" - in effect a gap year. However Dürer was away nearly four years, travelling to Germany, <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a>, and probably the Netherlands. To his great regret, he missed meeting <!--del_lnk--> Martin Schongauer, the leading engraver of Northern Europe, who had died shortly before Dürer's arrival. However he was very hospitably treated by Schongauer's brother and seems to have acquired at this point some works by Schongauer that he is known to have owned. His first self-portrait (<!--del_lnk--> Louvre) was painted in <!--del_lnk--> Strasbourg, probably to be sent back to his fiancé in Nuremberg.<p><a id="Marriage_and_first_visit_to_Italy" name="Marriage_and_first_visit_to_Italy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Marriage and first visit to Italy</span></h2>
<p>Very soon after his return to Nuremberg, on <!--del_lnk--> July 7, <!--del_lnk--> 1494, Dürer was married, following an arrangement made during his absence, to Agnes Frey, the daughter of a prominent brassworker (and amateur harpist) in the city. The nature of his relationship with his wife is unclear, but it would not seem to have been a love-match, and his portraits of her lack warmth. They had no children. Within three months Dürer left again for Italy, alone, perhaps stimulated by an outbreak of plague in Nuremberg. He made <!--del_lnk--> watercolour sketches as he travelled over the Alps, some of which have survived, and others of which can be deduced from the accurate landscapes of real places in his later work, for example his engraving <i>Nemesis</i>. These are the first pure landscape studies known in Western art.<p>In Italy, he went to <!--del_lnk--> Venice to study the more advanced artistic world there. Through Wolgemut's tutelage, Dürer had learned how to make prints in <!--del_lnk--> drypoint and design <!--del_lnk--> woodcuts in the German style. based on <!--del_lnk--> Martin Schongauer and the <!--del_lnk--> Housebook Master.. He would also have had access to some Italian works in Germany, but the two visits he made to Italy had an enormous influence on him. He wrote that <!--del_lnk--> Giovanni Bellini was the oldest and still the best of the artists in Venice. His drawings and engravings show the influence of others notably <!--del_lnk--> Antonio Pollaiuolo with his interest in the proportions of the body, <!--del_lnk--> Mantegna, <!--del_lnk--> Lorenzo di Credi and others. Dürer probably also visited <!--del_lnk--> Padua and <!--del_lnk--> Mantua on this trip.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/101.jpg.htm" title="Melencolia I, 1514, Albrecht Dürer engraving"><img alt="Melencolia I, 1514, Albrecht Dürer engraving" height="332" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Melencolia_I.jpg" src="../../images/1/101.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/101.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Melencolia I</i>, 1514, Albrecht Dürer engraving</div>
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<p><a id="Return_to_Nuremberg" name="Return_to_Nuremberg"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Return to Nuremberg</span></h2>
<p>On his return to Nuremberg in 1495, Dürer opened his own workshop (being married was a requirement for this). Over the next five years his style increasingly worked Italian influences into underlying Northern forms. Dürer lost his parents during the following years, his father in <!--del_lnk--> 1502 and his mother in <!--del_lnk--> 1513. His best works in the first years were his <!--del_lnk--> woodcut prints, mostly religious, but including secular scenes like <i>The Mens Bath-house</i> (c1496). These were larger than the great majority of German woodcuts hitherto, and far more complex and balanced in composition.<p>It is now thought unlikely that Dürer cut any of the woodblocks himself; this was left for a specialist craftsman. But his training in Wolgemut's studio, which made many carved and painted altarpieces, and both designed and cut woodblocks for <!--del_lnk--> woodcut , evidently gave him great understanding of what the technique could be made to produce, and how to work with blockcutters. Dürer either drew his design directly onto the woodblock itself, or glued a paper drawing to the block. Either way his drawing was destroyed during the cutting of the block.<p>His famous series of sixteen great designs for the <i>Apocalypse</i>, are dated <!--del_lnk--> 1498. He made the first seven scenes of the <i>Great Passion</i> in the same year, and a little later a series of eleven on the Holy Family and saints. Around 1503–1505 he produced the first seventeen of a set illustrating the life of the Virgin, which he did not finish for some years. Neither these nor the <i>Great Passion</i> were published as sets until several years later, but prints were sold individually in considerable numbers.<p>Over the same period Dürer trained himself in the difficult art of the use of the <!--del_lnk--> burin to make <!--del_lnk--> engravings; perhaps he had made a start on this during his early training with his father. The first few were relatively unambitious, but by 1496 he was able to produce the masterpiece of the <i>Prodigal Son</i> which <!--del_lnk--> Vasari singled out for praise some decades later, noting its Germanic quality. He was soon producing some spectacular and original images, notably <i>Nemesis</i> (1502), <i>The Sea Monster</i> (1498) and <i>St Eustace</i> (1501), with a highly detailed landscape background, and beautiful animals. He made a number of <!--del_lnk--> Madonnas, single religious figures, and small scenes with comic peasant figures. Prints are highly portable, and these works made Dürer famous throughout the main artistic centres of Europe within a very few years.<p>The Venetian artist <!--del_lnk--> Jacopo de Barbari, whom Dürer had met in Venice, visited Nuremberg in 1500, and Dürer says that he learned from him much about the new developments in <!--del_lnk--> perspective, <a href="../../wp/a/Anatomy.htm" title="Anatomy">anatomy</a> and <!--del_lnk--> proportion, although de Barberi would not explain everything he knew. Dürer therefore began his own studies, which would be a lifelong preoccupation. A series of extant drawings show Dürer's experiments in human proportion, leading to the famous engraving of <i><!--del_lnk--> Adam and Eve</i> (1504); showing his subtlety at using the <!--del_lnk--> burin in the texturing of flesh surfaces.<p>Dürer made large numbers of preparatory drawings, especially for his paintings and engravings, and many survive, most famously the <i>Praying Hands</i> (1508 <!--del_lnk--> Albertina, Vienna), a study for an apostle in the Heller altarpiece. He also continued to make images in <!--del_lnk--> watercolour and <!--del_lnk--> bodycolour (usually combined), including a number of exquisite still-lifes of pieces of meadow or animals, including his "<!--del_lnk--> Hare" (1502, <!--del_lnk--> Albertina, Vienna).<p><a id="Second_visit_to_Italy" name="Second_visit_to_Italy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Second visit to Italy</span></h2>
<p>In Italy, he turned again to painting, at first producing a series of works by <!--del_lnk--> tempera-painting on <!--del_lnk--> linen, including portraits and altarpieces, notably the <!--del_lnk--> Paumgartner <!--del_lnk--> altarpiece and the <i><!--del_lnk--> Adoration of the Magi</i>. In early 1506, he returned to Venice, and stayed there until the spring of 1507. By this time Dürer's engravings had attained great popularity, and had begun to be copied. In Venice he was given a valuable commission from the emigrant German community for the church of <!--del_lnk--> St. Bartholomew. The picture painted by Dürer was closer to the Italian style—the <i>Adoration of the Virgin</i>, also known as the <i>Feast of Rose Garlands</i>; it was subsequently acquired by the Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Rudolf II and taken to <a href="../../wp/p/Prague.htm" title="Prague">Prague</a>. Other paintings Dürer produced in Venice include <i>The Virgin and Child with the Goldfinch</i>, a <i>Christ disputing with the Doctors</i> (supposedly produced in a mere five days) and a number of smaller works.<p><a id="Nuremberg_and_the_masterworks" name="Nuremberg_and_the_masterworks"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Nuremberg and the masterworks</span></h2>
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<div style="width:177px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/102.jpg.htm" title="This detail from Salvatore Mundi, an unfinished oil painting on wood, reveals Dürer's highly detailed preparatory drawing, See full painting"><img alt="This detail from Salvatore Mundi, an unfinished oil painting on wood, reveals Dürer's highly detailed preparatory drawing, See full painting" height="233" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Salvatore_Mundi_detail.jpg" src="../../images/1/102.jpg" width="175" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/102.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> This detail from <i>Salvatore Mundi</i>, an unfinished oil painting on wood, reveals Dürer's highly detailed preparatory drawing, <i>See <!--del_lnk--> full painting</i></div>
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<p>Despite the regard in which he was held by the Venetians, Dürer was back in Nuremberg by mid-1507. He remained in Germany until 1520. His reputation had spread all over <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>. He was on terms of friendship or friendly communication with most of the major artists of Europe, and exchanged drawings with <a href="../../wp/r/Raphael.htm" title="Raphael">Raphael</a>.<p>The years between his return from Venice and his journey to the <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> are divided according to the type of work with which he was principally occupied. The first five years, 1507–1511, are pre-eminently the painting years of his life. In them, working with a vast number of preliminary drawings and studies, he produced what have been accounted his four best works in painting: <i>Adam and Eve</i> (1507), <i>Virgin with the Iris</i> (1508), the altarpiece the <i>Assumption of the Virgin</i> (1509), and the <i>Adoration of the Trinity by all the Saints</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1511). During this period he also completed the two woodcut series of the <i>Great Passion</i> and the <i>Life of the Virgin</i>, both published in 1511 together with a second edition of the <i>Apocalypse</i> series.<p>He complained that painting did not make enough money to justify the time spent, when compared to his prints, and from 1511 to 1514 concentrated on <a href="../../wp/p/Printmaking.htm" title="Printmaking">printmaking</a>, in <!--del_lnk--> woodcut and especially <!--del_lnk--> engraving. The major works he produced in this period were the thirty-seven <!--del_lnk--> woodcut subjects of the <i>Little Passion</i>, published first in 1511, and a set of fifteen small <!--del_lnk--> engravings on the same theme in 1512. In 1513 and 1514 appeared the three most famous of Dürer's <!--del_lnk--> engravings , <i>The Knight, Death, and the Devil</i> (or simply <i>The Knight</i>, as he called it, 1513), the enigmatic and much analysed <i><!--del_lnk--> Melencolia I</i> and <i>St. Jerome in his Study</i> (both 1514).<p>In '<!--del_lnk--> Melencolia I' appears a 4th-order <!--del_lnk--> magic square which is believed to be the first seen in European art. The two numbers in the middle of the bottom row give the date of the engraving: 1514.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/103.jpg.htm" title="Dürer's Rhinoceros, 1515."><img alt="Dürer's Rhinoceros, 1515." height="124" longdesc="/wiki/Image:D%C3%BCrer_-_Rhinoceros.jpg" src="../../images/1/103.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/103.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Dürer's Rhinoceros, 1515.</div>
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<p><i>Main Article: <!--del_lnk--> Dürer's Rhinoceros</i> In 1515, he created a woodcut of a <i>Rhinoceros</i> which had arrived in Lisbon from a written description and brief sketch, without ever seeing the animal depicted. Despite being relatively inaccurate (the animal belonged to a now extinct Indian species), the image has such force that it remains one of his best-known, and was still being used in some German school science text-books early last century.<p>In the years leading to 1520 he produced a wide range of works, including portraits in <!--del_lnk--> tempera on <!--del_lnk--> linen in 1516, engravings on many subjects, a few experiments in <!--del_lnk--> etching on plates of <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a>, and parts of the <i>Triumphal Arch</i> and the <i>Triumphs of Maximilian</i> which were huge propaganda <!--del_lnk--> woodcut projects commissioned by <!--del_lnk--> Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. He drew marginal decorations for some pages of a copy of the Emperor's printed <!--del_lnk--> prayer book, which were hardly known until facsimiles were published in 1808 (the first book published in <!--del_lnk--> lithography ). These show a lighter, more fanciful, side to Dürer's art, as well as his usual suberb draftsmanship. He also drew a portrait of the Emperor Maximilian shortly before his death in 1519.<p><a id="Journey_to_the_Netherlands_and_beyond" name="Journey_to_the_Netherlands_and_beyond"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Journey to the Netherlands and beyond</span></h2>
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<div style="width:206px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/104.png.htm" title="St. Christopher, by Albrecht Dürer"><img alt="St. Christopher, by Albrecht Dürer" height="320" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Chris.png" src="../../images/1/104.png" width="204" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">St. Christopher, by Albrecht Dürer</div>
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<p>In the summer of 1520 the desire of Dürer to renew the Imperial pension Maximilian had given him (typically instructing the City of Nuremberg to pay it) and to secure new <!--del_lnk--> patronage following the death of Maximilian and an outbreak of sickness in Nuremberg, gave occasion to his fourth and last journey. Together with his wife and her maid he set out in July for the Netherlands in order to be present at the coronation of the new Emperor <a href="../../wp/c/Charles_V%252C_Holy_Roman_Emperor.htm" title="Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor">Charles V</a>. He journeyed by the <a href="../../wp/r/Rhine.htm" title="Rhine">Rhine</a> to <a href="../../wp/c/Cologne.htm" title="Cologne">Cologne</a>, and then to <a href="../../wp/a/Antwerp.htm" title="Antwerp">Antwerp</a>, where he was well received and produced numerous drawings in <!--del_lnk--> silverpoint, <!--del_lnk--> chalk or <!--del_lnk--> charcoal. Besides going to <a href="../../wp/a/Aachen.htm" title="Aachen">Aachen</a> for the <!--del_lnk--> coronation, he made excursions to Cologne, <!--del_lnk--> Nijmegen, <!--del_lnk--> 's-Hertogenbosch, <a href="../../wp/b/Brussels.htm" title="Brussels">Brussels</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Bruges, <!--del_lnk--> Ghent and <!--del_lnk--> Zeeland. In Brussels he saw "the things which have been sent to the king from the golden land" - the <a href="../../wp/a/Aztec.htm" title="Aztec">Aztec</a> treasure that <a href="../../wp/h/Hern%25C3%25A1n_Cort%25C3%25A9s.htm" title="Hernán Cortés">Hernán Cortés</a> had sent home to <!--del_lnk--> Holy Roman Emperor Charles V following the fall of <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a>. Dürer wrote that this trove "was much more beautiful to me than miracles. These things are so precious that they have been valued at 100,000 florins".<p>He took a large stock of prints with him, and wrote in his diary who he gave, exchanged or sold them to, and for how much. This gives rare information on the monetary value placed on <!--del_lnk--> old master prints at this time; unlike paintings their sale was very rarely documented. He finally returned home in July 1521, having caught an undetermined illness which afflicted him for the rest of his life, and greatly reduced his rate of work.<p><a id="Final_years_in_Nuremberg" name="Final_years_in_Nuremberg"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Final years in Nuremberg</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/105.jpg.htm" title="The title page of Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion showing the monogram signature of Albrecht Dürer"><img alt="The title page of Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion showing the monogram signature of Albrecht Dürer" height="367" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AlbrechtD%C3%BCrer01.jpg" src="../../images/1/105.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/105.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The title page of <i>Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion</i> showing the monogram signature of Albrecht Dürer</div>
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<p>Back in Nuremberg, Dürer began work on a series of religious pictures. Many preliminary sketches and studies survive, but no paintings on the grand scale were ever carried out. This was due in part to his declining health, but more because of the time he gave to the preparation of his theoretical works on <a href="../../wp/g/Geometry.htm" title="Geometry">geometry</a> and <!--del_lnk--> perspective, the proportions of men and horses, and <!--del_lnk--> fortification. Though having little natural gift for writing, he worked hard to produce his works.<p>The consequence of this shift in emphasis was that in the last years of his life Dürer produced, as an artist, comparatively little. In painting there was a portrait of <!--del_lnk--> Hieronymus Holtzschuher, a <!--del_lnk--> <i>Madonna and Child</i> (1526), a <!--del_lnk--> <i>Salvator Mundi</i> (1526) and two panels showing <!--del_lnk--> St. John with <!--del_lnk--> St. Peter in <!--del_lnk--> front and <a href="../../wp/p/Paul_of_Tarsus.htm" title="Paul of Tarsus">St. Paul</a> with <!--del_lnk--> St. Mark in the <!--del_lnk--> background. In copper-engraving Dürer produced only a number of portraits, those of the cardinal-elector of Mainz (<i>The Great Cardinal</i>), <!--del_lnk--> Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, and his friends the <!--del_lnk--> humanist scholar <!--del_lnk--> Willibald Pirckheimer, <!--del_lnk--> Philipp Melanchthon and <!--del_lnk--> Erasmus of Rotterdam.<p>Despite complaining of his lack of formal education, especially in the classical languages, Dürer was greatly interested in intellectual matters, and learned much from his great friend <!--del_lnk--> Willibald Pirckheimer , who he probably consulted as to the content of many of his images. He also got great satisfaction from his friendship and correspondence with <!--del_lnk--> Erasmus and other scholars. Of his books, Dürer succeeded in finishing and producing two during his lifetime. One on geometry and perspective, <i>The Painter's Manual</i> (more literally the <i>Instructions on Measurement</i>) was published at Nuremberg in 1525, and is the first book for adults to be published on <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematics.htm" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a> in German. His work on fortification was published in 1527, and his work on human proportion was brought out in four volumes shortly after his death in 1528 at the age of 56.<p>It is clear from his writings that Dürer was highly sympathetic to <a href="../../wp/m/Martin_Luther.htm" title="Martin Luther">Martin Luther</a>, and he may have been influential in the City Council declaring for Luther in 1525. However, he died before religious divisions had hardened into different churches, and may well have regarded himself as a reform-minded <!--del_lnk--> Catholic to the end.<p>He left an estate valued at 6,874 florins - a considerable sum. His large house, where his workshop also was, and his widow lived until her death in 1537, remains a prominent Nuremberg landmark, and is now a museum.<p><a id="Legacy" name="Legacy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Legacy</span></h2>
<p>Dürer exerted a huge influence on the artists of succeeding generations; especially on <a href="../../wp/p/Printmaking.htm" title="Printmaking">printmaking</a>, the medium through which his contemporaries mostly experienced his art, as his paintings were mostly either in private collections or in a few cities. His success in spreading his reputation across Europe through prints was undoubtedly an inspiration for major artists like <a href="../../wp/r/Raphael.htm" title="Raphael">Raphael</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Titian and <!--del_lnk--> Parmigianino who entered into collaborations with <!--del_lnk--> printmakers to publicise their work beyond their local region.<p>His work in <!--del_lnk--> engraving seems to have had an intimidating effect on his German successors, the <i>Little Masters</i>, who attempted few large engravings, but continued Dürer's themes in tiny, rather cramped, compositions. The early <!--del_lnk--> Lucas van Leiden was the only Northern <!--del_lnk--> engraver to successfully continue to produce large engravings in the first third of the century. The generation of Italian engravers who trained in the shadow of Dürer all directly copied either parts of his landscape backgrounds (<!--del_lnk--> Giulio Campagnola and <!--del_lnk--> Christofano Robetta), or whole prints (<!--del_lnk--> Marcantonio Raimondi and <!--del_lnk--> Agostino Veneziano). However, Dürer's influence became less dominant after about 1515, when Marcantonio perfected his new engraving style, which in turn went over the Alps to dominate Northern engraving also.<p>In painting, Dürer had relatively little influence in Italy, where probably only his altarpiece in Venice was to be seen, and his German successors were less effective in blending German and Italian styles.<p>His intense and self-dramatising self-portraits have continued to have huge influence up to the present, and can perhaps be blamed for some of the wilder excesses of artist's self-portraiture, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.<p>He has never fallen from critical favour, and there were particular revivals of interest in him in Germany in the "<!--del_lnk--> Dürer Renaissance" of c1570-c1630, in the early nineteenth century, and in <!--del_lnk--> German Nationalism from 1870-1945.<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Books</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Giulia Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy, British Museum Press, 2002, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0714126330<li>Walter L. Strauss (Editor), The Complete Engravings, Etchings and Drypoints of Albrecht Durer,</ul>
<p>Dover Publications, 1973 <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0486228517 - still in print in pb, excellent value.<ul>
<li>Wilhelm Kurth (Editor), The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecht Durer, Dover Publications, 2000, <!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0486210979 - still in print in pb, excellent value</ul>
<p><a id="External_links" name="External_links"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer"</div>
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<p><b>Albrecht Rodenbach</b> (* <!--del_lnk--> 27 October <!--del_lnk--> 1856 in <!--del_lnk--> Roeselare, <a href="../../wp/b/Belgium.htm" title="Belgium">Belgium</a>; † <!--del_lnk--> 23 June <!--del_lnk--> 1880 in <!--del_lnk--> Roeselare) was a <a href="../../wp/f/Flemish_%2528linguistics%2529.htm" title="Flemish (linguistics)">Flemish</a> poet, and a leader in the <!--del_lnk--> revival of Flemish literature that occurred in the late 19th Century.<p>Rodenbach was born into a bourgeois family, the eldest of 10 children and cousin to the novelist <!--del_lnk--> Georges Rodenbach. Albrecht Rodenbach’s father was Julius Rodenbach (1824-1915) from the Rhineland, and his mother was Silvia de la Houttre (1834-1899). Although his mother was a <!--del_lnk--> Walloon from <!--del_lnk--> Doornik, she had adopted the Dutch spoken in Roeselare.<p>Rodenbach attended the small catholic seminary in <!--del_lnk--> Roeselare where he was exposed to the ideas of the <!--del_lnk--> Flemish movement by <!--del_lnk--> Hugo Verriest and others. Rodenbach was also influenced at this time by <!--del_lnk--> Guido Gezelle. In the 1874-1875 school year, this led to a conflict between the Flemish students and the school’s francophile director. At the annual songfest the students traditionally sang French songs, Rodenbach led the protest and the predominately Dutch speaking students sang a protest song in Dutch. This protest led to similar protests all over Belgium. Despite this and other activist activities, Rodenbach graduated with a first in rhetoric in 1876.<p>At the <!--del_lnk--> University of Leuven he met the poet Pol de Mont who was a year older. Together they sought to promote a Flemish artistic revival and equal rights for Flemish students as a student movement, creating the “Algemene Vlaamse Studentenbond” (All Flemish Student Association) in 1876. Among their objectives were to have classes in Dutch and to have classes include Flemish culture. The association’s illustrated magazine <i>Het Pennoen</i> (<i>The Pennant</i>) published Rodenbach’s essays anonymously. Rodenbach maintained his contacts in Roeselare through a committee of correspondence. Their ideology was a mixture of the philosophy <!--del_lnk--> Guido Gezelle, with the <!--del_lnk--> romantic nationalism of <!--del_lnk--> Hendrik Conscience, and the righteousness of <!--del_lnk--> true belief. Additionally Rodenbach made contacts with the Flemish liberals, poet <!--del_lnk--> Jan van Beers and author <!--del_lnk--> Max Rooses.<p>In 1876 Rodenbach published some essays under the pseudonym “Harold”. His book <i>Eerste Gedichten</i> (<i>First Poems</i>) was published in 1878. The rest of his work, including his verse play <i>Gudrun</i>, a dramatized epic of the Vikings, was not published until after his death.<p>Rodenbach died before his 24th birthday, and almost immediately became the pre-eminent symbol of the Flemish student movement. On Rodenbach’s death, Pol de Mont took over the leadership of the “Algemene Vlaamse Studentenbond”.<p>Rodenbach was known at the time of his death for his songs, poems and tonal-works which have remained inspiring symbols for the <!--del_lnk--> Flemish movement. He was the inspiration for <!--del_lnk--> Hendrik Conscience’s novel <i>Kerels van Vlaanderen</i>. Flandria Film made a film about him in 1930 entitled <i>Albrecht Rodenbach</i> and directed by Clemens De Landtsheer.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Rodenbach"</div>
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<p>In the <a href="../../wp/h/History_of_science.htm" title="History of science">history of science</a>, <b>alchemy</b> refers to both an early form of the investigation of <!--del_lnk--> nature and an early <a href="../../wp/p/Philosophy.htm" title="Philosophy">philosophical</a> and <!--del_lnk--> spiritual discipline, both combining elements of <a href="../../wp/c/Chemistry.htm" title="Chemistry">chemistry</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Metallurgy.htm" title="Metallurgy">metallurgy</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Physics.htm" title="Physics">physics</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Medicine.htm" title="Medicine">medicine</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Astrology.htm" title="Astrology">astrology</a>, <!--del_lnk--> semiotics, <a href="../../wp/m/Mysticism.htm" title="Mysticism">mysticism</a>, <!--del_lnk--> spiritualism, and <a href="../../wp/a/Art.htm" title="Art">art</a>. Alchemy has been practiced in <a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Persia, <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>, and <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>, in <!--del_lnk--> Classical <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greece</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Rome</a>, in Muslim civilization, and then in <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a> up to the 19th century—in a complex <!--del_lnk--> network of schools and philosophical systems spanning at least 2500 years.<p>Western alchemy has always been closely connected with <!--del_lnk--> Hermeticism, a philosophical and spiritual system that traces its roots to <!--del_lnk--> Hermes Trismegistus, a <!--del_lnk--> syncretic Egyptian-Greek deity and legendary alchemist. These two disciplines influenced the birth of <!--del_lnk--> Rosicrucianism, an important <!--del_lnk--> esoteric movement of the seventeenth century. In the course of the early modern period, mainstream alchemy evolved into modern chemistry.<p>Today, the discipline is of interest mainly to <a href="../../wp/h/History_of_science.htm" title="History of science">historians of science</a> and <!--del_lnk--> philosophy, and for its <!--del_lnk--> mystic, <!--del_lnk--> esoteric, and <!--del_lnk--> artistic aspects. Nevertheless, alchemy was one of the main precursors of modern <a href="../../wp/s/Science.htm" title="Science">sciences</a>, and many substances and processes of ancient alchemy continue to be the mainstay of modern chemical and metallurgical industries.<p>Although alchemy takes on many forms, in <!--del_lnk--> pop culture it is most often cited in stories, films, shows, and games as the process used to change lead (or other elements) into <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>.<p>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23172.jpg.htm" title=""The alchemist", by Sir William Fettes Douglas, 1853"><img alt=""The alchemist", by Sir William Fettes Douglas, 1853" height="323" longdesc="/wiki/Image:William_Fettes_Douglas_-_The_Alchemist.jpg" src="../../images/231/23172.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><a id="Alchemy_as_an_investigation_of_nature" name="Alchemy_as_an_investigation_of_nature"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy as an investigation of nature</span></h3>
<p>The common perception of alchemists is that they were <!--del_lnk--> pseudo-scientists, liars and <!--del_lnk--> charlatans, who attempted to turn <a href="../../wp/l/Lead.htm" title="Lead">lead</a> into <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>, believing that the universe was composed of the <!--del_lnk--> four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, and spent most of their time concocting miraculous <!--del_lnk--> remedies, <!--del_lnk--> poisons, and <!--del_lnk--> magic <!--del_lnk--> potions.<p>Although some alchemists were indeed posers, liars and charlatans, most were well-meaning and intelligent scholars and distinguished scientists such as <a href="../../wp/i/Isaac_Newton.htm" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a> and <a href="../../wp/r/Robert_Boyle.htm" title="Robert Boyle">Robert Boyle</a>. These innovators attempted to explore the nature of chemical substances and processes. They had to rely on <!--del_lnk--> experimentation, traditional know-how, <!--del_lnk--> rules of thumb—and speculative thought in their attempts to uncover the mysteries of the physical universe.<p>At the same time, it was clear to the alchemists that "something" was generally being conserved in chemical processes, even in the most dramatic changes of physical state and appearance; that is, that substances contained some "principles" that could be hidden under many outer forms, and revealed by proper manipulation. Throughout the history of the discipline, alchemists struggled to understand the nature of these principles, and find some order and sense in the results of their chemical experiments—which were often undermined by impure or poorly characterized reagents, the lack of quantitative measurements, and confusing and inconsistent nomenclature.<p><a id="Goals_of_alchemy" name="Goals_of_alchemy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Goals of alchemy</span></h3>
<p>1. The <!--del_lnk--> transmutation of metals<p>2. The creation of an elixir that would prolong life indefinitely<p>3. The transmutation of human life<p><a id="Alchemy_as_a_philosophical_and_spiritual_discipline" name="Alchemy_as_a_philosophical_and_spiritual_discipline"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy as a philosophical and spiritual discipline</span></h3>
<p>The best known goals of the <!--del_lnk--> alchemists were the <!--del_lnk--> transmutation of common metals into <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a> or <a href="../../wp/s/Silver.htm" title="Silver">silver</a>, and the creation of a "<!--del_lnk--> panacea," a remedy that supposedly would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. Although these were not the only uses for the science, they were the ones most documented and well known. Starting with the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>, European alchemists invested much effort on the search for the "<!--del_lnk--> philosopher's stone", a legendary substance that was believed to be an essential ingredient for either or both of those goals. The philosopher's stone was believed to mystically amplify the user's knowledge of alchemy so much that anything was attainable. Alchemists enjoyed prestige and support through the centuries, though not for their pursuit of those goals, nor the mystic and philosophical speculation that dominates their literature. Rather it was for their mundane contributions to the "chemical" industries of the day—the invention of gunpowder, ore testing and refining, metalworking, production of ink, dyes, paints, and cosmetics, leather tanning, ceramics and glass manufacture, preparation of extracts and liquors, and so on (It seems that the preparation of <i><!--del_lnk--> aqua vitae</i>, the "water of life", was a fairly popular "experiment" among European alchemists).<p>On the other hand, alchemists never had the inclination to separate the physical (chemical) aspects of their craft from the metaphysical interpretations. Indeed, from antiquity until well into the <!--del_lnk--> Modern Age, a physics devoid of metaphysical insight would have been as unsatisfying as a metaphysics devoid of physical manifestation. For one thing, the lack of common words for chemical concepts and processes, as well as the need for secrecy, led alchemists to borrow the terms and symbols of <a href="../../wp/b/Bible.htm" title="Bible">biblical</a> and <!--del_lnk--> pagan <a href="../../wp/m/Mythology.htm" title="Mythology">mythology</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Astrology.htm" title="Astrology">astrology</a>, <!--del_lnk--> kabbalah, and other mystic and <!--del_lnk--> esoteric fields; so that even the plainest chemical recipe ended up reading like an abstruse magic incantation. Moreover, alchemists sought in those fields the theoretical frameworks into which they could fit their growing collection of disjointed experimental facts.<p>Starting with the middle ages, some alchemists increasingly came to view these metaphysical aspects as the true foundation of alchemy; and chemical substances, physical states, and material processes as mere metaphors for spiritual entities, states and transformations. Thus, both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea symbolized evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible and ephemeral state towards a perfect, healthy, incorruptible and everlasting state; and the philosopher's stone then represented some mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, the twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented some hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are written according to this view, the cryptic <!--del_lnk--> alchemical symbols, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works typically contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; and must be laboriously "decoded" in order to discover their true meaning.<p><a id="Alchemy_and_astrology" name="Alchemy_and_astrology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy and astrology</span></h3>
<p>Since its earliest times, alchemy has been closely connected to <a href="../../wp/a/Astrology.htm" title="Astrology">astrology</a>—which, in the Islamic world and Europe, generally meant the traditional <!--del_lnk--> Babylonian-Greek school of astrology. Alchemical systems often postulated that each of the seven <a href="../../wp/p/Planet.htm" title="Planet">planets</a> known to the ancients "<!--del_lnk--> ruled" or was associated with a certain <a href="../../wp/m/Metal.htm" title="Metal">metal</a>. See the separate article on <!--del_lnk--> astrology and alchemy for further details. In <!--del_lnk--> Hermeticism it is linked with both astrology and <!--del_lnk--> theurgy. "Everything that happens once will never happen again. But anything that happens twice will surely happen a third time." A quote from The Alchemist.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_the_age_of_science" name="Alchemy_in_the_age_of_science"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in the age of science</span></h3>
<p>Up to the 18th century, alchemy was actually considered serious science in Europe; for instance, <a href="../../wp/i/Isaac_Newton.htm" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a> devoted considerably more of his time and writing to the study of alchemy (see <!--del_lnk--> Isaac Newton's occult studies) than he did to either optics or physics, for which he is famous. Other eminent alchemists of the Western world are <!--del_lnk--> Roger Bacon, Saint <a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Aquinas.htm" title="Thomas Aquinas">Thomas Aquinas</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Tycho_Brahe.htm" title="Tycho Brahe">Tycho Brahe</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Browne, and <!--del_lnk--> Parmigianino. The decline of alchemy began in the 18th century with the birth of modern chemistry, which provided a more precise and reliable framework for matter transmutations and medicine, within a new grand design of the universe based on rational materialism.<p>In the first half of the nineteenth century, one established chemist, Baron <!--del_lnk--> Carl Reichenbach, worked on concepts similar to the old alchemy, such as the <!--del_lnk--> Odic force, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.<p>Matter transmutation, the old goal of alchemy, enjoyed a moment in the sun in the 20th century when physicists were able to convert lead atoms into gold atoms via a <!--del_lnk--> nuclear reaction. However, the new gold atoms, being unstable <!--del_lnk--> isotopes, lasted for under five seconds before they broke apart. More recently, reports of table-top element transmutation—by means of <!--del_lnk--> electrolysis or <!--del_lnk--> sonic cavitation—were the pivot of the <!--del_lnk--> cold fusion controversy of 1989. None of those claims have yet been reliably duplicated.<p>Alchemical symbolism has been occasionally used in the 20th century by <a href="../../wp/p/Psychology.htm" title="Psychology">psychologists</a> and philosophers. <a href="../../wp/c/Carl_Jung.htm" title="Carl Jung">Carl Jung</a> reexamined alchemical symbolism and theory and began to show the inner meaning of alchemical work as a <!--del_lnk--> spiritual path. Alchemical philosophy, symbols and methods have enjoyed something of a renaissance in <!--del_lnk--> post-modern contexts, such as the <!--del_lnk--> New Age movement.<p><a id="Alchemy_as_a_subject_of_historical_research" name="Alchemy_as_a_subject_of_historical_research"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy as a subject of historical research</span></h3>
<p>The history of alchemy has become a vigorous academic field. As the obscure hermetic language of the alchemists is gradually being "deciphered", historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, <!--del_lnk--> kabbalism, <!--del_lnk--> spiritualism, <!--del_lnk--> Rosicrucianism, and other mystic movements, <a href="../../wp/c/Cryptography.htm" title="Cryptography">cryptography</a>, <!--del_lnk--> witchcraft, and the evolution of <a href="../../wp/s/Science.htm" title="Science">science</a> and <a href="../../wp/p/Philosophy.htm" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a>.<p><a id="Etymology" name="Etymology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Etymology</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>The word <i>chemistry</i> comes from the earlier study of alchemy, which is basically the quest to make gold from earthen starting materials. As to the origin of the word “alchemy” the question is a debatable one, it certainly has Greek origins, and some, following E. Wallis Budge, have also asserted Egyptian origins. Alchemy, generally, derives from the old French <i>alkemie;</i> and the Arabic <i>al-kimia:</i> "the art of transformation." The Arabs borrowed the word “kimia” from the Greeks when they conquered <!--del_lnk--> Alexandria in the year 642 AD. A tentative outline is as follows:<ol>
<li>Egyptian alchemy [5,000 BC – 400 BC], Alexandria has the world’s largest library<li>Greek alchemy [332 BC – 642 AD], the Greeks take over Alexandria<li>Arabian alchemy [642 AD – 1200], the Arabs take over Alexandria, e.g. <!--del_lnk--> Jabir is the main chemist.<li>European alchemy [1300 – Present], <!--del_lnk--> Gerber builds on Arabic chemistry<li>Chemistry [1661], <!--del_lnk--> Boyle writes his classic chemistry text <i>The Sceptical Chymist</i><li>Chemistry [1787], <!--del_lnk--> Lavoisier writes his classic <i>Elements of Chemistry</i><li>Chemistry [1803], <!--del_lnk--> Dalton publishes his <i>Atomic Theory</i></ol>
<p>Thus, an alchemist was called a 'chemist' in popular speech, and later the suffix "-ry" was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as "chemistry".<p><a id="Alchemy_in_history" name="Alchemy_in_history"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in history</span></h2>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/676.png.htm" title="Extract and symbol key from a 17th century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in astrology at the time."><img alt="Extract and symbol key from a 17th century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in astrology at the time." height="115" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alchemy-Digby-RareSecrets.png" src="../../images/6/676.png" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/676.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Extract and symbol key from a 17th century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in <a href="../../wp/a/Astrology.htm" title="Astrology">astrology</a> at the time.</div>
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<p>Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships.<p>One can distinguish at least two major strands, which appear to be largely independent, at least in their earlier stages: <!--del_lnk--> Chinese alchemy, centered in <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a> and its zone of cultural influence; and <!--del_lnk--> Western alchemy, whose centre has shifted over the millennia between <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> and <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a>, the <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islamic</a> world, and finally back to <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to <a href="../../wp/t/Taoism.htm" title="Taoism">Taoism</a>, whereas Western alchemy developed its own philosophical system, with only superficial connections to the major Western religions. It is still an open question whether these two strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_ancient_Egypt" name="Alchemy_in_ancient_Egypt"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in ancient Egypt</span></h3>
<p>The origin of western alchemy may generally be traced to <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">ancient (pharaonic) Egypt</a>. <a href="../../wp/m/Metallurgy.htm" title="Metallurgy">Metallurgy</a> and <a href="../../wp/m/Mysticism.htm" title="Mysticism">mysticism</a> were inexorably tied together in the ancient world. It is claimed therefore that Alchemy in ancient Egypt was the domain of the priestly class.<p>Egyptian alchemy is known mostly through the writings of ancient (Hellenic) <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greek</a> philosophers, which in turn have often survived only in Islamic translations. Practically no original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived. Those writings, if they existed, were likely lost when the <!--del_lnk--> emperor <!--del_lnk--> Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria (292), which had been a centre of Egyptian alchemy.<p>Nevertheless <!--del_lnk--> archaeological expeditions in recent times have unearthed evidence of chemical analysis during the <!--del_lnk--> Naqada periods. For example, a <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a> tool dating to the <!--del_lnk--> Naqada era bears evidence of having been used in such a way (reference: artifact 5437 on display at <!--del_lnk--> ). Also, the process of <!--del_lnk--> tanning <a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">animal</a> <!--del_lnk--> skins was already known in <!--del_lnk--> Predynastic Egypt as early as the <!--del_lnk--> 6th millennium BC <!--del_lnk--> . Other evidence indicates early alchemists in <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">ancient Egypt</a> had invented <!--del_lnk--> mortar by 4000 BC and <a href="../../wp/g/Glass.htm" title="Glass">glass</a> by 1500 BC. The chemical reaction involved in the production of <!--del_lnk--> Calcium Oxide is one of the oldest known (references: <!--del_lnk--> Calcium Oxide, <!--del_lnk--> limekiln):<dl>
<dd>CaCO<sub>3</sub> + heat → CaO + CO<sub>2</sub>.</dl>
<p><a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a> additionally produced <!--del_lnk--> cosmetics, <!--del_lnk--> cement, <!--del_lnk--> faience and also <!--del_lnk--> pitch for <!--del_lnk--> shipbuilding. <!--del_lnk--> Papyrus had also been invented by 3000 BC.<p>Legend has it that the founder of Egyptian alchemy was the <a href="../../wp/d/Deity.htm" title="Deity">god</a> <!--del_lnk--> Thoth, called Hermes-Thoth or Thrice-Great Hermes (<i><!--del_lnk--> Hermes Trismegistus</i>) by the Greeks. According to legend, he wrote what were called the forty-two Books of Knowledge, covering all fields of knowledge—including alchemy. Hermes's symbol was the <!--del_lnk--> caduceus or serpent-staff, which became one of many of alchemy's principal symbols. The "<!--del_lnk--> Emerald Tablet" or <i><!--del_lnk--> Hermetica</i> of Thrice-Great Hermes, which is known only through Greek and <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> translations, is generally understood to form the basis for Western alchemical philosophy and practice, called the <!--del_lnk--> hermetic philosophy by its early practitioners.<p>The first point of the "Emerald Tablet" tells the purpose of hermetic science: "in truth certainly and without doubt, whatever is below is like that which is above, and whatever is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing." This is the <!--del_lnk--> macrocosm-microcosm belief central to the hermetic philosophy. In other words, the human body (the microcosm) is affected by the exterior world (the macrocosm), which includes the heavens through <a href="../../wp/a/Astrology.htm" title="Astrology">astrology</a>, and the earth through the <!--del_lnk--> elements. Though when one gains mastery over their inner world, they begin to be able to control the exterior world in unconventional ways.<p>It has been speculated that a riddle from the Emerald Tablet—"it was carried in the womb by the wind"—refers to the distillation of oxygen from <!--del_lnk--> saltpeter—a process that was unknown in Europe until its (re)discovery by Sendivogius in the 17th century.<p>In the 4th century BC, the Greek-speaking <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedonians</a> conquered Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria in 332. This brought them into contact with Egyptian ideas. See <a href="#Alchemy_in_the_Greek_world" title="">Alchemy in the Greek World</a> below.<p><a id="Chinese_alchemy" name="Chinese_alchemy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Chinese alchemy</span></h3>
<p>Whereas Western alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble ones, <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">Chinese</a> alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine. The <!--del_lnk--> philosopher's stone of European alchemists can be compared to the <!--del_lnk--> Grand Elixir of Immortality sought by Chinese alchemists. However, in the hermetic view, these two goals were not unconnected, and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the <!--del_lnk--> universal panacea; therefore, the two traditions may have had more in common than it initially appears.<p><!--del_lnk--> Black powder may have been an important invention of Chinese alchemists. Described in 9th century texts and used in <!--del_lnk--> fireworks in <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a> by the 10th century, it was used in <!--del_lnk--> cannons by 1290. From <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>, the use of <a href="../../wp/g/Gunpowder.htm" title="Gunpowder">gunpowder</a> spread to <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a>, the <!--del_lnk--> Mongols, the Arab world and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in 1241, and in Europe by the 14th century.<p>Chinese alchemy was closely connected to <!--del_lnk--> Taoist forms of <!--del_lnk--> traditional Chinese medicine, such as <!--del_lnk--> Acupuncture and <!--del_lnk--> Moxibustion, and to <!--del_lnk--> martial arts such as <!--del_lnk--> Tai Chi Chuan and <!--del_lnk--> Kung Fu (although some Tai Chi schools believe that their art derives from the philosophical or hygienic branches of Taoism, not the Alchemical). In fact, in the early <!--del_lnk--> Song Dynasty, followers of this Daoist idea (chiefly the elite and upper class) would ingest mercuric sulfide, which, though tolerable in low levels, lead many to suicide. Thinking that this consequential death would lead to freedom and access to the Daoist heavens, the ensuing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method of alchemy in favour of external sources (the aforementioned Tai Chi Chuan, mastering of the <!--del_lnk--> Qi, etc.).<p><a id="Indian_alchemy" name="Indian_alchemy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Indian alchemy</span></h3>
<p>Little is known in the West about the character and history of <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">Indian</a> alchemy. An 11th century <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Persian</a> alchemist named <!--del_lnk--> al-Biruni reported that they "have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them, which is called <!--del_lnk--> Rasayāna in persian <!--del_lnk--> Rasavātam. It means the art of obtaining/manipulating <!--del_lnk--> Rasa, nectar, mercury, juice. This art was restricted to certain operations, metals, drugs, compounds, and medicines, most of which have mercury as their core element. Its principles restored the health of those who were ill beyond hope and gave back youth to fading old age." One thing is sure though, Indian alchemy like every other Indian science is focused on finding <!--del_lnk--> Moksha: perfection, immortality, liberation. As such it focuses its efforts on transumation of the human body: from mortal to immortal. Many are the traditional stories of alchemists still alive since time immemorial due to the effects of their experiments.<p>The texts of <!--del_lnk--> Ayurvedic Medicine and Science have aspects similar to alchemy: concepts of cures for all known diseases, and treatments that focus on anointing the body with oils.<p>Since alchemy eventually became engrained in the vast field of Indian erudition, influences from other metaphisical and philosophical doctrines such as <!--del_lnk--> Samkhya, <!--del_lnk--> Yoga, <!--del_lnk--> Vaisheshika and <!--del_lnk--> Ayurveda were inevitable. Nonetheless, most of the <!--del_lnk--> Rasayāna texts track their origins back to Kaula tantric schools associated to the teachings of the personality of Matsyendranath.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Rasayāna was understood by very few people at the time. Two famous examples were <!--del_lnk--> Nagarjunacharya and Nityanadhiya. Nagarjunacharya was a buddhist monk who, in ancient times, ran the great university of Nagarjuna Sagar. His famous book, Rasaratanakaram, is a famous example of early Indian medicine. In traditional Indian medicinal terminology 'rasa' translates as 'mercury' and Nagarjunacharya was said to have developed a method to convert the mercury into gold. Much of his original writings are lost to us, but his teachings still have strong influence on traditional Indian medicine (Ayureveda) to this day.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_the_Greek_world" name="Alchemy_in_the_Greek_world"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in the Greek world</span></h3>
<p>The Greek city of <!--del_lnk--> Alexandria in Egypt was a centre of Greek alchemical knowledge, and retained its preeminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods. The Greeks appropriated the hermetical beliefs of the Egyptians and melded with them the philosophies of <a href="../../wp/p/Pythagoras.htm" title="Pythagoras">Pythagoreanism</a>, <!--del_lnk--> ionianism, and <!--del_lnk--> gnosticism. Pythagorean philosophy is, essentially, the belief that numbers rule the universe, originating from the observations of sound, stars, and geometric shapes like triangles, or anything from which a <!--del_lnk--> ratio could be derived. <!--del_lnk--> Ionian thought was based on the belief that the universe could be explained through concentration on <!--del_lnk--> natural phenomena; this philosophy is believed to have originated with <!--del_lnk--> Thales and his pupil <!--del_lnk--> Anaximander, and later developed by <a href="../../wp/p/Plato.htm" title="Plato">Plato</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>, whose works came to be an integral part of alchemy. According to this belief, the universe can be described by a few unified <!--del_lnk--> natural laws that can be determined only through careful, thorough, and exacting philosophical explorations. The third component introduced to hermetical philosophy by the Greeks was <!--del_lnk--> gnosticism, a belief prevalent in the Christian and early post-Christian <!--del_lnk--> Roman empire, that the world is imperfect because it was created in a flawed manner, and that learning about the nature of spiritual matter would lead to salvation. They further believed that <!--del_lnk--> God did not "create" the universe in the classic sense, but that the universe was created "from" him, but was corrupted in the process (rather than becoming corrupted by the transgressions of Adam and Eve, that is, <!--del_lnk--> original sin). Many Gnostic sects further held the Biblical deity to be evil and viewed him as a fallen emanation of the High God whom they sought to worship and unite with, however the aspect of the Abrahamic god as being evil really played no role in alchemy but the aspect of ascending to the high god probably had a great deal of influence. Platonic and neo-Platonic theories about universals and the omnipotence of God were also absorbed (their main beliefs see the physical aspect of the world as being imperfect and think of God as a transcendent cosmic mind).<p>One very important concept introduced at this time, originated by <!--del_lnk--> Empedocles and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: <i>earth</i>, <i>air</i>, <i>water</i>, and <i>fire</i>. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed. <p>The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are. "...True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form." Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_the_Roman_Empire" name="Alchemy_in_the_Roman_Empire"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in the Roman Empire</span></h3>
<p>The <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Romans</a> adopted Greek alchemy and metaphysics, just as they adopted much of Greek knowledge and philosophy. By the end of the <!--del_lnk--> Roman empire the Greek alchemical philosophy had been joined to the philosophies of the Egyptians to create the cult of Hermeticism. <p>However, the development of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> in the Empire brought a contrary line of thinking, stemming from <a href="../../wp/a/Augustine_of_Hippo.htm" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustine</a> (354-430 AD), an early Christian philosopher who wrote of his beliefs shortly before the <!--del_lnk--> fall of the Roman Empire. In essence, he felt that <!--del_lnk--> reason and <!--del_lnk--> faith could be used to understand God, but <!--del_lnk--> experimental philosophy was evil: "There is also present in the soul, by means of these same bodily sense, a kind of empty longing and curiosity which aims not at taking pleasure in the flesh but at acquiring experience through the flesh, and this empty curiosity he is dignified by the names of learning and science." <p>Augustinian ideas were decidedly anti-experimental, yet when Aristotelian experimental techniques were made available to the West they were not shunned. Still, Augustinian thought was well ingrained in <!--del_lnk--> medieval society and was used to show alchemy as being un-Godly.<p>Much of the Roman knowledge of Alchemy, like that of the Greeks and Egyptians, is now lost. In Alexandria, the centre of alchemical studies in the Roman Empire, the art was mainly oral and in the interests of secrecy little was committed to paper. (Whence the use of "hermetic" to mean "secretive".) It is possible that some writing was done in Alexandria, and that it was subsequently lost or destroyed in fires and the turbulent periods that followed.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_the_Islamic_world" name="Alchemy_in_the_Islamic_world"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in the Islamic world</span></h3>
<p>After the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islamic</a> alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Islamic translations. <p>The Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. <a href="../../wp/p/Plato.htm" title="Plato">Platonic</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotelian</a> thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated. Islamic alchemists such as <!--del_lnk--> al-Razi (Latin Rasis or Rhazes) and <!--del_lnk--> Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latin Geber) contributed key chemical discoveries of their own, such as the technique of <!--del_lnk--> distillation (the words <i><!--del_lnk--> alembic</i> and <i><a href="../../wp/a/Alcohol.htm" title="Alcohol">alcohol</a></i> are of <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> origin), the muriatic(<a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric</a>), <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfuric_acid.htm" title="Sulfuric acid">sulfuric</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> nitric acids, <!--del_lnk--> soda, <!--del_lnk--> potash, and more. (From the Arabic names of the last two substances, <i>al-natrun</i> and <i>al-qalīy</i>, Latinized into <i>Natrium</i> and <i>Kalium</i>, come the modern symbols for <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">sodium</a> and <a href="../../wp/p/Potassium.htm" title="Potassium">potassium</a>.) The discovery that <!--del_lnk--> aqua regia, a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids, could dissolve the noblest metal; gold, was to fuel the imagination of alchemists for the next millennium.<p>Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard was arguably <!--del_lnk--> Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Arabic جابر إبن حيان, Latin Geberus; usually rendered in English as Geber). Jabir's ultimate goal was <!--del_lnk--> takwin, the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to and including human life. He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of <i>hotness</i>, <i>coldness</i>, <i>dryness</i>, and <i>moistness</i>. According to Geber, in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result. By this reasoning, the search for the <!--del_lnk--> philosopher's stone was introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate <!--del_lnk--> numerology whereby the root letters of a substance's name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to the element's physical properties.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_Medieval_Europe" name="Alchemy_in_Medieval_Europe"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in Medieval Europe</span></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23173.jpg.htm" title=" Painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771"><img alt=" Painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771" height="321" longdesc="/wiki/Image:JosephWright-Alchemist-1.jpg" src="../../images/231/23173.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23173.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Painting by <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771</div>
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<p>Because of its strong connections to the Greek and Roman cultures, alchemy was rather easily accepted into Christian philosophy, and Medieval European alchemists extensively absorbed Islamic alchemical knowledge. <!--del_lnk--> Gerbert of Aurillac, who was later to become <!--del_lnk--> Pope Silvester II, (d. 1003) was among the first to bring Islamic science to Europe from <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>. Later men such as <!--del_lnk--> Adelard of Bath, who lived in the 12th century, brought additional learning. But until the 13th century the moves were mainly assimilative. <p>In this period there appeared some deviations from the <a href="../../wp/a/Augustine_of_Hippo.htm" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustinian</a> principles of earlier Christian thinkers. <!--del_lnk--> Saint Anselm (1033–1109) was a Benedictine who believed faith must precede rationalism, as Augustine and most theologians prior to Anselm had believed, but Anselm put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. His views set the stage for the philosophical explosion to occur. <!--del_lnk--> Peter Abelard followed Anselm's work, laying the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle reached the West. His major influence on alchemy was his belief that Platonic universals did not have a separate existence outside of man's <!--del_lnk--> consciousness. Abelard also systematized the analysis of philosophical contradictions. <p><!--del_lnk--> Robert Grosseteste (1170–1253) was a pioneer of the scientific theory that would later be used and refined by the alchemists. He took Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observations, experimentation, and conclusions in making scientific evaluations. Grosseteste also did much work to bridge Platonic and Aristotelian thinking. <p><!--del_lnk--> Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) and <a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Aquinas.htm" title="Thomas Aquinas">Thomas Aquinas</a> (1225–1274) were both <!--del_lnk--> Dominicans who studied Aristotle and worked at reconciling the differences between philosophy and Christianity. Aquinas also did a great deal of work in developing the <!--del_lnk--> scientific method. He even went as far as claiming that universals could be discovered only through <!--del_lnk--> logical reasoning, and, since <!--del_lnk--> reason could not run in opposition to God, reason must be compatible with <!--del_lnk--> theology. . This ran contrary to the commonly held Platonic belief that universals were found through <!--del_lnk--> divine illumination alone. Magnus and Aquinas were among the first to take up the examination of alchemical theory, and could be considered to be alchemists themselves, except that these two did little in the way of <!--del_lnk--> experimentation.<p>The first true alchemist in Medieval Europe was <!--del_lnk--> Roger Bacon. His work did as much for alchemy as <a href="../../wp/r/Robert_Boyle.htm" title="Robert Boyle">Robert Boyle</a>'s was to do for <a href="../../wp/c/Chemistry.htm" title="Chemistry">chemistry</a> and <a href="../../wp/g/Galileo_Galilei.htm" title="Galileo Galilei">Galileo's</a> for <a href="../../wp/a/Astronomy.htm" title="Astronomy">astronomy</a> and <a href="../../wp/p/Physics.htm" title="Physics">physics</a>. Bacon (1214–1294) was an Oxford <!--del_lnk--> Franciscan who explored <!--del_lnk--> optics and <a href="../../wp/l/Linguistics.htm" title="Linguistics">languages</a> in addition to alchemy. The Franciscan ideals of taking on the world rather than rejecting the world led to his conviction that experimentation was more important than reasoning: "Of the three ways in which men think that they acquire <!--del_lnk--> knowledge of things: authority, <!--del_lnk--> reasoning, and <!--del_lnk--> experience; only the last is effective and able to bring peace to the intellect." (Bacon p. 367) "<!--del_lnk--> Experimental Science controls the conclusions of all other sciences. It reveals truths which reasoning from <!--del_lnk--> general principles would never have discovered." Roger Bacon has also been attributed with originating the search for the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life: "That medicine which will remove all impurities and corruptibilities from the lesser metals will also, in the opinion of the wise, take off so much of the corruptibility of the body that human life may be prolonged for many centuries." The idea of <!--del_lnk--> immortality was replaced with the notion of <!--del_lnk--> long life; after all, man's time on Earth was simply to wait and prepare for immortality in the world of God. Immortality on Earth did not mesh with Christian theology. <p>Bacon was not the only alchemist of the high middle ages, but he was the most significant. His works were used by countless alchemists of the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries. Other alchemists of Bacon's time shared several traits. First, and most obviously, nearly all were members of the clergy. This was simply because few people outside the parochial schools had the education to examine the Arabic-derived works. Also, alchemy at this time was sanctioned by the church as a good method of exploring and developing theology. Alchemy was interesting to the wide variety of churchmen because it offered a rationalistic view of the universe when men were just beginning to learn about rationalism. <p>So by the end of the thirteenth century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one could learn the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the <!--del_lnk--> human soul). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded <!--del_lnk--> jargon set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practiced their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made <!--del_lnk--> observations and <!--del_lnk--> theories about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God. <p>In the fourteenth century, these views underwent a major change. <!--del_lnk--> William of Ockham, an <a href="../../wp/o/Oxford.htm" title="Oxford">Oxford</a> Franciscan who died in 1349, attacked the <!--del_lnk--> Thomist view of compatibility between faith and reason. His view, widely accepted today, was that God must be accepted on faith alone; He could not be limited by human reason. Of course this view was not incorrect if one accepted the postulate of a limitless God versus limited human reasoning capability, but it virtually erased alchemy from practice in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. <!--del_lnk--> Pope John XXII in the early 1300s issued an edict against alchemy, which effectively removed all church personnel from the practice of the Art. The climate changes, <a href="../../wp/b/Black_Death.htm" title="Black Death">Black plague</a>, and increase in <a href="../../wp/w/War.htm" title="War">warfare</a> and <a href="../../wp/f/Famine.htm" title="Famine">famine</a> that characterized this century no doubt also served to hamper philosophical pursuits in general.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23174.png.htm" title="Nicholas Flamel had these mysterious alchemical symbols carved on his tomb in the Church of the Holy Innocents in Paris."><img alt="Nicholas Flamel had these mysterious alchemical symbols carved on his tomb in the Church of the Holy Innocents in Paris." height="216" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flamel-figures.png" src="../../images/231/23174.png" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Alchemy was kept alive by men such as <!--del_lnk--> Nicolas Flamel, who was noteworthy only because he was one of the few alchemists writing in those troubled times. Flamel lived from 1330 to 1417 and would serve as the <!--del_lnk--> archetype for the next phase of alchemy. He was not a religious scholar as were many of his predecessors, and his entire interest in the subject revolved around the pursuit of the philosopher's stone, which he is reputed to have found; his work spends a great deal of time describing the processes and reactions, but never actually gives the formula for carrying out the transmutations. Most of his work was aimed at gathering alchemical knowledge that had existed before him, especially as regarded the philosophers' stone. <p>Through the <!--del_lnk--> high middle ages (1300-1500) alchemists were much like Flamel: they concentrated on looking for the philosophers' stone and the elixir of youth, now believed to be separate things. Their cryptic allusions and <!--del_lnk--> symbolism led to wide variations in interpretation of the art. For example, many alchemists during this period interpreted the purification of the soul to mean the <!--del_lnk--> transmutation of lead into gold (in which they believed elemental <a href="../../wp/m/Mercury_%2528element%2529.htm" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a>, or 'quicksilver', played a crucial role). These men were viewed as <!--del_lnk--> magicians and sorcerers by many, and were often persecuted for their practices. <p>One of these men who emerged at the beginning of the sixteenth century was named <!--del_lnk--> Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. This alchemist believed himself to be a wizard and was capable of summoning <!--del_lnk--> spirits. His influence was negligible, but like Flamel, he produced writings which were referred to by alchemists of later years. Again like Flamel, he did much to change alchemy from a mystical philosophy to an <!--del_lnk--> occultist magic. He did keep alive the philosophies of the earlier alchemists, including experimental science, numerology, etc., but he added magic theory, which reinforced the idea of alchemy as an occultist belief. In spite of all this, Agrippa still considered himself a Christian, though his views often came into conflict with the church. <p><a id="Alchemy_in_the_Modern_Age_and_Renaissance" name="Alchemy_in_the_Modern_Age_and_Renaissance"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in the Modern Age and Renaissance</span></h3>
<p>European alchemy continued in this way through the dawning of the <a href="../../wp/r/Renaissance.htm" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a>. The era also saw a flourishing of <!--del_lnk--> con artists who would use chemical tricks and sleight of hand to "demonstrate" the transmutation of common metals into gold, or claim to possess secret knowledge that—with a "small" initial investment—would surely lead to that goal.<p>The most important name in this period is Philippus Aureolus <!--del_lnk--> Paracelsus, (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) who cast alchemy into a new form, rejecting some of the occultism that had accumulated over the years and promoting the use of observations and experiments to learn about the human body. He rejected Gnostic traditions, but kept much of the Hermetical, neo-Platonic, and Pythagorean philosophies; however, Hermetical science had so much Aristotelian theory that his rejection of Gnosticism was practically meaningless. In particular, Paracelsus rejected the magic theories of Agrippa and Flamel. He did not think of himself as a magician, and scorned those who did. (Williams p.239-45)<p>Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine, and wrote "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines." His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. While his attempts of treating diseases with such remedies as Mercury might seem ill-advised from a modern point of view, his basic idea of chemically produced medicines has stood time surprisingly well.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/97/9735.jpg.htm" title=""Alchemist Sędziwój" (1566–1636) by Jan Matejko, 1867"><img alt=""Alchemist Sędziwój" (1566–1636) by Jan Matejko, 1867" height="141" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alchemik_Sedziwoj_Matejko.JPG" src="../../images/231/23175.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/97/9735.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> "Alchemist Sędziwój" (1566–1636) by Jan Matejko, 1867</div>
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<p>In <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>, the topic of alchemy in that time frame is often associated with Doctor <a href="../../wp/j/John_Dee.htm" title="John Dee">John Dee</a> (<!--del_lnk--> 13 July <!--del_lnk--> 1527 – December, 1608), better known for his role as <!--del_lnk--> astrologer, cryptographer, and general "scientific consultant" to <a href="../../wp/e/Elizabeth_I_of_England.htm" title="Elizabeth I of England">Queen Elizabeth I</a>. Dee was considered an authority on the works of <!--del_lnk--> Roger Bacon, and was interested enough in alchemy to write a book on that subject (<i>Monas Hieroglyphica</i>, 1564) influenced by the <!--del_lnk--> Kabbala. Dee's associate <!--del_lnk--> Edward Kelley — who claimed to converse with <!--del_lnk--> angels through a crystal ball and to own a powder that would turn <a href="../../wp/m/Mercury_%2528element%2529.htm" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a> into <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a> — may have been the source of the popular image of the alchemist-charlatan.<p>Another lesser known alchemist was <!--del_lnk--> Michael Sendivogius (<i>Michał Sędziwój</i>, 1566 - 1636), a <a href="../../wp/p/Poland.htm" title="Poland">Polish</a> alchemist, philosopher, medical doctor and pioneer of chemistry. According to some accounts, he distilled <a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">oxygen</a> in a lab sometime around 1600, 170 years before <!--del_lnk--> Scheele and <!--del_lnk--> Priestley, by warming nitre (<a href="../../wp/p/Potassium_nitrate.htm" title="Saltpetre">saltpetre</a>). He thought of the gas given off as "the elixir of life". Shortly after discovering this method, it is believed that Sendivogious taught his technique to <!--del_lnk--> Cornelius Drebbel. In 1621, Drebbel practically applied this in a submarine.<p><a href="../../wp/t/Tycho_Brahe.htm" title="Tycho Brahe">Tycho Brahe</a> (1546–1601), better known for his <!--del_lnk--> astronomical and <!--del_lnk--> astrological investigations, was also an alchemist. He had a laboratory built for that purpose at his <!--del_lnk--> Uraniborg observatory/research institute.<p><a id="The_decline_of_Western_alchemy" name="The_decline_of_Western_alchemy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The decline of Western alchemy</span></h3>
<p>The demise of Western alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for "ancient wisdom". Although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the 17th century, alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years, and in fact may have reached its <!--del_lnk--> apogee in the 18th century.<p><a href="../../wp/r/Robert_Boyle.htm" title="Robert Boyle">Robert Boyle</a> (1627–1691), better known for his studies of gases (cf. <!--del_lnk--> Boyle's law) pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data; in a typical experiment, Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out, the wind characteristics, the position of the Sun and Moon, and the barometer reading, all just in case they proved to be relevant. This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries of <a href="../../wp/a/Antoine_Lavoisier.htm" title="Antoine Lavoisier">Lavoisier</a> and <!--del_lnk--> John Dalton — which finally provided a logical, quantitative and reliable framework for understanding matter transmutations, and revealed the futility of longstanding alchemical goals such as the philosopher's stone.<p>Meanwhile, Paracelsian alchemy led to the development of modern medicine. Experimentalists gradually uncovered the workings of the human body, such as blood circulation (<a href="../../wp/w/William_Harvey.htm" title="William Harvey">Harvey</a>, 1616), and eventually traced many diseases to infections with germs (<!--del_lnk--> Koch and <a href="../../wp/l/Louis_Pasteur.htm" title="Louis Pasteur">Pasteur</a>, 19th century) or lack of <i>natural</i> nutrients and <a href="../../wp/v/Vitamin.htm" title="Vitamin">vitamins</a> (<!--del_lnk--> Lind, <!--del_lnk--> Eijkman, <!--del_lnk--> Funk, et al.). Supported by parallel developments in organic chemistry, the new science easily displaced alchemy from its medical roles, interpretive and prescriptive, while deflating its hopes of miraculous elixirs and exposing the ineffectiveness or even toxicity of its remedies.<p>Thus, as science steadily continued to uncover and rationalize the clockwork of the universe, founded on its own materialistic metaphysics, Alchemy was left deprived of its chemical and medical connections — but still incurably burdened by them. Reduced to an arcane philosophical system, poorly connected to the material world, it suffered the common fate of other <!--del_lnk--> esoteric disciplines such as <a href="../../wp/a/Astrology.htm" title="Astrology">astrology</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Kabbalah: excluded from <a href="../../wp/u/University.htm" title="University">university</a> curricula, shunned by its former patrons, <!--del_lnk--> ostracized by scientists, and commonly viewed as the epitome of <!--del_lnk--> charlatanism and <!--del_lnk--> superstition. Rosencrutzians and freemasons have, however, always been interested in alchemy and its symbolism. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the <!--del_lnk--> Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam.<p>These developments could be interpreted as part of a broader reaction in European intellectualism against the <a href="../../wp/r/Romanticism.htm" title="Romanticism">Romantic</a> movement of the preceding century.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_the_Bah.C3.A1.27.C3.AD_Faith" name="Alchemy_in_the_Bah.C3.A1.27.C3.AD_Faith"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in the Bahá'í Faith</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the <a href="../../wp/b/Bah%25C3%25A1%2527%25C3%25AD_Faith.htm" title="Bahá'í Faith">Bahá'í Faith</a>, promised the realisation of the discovery of a radical approach to the transmutation of elements as one of the signs of the coming of age of humanity. He prophesied, as well, that after this discovery a great calamity would overcome the world, unless mankind would accept his Faith. Bahá'u'lláh also refers to the elixir and the philosopher's stone, but states that these are spiritual in nature, and refer to the <!--del_lnk--> Word of God.<p><a id="Modern_alchemy" name="Modern_alchemy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Modern alchemy</span></h2>
<p>In modern times, progress has been made toward achieving the goals of alchemy using different means than those of traditional alchemy. These developments may on occasion be called "alchemy" for rhetorical reasons.<p>As of 2006, a universal panacea remains elusive, though <!--del_lnk--> futurists such as <!--del_lnk--> Ray Kurzweil believe sufficiently advanced <!--del_lnk--> nanotechnology may prolong life indefinitely. Some say the third goal of alchemy has been fulfilled by <!--del_lnk--> IVF and the <!--del_lnk--> cloning of a human embryo, although these technologies fall far short of creating a human life from scratch.<p>The aim of <!--del_lnk--> artificial intelligence research could be said to be creating a life from scratch, and those philosophically opposed to the possibility of AI have compared it with alchemy, such as Herbert and Stuart Dreyfus in their 1960 paper <i>Alchemy and AI</i>. However, because the specific aim of alchemy is human transmutation rather than creating life from scratch, genetic research, particularly splicing would be closer to this goal.<p><a id="Nuclear_transmutation" name="Nuclear_transmutation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Nuclear transmutation</span></h3>
<p>In 1919, <a href="../../wp/e/Ernest_Rutherford.htm" title="Ernest Rutherford">Ernest Rutherford</a> used <!--del_lnk--> artificial disintegration to convert nitrogen into oxygen. This process or transmutation has subsequently been carried out on a <!--del_lnk--> commercial scale by bombarding atomic nuclei with high energy particles from modern <!--del_lnk--> particle accelerators and in <!--del_lnk--> nuclear reactors. Indeed, in 1980, <!--del_lnk--> Glenn Seaborg transmuted lead into gold, though the amount of energy used and the microscopic quantities created negated any possible financial benefit.<p><a id="Unduplicated_transmutation_claims" name="Unduplicated_transmutation_claims"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Unduplicated transmutation claims</span></h3>
<p>In 1964, <!--del_lnk--> George Ohsawa and <!--del_lnk--> Michio Kushi, based on the claims of <!--del_lnk--> Corentin Louis Kervran, reportedly successfully transmutated <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">sodium</a> into <a href="../../wp/p/Potassium.htm" title="Potassium">potassium</a>, by use of an electric arc, and later of <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon.htm" title="Carbon">carbon</a> and <a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">oxygen</a> into <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a>. In 1994, <!--del_lnk--> R. Sundaresan and <!--del_lnk--> J. Bockris reported that they had observed fusion reactions in electrical discharges between carbon rods immersed in water. However, none of these claims have been replicated by other scientists, and the idea is now thoroughly discredited.<p><a id="Psychology" name="Psychology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Psychology</span></h3>
<p><a href="../../wp/c/Carl_Jung.htm" title="Carl Jung">Carl Jung</a> saw alchemy as a Western proto-psychology dedicated to the achievement of <!--del_lnk--> individuation; in his interpretation, alchemy was the vessel by which <!--del_lnk--> Gnosticism survived its various purges into the <a href="../../wp/r/Renaissance.htm" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a>. In this sense, Jung viewed alchemy as comparable to a <!--del_lnk--> Yoga of the <!--del_lnk--> West. Jung also interpreted Chinese alchemical texts in terms of his <!--del_lnk--> analytical psychology as means to individuation.<p><a id="Alchemy_in_art_and_entertainment" name="Alchemy_in_art_and_entertainment"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alchemy in art and entertainment</span></h2>
<p>References to alchemy in art and entertainment are far too numerous to list. Here we give only a few indicative samples. More titles can be found in the <!--del_lnk--> philosopher's stone article.<p><a id="Novels_and_plays" name="Novels_and_plays"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Novels and plays</span></h3>
<p>Many <a href="../../wp/l/Literature.htm" title="Literature">writers</a> lampooned alchemists and used them as the butt of <!--del_lnk--> satirical attacks. Two early and well-known examples are<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Geofrey Chaucer, <i><!--del_lnk--> Canon's Yeoman's Tale</i> (ca. 1380). The main character, an alchemist on the way to <a href="../../wp/c/Canterbury.htm" title="Canterbury">Canterbury</a>, claims that he will "pave it all of silver and of gold".<li><a href="../../wp/b/Ben_Jonson.htm" title="Ben Jonson">Ben Jonson</a>, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Alchemist</i> (ca 1610). In this five-act play, the characters set up an alchemy workshop to swindle people.</ul>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23176.jpg.htm" title="An Alchemical Laboratory, from The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry"><img alt="An Alchemical Laboratory, from The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry" height="166" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alchemical_Laboratory_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_14218.jpg" src="../../images/231/23176.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23176.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An Alchemical Laboratory, from <i>The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry</i></div>
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<p>In more recent works, alchemists are generally presented in a more romantic or mystic light, and often little distinction is made between alchemy, <!--del_lnk--> magic, and witchcraft:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> The Alchemist (book) is the name of a novel by Paulo Coehlo where the main character meets an alchemist and is taught alchemy<li><!--del_lnk--> Mary Shelley, <i><a href="../../wp/f/Frankenstein.htm" title="Frankenstein">Frankenstein</a></i> (1818). Victor Frankenstein uses both alchemy and modern science to create <!--del_lnk--> Frankenstein's monster.<li><!--del_lnk--> Vladimir Odoevsky, <i><!--del_lnk--> Salamandra</i> (1828).<li><!--del_lnk--> Goethe, <i><!--del_lnk--> Faust, Part 2</i> (1832). Faust's servant Wagner uses alchemy to create a <!--del_lnk--> homunculus.<li><!--del_lnk--> Gabriel García Márquez, <i><!--del_lnk--> One Hundred Years of Solitude</i> (1967). An alchemist named Melquíades adds to the novel's surreal atmosphere.<li><!--del_lnk--> Paulo Coelho, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Alchemist</i> (1988).<li><!--del_lnk--> Umberto Eco, <i><!--del_lnk--> Foucault's Pendulum</i> (1988).<li><!--del_lnk--> Teresa Edgerton, the Green Lion trilogy: <i>Child of Saturn</i> (1989), <i>The Moon in Hiding</i> (1989) and <i>The Work of the Sun</i> (1990). The heroine is an alchemist's apprentice. (The second trilogy in this setting did not touch on alchemical themes.)<li><!--del_lnk--> Richard Garfinkle, <i><!--del_lnk--> Celestial Matters</i> (1996). Deals (unusually) with <i>Chinese</i> Alchemy.<li><a href="../../wp/j/J._K._Rowling.htm" title="J. K. Rowling">J. K. Rowling</a>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone</i> (1997). Features <!--del_lnk--> Nicholas Flamel as a character.<li><!--del_lnk--> Neal Stephenson, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Baroque Cycle</i> (2003–2004). Features real and imaginary alchemists such as <a href="../../wp/i/Isaac_Newton.htm" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a>, <!--del_lnk--> de Duillier, and <!--del_lnk--> Enoch Root.<li><!--del_lnk--> Martin Booth, <i><!--del_lnk--> Doctor Illuminatus: The Alchemist's Son</i> (2003).<li><!--del_lnk--> Margaret Mahy, <i><!--del_lnk--> Alchemy</i> (2004).<li><!--del_lnk--> John Fasman, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Geographer's Library</i>, whose plot revolves around thirteen alchemical artifacts.<li><!--del_lnk--> Gregory Keyes, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Age of Unreason</i> series . Features <a href="../../wp/i/Isaac_Newton.htm" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a> and <!--del_lnk--> de Duillier.<li><!--del_lnk--> Cornelia Funke, <i><!--del_lnk--> Dragon Rider</i> (2004). Twigleg the <!--del_lnk--> homonculus was created by an alchemist.<li>Antal Szerb, "The Pendragon legend" (1934)<li>Some of <!--del_lnk--> Terry Pratchett's <!--del_lnk--> Discworld <a href="../../wp/n/Novel.htm" title="Novel">novels</a> (1983-present) feature a <a href="../../wp/g/Guild.htm" title="Guild">Guild</a> of Alchemists. They are noted for blowing up their own Guild building on a regular basis. They play a particularly important role in <i><!--del_lnk--> Men at Arms</i> (1993).<li>In the movie <i><!--del_lnk--> Silence Becomes You</i> (2005), alchemy clearly influences the decisions and lives of the characters.<li>In <!--del_lnk--> Ian Watson's science fiction novel <i>The Gardens of Delight</i>, an alchemist of the far future, aided by a powerful <!--del_lnk--> extraterrestrial being, creates a planet based on <!--del_lnk--> Hieronymus Bosch's painting <!--del_lnk--> The Garden of Earthly Delights, in which Bosch's alchemical <!--del_lnk--> allegory takes on real substance.</ul>
<p><a id="Film_and_television" name="Film_and_television"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Film and television</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>Television shows such as <!--del_lnk--> Fullmetal Alchemist and <!--del_lnk--> Charmed use the idea of alchemy in its classic sense.<li>In the <i><a href="../../wp/s/Star_Trek.htm" title="Star Trek">Star Trek</a></i> universe, the fictional concepts of the <!--del_lnk--> replicator and <!--del_lnk--> transporter are frequently used as alchemical plot devices where base raw materials can be rearranged at the molecular level in order to produce objects, devices, foodstuffs, and chemical compounds of virtually any nature.<li>In the show <i><!--del_lnk--> Blackadder II</i>, Percy tries to save Edmund's fortune by discovering the secrets of alchemy the very same afternoon.</ul>
<p><a id="Modern_art_and_exhibition" name="Modern_art_and_exhibition"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Modern art and exhibition</span></h3>
<p>Some contemporary artists used alchemy symbols to create new masterpieces.<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Tryptukos is a parallel between modern physics and alchemy exposed at Liverpool by an unknown artist. The right part of this triptych is an original 14th century engraving from the <!--del_lnk--> Naturæ Liber, property of the Alchemic Museum, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.<li><!--del_lnk--> Four Ways of Measuring the Distance Between Alchemy and Contemporary Art explains why alchemy is marginal to current visual art, and why alchemical thinking remains absolutely central. This article has been published in the International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry.</ul>
<p><a id="Comics.2C_manga.2C_and_video_games" name="Comics.2C_manga.2C_and_video_games"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Comics, manga, and video games</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> World of Warcraft, an immersive MMORPG, has a player based trade & profession system including Alchemy and Herbalism, which give the user the ability to make potions that aid or give the user special abilities, such as speed increase, invisibility, health and stats bonuses. The Alchemy profession also has an operation called Transmute which is used to turn some metals gained from the Mining profession into their next higher neighbors.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Fullmetal Alchemist</i> (2003), Anime/manga series by <!--del_lnk--> Hiromu Arakawa, is centered around brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric. 'Alchemists' can transform anything within the principle of <!--del_lnk--> Equivalent Exchange—the "Law of Nature" as it is referred to in this manga series. The Elric brothers, much like the Western "Alchemists" discussed near the top of this page, are also in search of the Philosopher's Stone, but so that they can transmute (alchemize) their now metal or semi-metal bodies back to their original states. Also, Alchemy is performed using diagrams known as "Transmutation Circles" in this series.<li><!--del_lnk--> Sega's <i><!--del_lnk--> Chakan</i>, Genesis and Game Gear video game (1992). The immortal swordsman collects potions around the elemental planes—each with ingredients of four elements. Chakan has the option of mixing any two potions whether its fire and air, earth and earth, etc. A variety of Alchemic solutions occur healing Chakan, damaging surrounding demons, enhanced abilities in jumping and strength, as well as granting elemental properties of fire, ice, thunder and lightning to Chakan's two swords.<li><!--del_lnk--> Stan Lee and <!--del_lnk--> Jack Kirby, <i><!--del_lnk--> Fantastic Four</i> comics (ca. 1962–). Villain <!--del_lnk--> Diablo is an alchemist.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Darklands</i>, PC game (1992). Alchemy features prominently throughout the game.<li><!--del_lnk--> Mike Mignola's <i><!--del_lnk--> Hellboy</i> comics (1993–). The character <!--del_lnk--> Roger the Homunculus was created by alchemy.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage</i> video game. Alchemy is featured as a skill.<li><!--del_lnk--> Verant Interactive's smash hit computer game <i><!--del_lnk--> Everquest</i> (1998-). Shaman characters may learn and train in this skill.<li><a href="../../wp/n/Nintendo.htm" title="Nintendo">Nintendo</a>'s <i><!--del_lnk--> Golden Sun</i> video game (2001). Psynergy is a force that threatens the world, which is connected to many displines, Ki, Chi, Ply, and of course, Alchemy.<li><!--del_lnk--> Nobuhiro Watsuki, <i><!--del_lnk--> Buso Renkin</i> manga (2003–2006).<li><!--del_lnk--> Kazuki Takahashi, <i><!--del_lnk--> Yu-Gi-Oh! GX</i> anime (2004–). The character <!--del_lnk--> Lyman Banner (Daitokuji) is an alchemist who preserved his soul within a homunculus.<li>Square Enix's <i><!--del_lnk--> Final Fantasy</i> series features the Alchemist as a <!--del_lnk--> job in several games (for example, as a Dresssphere in <i><!--del_lnk--> Final Fantasy X-2</i>).<li><!--del_lnk--> Bethesda Softworks' <i><!--del_lnk--> The Elder Scrolls</i> series prominently features alchemy as a method of creating various potions for use by the player.<li><!--del_lnk--> Konami's <i><!--del_lnk--> Shadow of Destiny</i> features an alchemist and a creature made by alchemy as major characters.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb</i>, computer game (2003). A large portion of the game is centered around a castle in Prague formerly owned by an alchemist king.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Ultima Online</i> computer game (1997). Alchemy is one of the player skills and professions.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Zork Nemesis</i> video game (1996).<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Secret of Evermore</i> (1995) for the <!--del_lnk--> SNES, uses an alchemy combat system where the player mixes ingredients for combat effects, in lieu of typical magic systems.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> RuneScape</i>, the massive online mulitplayer game by <!--del_lnk--> Jagex, allows a player to turn items into gold with spells once they have achieved a certain mage level.<li>Alchemy is a key plot point and aspect of gameplay in the <!--del_lnk--> Playstation 2 <!--del_lnk--> RPG, <i><!--del_lnk--> Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana</i>.<li>In the popular MMORPG <i><!--del_lnk--> Ragnarok Online</i> a playable character class called Alchemist is able to create potions, explosives, simple plant type monsters, and <!--del_lnk--> homunculi that fight for them.<li>In the video game <i><!--del_lnk--> Haunting Ground</i> (2005), alchemy is a large plot point, and the main character is trapped in a castle owned by powerful alchemists and their creations, whom chase her in order to obtain "the Azoth" in one way or another. The stalkers are all clones of a great alchemist from the middle ages, and the whole story revolves around enlightenment and purification, rife with symbolism for alchemy in general and what its practitioners believed.<li>In <i><!--del_lnk--> Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident</i> a brief reference is made to alchemy; specifically, that it can be achieved through greater technology.<li>In Square Enix's <i><!--del_lnk--> Star Ocean: Till the End of Time</i>, Alchemy is a trade that a character can learn in the shops.<li>In <!--del_lnk--> The Big O (1999-2003) act 8 <!--del_lnk--> Missing Cat, a modern alchemist, Eugene, transmutates humans and animals into <!--del_lnk--> chimeras.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> Atelier Iris games revolve heavily around alchemy, where spirits of nature (<!--del_lnk--> Mana) are used to extract elements from the environment, and transmute them into a variety of items.</ul>
<p><a id="Music" name="Music"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Music</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Leonard Cohen's album <!--del_lnk--> New Skin for the Old Ceremony features an alchemical diagram on the cover.<li><!--del_lnk--> The Smashing Pumpkins, album <i><!--del_lnk--> Machina/The Machines of God</i> (2000). The album concept and design is based on alchemy and its symbols.<li><!--del_lnk--> Tool (band), album <i><!--del_lnk--> Lateralus</i> (2001).<li><!--del_lnk--> Susumu Hirasawa, album <i><!--del_lnk--> Philosopher's Propeller</i> (賢者のプロペラ, Kenja no Puropera)" (2000).<li><!--del_lnk--> Bruce Dickinson, album <i><!--del_lnk--> The Chemical Wedding</i> (1998). The Album's concept and artwork are based on William Blake's works as well as Alchemy and its symbols.<li><!--del_lnk--> XTC album <i><!--del_lnk--> Mummer</i> features the song "Human Alchemy" about the early philosophy behind slavery.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alchemy</i>, the first of Dire Straits' two live albums<li><!--del_lnk--> Home (band), <i><!--del_lnk--> The Alchemist</i>, 1970s progressive rock concept album.<li><!--del_lnk--> Yngwie Malmsteen, album <i>Alchemy</i>. (1999)</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alcibiades</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Ancient_History_Classical_History_and_Mythology.htm">Ancient History, Classical History and Mythology</a>; <a href="../index/subject.People.Historical_figures.htm">Historical figures</a></h3>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; font-size:100%;">Alcibiades</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> 450 BC – <!--del_lnk--> 404 BC</td>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;"><a class="image" href="../../images/164/16435.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="334" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Bust_Alcibiades_Musei_Capitolini_MC1160.jpg" src="../../images/164/16435.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /> Alcibiades</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Place of birth</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a></td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Place of death</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Phrygia</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Allegiance</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a><br /> (<!--del_lnk--> 415 BC-<!--del_lnk--> 412 BC <!--del_lnk--> Sparta)</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Rank</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> general (<!--del_lnk--> strategos)</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Battles/wars</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Battle of Abydos (<!--del_lnk--> 410 BC)<br /><!--del_lnk--> Battle of Cyzicus (<!--del_lnk--> 410 BC)<br /> Siege of <!--del_lnk--> Byzantium (<!--del_lnk--> 408 BC)</td>
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<p><b>Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides</b> (<!--del_lnk--> Greek: <span class="polytonic" lang="grc" xml:lang="grc"><b>Ἀλκιβιάδης Κλεινίου Σκαμβωνίδης</b></span>, Eng. /ælsɪ'baɪədi:z/; c. <!--del_lnk--> 450 BC–<!--del_lnk--> 404 BC), also <!--del_lnk--> transliterated as <b>Alkibiades</b>, was a prominent <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athenian">Athenian</a> statesman, orator, and general. The last famous member of an aristocratic family that fell from prominence after the <!--del_lnk--> Peloponnesian War, he played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.<p>During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his allegiance on several occasions. In his native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated for an aggressive foreign policy, and was a prominent proponent of the <!--del_lnk--> Sicilian Expedition, but fled to <!--del_lnk--> Sparta after his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In Sparta, he served as a strategic advisor, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies and was forced to defect to <!--del_lnk--> Persia. There, he served as an advisor to the <!--del_lnk--> satrap <!--del_lnk--> Tissaphernes until his political allies among the Athenians brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian general (<!--del_lnk--> strategos) for several more years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time.<p>The Sicilian expedition was Alcibiades' creation, and modern scholars have argued that, had that expedition been under Alcibiades' command instead of that of <!--del_lnk--> Nicias, the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate. In the years that he served Sparta, Alcibiades played a crucial role in the city's undoing; the capture of <!--del_lnk--> Decelea and the revolts of several critical Athenian subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his supervision. Once restored to his native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege. Alcibiades' military and political talents frequently proved valuable to whichever state currently held his allegiance, but his capacity for making powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one place for long, and, by the end of the war that he had helped rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance were a bygone memory.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_years" name="Early_years"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early years</span></h2>
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<p>Alcibiades was born in <!--del_lnk--> ancient Athens, the son of <!--del_lnk--> Cleinias and Deinomache, the latter of whom belonged to the powerful and controversial family of the <!--del_lnk--> Alcmaeonidae; <a href="../../wp/p/Pericles.htm" title="Pericles">Pericles</a> and his brother Ariphon were Deinomache's cousins (her father and their mother were siblings). It is said that his family was traced back to <!--del_lnk--> Eurysaces. His grandfather, also named Alcibiades, was a friend of <!--del_lnk--> Cleisthenes, the famous constitutional reformer of the late 6th century BC. After the death of Cleinias at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Coronea in 447 BC, Pericles and Ariphron became his guardians. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades had a number of famous teachers, such as <a href="../../wp/s/Socrates.htm" title="Socrates">Socrates</a>, and was well trained in the art of rhetoric. He was noted for his unruly behaviour, which is mentioned by the ancient Greek writers on various occasions.<p>Alcibiades took part in the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Potidaea in <!--del_lnk--> 432 BC, where Socrates saved his life, a service which he repaid at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Delium in <!--del_lnk--> 424 BC. Alcibiades had an intimate but (according to idealized ancient accounts) chaste relationship with Socrates, whom he admired and respected, and who in turn was drawn by his beauty but refused to succumb to the youth's attractions. According to <!--del_lnk--> Plutarch, Alcibiades "feared and reverenced Socrates alone, and despised the rest of his lovers".<p>Alcibiades was married to <!--del_lnk--> Hipparete, the daughter of <!--del_lnk--> Hipponicus, a wealthy Athenian. According to Plutarch, Hipparete loved her husband, but she attempted to divorce him because he consorted with <!--del_lnk--> courtesans. She lived with him until her death and gave birth to probably two children, a daughter and a son, also named Alcibiades.<p><a id="Political_career_until_412_BC" name="Political_career_until_412_BC"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Political career until 412 BC</span></h2>
<p><a id="Rise_to_prominence" name="Rise_to_prominence"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Rise to prominence</span></h3>
<p>Alcibiades first rose to prominence when he began advocating aggressive Athenian action after the signing of the <!--del_lnk--> Peace of Nicias. (That treaty, an uneasy truce between Sparta and Athens signed midway through the Peloponnesian War, came at the end of seven years of fighting in which neither side had gained a decisive advantage). Historians Arnold W. Gomme and Raphael Sealey believe that Alcibiades was offended that the Lacedaimonians had negotiated that treaty through Nicias and <!--del_lnk--> Laches, overlooking him on account of his youth.<p>Disputes over the interpretation of the treaty led the Spartans to dispatch ambassadors to Athens with full powers to arrange all unsettled matters. The Athenians initially received these ambassadors well, but Alcibiades met with them in secret before they were to speak to the <!--del_lnk--> ecclesia (the Athenian Assembly) and told them that the Assembly was haughty and had great ambitions. He urged them to renounce their diplomatic authority to represent Sparta, and instead allow him to assist them through his influence in Athenian politics. The representatives agreed and, impressed with Alcibiades' foresight, they alienated themselves from Nicias, who sincerely wanted to reach an agreement with the Spartans. The next day during the Assembly Alcibiades asked them what powers Sparta had granted them to negotiate and they replied, as agreed, that they had not come with full and independent powers. This was in direct contradiction to what they had said the day before and Alcibiades seized on this opportunity to denounce their character, cast suspicion on their aims, and destroy their credibility. This ploy increased Alcibiades' standing while embarrassing Nicias, and Alcibiades was subsequently appointed general. He took advantage of his increasing power to orchestrate the creation of an alliance between <!--del_lnk--> Argos, <!--del_lnk--> Mantinea, <!--del_lnk--> Elis and other states in the Peloponnese, threatening Sparta's dominance in the region. According to Gomme, "it was a grandiose scheme for an Athenian general at the head of a mainly Peloponnesian army to march through the Peloponnese cocking a snook at Sparta when her reputation was at its lowest". This alliance, however, would ultimately be defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Mantinea.<p>Somewhere in the years <!--del_lnk--> 416-<!--del_lnk--> 415 BC, a complex struggle took place between <!--del_lnk--> Hyperbolos on one side and Nicias and Alcibiades on the other. Hyperbolos tried to bring about the ostracism of one of this pair but Nicias and Alcibiades combined their influence to induce the people to expel Hyperbolos instead. This incident reveals that Nicias and Alcibiades each commanded a personal following, whose votes were determined by the wishes of the leaders.<p>Alcibiades was not one of the generals involved in the capture of <!--del_lnk--> Melos in 416-415 BC, but Plutarch makes him a supporter of the decree by which the grown men of Melos were killed and the women and children enslaved. The orator <!--del_lnk--> Andocides alleges that Alcibiades had a child by one of these enslaved women.<p><a id="Sicilian_Expedition" name="Sicilian_Expedition"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Sicilian Expedition</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16437.gif.htm" title="Map of Sicily designed by Marco Prins-Jona Lendering with all the Phoenician and Greek settlements."><img alt="Map of Sicily designed by Marco Prins-Jona Lendering with all the Phoenician and Greek settlements." height="146" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Sicily_map.gif" src="../../images/164/16437.gif" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>In 415 BC, delegates from the Sicilian city of <!--del_lnk--> Segesta (Egesta in Greek) arrived at Athens to plead for the support of the Athenians in their war against <!--del_lnk--> Selinus. During the debates on the undertaking, Nicias was vehemently opposed to Athenian intervention, explaining that the campaign would be very costly and attacking the character and motives of Alcibiades, who had emerged as the supporter of the expedition. On the other hand, Alcibiades argued that a campaign in this new theatre would bring riches to the city and expand the empire, just as the <!--del_lnk--> Persian Wars had. In his speech Alcibiades predicted (over-optimistically, in the opinion of most historians) that the Athenians would be able to recruit allies in the region and impose their rule on <!--del_lnk--> Syracuse, the most powerful city of <!--del_lnk--> Sicily. In spite of Alcibiades' enthusiastic advocacy for the plan, it was Nicias, not he, who turned a modest undertaking into a massive campaign and made the conquest of Sicily seem possible and safe. It was at his suggestion that the size of the fleet was significantly increased from 60 ships to "140 galleys, 5,100 men at arms, and about 1300 archers, slingers, and light armed men". Philosopher <!--del_lnk--> Leo Strauss underscores that the Sicilian expedition surpassed everything undertaken by Pericles. Almost certainly Nicias' intention was to shock the assembly with his high estimate of the forces required, but, instead of dissuading his fellow citizens, his analysis made them all the more eager. Against his wishes Nicias was appointed general along with Alcibiades and <!--del_lnk--> Lamachus, all three of whom were given full powers to do whatever was in the best interests of Athens while in Sicily.<p>One night during preparations for the expedition the <!--del_lnk--> hermai, heads of the god <!--del_lnk--> Hermes on a <!--del_lnk--> plinth with a <!--del_lnk--> phallus, were mutilated throughout Athens. This was a religious scandal and was seen as a bad omen for the mission. Plutarch explains that <!--del_lnk--> Androcles, a political leader, used false witnesses who accused Alcibiades and his friends of mutilating the statues, and of profaning the <!--del_lnk--> Eleusinian Mysteries. Later his opponents, chief among them being Androcles and Thessalus, <!--del_lnk--> Cimon's son, enlisted orators to argue that Alcibiades should set sail as planned and stand trial on his return from the campaign. Alcibiades was suspicious of their intentions, and asked to be allowed to stand trial immediately, under penalty of death, in order to clear his name. This request was denied and the fleet set sail soon after, with the charges unresolved.<table cellspacing="5" class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;">
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<td style="text-align: left;">"Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made. And we cannot fix the exact point at which our empire shall stop; we have reached a position in which we must not be content with retaining but must scheme to extend it, for, if we cease to rule others, we are in danger of being ruled ourselves. Nor can you look at inaction from the same point of view as others, unless you are prepared to change your habits and make them like theirs."</td>
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<td style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Alcibiades' Oration</b> before the Sicilian expedition as recorded by Thucydides, (VI, 18]); Thucydides <!--del_lnk--> disclaims verbal accuracy.</i></td>
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<p>As Alcibiades had suspected, his absence emboldened his enemies, and they began to accuse him of other sacrilegious actions and comments and even alleged that these actions were connected with a plot against the democracy. According to <a href="../../wp/t/Thucydides.htm" title="Thucydides">Thucydides</a>, the Athenians were always in fear and took everything suspiciously. When the fleet arrived in <!--del_lnk--> Catana, it found the state trireme <i>Salaminia</i> waiting to bring Alcibiades and the others indicted for mutilating the hermai or profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries back to Athens to stand trial. Alcibiades told the heralds that he would follow them back to Athens in his ship, but in <!--del_lnk--> Thurii he escaped with his crew; in Athens he was convicted <i><!--del_lnk--> in absentia</i> and condemned to death. His property was confiscated and a reward of one <!--del_lnk--> talent was promised to whoever succeeded in killing any who had fled. Meanwhile the Athenian force in Sicily, after a few early victories, moved against <!--del_lnk--> Messina, where the generals expected their secret allies within the city to betray it to them. Alcibiades, however, foreseeing that he would be outlawed, gave information to the friends of the Syracusans in Messina, who succeeded in preventing the admission of the Athenians. With the death of Lamachus in battle some time later, the Sicilian Expedition fell into the hands of Nicias, who modern scholars have judged to be an inadequate military leader.<p><a id="Defection_to_Sparta" name="Defection_to_Sparta"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Defection to Sparta</span></h3>
<p>After his disappearance at Thurii, Alcibiades quickly contacted the Spartans, "promising to render them aid and service greater than all the harm he had previously done them as an enemy" if they would offer him sanctuary. The Spartans granted this request and received him among them. In the debate at Sparta over whether to send a force to relieve Syracuse, Alcibiades spoke and instilled fear of Athenian ambition into the Spartan ephors by informing them that the Athenians hoped to conquer Sicily, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, and even <!--del_lnk--> Carthage. <!--del_lnk--> Yale historian <!--del_lnk--> Donald Kagan believes that Alcibiades knowingly exaggerated the plans of the Athenians to convince the Spartans of the benefit they stood to gain from his help. Kagan asserts that Alcibiades had not yet acquired his "legendary" reputation, and the Spartans saw him as "a defeated and hunted man" whose policies "produced strategic failures" and brought "no decisive result". If accurate, this assessment underscores one of Alcibiades greatest talents, his highly persuasive oratory. After making the threat seem imminent, Alcibiades advised the Spartans to send troops and most importantly, a Spartan commander to discipline and aid the Syracusans.<table cellspacing="5" class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;">
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<td style="text-align: left;">"Our party was that of the whole people, our creed being to do our part in preserving the form of government under which the city enjoyed the utmost greatness and freedom, and which we had found existing. As for democracy, the men of sense among us knew what it was, and I perhaps as well as any, as I have the more cause to complain of it; but there is nothing new to be said of a patent absurdity - meanwhile we did not think it safe to alter it under the pressure of your hostility."</td>
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<td style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Alcibiades' Speech</b> to the Spartans as recorded by Thucydides, (VI, 89]); Thucydides <!--del_lnk--> disclaims verbal accuracy.</i></td>
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<p>Alcibiades served as a military advisor to Sparta and helped the Spartans secure several crucial successes. He advised them to build a permanent fort at <!--del_lnk--> Decelea, just over ten miles from Athens and within sight of the city. By doing this, the Spartans cut the Athenians off entirely from their homes and crops and the silver mines of <!--del_lnk--> Sunium. This was part of Alcibiades's plan to renew the war with Athens in <!--del_lnk--> Attica. The move was devastating to Athens and forced the citizens to live within the <!--del_lnk--> long walls of the city year round, fostering the <!--del_lnk--> Plague of Athens and making them entirely dependent on their seaborne trade for food. Seeing Athens thus beleaguered on a second front, members of the <!--del_lnk--> Delian League began to contemplate revolt. In the wake of Athens' disastrous defeat in Sicily, Alcibiades sailed to Ionia with a Spartan fleet and succeeded in persuading several critical cities to revolt. In spite of these valuable contributions to the Spartan cause, Alcibiades fell out of favour with the Spartan government at around this time when it was discovered that he was having an affair with the wife of the Spartan king, Agis II. Leotychides, the son born by Agis' wife Timaia shortly after this, was believed by many to be Alcibiades' son. Alcibiades's influence was further reduced after the retirement of Endius, the ephor who was most friendly to him. It is alleged that Astiochus, a Spartan admiral, was sent orders to kill him, but Alcibiades received warning of this order and defected to the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, who had been supporting the Peloponnesian forces financially in <!--del_lnk--> 412 BC.<p><a id="In_Asia_Minor" name="In_Asia_Minor"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">In Asia Minor</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16438.jpg.htm" title="Jean-Baptiste Régnault (1754-1829): Socrates dragging Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure, 1785"><img alt="Jean-Baptiste Régnault (1754-1829): Socrates dragging Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure, 1785" height="146" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Socrates-Alcibiades.jpg" src="../../images/164/16438.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>On his arrival in the Persian court, Alcibiades won the trust of the powerful satrap and made several policy suggestions which were well received. According to Thucydides, Alcibiades immediately began to do all he could with Tissaphernes to injure the Peloponnesian cause. At his urging, the satrap reduced the payments he was making to the Peloponnesian fleet and began delivering them irregularly. Alcibiades next advised Tissaphernes to bribe the generals of the cities to gain valuable intelligence on their activities. Lastly, and most importantly, he told the satrap to be in no hurry to bring the Persian fleet into the conflict, as the longer the war dragged out the more exhausted the combatants would become. This would allow the Persians to more easily conquer the region in the aftermath of the fighting. Alcibiades tried to convince the satrap that it was in Persia's interest to wear both Athens and Sparta out at first, "and after docking the Athenian power as much as he could, forthwith to rid the country of the Peloponnesians". Although Alcibiades' advice benefitted the Persians, it was merely a means to an end;Thucydides tells us that his real motive was to use his alleged influence with the Persians to effect his restoration to Athens.<p><a id="Recall_to_Athens" name="Recall_to_Athens"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Recall to Athens</span></h2>
<p><a id="Negotiations_with_the_Athenian_oligarchs" name="Negotiations_with_the_Athenian_oligarchs"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Negotiations with the Athenian oligarchs</span></h3>
<p>Alcibiades seemed to assume that the "radical democracy" would never agree to his recall to Athens. Therefore, he exchanged messages with the Athenian leaders at <!--del_lnk--> Samos and suggested that if they could install an oligarchy friendly to him he would return to Athens and bring with him Persian money and possibly the Persian fleet of 147 triremes. Alcibiades set about winning over the most influential military officers and achieved his goal by offering them a threefold plan: the Athenian constitution was to be changed, the recall of Alcibiades was to be voted, and Alcibiades was to win over Tissaphernes and the King of Persia to the Athenian side. Most of the officers in the Athenian fleet accepted the plan and welcomed the prospect of a narrower constitution, which would allow them a greater share in determining policy. According to Thucydides, only one of the Athenian generals at Samos, Phrynichus, opposed the plan and argued that Alcibiades cared no more for the proposed oligarchy than for the traditional democracy. The involvement in the plot of another general, <a href="../../wp/t/Thrasybulus.htm" title="Thrasybulus">Thrasybulus</a>, remains unclear.<p>These officers of the Athenian fleet formed a group of conspirators, but were met with opposition from the majority of the soldiers and sailors; these were eventually calmed down "by the advantageous prospect of the pay from the king". The members of the group assembled and prepared to send <!--del_lnk--> Pisander, one of their number, on an embassy to Athens to treat for the restoration of Alcibiades and the abolition of the democracy in the city, and thus to make Tissaphernes the friend of the Athenians.<p>Phrynichus, fearing that Alcibiades if restored would revenge himself upon him for his opposition, sent a secret letter to the Spartan admiral, Astyochus, to tell him that Alcibiades was ruining their cause by making Tissaphernes the friend of the Athenians, and containing an express revelation of the rest of the intrigue. Astyochus went up to Alcibiades and Tissaphernes at <!--del_lnk--> Magnesia and communicated to them Phrynichus's letter. Alcibiades responded in kind, sending to the authorities at Samos a letter against Phrynichus, stating what he had done, and requiring that he should be put to death. Phrynichus in desperation wrote again to Astyochus, offering him a chance to destroy the Athenian fleet at Samos. This also Astyochus revealed to Alcibiades who informed the officers at Samos that they had been betrayed by Phrynichus. Alcibiades however gained no credit, because Phrynichus had anticipated Alcibiades's letter and, before the accusations could arrive, he told the army that he had received information of an enemy plan to attack the camp and that they should fortify Samos as quickly as possible.<p>Despite these events, Pisander and the other envoys of the conspirators arrived at Athens, and made a speech before the people. Pisander won the argument, putting Alcibiades and his promises at the centre. The ecclesia deposed Phrynichus and elected Pisander and ten other envoys to negotiate with Tissaphernes and Alcibiades.<p>At this point, Alcibiades's scheme encountered a great obstacle. Tissaphernes would not make an agreement on any terms, wanting to follow his policy of neutrality. As Kagan points out, Tissaphernes was a prudent leader and had recognized the advantages of wearing each side out without direct Persian involvement. Alcibiades realized this and, by presenting the Athenians with stiffer and stiffer demands on Tissaphernes' behalf, attempted to convince them that he had persuaded Tissaphernes to support them, but that they had not conceded enough to him. Although the envoys were angered at the audacity of the Persian demands, they nevertheless departed with the impression that Alcibiades could have brought about an agreement among the powers if he had chosen to do so. This <!--del_lnk--> fiasco at the court of Tissaphernes, however, put an end to the negotiations between the conspirators and Alcibiades. The group was convinced that Alcibiades could not deliver his side of the bargain without demanding exorbitantly high concessions of them and they accordingly abandoned their plans to restore him to Athens.<p><a id="Reinstatement_as_an_Athenian_General" name="Reinstatement_as_an_Athenian_General"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Reinstatement as an Athenian General</span></h3>
<p>In spite of the failure of the negotiations, the conspirators succeeded in overthrowing the democracy and imposing the oligarchic government of the Four Hundred, among the leaders of which were Phrynichus and Pisander. At Samos, however, a similar coup instigated by the conspirators did not go forward so smoothly. Samian democrats learned of the conspiracy and notified four prominent Athenians, the generals Leon and Diomedon, the <!--del_lnk--> trierarch Thrasybulus, and Thrasyllus, at that time a <!--del_lnk--> hoplite in the ranks. With the support of these men and the Athenian soldiers in general, the Samian democrats were able to defeat the 300 Samian oligarchs who attempted to seize power there. Further, the Athenian troops at Samos formed themselves into a political assembly, deposed their generals, and elected new ones, including Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus. The army, stating that they had not revolted from the city but that the city had revolted from them, resolved to stand by the democracy while continuing to prosecute the war against Sparta.<p>After a time, Thrasybulus persuaded the assembled troops to vote Alcibiades' recall, a policy that he had supported since before the coup. Then he sailed to retrieve Alcibiades and returned with him to Samos. The aim of this policy was to win away Persian support from the Spartans, as it was still believed that Alcibiades had great influence with Tissaphernes. Plutarch claims that the army sent for Alcibiades so as to use his help in putting down the tyrants in Athens. Kagan argues that this reinstatement was a disappointment to Alcibiades, who had hoped for a glorious return to Athens itself but found himself only restored to the rebellious fleet, where the immunity from prosecution he had been granted "protected him for the time being but not from a reckoning in the future"; furthermore, the recall, which Alcibiades had hoped to bring about through his own prestige and perceived influence, was achieved through the patronage of Thrasybulus.<p>At his first speech to the assembled troops, Alcibiades complained bitterly about the circumstances of his exile, but the greatest part of the speech consisted of boasting about his influence with Tissaphernes. The primary motives of his speech were to make the oligarchs at Athens afraid of him and to increase his credit with the army at Samos. Upon hearing his speech the troops immediately elected him general alongside Thrasybulus and the others. In fact, he roused them so much that they proposed to sail at once for <!--del_lnk--> Piraeus and attack the oligarchs in Athens. It was primarily Alcibiades, along with Thrasybulus, who calmed the people and showed them the folly of this proposal, which would have sparked civil war and led to the immediate defeat of Athens. Shortly after Alcibiades' reinstatement as an Athenian general, the government of the Four Hundred was overthrown and replaced by a broader oligarchy, which would eventually give way to democracy.<p>Presently Alcibiades sailed to Tissaphernes with a detachment of ships. According to Plutarch, the supposed purpose of this mission was to stop the Persian fleet from coming to the aid of the Peloponnesians. Thucydides is in agreement with Plutarch that the Persian fleet was at <!--del_lnk--> Aspendus and that Alcibiades told the troops he would bring the fleet to their side or prevent it from coming at all, but Thucydides further speculates that the real reason was to flaunt his new position to Tissaphernes and try to gain some real influence over him. According to the historian, Alcibiades had long known that Tissaphernes never meant to bring the fleet at all, and wished to compromise him as much as possible in the eyes of the Spartans through his friendship for himself and the Athenians, and thus to oblige him to join their side.<p><a id="Battles_of_Abydos_and_Cyzicus" name="Battles_of_Abydos_and_Cyzicus"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Battles of Abydos and Cyzicus</span></h3>
<p>Alcibiades was recalled by the "intermidiate regime" of the Five Thousand, the government which succeeded the Four Hundred in 411, but it is most likely that he waited until <!--del_lnk--> 407 BC to actually return to the city. Plutarch tells us that, although his recall had already been passed on motion of <!--del_lnk--> Critias, a political ally of his, Alcibiades was resolved to come back with glory. While this was certainly his goal, it was again means to an end, that end being avoiding prosecution upon his return to Athens.<p>The next significant part he would play in the war would occur at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Abydos. Alcibiades had remained behind at Samos with small force while Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus led the greater part of the fleet to the Hellespont. During this period, Alcibiades succeded in raising money from <!--del_lnk--> Caria and the neighboring area, with which he was able to pay the rowers and gain their favour. After the Athenian victory at <!--del_lnk--> Cynossema, both fleets summoned all their ships from around the Aegean to join them for what might be a decisive next engagement. While Alcibiades was still en route, the two fleets clashed <!--del_lnk--> Abydos, where the Peloponnesians had set up their main naval base. The battle was evenly matched and raged for a long time, but the balance tipped towards the Athenians when Alcibiades sailed into the Hellespont with eighteen <!--del_lnk--> triremes. The Persian satrap <!--del_lnk--> Pharnabazus, who had replaced Tissaphernes as the sponsor of the Peloponnesian fleet, moved his land army to the shore to defend the ships and sailors who had beached their ships. Only the support of the Persian land army and the coming of night saved the Peloponnesian fleet from complete destruction.<p>Shortly after the battle, Tissaphernes had arrived in the Hellespont and Alcibiades left the fleet at Sestos to meet him, bringing gifts and hoping to once again try to win over the Persian governor. Evidently Alcibiades had gravely misjudged his standing with the satrap, and he was arrested on arrival. Within a month he would escape and resume command. It was now obvious, however, that he had no influence with the Persians; from now on his authority would depend on what he actually could accomplish rather than on what he promised to do.<p>After an interlude of several months in which the Peloponnesians constructed new ships and the Athenians besieged cities and raised money throughout the Aegean, the next major sea battle took place the spring of 410 BC at <!--del_lnk--> Cyzicus. Alcibiades had been forced to flee from <!--del_lnk--> Sestos to <!--del_lnk--> Cardia to protect his small fleet from the rebuilt Peloponnesian navy, but as soon as the Athenian fleet was reunited there its commanders led it to Cyzicus, where the Athenians had intelligence indicating that Pharnabazus and <!--del_lnk--> Mindarus, the Peloponnesian fleet commander, were together plotting their next move. Concealed by storm and darkness the combined Athenian force reached the vicinity without being spotted by the Peloponnesians. Here the Athenians devised a plot to draw the enemy into battle. According to <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus Siculus, Alcibiades advanced with a small squadron in order to draw the Spartans out to battle, and, after he successfully deceived Mindarus with this ploy, the squadrons of Thrasybulus and Theramenes came to join him, cutting off the Spartan's retreat.<p>The Spartan fleet suffered losses in the flight, and reached the shore with the Athenians hot on their heels. Alcibiades's troops, leading the Athenian pursuit, landed and attempted to pull the Spartan ships back out to sea. The Peloponnesians fought to prevent their ships from being towed away, and Pharnabazus's troops came up to support them. Thrasybulus landed his own force to temporarily relieve pressure on Alcibiades, and meanwhile ordered <!--del_lnk--> Theramenes to join up with Athenian land forces nearby and bring them to reinforce the sailors and marines on the beach. The Spartans and Persians, overwhelmed by the arrival of multiple forces from several directions, were defeated and driven off, and the Athenians captured all the Spartan ships which were not destroyed. A letter dispatched to Sparta by Hippocrates, vice-admiral under Mindarus, was intercepted and taken to Athens; it ran as follows: "The ships are lost. Mindarus is dead. The men are starving. We know not what to do". A short time later Sparta petitioned for peace, but their appeals were ultimately rejected by the Athenians.<p><a id="Further_military_successes" name="Further_military_successes"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Further military successes</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16440.png.htm" title="Satellite image of the Thracian Chersonese (now known as the Gallipoli Peninsula) and surrounding area. Alcibiades traveled to the Chersonese in 408 BC and attacked the city of Selymbria on the north shore of the Propontis."><img alt="Satellite image of the Thracian Chersonese (now known as the Gallipoli Peninsula) and surrounding area. Alcibiades traveled to the Chersonese in 408 BC and attacked the city of Selymbria on the north shore of the Propontis." height="118" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Gallipoli_peninsula_from_space.png" src="../../images/164/16440.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16440.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Satellite image of the Thracian Chersonese (now known as the <!--del_lnk--> Gallipoli Peninsula) and surrounding area. Alcibiades traveled to the Chersonese in 408 BC and attacked the city of Selymbria on the north shore of the <!--del_lnk--> Propontis.</div>
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<p>After their victory, Alcibiades and Thrasyllus began the siege of Chalcedon in <!--del_lnk--> 409 BC with about 190 ships. Although unable to attain a decisive victory or induce the city to surrender, Alcibiades was able to win a small tactical land battle outside of the city gates and Theramenes concluded an agreement with the Chalcedonians. Afterwards they concluded a temporary alliance with Pharnabazus which secured some much needed immediate cash for the army, but despite this Alcibiades was still forced to depart in search for more booty to pay the soldiers and oarsmen of the fleet.<p>In pursuit of these funds he traveled to the <!--del_lnk--> Thracian Chersonese and attacked <!--del_lnk--> Selymbria. He plotted with a pro-Athenian party within the city and offered the Selymbrians reasonable terms and imposed strict discipline to see that they were observed. He did their city no injury whatever, but merely took a sum of money from it, set a garrison in it and left. Epigraphical evidence indicates the Selymbrians surrendered hostages until the treaty was ratified in Athens. His performance is judged as skillful by historians, since it saved time, resources, and lives and still fully achieved his goal.<p>From here Alcibiades joined in the siege of <!--del_lnk--> Byzantium along with Theramenes and Thrasyllus. A portion of the citizens of the city, demoralized and hungry, decided to surrender the city to Alcibiades for similar terms as the Selymbrians had received. On the agreed upon night the defenders left their posts and the Athenians attacked the Peloponnesian garrison in the city and their boats in the harbour. The portion of the citizenry that remained loyal to Peloponnesians fought so savagely that Alcibiades issued a statement in the midst of the fighting which guaranteed their safety and this persuaded the remaining citizens to turn against the Peloponnesian garrison, which was nearly totally destroyed.<p><a id="Return_to_Athens.2C_dismissal_and_death" name="Return_to_Athens.2C_dismissal_and_death"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Return to Athens, dismissal and death</span></h2>
<p><a id="Return_to_Athens" name="Return_to_Athens"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Return to Athens</span></h3>
<p>It was in the aftermath of these successes that Alcibiades resolved to finally return to Athens in the spring of 407 BC. Even in the wake of his recent victories, Alcibiades was exceedingly careful in his return, mindful of the changes in government, the charges still technically hanging over him, and the great injury he had done to Athens. Thus Alcibiades, instead of going straight home, he first went to Samos to pick up 20 ships and proceeded with them to the <!--del_lnk--> Ceramic Gulf where he collected 100 talents. He finally sailed to <!--del_lnk--> Gytheion to make inquiries, partly about the reported preparations of the Spartans there, and partly about the feelings in Athens about his return. His inquiries secured him that the city was kindly disposed towards him and that his closest friends urged him to return.<p>Therefore he finally sailed into Piraeus where the crowd had gathered, desiring to see the famous Alcibiades. He entered the harbour full of fear till he saw his cousin and others of his friends and acquaintance, who invited him to land. Upon arriving on shore he was greeted with a hero's welcome. Nevertheless, some saw an evil <!--del_lnk--> omen in the fact that he had returned to Athens on the very day when the ceremony of the <!--del_lnk--> Plynteria (the feast where the old statue of <a href="../../wp/a/Athena.htm" title="Athena">Athena</a> would get cleansed) were being celebrated. This was regarded as the unluckiest day of the year to undertake anything of importance. His enemies took note of this and kept it in mind for a future occasion.<p>All the criminal proceedings against him were cancelled and the charges of <!--del_lnk--> blasphemy were officially withdrawn. Alcibiades was able to assert his piety and to raise Athenian morale by leading the solemn procession to <!--del_lnk--> Eleusis (for the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries) by land for the first time since the Spartans had occupied Decelea. The procession had been replaced by a journey by sea, but this year Alcibiades used a detachment of soldiers to escort the traditional procession. His property was restored and the ecclesia elected him general (strategos) with sole powers by land and sea.<p><a id="Defeat_at_Notium" name="Defeat_at_Notium"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Defeat at Notium</span></h3>
<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 406 BC Alcibiades set out from Athens with 1,500 hoplites and a hundred ships. He failed to take <!--del_lnk--> Andros and then he went on to Samos. Later he moved to <!--del_lnk--> Notium, closer to the enemy at <!--del_lnk--> Ephesus. In the meanwhile Tissaphernes had been replaced by Cyrus (a relative of <!--del_lnk--> Darius II of Persia) who decided to financially support the Peloponnesians. This new revenue started to attract deserters to the Spartan navy from the Athenians. Additionally the Spartans had replaced Mindarus with <!--del_lnk--> Lysander, a very capable admiral. These factors caused the rapid growth of the Peloponnesian fleet at the expense of the Athenian. In search of funds and needing to force another decisive battle, Alcibiades left Notium and sailed to help Thrasybulus in the siege of <!--del_lnk--> Phocaea. Alcibiades was aware the Spartan fleet was nearby, so he left nearly eighty ships to watch them under the command of his personal helmsman Antiochus, who was given express orders not to attack. Antiochus disobeyed these orders and endeavored to draw Lysander into a fight by imitating the tactics used at Cyzicus. The situation at Notium, however, was radically different than that at Cyzicus; the Athenians possessed no element of surprise, and Lysander had been well informed about their fleet by deserters. In practice, Antiochus's ship was sunk, and he was killed, by a sudden Spartan attack; the remaining ships of the decoy force were then chased headlong back toward Notium, where the main Athenian force was caught unprepared by the sudden arrival of the whole Spartan fleet. In the ensuing fighting, Lysander gained an entire victory. Alcibiades soon returned and desperately tried to undo the defeat at Notium by scoring another victory, but Lysander could not be compelled to attack the fleet again.<p>Ultimately responsibility for the defeat fell on Alcibiades and his enemies used the opportunity to attack him and have him removed from command, although some modern scholars believe that Alcibiades was unfairly blamed for Antiochus' mistake. Diodorus reports that, in addition to his mistake at Notium, Alcibiades was discharged on account of false accusations brought against him by his enemies. According to Anthony Andrewes, professor of <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_history.htm" title="Ancient history">ancient history</a>, the extravagant hopes that his successes of the previous summer had created were a decisive element in his downfall. Consequently Alcibiades condemned himself to exile. Never again returning to Athens, he sailed north to the castles in the Thracian Chersonese, which he had secured during his time in the Hellespont. The implications of the defeat were severe for Athens. Although the defeat had been minor, it occasioned the removal of not only Alcibiades but also his allies like Thrasybulus, Theramenes and Critias. These were likely the most capable commanders Athens had at the time and their removal would help lead to the Athenian surrender only two years later after their complete defeat at <!--del_lnk--> Aegospotami.<p><a id="Death" name="Death"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Death</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16441.jpg.htm" title="Michele de Napoli (1808-1892): Morte di Alcibiade (1839 circa). Naples National Archaeological Museum."><img alt="Michele de Napoli (1808-1892): Morte di Alcibiade (1839 circa). Naples National Archaeological Museum." height="249" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alcibiades7220.jpg" src="../../images/164/16441.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>With one exception, Alcibiades' role in the war ended with his command. Prior to the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Aegospotami, in the last attested fact of his career, Alcibiades recognized that the Athenians were anchored in a strategically disadvantageous spot and advised them to move to <!--del_lnk--> Sestus where they could benefit from a harbour and a city. Diodorus, however, does not mention this advice, arguing instead that Alcibiades offered the generals Thracian aid in exchange for a share in the command. In any case, the generals of the Athenians, "considering that in case of defeat the blame would attach to them and that in case of success all men would attribute it to Alcibiades", asked him to leave and not come near the camp ever again. Days later the fleet would be annihilated by Lysander.<p>After the Battle of Aegospotami, Alcibiades crossed the Hellespont and took refuge in <!--del_lnk--> Phrygia, with the object of securing the aid of <!--del_lnk--> Artaxerxes against Sparta. But the Spartans induced Pharnabazus to put him out of the way. According to Plutarch, Lysander sent an envoy to Pharnabazus who then dispatched his brother to Phrygia where Alcibiades was living with his mistress, Timandra. In <!--del_lnk--> 404 BC, as he was about to set out for the Persian court, his residence was surrounded and set on fire. Seeing no chance of escape he rushed out on his assassins, dagger in hand, and was killed by a shower of arrows.<p><a id="Assessments" name="Assessments"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Assessments</span></h2>
<p><a id="Political_career" name="Political_career"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Political career</span></h3>
<p>In <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">ancient Greece</a> Alcibiades was a polarizing figure. Thucydides reprehends the Athenian statesman for his political conduct and motives. According to the historian, Alcibiades, being "exceedingly ambitious", proposed the expedition in Sicily in order "to gain in wealth and reputation by means of his successes". Alcibiades is held responsible by Thucydides for the destruction of Athens, since "his habits gave offence to every one, and caused them to commit affairs to other hands, and thus before long to ruin the city". Plutarch regards him as "the least scrupulous and most entirely careless of human beings". On the other hand, Diodorus argues that he was "in spirit brilliant and intent upon great enterprises". Sharon Press of <!--del_lnk--> Brown University points out that <!--del_lnk--> Xenophon emphasizes Alcibiades' service to the state, rather than the harm he was charged with causing it. <a href="../../wp/d/Demosthenes.htm" title="Demosthenes">Demosthenes</a> defends Alcibiades's achievements, saying that he had taken arms in the cause of democracy, displaying his patriotism, not by gifts of money or by speeches, but by personal service. For Demosthenes and other orators Alcibiades epitomized the figure of the great man during the glorious days of the <!--del_lnk--> Athenian democracy and became a rhetorical symbol. One of <!--del_lnk--> Isocrates' speeches, delivered by the son of Alcibiades, argues that the statesman deserved the Athenians' gratitude for the service he had given them. <!--del_lnk--> Lysias, on the other hand, argued in one of his orations that the Athenians should regard Alcibiades as an enemy because of the general tenor of his life, as "he repays with injury the open assistance of any of his friends". In the <i><!--del_lnk--> Constitution of the Athenians</i> <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a> does not include Alcibiades in the list of the best Athenian politicians, but in <i><!--del_lnk--> Posterior Analytics</i> he argues that traits of a proud man like Alcibiades are "equanimity amid the vicissitudes of life and impatience of dishonor". Alcibiades excited in his contemporaries a fear for the safety of the political order. Therefore, <!--del_lnk--> Andocides said of him that "instead of holding that he ought himself to conform with the laws of the state, he expects you to conform with his own way of life". Central to the depiction of the Athenian statesman is <!--del_lnk--> Cornelius Nepos' famous phrase that Alcibiades "surpassed all the Athenians in grandeur and magnificence of living".<p>Even today Alcibiades divides scholars. For Malcolm F. McGregor, former head of the Department of Classics in the <!--del_lnk--> University of British Columbia, Alcibiades was rather a shrewd gambler than a mere opportunist. Evangelos P. Fotiadis, a prominent Greek <!--del_lnk--> philologist, asserts that Alcibiades was "a first class diplomat" and had "huge skills". Nevertheless his spiritual powers were not counter-balanced with his magnificent mind and he had the hard luck to lead a people susceptible to demagoguery. <!--del_lnk--> K. Paparrigopoulos, a major modern Greek historian, underlines his "spiritual virtues" and compares him with <!--del_lnk--> Themistocles, but he then asserts that all these gifts created a "traitor, an audacious and impious man". Walter Ellis believes that his actions were outrageous, but they were performed with <!--del_lnk--> panache. For his part, David Gribble argues that Alcibiades's actions against his city were misunderstood and believes that "the tension which led to Alcibiades' split with the city was between purely personal and civic values". <!--del_lnk--> Russell Meiggs, a British ancient historian, asserts that the Athenian statesman was absolutely unscrupulous despite his great charm and brilliant abilities. According to Meiggs his actions were dictated by selfish motives and his feud with <!--del_lnk--> Cleon and his successors undermined Athens. The same scholar underscores the fact that "his example of restless and undisciplined ambition strengthened the charge brought against Socrates". Even more critically, Athanasios G. Platias and Constantinos Koliopoulos, professors of strategic studies and <!--del_lnk--> international politics, state that Alcibiades' own arguments "should be sufficient to do away with the notion that Alcibiades was a great statesman, as some people still believe".<p><a id="Military_achievements" name="Military_achievements"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Military achievements</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16442.jpg.htm" title=" Pietro Testa (1611-1650): The Drunken Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium (1648)"><img alt=" Pietro Testa (1611-1650): The Drunken Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium (1648)" height="125" longdesc="/wiki/Image:TestaAlcibiades.jpg" src="../../images/164/16442.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16442.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Pietro Testa (1611-1650): The Drunken Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium (1648)</div>
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<p>Despite his critical comments, Thucydides admits in a short digression that "publicly his conduct of the war was as good as could be desired". Diodorus and Demosthenes regard him as a great general. According to Fotiadis, Alcibiades was an invincible general and, wherever he went, victory followed him. Fotiadis believes that, had he led the army in Sicily, the Athenians would have avoided disaster and, had his countrymen followed his advice at Aegospotami, Lysander would have lost and Athens would have ruled Greece. On the other hand, Paparrigopoulos believes that the Sicilian Expedition, prompted by Alcibiades, was a strategical mistake. In agreement with Paparrigopoulos, Platias and Koliopoulos underscore the fact that the Sicilian expedition was a strategic blunder of the first magnitude, resulting from a "frivolous attitude and an unbelievable underestimation of the enemy". For his part, Angelos Vlachos, a Greek <!--del_lnk--> Academician, underlines the constant interest of Athens for Sicily from the beginning of the war. According to Vlachos the expedition had nothing of the extravagant or adventurous and constituted a rational strategic decision based on traditional Athenian aspirations. Vlachos asserts that Alcibiades had already conceived a broader plan: the conquest of the whole West. He intended to conquer Carthage and <a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a>, then to attack <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> and, after winning these, to seize Italy and Peloponnesus. The initial decision of the ecclesia provided however for a reasonable military force, which later became unreasonably large and costly because of Nicias' demands. Kagan criticizes Alcibiades for failing to recognize that the large size of the Athenian expedition undermined the diplomatic scheme on which his strategy rested.<p>Kagan believes that while Alcibiades was a commander of considerable ability, he was no military genius, and his confidence and ambitions went far beyond his skills. He thus was capable of important errors and serious miscalculations. Kagan argues that at Notium Alcibiades committed a serious error in leaving the fleet in the hands of an inexperienced officer, and that most of the credit for the brilliant victory at Cyzicus must be assigned to Thrasybulus. In this judgement, Kagan agrees with Cornelius Nepos, who said that the Athenians' extravagant opinion of Alcibiades's abilities and valor was his chief misfortune.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16443.jpg.htm" title="Félix Auvray (1830-1833): Alcibiade with the Courtesans (1833), Museum of Fine Arts of Valenciennes"><img alt="Félix Auvray (1830-1833): Alcibiade with the Courtesans (1833), Museum of Fine Arts of Valenciennes" height="139" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AuvrayAlcibiades.jpg" src="../../images/164/16443.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16443.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Félix Auvray (1830-1833): Alcibiade with the Courtesans (1833), Museum of Fine Arts of <!--del_lnk--> Valenciennes</div>
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<p>Press argues that "though Alcibiades can be considered a good general on the basis of his performance in the Hellespont, he would not be considered so on the basis of his performance in Sicily", but "the strengths of Alcibiades' performance as a general outweigh his faults". Professors David McCann and Barry Strauss attempt a comparison between Alcibiades and <!--del_lnk--> Douglas MacArthur, pointing out that "both men stood out as military leaders to whom a mystique attached itself".<p><a id="Oratorical_skill" name="Oratorical_skill"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Oratorical skill</span></h3>
<p>Plutarch asserts that "Alcibiades was a most able speaker in addition to his other gifts", while <!--del_lnk--> Theophrastus argues that Alcibiades was the most capable of discovering and understanding what was required in a given case. Nevertheless, he would often stumble in the midst of his speech, but then he would resume and proceed with all the caution in the world. Even the lisp he had, which was noticed by Aristophanes, made his talk persuasive and full of charm. Eupolis says that he was "prince of talkers, but in speaking most incapable"; which is to say, more eloquent in his private discourses than when orating before the ecclesia. For his part, Demosthenes underscores the fact that Alcibiades was regarded as "the ablest speaker of the day". Paparrigopoulos does not accept Demosthenes's opinion, but acknowledges that the Athenian statesman could sufficiently support his case. Kagan acknowledges his rhetorical power, whilst Thomas Habinek, professor of Classics at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Southern California, believes that the orator Alcibiades seemed to be whatever his audience needed on any given occasion. According to Habinek, in the field of oratory, the people responded to Alcibiades' affection with affection of their own. Therefore, the orator was "the institution of the city talking to - and loving - itself". According to Aristophanes Athens "yearns for him, and hates him too, but wants him back".<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Citations</span></h2>
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;">
<ol class="references">
<li id="_note-Vlachos59">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> A. Vlachos, <i>Thucydides' Bias</i>, 59 etc.<li id="_note-Kern151">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> P.B. Kern, <i>Ancient Siege Warfare</i>, 151<li id="_note-0"><b>^</b> C.A. Cox, <i>Houshold Interests</i>, 144<li id="_note-Plato121"><b>^</b> Plato, <i>Alcibiades 1</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 121a<li id="_note-the_Helios">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup> <cite style="font-style:normal">"Alcibiades". <i>Encyclopaedic Dictionary The Helios</i>. (1952).</cite><li id="_note-Denyer88-89"><b>^</b> N. Denyer, <i>Commentary of Plato's Alcibiades</i>, 88-89<li id="_note-Symposium220e"><b>^</b> Plato, <i>Symposium</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 220e<li id="_note-Sykoutris"><b>^</b> I. Sykoutris, <i>Introduction to Symposium</i>, 159-180<li id="_note-Symposium215b"><b>^</b> Plato, <i>Symposium</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 215a-222b<li id="_note-Alcibiades6"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 6<li id="_note-Alcibiades8">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 8<li id="_note-Gomme339"><b>^</b> A.W. Gomme, <i>A Historical Commentary on Thucydides</i>, 339<li id="_note-Sealey353">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> R. Sealey, <i>A History of the Greek City States</i>, 353<li id="_note-Alcibiades14">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 14<li id="_note-1"><b>^</b> Thucydides, V, <!--del_lnk--> 45<li id="_note-Gomme30"><b>^</b> A.W. Gomme, <i>A Historical Commentary on Thucydides</i>, 70<li id="_note-Alcibiades15"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 15<li id="_note-Alcibiades13">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 13<li id="_note-Alcibiades16"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> XVI<li id="_note-Andocides22"><b>^</b> Andocides, <i>Against Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 22<li id="_note-Platias237">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Platias-Koliopoulos, <i>Thucydides on Strategy</i>, 237-246<li id="_note-2"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 322<li id="_note-3"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 20<li id="_note-Strauss104-105">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> L. Strauss, <i>The City and Man</i>, 104<li id="_note-Th6.26"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VI, <!--del_lnk--> 26<li id="_note-Alcibiades19">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 19<li id="_note-Th6.29"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VI, <!--del_lnk--> 29<li id="_note-Th6.61"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VI, <!--del_lnk--> 61<li id="_note-Th6.53">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Thucydides, VI, <!--del_lnk--> 53<li id="_note-4"><b>^</b> D. Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 273<li id="_note-Th6.74"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VI, <!--del_lnk--> 74<li id="_note-Alcibiades23"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 23<li id="_note-Th6.89">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Thucydides, VI, <!--del_lnk--> 89-90<li id="_note-Kagan282-283">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup> D. Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 282-283<li id="_note-Th7.18"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VII, <!--del_lnk--> 18<li id="_note-Alcibiades24"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 24 and Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 26<li id="_note-Britannica">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <cite style="font-style:normal">"Alcibiades". <i>Encyclopaedia Britannica</i>. (2002).</cite><li id="_note-Lysander22"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Lysander</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 22 and <i>Agesilaus</i>, III<li id="_note-Rhodes144"><b>^</b> P.J. Rhodes, <i>A History of the Classical Greek World</i>, 144<li id="_note-Th8.45">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Thucydides, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 8.<!--del_lnk--> 45<li id="_note-Th8.46">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 46<li id="_note-Th8.47"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 47<li id="_note-Buckley411-413"><b>^</b> T. Buckley, <i>Aspects of Greek History</i>, 411<li id="_note-5"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 25<li id="_note-Sealey359"><b>^</b> R. Sealey, <i>A History of the Greek City States</i>, 359<li id="_note-Th8.48"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 48<li id="_note-Th8.49"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 49<li id="_note-Th8.50"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 50<li id="_note-Th8.51"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 51<li id="_note-Th8.53"><b>^</b> Thucydides, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 8.<!--del_lnk--> 53<li id="_note-Kagan136-138">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> D. Kagan, <i>The Fall of the Athenian Empire</i>, 136-138<li id="_note-6"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 366<li id="_note-Th8.56">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Thucydides, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 8.<!--del_lnk--> 56<li id="_note-Th8.73"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 73<li id="_note-7"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 76<li id="_note-Th8.81"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 81<li id="_note-Alcibiades26">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 26<li id="_note-Kagan389"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 389<li id="_note-Th8.82">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 82<li id="_note-8"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 97<li id="_note-Th8.88"><b>^</b> Thucydides, VIII, <!--del_lnk--> 88<li id="_note-Cartwright301"><b>^</b> Cartwright-Warner, <i>A Historical Commentary on Thucydides</i>, 301<li id="_note-Pl27">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 27<li id="_note-9"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 406<li id="_note-Hellenica1.4.1"><b>^</b> Xenophon, <i>Hellenica</i>, 1.1.<!--del_lnk--> 5<li id="_note-10"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 408<li id="_note-Pl28">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 28<li id="_note-11"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 410<li id="_note-Diodorus74">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup> Diodorus, XIII, <!--del_lnk--> 50-51<li id="_note-Hellenica1.17">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Xenophon, <i>Hellenica</i>, 1.1.<!--del_lnk--> 17-23<li id="_note-12"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 410-413<li id="_note-Diodorus52-53"><b>^</b> Diodorus, <i>Library</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 52-53<li id="_note-13"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 429<li id="_note-Diodorus66">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Diodorus, <i>Library</i>, xiii, 66.<!--del_lnk--> 3<li id="_note-Pl30"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 30<li id="_note-14"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 410<li id="_note-15"><b>^</b> Xenophon, <i>Hellenica</i>, 1, 4, <!--del_lnk--> 8-12<li id="_note-16"><b>^</b> B. Due, <i>The Return of Alcibiades</i>, 39<li id="_note-17"><b>^</b> Xenophon, <i>Hellenica</i>, 1, 4, <!--del_lnk--> 13<li id="_note-Pl32">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 32<li id="_note-Pl34"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 34<li id="_note-18"><b>^</b> D Kagan, <i>The Fall of the Athenian Empire</i>, 290<li id="_note-19"><b>^</b> S. Price, <i>Religions of the Ancient Greeks</i>, 54<li id="_note-20"><b>^</b> Xenophon, <i>Hellenica</i>, 1, 4, <!--del_lnk--> 18<li id="_note-Pl33">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 33<li id="_note-Andrews490">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> A. Andrewes, <i>The Spartan Resurgence</i>, 490<li id="_note-21"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 443<li id="_note-22"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 444<li id="_note-23"><b>^</b> For the accepted account of the battle see Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 35 or the <!--del_lnk--> Hellenica Oxyrhynchia, 4.<li id="_note-Cawkell"><b>^</b> G. Cawkell, <i>Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War</i>, 143<li id="_note-24"><b>^</b> Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 447<li id="_note-Perrin25-37">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> B. Perrin, <i>The Death of Alcibiades</i> , 25-37<li id="_note-Hellenica2.1.25">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Xenophon, <i>Hellenica</i>, 2.1.<!--del_lnk--> 25<li id="_note-Diodorus105">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Diodorus, <i>Library</i>, xiii, <!--del_lnk--> 105<li id="_note-Alcibiades39">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 39<li id="_note-Th6.15">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Thucydides, VI, <!--del_lnk--> 15<li id="_note-PlCom6"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>The Comparison of Alcibiades with Coriolanus</i>, 6<li id="_note-Diodorus68">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Diodorus, <i>Library</i>, xiii, 68.<!--del_lnk--> 5<li id="_note-Press">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> S. Press, <!--del_lnk--> Was Alcibiades a Good General?<li id="_note-Hellenica1.4.18"><b>^</b> Xenophon, <i>Hellenica</i>, 1.4. <!--del_lnk--> 18<li id="_note-Meidias144-145">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Demosthenes, <i>Against Meidias</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 144-145<li id="_note-Gribble32">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> D. Gribble, <i>Alcibiades and Athens</i>, 32-33<li id="_note-Isocrates"><b>^</b> Isocrates, <i>Concerning the Team of Horses</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 15<li id="_note-Lysias"><b>^</b> Lysias, <i>Against Alcibiades 1</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 1<li id="_note-Lysias2"><b>^</b> Lysias, <i>Against Alcibiades 2</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 10<li id="_note-Con28"><b>^</b> Aristotle, <i>Constitution of the Athenians</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 28<li id="_note-Ar13"><b>^</b> Aristotle, <i>Posterior Analytics</i>, ii, 13<li id="_note-Gribble41"><b>^</b> D. Gribble, <i>Alcibiades and Athens</i>, 41<li id="_note-Andocides19">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Andocides, <i>Against Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 19<li id="_note-NeposXI"><b>^</b> Cornelius Nepos, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> XI<li id="_note-McGregor27-50"><b>^</b> M.F. McGregor, <i>The Genius of Alkibiades</i>, 27-50<li id="_note-Paparrigopoulos264-268">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Κ. Paparrigopoulos, <i>History of the Greek Nation</i>, Αβ, 264-268<li id="_note-25"><b>^</b> W. Ellis, <i>Alcibiades</i>, 18<li id="_note-Gribble55"><b>^</b> D. Gribble, <i>Alcibiades and Athens</i>, 55 etc.<li id="_note-Platias240"><b>^</b> A.G. Platias and C. Koliopoulos, <i>Thucydides on Strategy</i>, 240<li id="_note-Paparrigopoulos272"><b>^</b> Κ. Paparrigopoulos, <i>History of the Greek Nation</i>, Αβ, 272<li id="_note-Vlachos206"><b>^</b> A. Vlachos, <i>Thucydides' Bias</i>, 206<li id="_note-Vlachos202-203">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> A. Vlachos, <i>Thucydides' Bias</i>, 202-203<li id="_note-Alcibiades17">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 17<li id="_note-Kagan419-420">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> D. Kagan, <i>The Fall of the Athenian Empire</i>, 419-420<li id="_note-NeposVII"><b>^</b> Cornelius Nepos, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> VII<li id="_note-Cann"><b>^</b> D. McCann - B. Strauss, <i>War and Democracy</i>, xxv<li id="_note-Alcibiades10"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 10<li id="_note-Aristophens44"><b>^</b> Aristophanes, <i>Wasps</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 44<li id="_note-Alcibiades1"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 1<li id="_note-Kagan178"><b>^</b> D. Kagan, <i>The Fall of the Athenian Empire</i>, 178<li id="_note-Habinek">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> T. Habinek, <i>Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory</i>, 23-24<li id="_note-Frogs1425"><b>^</b> Aristophanes, <i>Frogs</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 1425<li id="_note-26"><b>^</b> E. Corrigan, <i>Plato's Dialectic at Play</i>, 169<li id="_note-27"><b>^</b> G.A. Scott, <i>Plato's Socrates as Educator</i>, 19<li id="_note-PlAp33a"><b>^</b> Plato, <i>Apology</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 33a<li id="_note-28"><b>^</b> N. Endres, <!--del_lnk--> Alcibiades<li id="_note-29"><b>^</b> T.T.B. Ryder, <i>Alcibiades</i>, 32<li id="_note-30"><b>^</b> J. Richards, <!--del_lnk--> The Gods Abandon Alcibiades<li id="_note-Isocrates5"><b>^</b> Isocrates, <i>Busiris</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 5<li id="_note-Alcibiades7">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 7<li id="_note-31"><b>^</b> Y. Lee Too, <i>The Rhetoric of Identity in Isocrates</i>, 216<li id="_note-Gribble30"><b>^</b> D. Gribble, <i>Alcibiades and Athens</i>, 30<li id="_note-32"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 12<li id="_note-Symposium221a"><b>^</b> Plato, <i>Symposium</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 221a<li id="_note-Sykoutris2"><b>^</b> I. Sykoutris, <i>Symposium of Plato (Comments)</i>, 225<li id="_note-ThI22"><b>^</b> Thucydides, I, <!--del_lnk--> 22<li id="_note-33"><b>^</b> Donald Kagan, <i>The Peloponnesian War</i>, 385<li id="_note-34"><b>^</b> R.J. Buck, <i>Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy</i>, 27-28<li id="_note-Littman265-272">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> R.J. Littman, <i>The Strategy of the Battle of Cyzicus</i>, 271<li id="_note-Hatzfeld271"><b>^</b> J. Hatzfeld, <i>Alcibiade</i>, 271<li id="_note-Alcibiades36"><b>^</b> Plutarch, <i>Alcibiades</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 36 and <i>Comparison with Coriolanus</i>, 2<li id="_note-Wolpert5"><b>^</b> A. Wolpert, <i>Remembering Defeat</i>, 5<li id="_note-35"><b>^</b> H.T. Peck, <!--del_lnk--> Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities and W. Smith, New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, 39<li id="_note-Isocrates40"><b>^</b> Isocrates, <i>Concerning the Team of Horses</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 40<li id="_note-Vlachos204"><b>^</b> A. Vlachos, <i>Thucydides' Bias</i>, 204</ol>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alcohol</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Chemistry.General_Chemistry.htm">General Chemistry</a></h3>
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<p>In <a href="../../wp/c/Chemistry.htm" title="Chemistry">chemistry</a>, an <b>alcohol</b> is any <!--del_lnk--> organic compound in which a <!--del_lnk--> hydroxyl <!--del_lnk--> group (<i>-<a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">O</a><a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">H</a></i>) is bound to a <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon.htm" title="Carbon">carbon</a> atom of an <!--del_lnk--> alkyl or substituted alkyl group. The general formula for a simple <!--del_lnk--> acyclic alcohol is <b>C<sub>n</sub>H<sub>2n+1</sub>OH</b>.<p>In general usage, <b>alcohol</b> refers almost always to <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">ethanol</a>, also known as <b>grain alcohol</b>, a strongly-smelling, colorless, volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars. It also often refers to any beverage that contains ethanol (see <i><!--del_lnk--> alcoholic beverage</i>). This sense underlies the term <!--del_lnk--> alcoholism (<!--del_lnk--> addiction to alcohol). Other forms of alcohol are usually described with a clarifying adjective, as in <i><!--del_lnk--> isopropyl alcohol</i> or by the suffix <i>-ol</i>, as in <i>isopropanol</i>.<p>
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</script><a id="Structure" name="Structure"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Structure</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> functional group of an alcohol is a <!--del_lnk--> hydroxyl group bonded to an sp³ hybridized carbon. It can therefore be regarded as a derivative of <!--del_lnk--> water, with an <!--del_lnk--> alkyl group replacing one of the hydrogens. If an <!--del_lnk--> aryl group is present rather than an alkyl, the compound is generally called a <!--del_lnk--> phenol rather than an alcohol. Also, if the hydroxyl group is bonded to one of the sp² hybridized carbons of an <!--del_lnk--> alkenyl group, the compound is referred to as an <!--del_lnk--> enol. The oxygen in an alcohol has a bond angle of around 109° (c.f. 104.5° in water), and two nonbonded electron pairs. The O-H bond in methanol (CH<sub>3</sub>OH) is around 96 pico<!--del_lnk--> metres long.<p><a id="Primary.2C_secondary.2C_and_tertiary_alcohols" name="Primary.2C_secondary.2C_and_tertiary_alcohols"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols</span></h3>
<p>There are three major subsets of alcohols- 'primary' (1°), 'secondary' (2°) and 'tertiary' (3°), based upon the number of carbons the C-OH carbon (shown in red) is bonded to. <!--del_lnk--> Methanol is the simplest 'primary' alcohol. The simplest secondary alcohol is <!--del_lnk--> isopropanol (propan-2-ol), and a simple tertiary alcohol is <!--del_lnk--> <i>tert</i>-butanol (2-methylpropan-2-ol).<dl>
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<p>The <!--del_lnk--> phenols with parent compound <!--del_lnk--> phenol have a hydroxyl group (attached to a <a href="../../wp/b/Benzene.htm" title="Benzene">benzene</a> ring) just like alcohols but differ sufficiently in properties to warrant a separate treatment.<p><a id="Methanol_and_ethanol" name="Methanol_and_ethanol"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Methanol and ethanol</span></h3>
<p>The simplest and most commonly used alcohols are <!--del_lnk--> methanol (common name <!--del_lnk--> methyl alcohol) and <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">ethanol</a> (<!--del_lnk--> ethyl alcohol), with the structures shown above. Methanol was formerly obtained by the distillation of wood and called "wood alcohol." It is now a cheap commodity, the chemical product of <!--del_lnk--> carbon monoxide reacting with <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a> under high pressure. In common usage, "alcohol" often refers to ethanol or "grain alcohol." <!--del_lnk--> Methylated spirits ("Meths"), also called "surgical spirits," is a form of ethanol rendered undrinkable by the addition of methanol. Aside from its primary use in alcoholic beverages, ethanol is also used as a highly controlled industrial solvent and raw material.<p><a id="Automotive" name="Automotive"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Automotive</span></h3>
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<p>Alcohol is often used as an automotive fuel. Ethanol and methanol can be made to burn more cleanly than <!--del_lnk--> gasoline or <!--del_lnk--> diesel. Alcohol was once commonly used as an <!--del_lnk--> antifreeze in automobile <!--del_lnk--> radiators. And to add to an <!--del_lnk--> internal combustion engine's performance, Methanol may be injected into turbocharged and supercharged engines to cool the air intake charge. Doing this provides a denser air charge.<p><a id="Scientific.2C_medical.2C_and_industrial" name="Scientific.2C_medical.2C_and_industrial"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Scientific, medical, and industrial</span></h3>
<p>Alcohols are in wide use in industry and science as reagents <!--del_lnk--> solvents. Because of its low toxicity and ability to dissolve non-polar substances, ethanol is often used as a solvent in medical drugs, <!--del_lnk--> perfumes, and vegetable essences such as <a href="../../wp/v/Vanilla.htm" title="Vanilla">vanilla</a>. In <!--del_lnk--> organic synthesis, alcohols frequently serve as versatile intermediates.<p>Ethanol is often used as an antiseptic, to disinfect the skin before injections are given, often along with iodine. Ethanol-based soaps are now becoming commonplace within restaurants and are particularly convenient as they do not require drying due to the volatility of the molecule.<p><a id="Cuisine" name="Cuisine"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Cuisine</span></h3>
<p>In the kitchen, alcoholic beverages are added to dishes not only for their inherent flavours, but also because the alcohol dissolves flavor compounds that water cannot.<p>Ethanol is commonly used in beverages to promote flavor, reduce social inhibitions, or induce a euphoric intoxication commonly known as <!--del_lnk--> drunkenness.<p><a id="Effects_of_alcohol_on_the_body" name="Effects_of_alcohol_on_the_body"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Effects of alcohol on the body</span></h2>
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<p>Ethanol is a <!--del_lnk--> drug, with potential for overdose or toxic poisoning if taken in excessive quantities. <!--del_lnk--> Alcoholism, the physiological or psychological dependency on ethanol, is one of the most common drug addictions (caffeine causes chemical dependency, but not the mental longing known as addiction) in the world. Upon cessation or decrease of use, the physiological dependency can lead to physical withdrawal symptoms, such as restlessness, trouble sleeping, "<!--del_lnk--> the shakes," or even death. Not everyone who abuses alcohol becomes physiologically dependent upon it, but can become psychologically addicted to it, similar to <!--del_lnk--> marijuana. Psychological addiction produces no physical withdrawal symptoms upon cessation of drinking alcohol, but the urge, or craving, to drink again can become quite intense and irresistible. Alcohol is proven to relax your body causing your reactions to be slower and as your body is relaxed you are not as affected in accidents as others may be.<p><a id="Alcohol_and_politics" name="Alcohol_and_politics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alcohol and politics</span></h2>
<p>Ethanol for consumption has been regulated by taxation. Those who manufacture it for other purposes often avoid this expense by "denaturing" it in a manner that renders it unfit for drinking. A common way to do this is by the addition of <!--del_lnk--> denatonium benzoate or <!--del_lnk--> methanol. "SD-40" and "SD Alcohol" sometimes followed by "40-B" are designations that were established by the United States' <!--del_lnk--> Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for this formulation.<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Nomenclature</span></h2>
<p><a id="Systematic_names" name="Systematic_names"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Systematic names</span></h3>
<p>In the <!--del_lnk--> IUPAC system, the name of the alkane chain loses the terminal "e" and adds "ol", e.g. "methanol" and "ethanol". When necessary, the position of the hydroxyl group is indicated by a number between the alkane name and the "ol": <!--del_lnk--> propan-1-ol for CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>OH, <!--del_lnk--> propan-2-ol for CH<sub>3</sub>CH(OH)CH<sub>3</sub>. Sometimes, the position number is written before the IUPAC name: 1-propanol and 2-propanol. If a higher priority group is present (such as an <!--del_lnk--> aldehyde, <!--del_lnk--> ketone or <!--del_lnk--> carboxylic acid), then it is necessary to use the prefix "hydroxy", for example: 1-hydroxy-2-propanone (CH<sub>3</sub>COCH<sub>2</sub>OH).<p>Some examples of simple alcohols and how to name them:<div class="center">
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<p>Common names for alcohols usually take the name of the corresponding <!--del_lnk--> alkyl group and add the word "alcohol", e.g. <!--del_lnk--> methyl alcohol, <!--del_lnk--> ethyl alcohol or <!--del_lnk--> <i>tert</i>-butyl alcohol. <!--del_lnk--> Propyl alcohol may be <i>n</i>-propyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol depending on whether the hydroxyl group is bonded to the 1st or 2nd carbon on the propane chain. Isopropyl alcohol is also occasionally called <i>sec</i>-propyl alcohol.<p>As mentioned above alcohols are classified as primary (1°), secondary (2°) or tertiary (3°), and common names often indicate this in the alkyl group prefix. For example (CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>COH is a tertiary alcohol is commonly known as <i>tert</i>-butyl alcohol. This would be named 2-methylpropan-2-ol under IUPAC rules, indicating a propane chain with methyl and hydroxyl groups both attached to the middle (#2) carbon.<p>An alcohol with two hydroxyl groups is commonly called a "glycol", e.g. HO-CH<sub>2</sub>-CH<sub>2</sub>-OH is <!--del_lnk--> ethylene glycol. The IUPAC name is ethane-1,2-diol, "diol" indicating two hydroxyl groups, and 1,2 indicating their bonding positions. <!--del_lnk--> Geminal glycols (with the two hydroxyls on the same carbon atom), such as ethane-1,1-diol, are generally unstable. For three or four groups, "triol" and "tetraol" are used.<p><a id="Etymology" name="Etymology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Etymology</span></h3>
<p>The word "alcohol" almost certainly comes from the <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic language</a> (the "al-" prefix being the Arabic definite article); however, the precise origin is unclear. A Persian physician named <!--del_lnk--> Rhazes discovered this substance, but as he spoke Arabic under Arab rule, the word remains of Arabic origin. It was introduced into <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>, together with the art of <!--del_lnk--> distillation and the substance itself, around the <a href="../../wp/1/12th_century.htm" title="12th century">12th century</a> by various European authors who translated and popularized the discoveries of <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islamic</a> <a href="../../wp/a/Alchemy.htm" title="Alchemy">alchemists</a> <!--del_lnk--> .<p>A popular theory, found in many dictionaries, is that it comes from <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" style="white-space: nowrap;" xml:lang="ar">الكحل</span>‎ <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-kuḥl</span></i>, originally the name of very finely powdered <a href="../../wp/a/Antimony.htm" title="Antimony">antimony</a> <!--del_lnk--> sulfide <a href="../../wp/a/Antimony.htm" title="Antimony">Sb</a><sub>2</sub><a href="../../wp/s/Sulfur.htm" title="Sulfur">S</a><sub>3</sub> used as an <!--del_lnk--> antiseptic and <!--del_lnk--> eyeliner. The powder is prepared by <!--del_lnk--> sublimation of the natural mineral <!--del_lnk--> stibnite in a closed vessel. According to this theory, the meaning of <i>alkuhul</i> would have been first extended to distilled substances in general, and then narrowed to ethanol. This conjectured etymology has been circulating in England since <!--del_lnk--> 1672 at least (<!--del_lnk--> OED).<p>However, this derivation is suspicious since the current Arabic name for alcohol, <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" style="white-space: nowrap;" xml:lang="ar">الكحول</span>‎ <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-kuḥūl</span></i>, does not derive from <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-kuḥl</span></i>. The <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a>, in verse 37:47, uses the word <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" style="white-space: nowrap;" xml:lang="ar">الغول</span>‎ <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-ghawl</span></i> — properly meaning "<!--del_lnk--> spirit" or "<!--del_lnk--> demon" — with the sense "the thing that gives the wine its headiness". The word <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-ghawl</span></i> is also the origin of the <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> word "<!--del_lnk--> ghoul", and the name of the star <a href="../../wp/a/Algol.htm" title="Algol">Algol</a>. This derivation would, of course, be consistent with the use of "spirit" or "spirit of wine" as synonymous of "alcohol" in most Western languages. (Incidentally, the etymology "alcohol" = "the devil" was used in the <!--del_lnk--> 1930s by the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">U.S.</a> <!--del_lnk--> Temperance movement for propaganda purposes.)<p>According to the second theory, the popular etymology and the spelling "alcohol" would not be due to generalization of the meaning of <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-kuḥl</span></i>, but rather to Western alchemists and authors confusing the two words <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-kuḥl</span></i> and <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">al-ghawl</span></i>, which have indeed been transliterated in many different and overlapping ways.<p><a id="Physical_and_chemical_properties" name="Physical_and_chemical_properties"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Physical and chemical properties</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> hydroxyl group generally makes the alcohol molecule <!--del_lnk--> polar. Those groups can form <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen bonds to one another and to other compounds. Two opposing solubility trends in alcohols are: the tendency of the polar OH to promote solubility in water, and of the carbon chain to resist it. Thus, methanol, ethanol, and propanol are miscible in water because the hydroxyl group wins out over the short carbon chain. <!--del_lnk--> Butanol, with a four-carbon chain, is moderately soluble because of a balance between the two trends. Alcohols of five or more carbons (<!--del_lnk--> Pentanol and higher) are effectively insoluble because of the hydrocarbon chain's dominance.<p>Because of <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen bonding, alcohols tend to have higher boiling points than comparable <!--del_lnk--> hydrocarbons and <!--del_lnk--> ethers. The boiling point of the alcohol Ethanol is 78.29 °C, compared to 69 °C for the hydrocarbon <!--del_lnk--> Hexane (a common constituent of <!--del_lnk--> gasoline), and 34.6 °C for <!--del_lnk--> Diethyl ether. All simple alcohols are miscible in organic solvents. This hydrogen bonding means that alcohols can be used as <!--del_lnk--> protic solvents.<p>The lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen of the hydroxyl group also makes alcohols nucleophiles.<p>Alcohols, like water, can show either acidic or basic properties at the O-H group. With a <!--del_lnk--> pK<sub>a</sub> of around 16-19 they are generally slightly weaker <!--del_lnk--> acids than <!--del_lnk--> water, but they are still able to react with strong bases such as <!--del_lnk--> sodium hydride or reactive metals such as <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">sodium</a>. The salts that result are called <b><!--del_lnk--> alkoxides</b>, with the general formula <!--del_lnk--> RO<sup>-</sup> <a href="../../wp/m/Metal.htm" title="Metal">M</a><sup>+</sup>.<p>Meanwhile the oxygen atom has <!--del_lnk--> lone pairs of nonbonded electrons that render it weakly <!--del_lnk--> basic in the presence of strong acids such as <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfuric_acid.htm" title="Sulfuric acid">sulfuric acid</a>. For example, with methanol:<p><a class="image" href="../../images/1/109.gif.htm" title="Acidity & basicity of methanol"><img alt="Acidity & basicity of methanol" height="127" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Methanol_acid_base.gif" src="../../images/1/109.gif" width="500" /></a><p>Alcohols can also undergo <!--del_lnk--> oxidation to give <!--del_lnk--> aldehydes, <!--del_lnk--> ketones or <!--del_lnk--> carboxylic acids, or they can be dehydrated to <!--del_lnk--> alkenes. They can react to form <!--del_lnk--> ester compounds, and they can (if activated first) undergo <!--del_lnk--> nucleophilic substitution reactions. For more details see the <a href="#Reactions_of_alcohols" title="">reactions of alcohols</a> section below.<p><a id="Toxicity" name="Toxicity"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Toxicity</span></h2>
<p>Alcohols often have an odour described as 'biting' that 'hangs' in the nasal passages. <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">Ethanol</a> in the form of <!--del_lnk--> alcoholic beverages has been consumed by humans since pre-historic times, for a variety of hygienic, dietary, medicinal, religious, and recreational reasons. While infrequent consumption of ethanol in small quantities may be harmless or even beneficial, larger doses result in a state known as <!--del_lnk--> drunkenness or intoxication (which may lead to a <!--del_lnk--> hangover the next day) and, depending on the dose and regularity of use, can cause acute respiratory failure or death and with chronic use has medical repercussions. Alcohol has also been known to be a catalyst for reckless behaviors that may have undesirable results, such as accidents, fighting, and unprotected sex. The <!--del_lnk--> LD<sub>50</sub> of ethanol in rats 11,300 mg/kg.<!--del_lnk--> This ratio would correspond to an 80kg (176.4lb) man drinking 65 <!--del_lnk--> shots of 80 proof alcohol, although the LD<sub>50</sub> does not necessarily translate directly to humans.<p>Other alcohols are substantially more poisonous than ethanol, partly because they take much longer to be metabolized, and often their metabolism produces even more toxic substances. Methanol, or <i>wood alcohol</i>, for instance, is oxidized by <!--del_lnk--> alcohol dehydrogenase <!--del_lnk--> enzymes in the liver to the poisonous <!--del_lnk--> formaldehyde, which can cause blindness or death.<p>An effective treatment to prevent formaldehyde toxicity after methanol ingestion is to administer ethanol. Alcohol dehydrogenase has a higher affinity for ethanol, thus preventing methanol from binding and acting as a <!--del_lnk--> substrate. Any remaining methanol will then have time to be excreted through the kidneys. Remaining formaldehyde will be converted to <a href="../../wp/f/Formic_acid.htm" title="Formic acid">formic acid</a> and excreted.<p><a id="Preparation_of_alcohols" name="Preparation_of_alcohols"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Preparation of alcohols</span></h2>
<p><a id="Laboratory" name="Laboratory"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Laboratory</span></h3>
<p>Several methods exist for the preparation of alcohols in the laboratory.<ul>
<li>Primary <!--del_lnk--> alkyl halides react with aqueous <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium_hydroxide.htm" title="Sodium hydroxide">NaOH</a> or <!--del_lnk--> KOH mainly to primary alcohols in <!--del_lnk--> nucleophilic aliphatic substitution. (Secondary and especially tertiary alkyl halides will give the elimination (alkene) product instead).<li><!--del_lnk--> Aldehydes or <!--del_lnk--> ketones are <!--del_lnk--> reduced with <!--del_lnk--> sodium borohydride or <a href="../../wp/l/Lithium_aluminium_hydride.htm" title="Lithium aluminium hydride">lithium aluminium hydride</a> (after an acidic workup). Another reduction by aluminumisopropylates is the <!--del_lnk--> Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction.<li><!--del_lnk--> Alkenes engage in an <!--del_lnk--> acid catalysed <!--del_lnk--> hydration reaction using concentrated <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfuric_acid.htm" title="Sulfuric acid">sulfuric acid</a> as a catalyst which gives usually secondary or tertiary alcohols.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> hydroboration-oxidation and <!--del_lnk--> oxymercuration-reduction of alkenes are more reliable in organic synthesis.<li><!--del_lnk--> Grignard reagents react with <!--del_lnk--> carbonyl groups to secondary and tertiary alcohols<li><!--del_lnk--> Noyori asymmetric hydrogenation is the asymmetric reduction of β-keto-esters</ul>
<p>The formation of a secondary alcohol via reduction and hydration is shown:<div class="center">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/1/110.gif.htm" title="Preparation of a secondary alcohol"><img alt="Preparation of a secondary alcohol" height="91" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alcohol_prep.gif" src="../../images/1/110.gif" width="350" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<p><a id="Industrial" name="Industrial"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Industrial</span></h3>
<p>Industrially alcohols are produced in several ways:<ul>
<li>By <!--del_lnk--> fermentation using <!--del_lnk--> glucose produced from sugar from the <!--del_lnk--> hydrolysis of <!--del_lnk--> starch, in the presence of yeast and temperature of less than 37°C to produce ethanol. For instance the conversion of <!--del_lnk--> invertase to <!--del_lnk--> glucose and <!--del_lnk--> fructose or the conversion of <!--del_lnk--> glucose to <!--del_lnk--> zymase and <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">ethanol</a>.<li>By direct <!--del_lnk--> hydration using <!--del_lnk--> ethene or other alkenes from <!--del_lnk--> cracking of fractions of distilled <!--del_lnk--> crude oil. Uses a catalyst of <!--del_lnk--> phosphoric acid under high temperature and pressure.<li><!--del_lnk--> Methanol is producted from water gas: It is manufactured from <!--del_lnk--> synthesis gas, where <!--del_lnk--> carbon monoxide and 2 equivalents of hydrogen gas are combined to produce <!--del_lnk--> methanol using a <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a>, <!--del_lnk--> zinc oxide and <!--del_lnk--> aluminium oxide catalyst at 250°C and a pressure of 50-100 atm.</ul>
<p><a id="Reactions_of_alcohols" name="Reactions_of_alcohols"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Reactions of alcohols</span></h2>
<p><a id="Deprotonation" name="Deprotonation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Deprotonation</span></h3>
<p>Alcohols can behave as weak acids, undergoing <!--del_lnk--> deprotonation. The deprotonation reaction to produce an <!--del_lnk--> alkoxide <a href="../../wp/s/Salt.htm" title="Salt">salt</a> is either performed with a strong base such as <!--del_lnk--> sodium hydride or <!--del_lnk--> <i>n</i>-butyllithium, or with sodium or potassium metal.<dl>
<dd>2 R-OH + 2 <!--del_lnk--> NaH → 2 R-O<sup>-</sup>Na<sup>+</sup> + <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">H<sub>2</sub></a>↑</dl>
<dl>
<dd>2 R-OH + 2<a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">Na</a> → 2R-O<sup>−</sup>Na + H<sub>2</sub></dl>
<dl>
<dd>E.g. 2 <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>-OH</a> + 2 Na → 2 CH<sub>3</sub>-CH<sub>2</sub>-O<sup>−</sup>Na + H<sub>2</sub></dl>
<p>Water is similar in <!--del_lnk--> pK<sub>a</sub> to many alcohols, so with <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium_hydroxide.htm" title="Sodium hydroxide">sodium hydroxide</a> there is an <!--del_lnk--> equilibrium set up which usually lies to the left:<dl>
<dd>R-OH + <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium_hydroxide.htm" title="Sodium hydroxide">NaOH</a> <=> R-O<sup>-</sup>Na<sup>+</sup> + H<sub>2</sub>O (equilibrium to the left)</dl>
<p>It should be noted, though, that the bases used to deprotonate alcohols are strong themselves. The bases used and the alkoxides created are both highly moisture sensitive chemical reagents.<p>The acidity of alcohols is also affected by the overall stability of the alkoxide ion. <!--del_lnk--> Electron-withdrawing groups attached to the carbon containing the hydroxyl group will serve to stabilize the alkoxide when formed, thus resulting in greater acidity. On the other hand, the presence of <!--del_lnk--> electron-donating group will result in a less stable alkoxide ion formed. This will result in a scenario whereby the unstable alkoxide ion formed will tend to accept a proton to reform the original alcohol.<p>With <!--del_lnk--> alkyl halides alkoxides give rise to <!--del_lnk--> ethers in the <!--del_lnk--> Williamson ether synthesis.<p><a id="Nucleophilic_substitution" name="Nucleophilic_substitution"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Nucleophilic substitution</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> OH group is not a good <!--del_lnk--> leaving group in <!--del_lnk--> nucleophilic substitution reactions, so neutral alcohols do not react in such reactions. However if the oxygen is first protonated to give R−OH<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup>, the leaving group (<!--del_lnk--> water) is much more stable, and nucleophilic substitution can take place. For instance, tertiary alcohols react with <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a> to produce tertiary <!--del_lnk--> alkyl halides, where the <!--del_lnk--> hydroxyl group is replaced by a <a href="../../wp/c/Chlorine.htm" title="Chlorine">chlorine</a> atom. If primary or secondary alcohols are to be reacted with <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a>, an activator such as <a href="../../wp/z/Zinc_chloride.htm" title="Zinc chloride">zinc chloride</a> is needed. Alternatively the conversion may be performed directly using <!--del_lnk--> thionyl chloride.<sup></sup><p><a class="image" href="../../images/1/111.gif.htm" title="Some simple conversions of alcohols to alkyl chlorides"><img alt="Some simple conversions of alcohols to alkyl chlorides" height="81" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alcohol_reaction_examples.gif" src="../../images/1/111.gif" width="550" /></a><p>Alcohols may likewise be converted to alkyl bromides using <!--del_lnk--> hydrobromic acid or <a href="../../wp/p/Phosphorus_tribromide.htm" title="Phosphorus tribromide">phosphorus tribromide</a>, for example:<dl>
<dd>3 R-OH + PBr<sub>3</sub> → 3 RBr + H<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>3</sub></dl>
<p>In the <!--del_lnk--> Barton-McCombie deoxygenation an alcohol is deoxygenated to an <!--del_lnk--> alkane with <!--del_lnk--> tributyltin hydride or a <!--del_lnk--> trimethylborane-water complex in a <!--del_lnk--> radical substitution reaction.<p><a id="Dehydration" name="Dehydration"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Dehydration</span></h3>
<p>Alcohols are themselves nucleophilic, so R−OH<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup> can react with ROH to produce <!--del_lnk--> ethers and water in a <!--del_lnk--> dehydration reaction, although this reaction is rarely used except in the manufacture of <!--del_lnk--> diethyl ether.<p>More useful is the E1 <!--del_lnk--> elimination reaction of alcohols to produce <!--del_lnk--> alkenes. The reaction generally obeys <!--del_lnk--> Zaitsev's Rule, which states that the most stable (usually the most substituted) alkene is formed. Tertiary alcohols eliminate easily at just above room temperature, but primary alcohols require a higher temperature.<p>This is a diagram of acid catalysed dehydration of ethanol to produce <!--del_lnk--> ethene:<p><a class="image" href="../../images/1/112.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="83" longdesc="/wiki/Image:DehydrationOfAlcoholWithH-.png" src="../../images/1/112.png" width="550" /></a><p>A more controlled elimination reaction is the <!--del_lnk--> Chugaev elimination with carbon disulfide and iodomethane.<p><a id="Esterification" name="Esterification"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Esterification</span></h3>
<p>To form an <!--del_lnk--> ester from an alcohol and a <!--del_lnk--> carboxylic acid the reaction, known as <!--del_lnk--> Fischer esterification, is usually performed at <!--del_lnk--> reflux with a <!--del_lnk--> catalyst of concentrated <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfuric_acid.htm" title="Sulfuric acid">sulfuric acid</a>:<dl>
<dd>R-OH + R'-COOH → R'-COOR + H<sub>2</sub>O</dl>
<p>In order to drive the equilibrium to the right and produce a good <!--del_lnk--> yield of ester, water is usually removed, either by an excess of H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> or by using a <!--del_lnk--> Dean-Stark apparatus. Esters may also be prepared by reaction of the alcohol with an <!--del_lnk--> acid chloride in the presence of a base such as <!--del_lnk--> pyridine.<p>Other types of ester are prepared similarly- for example <!--del_lnk--> tosyl (tosylate) esters are made by reaction of the alcohol with p-<!--del_lnk--> toluenesulfonyl chloride in pyridine.<p><a id="Oxidation" name="Oxidation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Oxidation</span></h3>
<p>Primary alcohols generally give <!--del_lnk--> aldehydes or <!--del_lnk--> carboxylic acids upon <!--del_lnk--> oxidation, while secondary alcohols give <!--del_lnk--> ketones. Traditionally strong <!--del_lnk--> oxidants such as the <!--del_lnk--> dichromate ion or <!--del_lnk--> potassium permanganate are used, under acidic conditions, for example:<dl>
<dd>3 <!--del_lnk--> CH<sub>3</sub>-CH(-OH)-CH<sub>3</sub> + <!--del_lnk--> K<sub>2</sub>Cr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub> + 4 <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfuric_acid.htm" title="Sulfuric acid">H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub></a> → 3 <a href="../../wp/a/Acetone.htm" title="Acetone">CH<sub>3</sub>-C(=O)-CH<sub>3</sub></a> + Cr<sub>2</sub>(SO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub> + K<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> + 7 <!--del_lnk--> H<sub>2</sub>O</dl>
<p>Frequently in <!--del_lnk--> aldehyde preparations these reagents cause a problem of over-oxidation to the <!--del_lnk--> carboxylic acid. To avoid this, other reagents such as <!--del_lnk--> PCC, <!--del_lnk--> Dess-Martin periodinane, <!--del_lnk--> 2-Iodoxybenzoic acid, <!--del_lnk--> TPAP or methods such as <!--del_lnk--> Swern oxidation and <!--del_lnk--> Corey-Kim oxidation are now preferred. In the <!--del_lnk--> Guerbet reaction aliphatic alcohols dimerize with an initial oxidation step.<p>Alcohols with a <!--del_lnk--> methyl group attached to the alcohol carbon can also undergo a <!--del_lnk--> haloform reaction (such as the <!--del_lnk--> iodoform reaction) in the presence of the <!--del_lnk--> halogen and a base such as sodium hydroxide.<p>Tertiary alcohols resist oxidation, but can be oxidised by reagents such as 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol"</div>
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<p><b>Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin</b> (<a href="../../wp/r/Russian_language.htm" title="Russian language">Russian</a>: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин, <i>Aleksandr Sergeevič Puškin</i>, <span class="unicode audiolink"><!--del_lnk--> listen</span> ) (<!--del_lnk--> June 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1799 <small>[<!--del_lnk--> O.S. May 26]</small> – <!--del_lnk--> February 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1837 <small>[<!--del_lnk--> O.S. January 29]</small>) was a <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russian</a> <a href="../../wp/r/Romanticism.htm" title="Romanticism">Romantic</a> author who is considered to be the greatest Russian <!--del_lnk--> poet and the founder of modern <!--del_lnk--> Russian literature. Pushkin pioneered the use of <!--del_lnk--> vernacular speech in his poems and <!--del_lnk--> plays, creating a style of storytelling—mixing <a href="../../wp/d/Drama.htm" title="Drama">drama</a>, <!--del_lnk--> romance, and <!--del_lnk--> satire—associated with Russian literature ever since and greatly influencing later Russian writers.<p>
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</script><a id="Life" name="Life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Life</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/112.jpg.htm" title="The 16-year old Pushkin recites a poem before Gavrila Derzhavin. Painting by Ilya Repin (1911)."><img alt="The 16-year old Pushkin recites a poem before Gavrila Derzhavin. Painting by Ilya Repin (1911)." height="113" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Pushkin_derzhavin.jpg" src="../../images/1/112.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/112.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The 16-year old Pushkin recites a poem before <!--del_lnk--> Gavrila Derzhavin. Painting by <!--del_lnk--> Ilya Repin (1911).</div>
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<p>Pushkin's father descended from a distinguished family of the Russian nobility which traced its ancestry back to the 12th century, while his mother's grandfather was <!--del_lnk--> Abram Petrovich Gannibal, who was a great military leader, engineer and nobleman under the auspices of his adoptive father <a href="../../wp/p/Peter_I_of_Russia.htm" title="Peter I of Russia">Peter the Great</a>. It should be noted that some British aristocrats descend from Gannibal, such as <!--del_lnk--> Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster.<p>Born in <a href="../../wp/m/Moscow.htm" title="Moscow">Moscow</a>, Pushkin published his first poem at the age of fifteen. By the time he finished as part of the first graduating class of the prestigious <!--del_lnk--> Imperial Lyceum in <!--del_lnk--> Tsarskoe Selo near <a href="../../wp/s/Saint_Petersburg.htm" title="Saint Petersburg">St. Petersburg</a>, the Russian literary scene recognized his talent widely. After finishing school, Pushkin installed himself in the vibrant and raucous intellectual youth culture of the capital, <a href="../../wp/s/Saint_Petersburg.htm" title="Saint Petersburg">St. Petersburg</a>. In 1820 he published his first long poem, <i>Ruslan and Lyudmila</i>, amidst much controversy about its subject and style.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/151.jpg.htm" title="Pushkin's self-portrait on a one rouble coin, 1999"><img alt="Pushkin's self-portrait on a one rouble coin, 1999" height="181" longdesc="/wiki/Image:PushkinCoin.jpg" src="../../images/1/151.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/151.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Pushkin's self-portrait on a one rouble coin, 1999</div>
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<p>Pushkin gradually became committed to social reform and emerged as a spokesman for literary radicals. This angered the government, and led to his transfer from the capital. He went first to <!--del_lnk--> Kishinev in 1820, where he became a <!--del_lnk--> Freemason. Here he joined the <!--del_lnk--> Filiki Eteria, a secret organization whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule over <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a> and establish an independent Greek state. He was inspired by the <!--del_lnk--> Greek Revolution and when the war against the <!--del_lnk--> Ottoman Turks broke out he kept a diary with the events of the great national uprising. He stayed in <!--del_lnk--> Kishinev until 1823 and—after a summer trip to the <!--del_lnk--> Caucasus and to the <!--del_lnk--> Crimea—wrote two <a href="../../wp/r/Romanticism.htm" title="Romanticism">Romantic</a> poems which brought him wide acclaim, <i>The Captive of the Caucasus</i> and <i>The Fountain of Bakhchisaray</i>. In 1823 Pushkin moved to <!--del_lnk--> Odessa, where he again clashed with the government, which sent him into exile at his mother's rural estate in north Russia from 1824 to 1826. However, some of the authorities allowed him to visit <!--del_lnk--> Tsar Nicholas I to petition for his release, which he obtained. But some of the insurgents in the <!--del_lnk--> Decembrist Uprising (1825) in St. Petersburg had kept some of his early political poems amongst their papers, and soon Pushkin found himself under the strict control of government censors and unable to travel or publish at will. He had written what became his most famous play, the drama <i><!--del_lnk--> Boris Godunov</i>, while at his mother's estate but could not gain permission to publish it until five years later.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/257.jpg.htm" title="Alexander Pushkin by Orest Kiprensky"><img alt="Alexander Pushkin by Orest Kiprensky" height="232" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kiprensky_Pushkin.jpg" src="../../images/2/257.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/257.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Alexander Pushkin by <!--del_lnk--> Orest Kiprensky</div>
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<p>In 1831, highlighting the growth of Pushkin's talent and influence and the merging of two of Russia's greatest early writers, he met <!--del_lnk--> Nikolai Gogol. The two would become good friends and would support each other. Pushkin would be greatly influenced in the field of prose from Gogol's comical stories. After reading Gogol's 1831-2 volume of short stories <i>Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,</i> Pushkin would support him critically and later in 1836 after starting his magazine, <i>The Contemporary,</i> would feature some of Gogol's most famous short stories. Later, Pushkin and his wife <!--del_lnk--> Natalya Goncharova, whom he married in 1831, became regulars of court society. When the <!--del_lnk--> Tsar gave Pushkin the lowest court title, the poet became enraged: He felt this occurred not only so that his wife, who had many admirers—including the Tsar himself—could properly attend court balls, but also to humiliate him. In 1837, falling into greater and greater debt amidst rumors that his wife had started conducting a scandalous affair, Pushkin challenged her alleged lover, <!--del_lnk--> Georges d'Anthès, to a <!--del_lnk--> duel which left both men injured, Pushkin mortally. He died two days later.<p>The government feared a political demonstration at his funeral, which it moved to a smaller location and made open only to close relatives and friends. His body was spirited away secretly at midnight and buried on his mother's estate.<p>There were 4 children of Pushkin's marriage to Natalya: Alexander, Grigory, Maria, and Natalia (who would marry into the royal house of <!--del_lnk--> Nassau and become the Countess of <!--del_lnk--> Merenberg).<p>His last words were: "Try to be forgotten. Go live in the country. Stay in mourning for two years, then remarry, but choose somebody decent."<p><a id="Literary_legacy" name="Literary_legacy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Literary legacy</span></h2>
<p>Critics consider many of his works masterpieces, such as the poem <i><!--del_lnk--> The Bronze Horseman</i> and the drama <i><!--del_lnk--> The Stone Guest</i>, a tale of the fall of <!--del_lnk--> Don Juan. His poetic short drama "Mozart and Salieri" was the inspiration for <!--del_lnk--> Peter Shaffer's <!--del_lnk--> Amadeus. Pushkin himself preferred his verse novel <i><!--del_lnk--> Eugene Onegin</i>, which he wrote over the course of his life and which, starting a tradition of great Russian novels, follows a few central characters but varies widely in tone and focus. "Onegin" is a work of such complexity that, while only about a hundred pages long, translator <!--del_lnk--> Vladimir Nabokov needed four full volumes of material to fully render its meaning in English. Unfortunately, in so doing Nabokov, like all translators of Pushkin into English prose, totally destroyed the fundamental readability of Pushkin in Russian which makes him so popular, and despite other translations into English verse, Pushkin's verse remains largely unknown to English readers. But even with these difficulties, Pushkin has profoundly influenced western writers like <a href="../../wp/h/Henry_James.htm" title="Henry James">Henry James</a>.<p>Because of his liberal political views and influence on generations of Russian rebels, Pushkin was conveniently pictured by <!--del_lnk--> Bolsheviks as an opponent to bourgeois literature and culture and predecessor of Soviet literature and poetry. They renamed <!--del_lnk--> Tsarskoe Selo after him.<p>Pushkin's works also provided fertile ground for Russian composers. <!--del_lnk--> Glinka's <i><!--del_lnk--> Ruslan and Lyudmila</i> is the earliest important Pushkin-inspired opera. <a href="../../wp/p/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky.htm" title="Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky">Tchaikovsky</a>'s <a href="../../wp/o/Opera.htm" title="Opera">operas</a> <i><!--del_lnk--> Eugene Onegin</i> (1879) and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Queen of Spades</i> (1890) became perhaps better known outside of Russia than Pushkin's own works of the same name, while <!--del_lnk--> Mussorgsky's monumental <i><!--del_lnk--> Boris Godunov</i> (two versions, 1868-9 and 1871-2) ranks as one of the very finest and most original of Russian operas. Other Russian operas based on Pushkin include <!--del_lnk--> Dargomyzhsky's <i><!--del_lnk--> Rusalka</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Stone Guest</i>; <a href="../../wp/n/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov.htm" title="Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov">Rimsky-Korsakov</a>'s <i><!--del_lnk--> Mozart and Salieri</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Tale of Tsar Saltan</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Golden Cockerel</i>; <!--del_lnk--> Cui's <i><!--del_lnk--> Prisoner of the Caucasus</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Feast in Time of Plague</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Captain's Daughter</i>; and <!--del_lnk--> Nápravník's <i><!--del_lnk--> Dubrovsky</i>. This is not to mention <!--del_lnk--> ballets and <!--del_lnk--> cantatas, as well as innumerable <!--del_lnk--> songs set to Pushkin's verse.<p><a id="Influence_on_the_Russian_language" name="Influence_on_the_Russian_language"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Influence on the Russian language</span></h2>
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<div style="width:277px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/3/390.jpg.htm" title="Statue of Pushkin in Tsarskoe Selo (1900)."><img alt="Statue of Pushkin in Tsarskoe Selo (1900)." height="206" longdesc="/wiki/Image:%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA_%D0%9F%D1%83%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%83_%D0%A6%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE.jpg" src="../../images/3/390.jpg" width="275" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/3/390.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Statue of Pushkin in Tsarskoe Selo (1900).</div>
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<p>Pushkin is usually credited with developing literary Russian. Not only is he seen as having originated the highly nuanced level of language which characterizes Russian literature after him, but he is also credited with substantially augmenting the Russian lexicon. Where he found gaps in the Russian vocabulary, he devised <!--del_lnk--> calques. His rich vocabulary and highly sensitive style are the foundation for modern literary Russian.<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Works</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23183.jpg.htm" title="The famous Pushkin Monument in Moscow, opened in 1880 by Turgenev and Dostoyevsky."><img alt="The famous Pushkin Monument in Moscow, opened in 1880 by Turgenev and Dostoyevsky." height="186" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Strastnoy.jpg" src="../../images/231/23183.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23183.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The famous Pushkin Monument in Moscow, opened in 1880 by <!--del_lnk--> Turgenev and <!--del_lnk--> Dostoyevsky.</div>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23184.jpg.htm" title="Six winged Seraph (after Pushkin's poem Prophet), 1905. By Mikhail Vrubel."><img alt="Six winged Seraph (after Pushkin's poem Prophet), 1905. By Mikhail Vrubel." height="178" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Vrubel_Seraph_Pushkin.jpg" src="../../images/231/23184.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23184.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Six winged <!--del_lnk--> Seraph (after Pushkin's poem <!--del_lnk--> Prophet), <!--del_lnk--> 1905. By <!--del_lnk--> Mikhail Vrubel.</div>
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<ul>
<li><i>Ruslan i Lyudmila</i> – <i><!--del_lnk--> Ruslan and Ludmila</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1820) (poem)<li><i>Kavkazskiy Plennik</i> – <i>The Captive of the Caucasus</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1822) (poem)<li><i>Bakhchisarayskiy Fontan</i> – <i>The Fountain of Bakhchisaray</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1824) (poem)<li><i>Tsygany</i>, – <i><!--del_lnk--> The Gypsies (narrative poem)</i> (1827)<li><i>Poltava</i> (1829)<li><i>Little Tragedies</i> (including <i>Kamenny Gost</i> – <i>The Stone Guest</i>, <i>Motsart i Salieri</i> – <i>Mozart and Salieri</i>, <i>The Miserly Knight</i>, and <i>A Feast During the Plague</i>) (<!--del_lnk--> 1830)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Boris Godunov</i> (1825) (drama)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda</i> (1830) (poem)<li><i>Povesti Pokoynogo Ivana Petrovicha Belkina</i> – <i><!--del_lnk--> The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin</i> (a collection of 5 short stories: <i>The Shot</i>, <i>The Blizzard</i>, <i>The Undertaker</i>, <i>The Station Master</i> and <i>The Squire's Daughter</i>) (1831) (prose)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Tale of Tsar Saltan</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1831) (poem)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Dubrovsky</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1832-<!--del_lnk--> 1833, published <!--del_lnk--> 1841, prose novel)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1833, poem)<li><i>Pikovaya Dama</i> – <i><!--del_lnk--> The Queen of Spades</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1833) later adapted as an <!--del_lnk--> opera<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Golden Cockerel</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1834, poem)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1835, poem)<li><i>Yevgeniy Onegin</i> – <i><!--del_lnk--> Eugene Onegin</i> (1825-1832) (verse novel)<li><i>Mednyy Vsadnik</i> – <i><!--del_lnk--> The Bronze Horseman</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1833, poem)<li><i>The History of <!--del_lnk--> Pugachev's Riot</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1834, prose non-fiction)<li><i>Kapitanskaya Dochka</i> - <i><!--del_lnk--> The Captain's Daughter</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1836, prose) a romanticized historical novel of "Pugachevshchina," the life and times of Pugachev.<li><i>Kirdzhali</i> – <i>Kırcali</i> (short story)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Gavriiliada</i><li><i>I Have Visited Again</i> (poem)<li><i>Istoriya Sela Goryukhina</i> – <i>The Story of the Village of Goryukhino</i> (unfinished)<li><i>Stseny iz Rytsarskikh Vremen</i> – <i>Scenes from Chivalrous Times</i><li><i>Yegipetskiye Nochi</i> – <i>Egyptian Nights</i> (short story with poetry, unfinished)<li><i>K A.P. Kern</i> – <i>To A.P. Kern</i> (poem)<li><i>Bratya Razboyniki</i> – <i>The Robber Brothers</i> (play)<li><i>Arap Petra Velikogo</i> – <i>The Negro of Peter the Great</i> (historical novel, unfinished, based on the life of his great-grandfather)<li><i>Graf Nulin</i> – <i>Count Nulin</i><li><i>Zimniy vecher</i> – <i>Winter evening</i></ul>
<p><a id="Hoaxes_and_other_attributed_works" name="Hoaxes_and_other_attributed_works"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Hoaxes and other attributed works</span></h2>
<p>In the late 1980s, a book entitled <i>Secret Journal 1836–1837</i> was published by a Minneapolis publishing house (<!--del_lnk--> M.I.P. Company), claiming to be the decoded content of an <!--del_lnk--> encrypted private journal kept by Pushkin. Promoted with little details about its contents, and touted for many years as being 'banned in Russia', it was an erotic novel narrated from Pushkin's perspective. Some mail-order publishers still carry the work under its fictional description. In <!--del_lnk--> 2006 a bilingual Russian-English edition was published in Russia by <!--del_lnk--> Retro Publishing House.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pushkin"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Aleksandr Vasilevsky</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Military_People.htm">Military People</a></h3>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; font-size:100%;">Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> September 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1895 - <!--del_lnk--> December 5, <!--del_lnk--> 1977</td>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;"><a class="image" href="../../images/231/23185.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="276" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Vasilevsky.png" src="../../images/231/23185.png" width="200" /></a><br />
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Place of birth</th>
<td>Novaya Golchikha, Russia</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Place of death</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/m/Moscow.htm" title="Moscow">Moscow</a>, <!--del_lnk--> USSR</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Allegiance</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Imperial Russia,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Years of service</th>
<td>1915-1959</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Rank</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Marshal of the Soviet Union</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Commands</th>
<td>Chief of General Staff,<br /> Minister of Defense</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Battles/wars</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/w/World_War_I.htm" title="World War I">World War I</a>,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Russian Civil War,<br /><a href="../../wp/p/Polish-Soviet_War.htm" title="Polish-Soviet War">Polish-Soviet War</a>,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Winter War,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Great Patriotic War,<br /><!--del_lnk--> Operation August Storm</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Awards</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Order of Victory (×2),<br /><!--del_lnk--> Hero of the Soviet Union (×2),<br /><!--del_lnk--> Order of Lenin (×8),<br /><!--del_lnk--> Order of the Red Banner (×2),<br /><a href="../../wp/v/Virtuti_Militari.htm" title="Virtuti Militari">Virtuti Militari</a></td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Other work</th>
<td>Memoirs: <i>The Matter of My Whole Life</i>, 1973.</td>
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<p><b>Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky</b> (<a href="../../wp/r/Russian_language.htm" title="Russian language">Russian</a>: <span lang="ru" xml:lang="ru">Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Василе́вский</span>, <!--del_lnk--> September 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1895 – <!--del_lnk--> December 5, <!--del_lnk--> 1977) was a <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet</a> military commander, promoted to <!--del_lnk--> Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He was the Soviet Chief of the General Staff and Deputy <!--del_lnk--> Minister of Defense during <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a>, as well as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953. As the Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky was responsible for the planning and coordination of almost all decisive Soviet offensives, from the <!--del_lnk--> Stalingrad counteroffensive to the assault on <!--del_lnk--> East Prussia and <!--del_lnk--> Königsberg.<p>Vasilevsky started his military career during the <!--del_lnk--> First World War, earning the rank of captain by 1917. At the beginning of the <!--del_lnk--> October Revolution and the <!--del_lnk--> Civil War he was conscripted into the <!--del_lnk--> Red Army, taking part in the <a href="../../wp/p/Polish-Soviet_War.htm" title="Polish-Soviet War">Polish-Soviet War</a>. After the war, he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a regimental commander by 1930. In this position, he showed great skill in the organization and training of his troops. Vasilevsky's talent did not go unnoticed, and in 1931 he was appointed a member of the Directorate of Military Training. In 1937, following <a href="../../wp/j/Joseph_Stalin.htm" title="Joseph Stalin">Stalin</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> Great Purge, he was promoted to <!--del_lnk--> General Staff officer.<p>At the start of the 1943 Soviet counteroffensive of the <!--del_lnk--> Second World War, Vasilevsky coordinated and executed the Red Army's offensive on the upper <!--del_lnk--> Don, in the <!--del_lnk--> Donbass, <!--del_lnk--> Crimea, <a href="../../wp/b/Belarus.htm" title="Belarus">Belarus</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Baltic states, ending the war with the capture of <!--del_lnk--> Königsberg in April 1945. In July 1945, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Soviet forces in the <!--del_lnk--> Far East, executing <!--del_lnk--> Operation August Storm and subsequently accepting <!--del_lnk--> Japan's surrender. After the war, he became the <!--del_lnk--> Soviet Defense Minister, a position he held until Stalin's death in 1953. With <!--del_lnk--> Khrushchev's rise, Vasilevsky started to lose power and was eventually pensioned off. After his death, he was buried in the <!--del_lnk--> Kremlin Wall Necropolis in recognition of his past service and contributions to his nation.<p>
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</script><a id="Biography" name="Biography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Biography</span></h2>
<p><a id="Childhood_and_early_years" name="Childhood_and_early_years"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Childhood and early years</span></h3>
<p>Vasilevsky was born on <!--del_lnk--> September 30 <small>[<!--del_lnk--> O.S. September 18]</small>, <!--del_lnk--> 1895 in Novaya Golchikha in the <!--del_lnk--> Kineshma <!--del_lnk--> Uezd (now part of the city of <!--del_lnk--> Vichuga in the <!--del_lnk--> Kostroma Oblast). Vasilevsky was the fourth of eight children. His father, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vasilevsky, was a priest to the nearby St. Nicholas Church. His mother, Nadezhda Ivanovna Sokolova, was the daughter of a priest in the nearby village of Ugletz. Vasilevsky reportedly broke off all contact with his parents after 1926 because of his <!--del_lnk--> VKP(b) membership and his military duties in the <!--del_lnk--> Red Army; three of his brothers did so as well. However, the family resumed relations in 1940, following <!--del_lnk--> Stalin's suggestion that they do so.<p>According to Vasilevsky himself, his family was extremely poor. His father spent most of his time working to earn money, while the children assisted by working in the fields. In 1897, the family moved to Novopokrovskoe, where his father became a priest to the newly-built Ascension Church, and where Aleksandr began his education in the church school. In 1909, he entered Kostroma seminary, which required considerable financial sacrifice on the part of his parents. The same year, a ministerial directive preventing former seminarists from starting university studies initiated a nationwide seminarist movement, with classes stopping in most Russian seminaries. Vasilevsky, among others, was expelled from Kostroma, and only returned several months later, after the seminarists' demands had been satisfied.<p><a id="World_War_I_and_Civil_war" name="World_War_I_and_Civil_war"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">World War I and Civil war</span></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23186.jpg.htm" title="World War I Russian infantry"><img alt="World War I Russian infantry" height="175" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Defenders_NGM-v31-p369-A.jpg" src="../../images/231/23186.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23186.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> World War I Russian infantry</div>
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<p>After completing his studies in the seminary and spending a few years working as a teacher, Vasilevsky intended to become an <!--del_lnk--> agronomist or a <!--del_lnk--> surveyor, but the outbreak of the First World War changed his plans. According to his own words, he was "overwhelmed with patriotic feelings" and decided to become a soldier instead. Vasilevsky took his exams in January 1915 and entered the <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Military Law Academy in February. As he recalls, "<i>I did not decide to become an officer to start a military career. I still wanted to be an agronomist and work in some remote corner of Russia after the war. I could not suppose that my country would change, and I would</i>." After four months of courses that he later considered to be completely outdated, theoretical, and inappropriate for modern warfare, he was sent to the front with the rank of <!--del_lnk--> praporshchik (the highest non-commissioned rank in the Russian infantry) in May 1915.<p>From June to September, Vasilevsky was assigned to a series of reserve regiments, and finally arrived at the front in September as a half-company commander (<i>polurotny</i>) in the 409th Novokhopersky regiment, 109th division, 9th Army. In the spring of 1916, Vasilevsky took command of a company, which eventually became one of the most recognized in the regiment. In May 1916, he led his men during the <!--del_lnk--> Brusilov offensive, becoming a battalion commander after heavy casualties among officers, and gaining the rank of captain by age 22.<p>In November 1917, just after the <!--del_lnk--> Russian Revolution, Vasilevsky decided to end his military career. As he wrote in his memoirs, "<i>There was a time when I led soldiers to battle, thinking I was doing my duty as a Russian patriot. However, I understood that we have been cheated, that people needed peace. . . . Therefore, my military career had to end. With no remorse, I could go back to my favorite occupation, working in the field.</i>" He travelled from Romania, where his unit was deployed in 1917, back to his own village.<p>In December 1917, while back at home, Vasilevsky learned that the men of the 409th regiment, which had been relocated to Ukraine, had elected him as their commander (at the beginning of the Russian Revolution, commanders were elected by their own men). However, the local military authorities recommended that he decline the proposal because of the heavy fighting taking place in Ukraine between pro-Soviet forces and the pro-independence Ukrainian government (the <!--del_lnk--> Central Rada). He followed this advice and became a drill instructor in his own Kineshma uezd. He retired in September 1918 and became a school teacher in the <!--del_lnk--> Tula Oblast.<p>In April 1919, Vasilevsky was again conscripted into the Red Army and sent to command a company fighting against peasant uprisings and assisting in the emergency Soviet policy of <!--del_lnk--> prodrazvyorstka, which required peasants to surrender agricultural surplus for a fixed price. Later that year, Vasilevsky took command of a new reserve battalion, and, in October 1919, of a regiment. However, his regiment never took part in the battles of the <!--del_lnk--> Russian Civil War, as <!--del_lnk--> Denikin's troops never got close to Tula. In December 1919, Vasilevsky was sent to the Western front as a deputy regimental commander, participating in the <a href="../../wp/p/Polish-Soviet_War.htm" title="Polish-Soviet War">Polish-Soviet War</a>.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23187.jpg.htm" title="Aleksandr Vasilevsky in 1928."><img alt="Aleksandr Vasilevsky in 1928." height="224" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Vasilevski1928.jpg" src="../../images/231/23187.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23187.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Aleksandr Vasilevsky in 1928.</div>
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<p>As deputy regimental commander of the 427th regiment, 32nd brigade, 11th division, Vasilevsky participated at the battle of <!--del_lnk--> Berezina, pulling back as the Polish forces had been slowly but steadily advancing eastward, and in the subsequent counterattack that started on <!--del_lnk--> May 14, 1920, breaking through Polish lines before being stopped by cavalry counterattacks. Later, starting from <!--del_lnk--> July 4, 1920, he took part at the Soviet offensive towards <!--del_lnk--> Wilno, advancing to <!--del_lnk--> Neman river despite heavy Polish resistance and German fortifications erected in the region during World War I. Vasilevsky's regiment arrived near Wilno by mid-July and stayed there on a garrison duty until the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Riga.<p><a id="The_interwar_period" name="The_interwar_period"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The interwar period</span></h3>
<p>After the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Riga, Vasilevsky fought against remaining <!--del_lnk--> white forces and peasant uprisings in Belarus and in the <!--del_lnk--> Smolensk Oblast until August 1921. By 1930, he had served as the regimental commander of the 142nd, 143rd, and 144th rifle regiments, where he showed great skill in the organization and training of his troops. In 1928, he graduated from the <i>Vystrel</i> regimental commander's course. During these years, Vasilevsky established friendships with higher commanders and Party members, including <!--del_lnk--> Kliment Voroshilov, <!--del_lnk--> Vladimir Triandafillov and <!--del_lnk--> Boris Shaposhnikov. Shaposhnikov, in particular, would become Vasilevsky's protector until the former's death in 1945. Vasilevsky's connections and good performance earned him an appointment to the Directorate of Military Training in 1931.<p>While at the Directorate of Military Training, Vasilevsky supervised the Red Army's training and worked on military manuals and field books. He also met several senior military commanders, such as <!--del_lnk--> Mikhail Tukhachevsky and <!--del_lnk--> Georgy Zhukov, then the Deputy Cavalry Inspector of the Red Army. Zhukov would later characterize Vasilevsky as "<i>a man who knew his job as he spent a long time commanding a regiment and who earned great respect from everybody.</i>" In 1934, Vasilevsky was appointed to be the Senior Military Training Supervisor of the Volga Military District (<i>Privolzhsky voyenny okrug</i>). In 1937, he entered the Academy of the General Staff, where he studied important aspects of military strategy and other topics under experienced generals, including Mikhail Tukhachevsky.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23188.jpg.htm" title="Vasilevsky as Deputy Commander of Operations Directorate of the General Staff in 1940."><img alt="Vasilevsky as Deputy Commander of Operations Directorate of the General Staff in 1940." height="192" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Vasilevsky_deputy_operations_general_staff.jpg" src="../../images/231/23188.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23188.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Vasilevsky as Deputy Commander of Operations Directorate of the General Staff in 1940.</div>
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<p>By mid-1937, Stalin's <!--del_lnk--> Great Purge eliminated a significant number of senior military commanders, vacating a number of positions on the General Staff. To his amazement, Vasilevsky was appointed to the General Staff in October 1937 and held "<i>responsible for operational training of senior officers</i>." In 1938, he was made a member of the <!--del_lnk--> Communist Party of the Soviet Union (a sine qua non condition for a successful career in the Soviet Union); in 1939, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff, while holding the rank of divisional commander. While in this position he and Shaposhnikov were responsible for the planning of the <!--del_lnk--> Winter War, and after the <!--del_lnk--> Moscow peace treaty, for setting the <!--del_lnk--> demarcation line with Finland.<p>As a senior officer, Vasilevsky met frequently with <a href="../../wp/j/Joseph_Stalin.htm" title="Joseph Stalin">Joseph Stalin</a>. During one of these meetings, Stalin asked Vasilevsky about his family. Since Vasilevsky's father was a priest and thus a potential "<!--del_lnk--> enemy of the people," Vasilevsky said that he had ended his relationship with them in 1926. Stalin, surprised, suggested that he reestablish his family ties at once, and help his parents with whatever needs they might have.<p><a id="World_War_II" name="World_War_II"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">World War II</span></h3>
<p><a id="Start_and_Battle_of_Moscow" name="Start_and_Battle_of_Moscow"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Start and Battle of Moscow</span></h4>
<p>By June 1941, Vasilevsky was working around the clock in his General Staff office. On <!--del_lnk--> June 22, 1941, he learned of the German bombing of several important military and civilian objectives, starting the <!--del_lnk--> Great Patriotic War. In August 1941, Vasilevsky was appointed Commander of Operations, Directorate of the General Staff and Deputy Chief of the General Staff, making him one of the key figures in the Soviet military leadership. At the end of September 1941, Vasilevsky gave a speech before the General Staff, describing the situation as extremely difficult, but pointing out that the northern part of the front was holding, that Leningrad still offered resistance, and that such a situation would potentially allow some reserves to be gathered in the northern part of the front.<p>In October 1941, the situation at the front was becoming critical, with German forces advancing towards Moscow during <!--del_lnk--> Operation Typhoon. As a representative of the Soviet General Staff (<!--del_lnk--> STAVKA), Vasilevsky was sent to the <!--del_lnk--> Western Front to coordinate the defense and guarantee a flow of supplies and men towards the region of <!--del_lnk--> Mozhaisk, where Soviet forces were attempting to contain the German advance. During heavy fighting near the outskirts of Moscow, Vasilevsky spent all of his available time both in the STAVKA and on the front line trying to coordinate the three fronts committed to Moscow's defense. When most of the General Staff (including its chief Marshal <!--del_lnk--> Shaposhnikov) was evacuated from Moscow, Vasilevsky remained in the city as liaison between the Moscow Staff and the evacuated members of the General Staff. In his memoirs, <!--del_lnk--> Nikita Khrushchev described Vasilevsky as an "able specialist" even so early in the war. On <!--del_lnk--> October 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1941, Vasilevsky was promoted to <!--del_lnk--> Lieutenant General.<p>The <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Moscow.htm" title="Battle of Moscow">Battle of Moscow</a> was a very difficult period in Vasilevsky's life, with the Wehrmacht approaching close enough to the city for German officers to make out some of Moscow's buildings through their field glasses. As he recalls, his workday often ended at four a.m. Moreover, with Marshal Shaposhnikov having fallen ill, Vasilevsky had to make important decisions by himself. On <!--del_lnk--> October 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1941, a bomb exploded in the courtyard of the General Staff. Vasilevsky was slightly wounded but continued working. The kitchen was damaged by the explosion, and the General Staff was relocated underground without hot food. Nevertheless, the Staff continued to function. In December 1941, Vasilevsky coordinated the Moscow counteroffensive, and by early 1942, the general counteroffensive in the Moscow and Rostov directions, further motivated in his work by the return of his evacuated family to Moscow. In April 1942, he coordinated the unsuccessful elimination of the <!--del_lnk--> Demyansk pocket, the encirclement of the German 2nd Army Corps near Leningrad. On April 24, with Shaposhnikov seriously ill again, Vasilevsky was appointed as acting Chief of Staff and promoted to <!--del_lnk--> Colonel General on April 26.<p><a id="Summer_and_fall_1942" name="Summer_and_fall_1942"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Summer and fall 1942</span></h4>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23189.jpg.htm" title="Vasilevsky inspecting the front."><img alt="Vasilevsky inspecting the front." height="174" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Vasilevsky_Ukrainian_front.jpg" src="../../images/231/23189.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23189.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Vasilevsky inspecting the front.</div>
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<p>In May 1942 one of the most controversial episodes in Vasilevsky's career occurred: the <!--del_lnk--> Second Battle of Kharkov, a failed counteroffensive that led to a stinging Red Army defeat, and ultimately to a successful German offensive (<!--del_lnk--> Operation Blue) in the south. After repelling the enemy from Moscow, Soviet morale was high and Stalin was determined to launch another general counteroffensive during the summer. However, Vasilevsky recognized that <i>"the reality was more harsh than that."</i> Following Stalin's orders, the Kharkov offensive was launched on <!--del_lnk--> May 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1942. When the threat of encirclement became obvious, Vasilevsky and Zhukov asked for permission to withdraw the advancing Soviet forces. Stalin refused, leading to the encirclement of the Red Army forces and a total defeat. In his memoirs, Khrushchev accused Vasilevsky of being too passive and indecisive, as well as being unable to defend his point of view in front of Stalin during that particular operation. As he wrote, "<i>It was my view that the catastrophe. . . . could have been avoided if Vasilevsky had taken the position he should have. He could have taken a different position. . . . but he didn't do that, and as a result, in my view, he had a hand in the destruction of thousands of Red Army fighters in the Kharkov campaign.</i>"<p>In June 1942, Vasilevsky was briefly sent to Leningrad to coordinate an attempt to break the encirclement of the 2nd Shock Army led by General <!--del_lnk--> Vlasov. On <!--del_lnk--> June 26, <!--del_lnk--> 1942 Vasilevsky was appointed <!--del_lnk--> Chief of the General Staff, and, in October 1942, Deputy Minister of Defense. He was now one of the few people responsible for the global planning of Soviet offensives. Starting from <!--del_lnk--> July 23, <!--del_lnk--> 1942, Vasilevsky was a STAVKA representative on the Stalingrad front, which he correctly anticipated as the main axis of attack.<p>The battle of Stalingrad was another difficult period in Vasilevsky's life. Sent with Zhukov to the Stalingrad Front, he tried to coordinate the defenses of Stalingrad with radio links working intermittently, at best. On <!--del_lnk--> September 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1942, during a meeting with Stalin, Vasilevsky and Zhukov presented their plan for the Stalingrad counteroffensive after an all-night brainstorming session. Two months later, on November 19, with Stalingrad still unconquered, <!--del_lnk--> Operation Uranus was launched. Since Zhukov had been sent to near Rzhev to execute <!--del_lnk--> Operation Mars (the Rzhev counteroffensive), Vasilevsky remained near Stalingrad to coordinate the double-pincer attack that ultimately led to the German defeat and annihilation of the armies entrapped in the cauldron, all a result of the plan he had presented to Stalin on December 9. This plan sparked some debate between Vasilevsky and <!--del_lnk--> Rokossovsky, who wanted an additional army for clearing Stalingrad, which Rokossovsky continued to mention to Vasilevsky even years after the war. The army in question was <!--del_lnk--> Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Guards' which Vasilievsky committed against a dangerous German counter-attack launched from Kotelnikovo by the 57th Panzer corps and designed to deblockade the Stalingrad pocket. This attack, hitherto, had enjoyed overwhelming numerical superiority.<p><a id="Soviet_victory" name="Soviet_victory"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Soviet victory</span></h4>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23190.jpg.htm" title="Vasilevsky and Budyonny in the Donbass, 1943."><img alt="Vasilevsky and Budyonny in the Donbass, 1943." height="224" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Vasilevsky_Budenny.jpg" src="../../images/231/23190.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23190.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Vasilevsky and <!--del_lnk--> Budyonny in the Donbass, 1943.</div>
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<p>In January 1943, Vasilevsky coordinated the offensives on the upper <!--del_lnk--> Don near <!--del_lnk--> Voronezh and Ostrogozhsk, leading to decisive encirclements of several <!--del_lnk--> Axis divisions. In mid-January, Vasilevsky was promoted to <!--del_lnk--> General of the Army and only 29 days later, on <!--del_lnk--> February 16, <!--del_lnk--> 1943, to <!--del_lnk--> Marshal of the Soviet Union.<p>In March 1943, after the creation of the Kursk salient and the failure of the <!--del_lnk--> third battle of Kharkov, Stalin and the STAVKA had to decide whether the offensive should be resumed despite this setback, or whether it was better to adopt a defensive stance. Vasilevsky and Zhukov managed to persuade Stalin that it was necessary to halt the offensive for now, and wait for the initiative from the Wehrmacht. When it became clear that the supposed German offensive was postponed and would no longer take place in May 1943 as expected, Vasilevsky successfully defended continuing to wait for the Wehrmacht to attack, rather than making a preemptive strike as Khrushchev wanted. When the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Kursk finally started on <!--del_lnk--> July 4, <!--del_lnk--> 1943, Vasilevsky was responsible for the coordination of the <!--del_lnk--> Voronezh and <!--del_lnk--> Steppe <!--del_lnk--> Fronts. After the German failure at Kursk and the start of the general counteroffensive on the left bank of the <!--del_lnk--> Dnieper, Vasilevsky planned and executed offensive operations in the <!--del_lnk--> Donbass region. Later that year, he developed and executed the clearing of Nazi forces from Crimea.<p>At the beginning of 1944, Vasilevsky coordinated the Soviet offensive on the right bank of the Dnieper, leading to a decisive victory in eastern Ukraine. On <!--del_lnk--> April 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1944, the day <!--del_lnk--> Odessa was retaken, Vasilevsky was presented with the <!--del_lnk--> Order of Victory, only the second ever awarded (the first having been awarded to Zhukov). Vasilevsky's car rolled over a mine during an inspection of <!--del_lnk--> Sevastopol after the fighting ended on <!--del_lnk--> May 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1944. He received a head wound, cut by flying glass, and was evacuated to Moscow for recovery.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23191.jpg.htm" title="Vasilevsky during Operation Bagration in 1944."><img alt="Vasilevsky during Operation Bagration in 1944." height="194" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Vasilevsky_Belorussian_operation.jpg" src="../../images/231/23191.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23191.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Vasilevsky during <!--del_lnk--> Operation Bagration in 1944.</div>
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<p>During <!--del_lnk--> Operation Bagration, the general counteroffensive in <a href="../../wp/b/Belarus.htm" title="Belarus">Belarus</a>, Vasilevsky coordinated the offensives of the 1st Baltic and <!--del_lnk--> 3rd Belorussian Fronts. When Soviet forces entered the <!--del_lnk--> Baltic states, Vasilevsky assumed complete responsibility for all the Baltic fronts, discarding the 3rd Belorussian. On <!--del_lnk--> July 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1944, he was made <!--del_lnk--> Hero of the Soviet Union for his military successes. In February 1945, Vasilevsky was again appointed commander of 3rd Belorussian Front to lead the <!--del_lnk--> East Prussian Operation, leaving the post of General Chief of Staff to <!--del_lnk--> Aleksei Antonov. As a front commander, Vasilevsky led the East Prussian operation and organized the assaults on <!--del_lnk--> Königsberg and <!--del_lnk--> Pillau. He also negotiated the surrender of the Königsberg garrison with its commander, <!--del_lnk--> Otto Lasch. After the war, Lasch claimed that Vasilevsky did not respect the guarantees made during the city's capitulation. Indeed, Vasilevsky promised that German soldiers would not be executed, that prisoners, civilians and wounded would be treated decently, and that all prisoners would return to Germany after the end of the war. Instead, Lasch remained in prison for 10 years and returned to Germany only in 1955, as did many of the Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, while all German population was <!--del_lnk--> expelled from Eastern Prussia. For the brilliant successes at Königsberg and in Eastern Prussia, Vasilevsky was awarded his second Order of Victory.<p><a id="Operation_August_Storm" name="Operation_August_Storm"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Operation August Storm</span></h4>
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<div style="width:209px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23192.jpg.htm" title="Vasilevsky in Port Arthur, China, 1945"><img alt="Vasilevsky in Port Arthur, China, 1945" height="253" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ac.vasilievski2.jpg" src="../../images/231/23192.jpg" width="207" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/231/23192.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Vasilevsky in Port Arthur, China, 1945</div>
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<p>During the 1944 summer offensive, Stalin announced that he would appoint Vasilevsky Commander-in-Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East once the war against Germany was over. Vasilevsky started drafting the war plan for Japan by late 1944 and began full-time preparation by <!--del_lnk--> April 27, <!--del_lnk--> 1945. In June 1945, Stalin approved his plan. Vasilevsky then received the appointment of Commander-in-Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East and flew to <!--del_lnk--> Chita to execute the plan.<p>During the preparation phase, Vasilevsky further rehearsed the offensive with his army commanders and directed its start. In twenty-four days, from August 9 to <!--del_lnk--> September 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1945, the Japanese armies in <!--del_lnk--> Manchukuo were defeated, with just 37,000 casualties out of 1,600,000 troops on the Soviet side. For his success in this operation, Vasilevsky was awarded his second Hero of the Soviet Union decoration on September 8.<p><a id="After_World_War_II" name="After_World_War_II"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">After World War II</span></h3>
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<div style="width:122px;"><!--del_lnk--> Image:Soviet army 50th annivrsary.jpg<div class="thumbcaption">Vasilevsky in the Kremlin on the fiftieth anniversary of the Soviet Army.</div>
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<p>Between 1946 and 1949, Vasilevsky remained Chief of Staff, then became Defense Minister from 1949 to 1953. Following Stalin's death in 1953, Vasilevsky fell from grace and was replaced by <!--del_lnk--> Bulganin, although he remained deputy Defense minister. In 1956, he was appointed Deputy Defense Minister of Military Science, a secondary position with no real military power. Vasilevsky would occupy this position for only one year before being pensioned off by <!--del_lnk--> Khrushchev, thus becoming a victim of the bloodless purge that also saw the end of Zhukov. In 1959, he was appointed General Inspector of the Ministry of Defense, an honorary puppet position. In 1973, he published his memoirs, <i>The Matter of My Whole Life.</i> Aleksandr Vasilevsky died on <!--del_lnk--> December 5, 1977. His body was cremated and his ashes immured in the <!--del_lnk--> Kremlin wall.<p><a id="Awards" name="Awards"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Awards</span></h2>
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<p>In his memoirs, Vasilevsky recalls Stalin's astonishment when, at a ceremony taking place in the Kremlin on <!--del_lnk--> December 4, <!--del_lnk--> 1941, the Soviet leader saw just a single <!--del_lnk--> Order of the Red Star and a medal on Vasilevsky's uniform. However, Vasilevsky eventually became one of the most decorated commanders in Soviet history.<p>Vasilevsky was awarded the <!--del_lnk--> Gold Star of <!--del_lnk--> Hero of the Soviet Union twice for operations on the German and Japanese fronts. He was awarded two <!--del_lnk--> Orders of Victory for his successes in Crimea and Prussia (an achievement matched only by Zhukov and Stalin). During his career, he was awarded eight <!--del_lnk--> Orders of Lenin (several of them after the war), the <!--del_lnk--> Order of the October Revolution when it was created in 1967, two <!--del_lnk--> Orders of the Red Banner, a first class <!--del_lnk--> Order of Suvorov for his operations in Ukraine and Crimea, and his first decoration, an <!--del_lnk--> Order of the Red Star, earned in 1940 for his brilliant staff work during the <!--del_lnk--> Winter War. Finally, he was awarded a third class <!--del_lnk--> Order for Service to the Homeland as recognition for his entire military career when this order was created in 1974, just three years before Vasilevsky's death.<p>Vasilevsky was also awarded fourteen medals. For his participation in various campaigns, he was awarded the Defense of Leningrad, Defense of Moscow, Defense of Stalingrad and Capture of Königsberg medals. As with all Soviet soldiers who took part in the war with Germany and Japan, he was awarded the <!--del_lnk--> Medal For the Victory Over Germany and the <!--del_lnk--> Medal For the Victory Over Japan. He also received several commemorative medals, such as Twenty, Thirty, Forty, and Fifty Years Since the Creation of the Soviet Armed Forces medals, Twenty and Thirty Years Since the Victory in the Great Patriotic War medals, the Eight Hundredth Anniversary of Moscow medal (awarded in 1947 for his participation in the battle of Moscow) and the Hundredth Birthday of Lenin medal. In addition to Soviet orders and medals, Vasilevsky was awarded several foreign decorations such as the Polish <i><a href="../../wp/v/Virtuti_Militari.htm" title="Virtuti Militari">Virtuti Militari</a></i> Order from the <!--del_lnk--> Polish communist government.<p><a id="Personality_and_opinions" name="Personality_and_opinions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Personality and opinions</span></h2>
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<p>Vasilevsky was regarded by his peers as a kind and soft military commander. General Shtemenko, a member of the General Staff during the war, described Vasilevsky as a brilliant, yet modest officer with outstanding experience in staff work. Shtemenko pointed out Vasilevsky's prodigious talent for strategic and operational planning. Vasilevsky also showed his respect for subordinates and demonstrated an acute sense of diplomacy and politeness, which Stalin appreciated. As a result, Vasilevsky enjoyed almost unlimited trust from Stalin. Several years before the war, Zhukov described Vasilevsky as "<i>a man who knew his job as he spent a long time commanding a regiment and who earned great respect from everybody.</i>" During the war, Zhukov described Vasilevsky as an able commander, enjoying exceptional trust from Stalin, and able to persuade him even during heated discussions. Vasilevsky never mentioned his awards (including the two orders of Victory) in his memoirs, attesting to his modesty.<p>This being said, Vasilevsky's actions and personality were sometimes the object of dispute, while less controversial than those of Zhukov. In particular, Nikita Khrushchev defined Vasilevsky in his memoirs as a passive commander completely under the control of Stalin, and blamed him for the Kharkov failure in Spring 1942. Among Vasilevsky's strongest critics was Rokossovsky, who criticized Vasilevsky's decisions during the Stalingrad counteroffensive, especially his refusal to commit the 2nd Army to the annihilation of the encircled German divisions, and for general interference with his own work. Rokossovsky even wrote in his memoirs: <i>"I do not even understand what role could Zhukov and Vasilevsky play on Stalingrad front."</i>. In fairness to Vasilevsky it needs noting that he only diverted the 2nd army from the assault on the Stalingrad pocket in order to commit it against a dangerous German counter-attack from Kotelnikovo, designed to deblockade the pocket, which was enjoying great numerical superiority. Vasilievsky, it seems, was dismayed by Rokossovsky's opposition to the transfer.<p>On the other hand, the controversial historian <!--del_lnk--> Victor Suvorov held up Vasilevsky over Zhukov. According to him, Vasilevsky was the only officer responsible for the successful planning and execution of the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad, and Zhukov played no role whatsoever in it. He claimed that Vasilevsky was the best Soviet military commander and that Soviet victory was mainly due to his actions as the Chief of Staff. According to Suvorov, Zhukov and the Soviet propaganda machine tried, after the war, to reduce the role of the General Staff (and thus Vasilevsky's importance) and to increase the role of the Party and Zhukov.<p>A more balanced post-1991 view on Vasilevsky was elaborated by Mezhiritzky in his book, <i>Reading Marshal Zhukov</i>. Mezhiritzky points out Vasilevsky's timidity and his inability to defend his opinions before Stalin. Reportedly, Vasilevsky was appointed to such high military positions because he was easy to manage. However, Mezhiritzky recognizes Vasilevsky's intelligence and assumes that Vasilevsky was indeed the main author of the Stalingrad counteroffensive. He also points out that Vasilevsky and Zhukov probably deliberately under reported the estimated strength of the 6th Army in order to have Stalin's approval for that risky operation.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Vasilevsky"</div>
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<p>Count <b>Alexey Andreyevich Arakcheyev</b> (<a href="../../wp/r/Russian_language.htm" title="Russian language">Russian</a>: <span lang="ru" xml:lang="ru">граф Алексей Андреевич Аракчеев</span>; <!--del_lnk--> October 4, <!--del_lnk--> 1769- <!--del_lnk--> May 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1834) was a <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russian</a> <!--del_lnk--> general and statesman under the reign of <!--del_lnk--> Alexander I.<p>As he grew up, he was <!--del_lnk--> Peter Ivanovich Melissino's pupil and rapidly started teaching arithmetic and geometry. His military career started when he was sought after by <!--del_lnk--> Paul I as an artillery officer.<p>He served under Paul I and <!--del_lnk--> Alexander I as army leader and artillery inspector respectively. After the Tsar's death and <!--del_lnk--> Nicholas I's coronation, he lost all his powers and properties.<p>
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<p>Count Arakcheev was born on his father's estate in the <!--del_lnk--> Novgorod <!--del_lnk--> gubernia. His school formation consisted in studying arithmetic under a <!--del_lnk--> podyachiy (dyak), a knowledgeable and schooled man. Arakcheev's father moved with the family to <!--del_lnk--> Saint-Petersburg for his son to be educated in a military artillery school. Later Alexey had to continue his education at home since the military school was too expensive. Alexey's father brought Melissino as a teacher for Alexey. Later Melissino gave artillery and fortification lessons to Prince <!--del_lnk--> Nicholas Saltykov's sons and Alexey Arakcheyev earned some money assisting Melissino in teaching the sons arithmetic and geometry.<p>When <!--del_lnk--> Pavel Petrovich, heir to the throne of <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a>, was in search for an artillery officer, Saltykov recommended Arakcheev as a man that had learned military discipline. Arakcheyev was thereafter appointed officer to the commandant of <!--del_lnk--> Gatchina and later became the chief of the ground forces of the heir.<p><a id="Paul_I.27s_reign" name="Paul_I.27s_reign"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Paul I's reign</span></h2>
<p>From 1790 and onward Arakcheyev was rapidly promoted in the army and in September 1792, Melissino recommended him as a senior adjutant to the inspector of artillery under Pavel Petrovich. By 1794, he was Gatchina's artillery inspector and two years later, was also the infantry inspector under the Empress Catherine II. All his ascensions in the army were attributed to his ruthless manners and his zealousness.<p>After <!--del_lnk--> Paul I's coronation, on <!--del_lnk--> November 7, <!--del_lnk--> 1796, Arakcheyev was appointed as the commandant of Saint-Petersburg's garrison and received other army functions during the months of November and December. In April 1797, he was promoted to general-quartermaster and thus leader of the army, and at the same time he received the title of <!--del_lnk--> baron from the Tsar. A year later, after some troops mutinied and an officer committed suicide, he was demoted to <!--del_lnk--> lieutenant-general. In 1799 he was brought back to his former Inspector of the Artillery position, reinstated to his general-quartermaster's functions and given the title of <!--del_lnk--> count. He finally would serve as the War Minister, the Head of the War Department of the <!--del_lnk--> State Council of Imperial Russia, and the head of the <!--del_lnk--> Imperial Chancellery. He was disgraceful in leading the army by hiding misdeeds that were done by his army officers and thus, was stripped of his army functions, later to be reinstated by the next emperor. His name became synonymous with military voluntarism and despotism, known in Russian as <i>Arakcheyevshchina</i>.<p><a id="Alexander_I.27s_reign" name="Alexander_I.27s_reign"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alexander I's reign</span></h2>
<p>In May 1803, his services were asked by the new Tsar <!--del_lnk--> Alexander I, regaining his position as the Inspector of the Artillery. During the first years he reorganized the artillery units, improved the officer training and amended new regulations. During the campaign of 1805 against <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>, Arakcheyev worked on supplying the army with enough artillery ammunition. Promoted in January 1808 to Defense Minister to the Tsar and the inspector-general of the entire infantry and artillery, he once more reorganized the army and the grading of the army staff. In 1808 he created a publication called the "artillery periodical". By 1810, Arakcheev resigned from his Defense Minister's post and was sitting on the board of the <!--del_lnk--> Council of State as chairman in military science.<p>During the <!--del_lnk--> Patriotic War of 1812, he oversaw recruitment and management of army supplies. He introduced several useful military reforms, which proved themselves during the wars of 1812-1814. Throughout his service, Arakcheyev was known for his meticulous following of the will of the tsar.<table align="center" cellpadding="10" class="cquote" style="border-collapse:collapse; background-color:transparent; border-style:none;">
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Aleksey Arakcheyev"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/147.png.htm" title="Aleksey Arakcheyev"><img alt="Aleksey Arakcheyev" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote1.png" src="../../images/1/147.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<td><i>I am the friend of the tsar and complaints about me can be made only to God.</i></td>
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<p>Starting in 1816, he organized <!--del_lnk--> military-agricultural colonies, an idea initially conceived by Alexander I. At first Arakcheyev tried to oppose them, but when he agreed, he did so with unrelenting rigor. The hardships of military service combined with the hardships of peasant life created terrifying conditions in those settlements.<p>The ruthlessness he exhibited in the military, extended to his home. The women peasants in Arakcheyev's own <!--del_lnk--> Gruzino estate near <!--del_lnk--> Novgorod were required to produce one child each year. Arakcheyev even ordered the hanging of all cats, on account of his fondness for <a href="../../wp/n/Nightingale.htm" title="Nightingale">nightingales</a>.<p>From 1815 to the Tsar's death, Arakcheyev continued to be present around the emperor as member of the state council and an influential voice in the leader's entourage. During Tsar Alexander I's journeys abroad, Arakcheev would follow and for every law passed, he was giving his accord to it.<p><a id="Later_years" name="Later_years"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Later years</span></h2>
<p>After the death of Tsar Alexander I on <!--del_lnk--> December 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1825 and the coronation of <!--del_lnk--> Nicholas I, Arakcheyev lost all his positions in the government such as member of the State Council, and inspector of the army artillery and infantry. This led to his removal from the court and the exile to his native town in <!--del_lnk--> Novgorod there he lived until his death in 1834 where he was interred in Andreevsky Cathedral. Furthermore, after Arakcheyev's death the Tsar requisitioned his land and property due to the inability to find Arakcheyev's legal heirs. <div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksey_Arakcheyev"</div>
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<p><b>Alexander Graham Bell</b> (<!--del_lnk--> March 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1847 – <!--del_lnk--> August 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1922) was a <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scottish</a> <!--del_lnk--> scientist and <!--del_lnk--> inventor who emigrated to <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>. Today, Bell is widely considered as one of the foremost developers of the telephone, together with <!--del_lnk--> Antonio Meucci, inventor of the first telephone prototype, and <!--del_lnk--> Philipp Reis. Six years after having obtained his telephone patent he became a naturalized citizen of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States of America">United States</a>. In addition to Bell's work in <!--del_lnk--> telecommunications technology, he was responsible for important advances in <!--del_lnk--> aviation and <!--del_lnk--> hydrofoil technology.<p>
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</script><a id="Biography" name="Biography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Biography</span></h2>
<p>Alexander Bell was born in <a href="../../wp/e/Edinburgh.htm" title="Edinburgh">Edinburgh</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>, on <!--del_lnk--> March 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1847. He later adopted the middle name 'Graham' out of admiration for Alexander Graham, a family friend. Many called Bell "the father of the Deaf." This title may be regarded as ironic, due to his belief in the practice of <!--del_lnk--> eugenics as well as his strong <!--del_lnk--> audist stance. While both his mother and his wife were deaf, he hoped to one day eliminate hereditary deafness.<p>His family was associated with the teaching of <!--del_lnk--> elocution: his grandfather in <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, his uncle in <a href="../../wp/d/Dublin.htm" title="Dublin">Dublin</a>, and his father, <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Melville Bell, in Edinburgh, were all professed elocutionists. The latter has published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are well known, especially his treatise on <!--del_lnk--> Visible Speech, which appeared in Edinburgh in 1868. In this he explains his method of instructing <!--del_lnk--> deaf mutes, by means of their eyesight, how to articulate words, and also how to read what other persons are saying by the motions of their lips.<p>Bell was educated at the <!--del_lnk--> Royal High School of Edinburgh, from which he graduated at the age of 13. At the age of 16 he secured a position as a pupil-teacher of elocution and music in <!--del_lnk--> Weston House Academy, at <!--del_lnk--> Elgin, <!--del_lnk--> Moray, Scotland. The next year he went to the <!--del_lnk--> University of Edinburgh. He graduated from <!--del_lnk--> University College London.<p>From <!--del_lnk--> 1867 to <!--del_lnk--> 1868, he was an instructor at <!--del_lnk--> Somerset College at <a href="../../wp/b/Bath%252C_Somerset.htm" title="Bath, England">Bath</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Somerset, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>.<p>While still in Scotland he is said to have turned his attention to the science of <!--del_lnk--> acoustics, with a view to ameliorate the deafness of his mother.<p>In 1870, at the age of 23, he <!--del_lnk--> emigrated with his family to <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a> where they settled at <!--del_lnk--> Brantford. Before he left Scotland, Bell had turned his attention to <!--del_lnk--> telephony, and in Canada he continued an interest in communication machines. He designed a piano which could transmit its music to a distance by means of electricity. In 1871, he accompanied his father to <a href="../../wp/m/Montreal.htm" title="Montreal">Montreal</a>, Canada, where he was employed in teaching the system of visible speech. The elder Bell was invited to introduce the system into a large day-school for mutes at <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston</a>, but he declined the post in favour of his son, who became Professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at <!--del_lnk--> Boston University's School of Oratory.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15197.jpg.htm" title="Bell speaking into prototype model of the telephone"><img alt="Bell speaking into prototype model of the telephone" height="148" longdesc="/wiki/Image:1876_Bell_Speaking_into_Telephone.jpg" src="../../images/151/15197.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15197.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Bell speaking into prototype model of the telephone</div>
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<p>At <!--del_lnk--> Boston University he continued his research in the same field, and endeavored to produce a telephone which would not only send musical notes, but articulate speech. With financing from his American father-in-law, on <!--del_lnk--> March 7, <!--del_lnk--> 1876, the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Patent Office granted him <!--del_lnk--> Patent Number 174,465 covering "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically … by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound", the <a href="../../wp/t/Telephone.htm" title="Telephone">telephone</a>.<p>However, it has been recognized (such as by the U.S. Congress in 2002) that <!--del_lnk--> Antonio Meucci was the first to invent the telephone in 1871. Bell invented his own telephone in 1875 after discovering that a receiver could also be a transmitter. Some claim he went to the patent office and bribed the officials there to destroy the records of Meucci's inventor-of-the-telephone status (Meucci was too poor to secure a patent). In any case Bell then secured his own patent in 1876, just hours before <!--del_lnk--> Elisha Gray visited the patent office for his own work on the telephone. Meucci was understandably furious, and took Bell to court. However, he was too poor to hire a legal team, and in declining health, he died before the end of the court case. To Bell's credit, he successfully fought off several lawsuits, refined the telephone, and developed it into one of the most successful products. The Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, and by 1886 over 150,000 people in the U.S. owned telephones and Bell became a millionaire.<p>After obtaining the patent for the telephone, Bell continued his many experiments in communication, which culminated in the invention of the photophone-transmission of sound on a beam of <a href="../../wp/l/Light.htm" title="Light">light</a> — a precursor of today's <!--del_lnk--> optical fibre systems. He also worked in medical research and invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf. The range of Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by the eighteen <!--del_lnk--> patents granted in his name alone and the twelve he shared with his collaborators. These included fourteen for the telephone and <!--del_lnk--> telegraph, four for the <!--del_lnk--> photophone, one for the <!--del_lnk--> phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for hydroairplanes, and two for a <a href="../../wp/s/Selenium.htm" title="Selenium">selenium</a> cell.<p>Bell had many ideas that were later realized in inventions. During his Volta Laboratory period, Bell and his associates considered impressing a magnetic field on a record, as a means of reproducing sound. Although the trio briefly experimented with the concept, they were unable to develop a workable prototype. They abandoned the idea, never realizing they had glimpsed a basic principle which would one day find its application in the <!--del_lnk--> tape recorder, the <!--del_lnk--> hard disc and <!--del_lnk--> floppy disc drive, and other <!--del_lnk--> magnetic media.<p>Bell's own home used a primitive form of <!--del_lnk--> air conditioning, in which fans blew currents of air across great blocks of ice. He also anticipated modern concerns with fuel shortages and industrial pollution. Methane gas, he reasoned, could be produced from the waste of farms and factories. At his Canadian estate in <!--del_lnk--> Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, he experimented with <!--del_lnk--> composting toilets and devices to capture water from the atmosphere. In a magazine interview published shortly before his death, he reflected on the possibility of using <!--del_lnk--> solar panels to heat houses.<p>In 1882, he became a <!--del_lnk--> naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1888, he was one of the founding members of the <!--del_lnk--> National Geographic Society and became its second president. He was the recipient of many honours. The French Government conferred on him the decoration of the <!--del_lnk--> Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour), the <!--del_lnk--> Académie française bestowed on him the <!--del_lnk--> Volta Prize of 50,000 francs, the <!--del_lnk--> Royal Society of Arts in London awarded him the <!--del_lnk--> Albert Medal in 1902, and the <!--del_lnk--> University of Würzburg, <!--del_lnk--> Bavaria, granted him a Ph.D. He was awarded the <!--del_lnk--> AIEE's <!--del_lnk--> Edison Medal in 1914 for "For meritorious achievement in the invention of the telephone."<p>Bell married Mabel Hubbard, who was one of his pupils at Boston University and also a deaf-mute, on <!--del_lnk--> July 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1877. His invention of the telephone resulted from his attempts to create a device that would allow him to communicate with his wife and his deaf mother. He died of a heart attack at Beinn Bhreagh, located on <!--del_lnk--> Nova Scotia's <!--del_lnk--> Cape Breton Island near the village of <!--del_lnk--> Baddeck, in 1922 was buried atop Beinn Bhreagh mountain overlooking <!--del_lnk--> Bras d'Or Lake. He was survived by his wife and two of their four children.<p><a id="The_photophone" name="The_photophone"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The photophone</span></h3>
<p>Another of Bell's inventions was the <!--del_lnk--> photophone, a device enabling the transmission of sound over a beam of light, which he developed together with <!--del_lnk--> Charles Sumner Tainter. The device employed light-sensitive cells of crystalline <a href="../../wp/s/Selenium.htm" title="Selenium">selenium</a>, which has the property that its <a href="../../wp/e/Electrical_resistance.htm" title="Electrical resistance">electrical resistance</a> varies inversely with the illumination (i.e., the resistance is higher when the material is in the dark, and lower when it is lighted). The basic principle was to modulate a beam of light directed at a receiver made of crystalline selenium, to which a telephone was attached. The modulation was done either by means of a vibrating mirror, or a rotating disk periodically obscuring the light beam.<p>This idea was by no means new. Selenium had been discovered by <!--del_lnk--> Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1817, and the peculiar properties of crystalline or granulate selenium were discovered by <!--del_lnk--> Willoughby Smith in 1873. In 1878, one writer with the initials J.F.W. from <!--del_lnk--> Kew an arrangement in <i><!--del_lnk--> Nature</i> in a column appearing on <!--del_lnk--> June 13, asking the readers whether any experiments in that direction had already been done. In his paper on the photophone, Bell credited one <!--del_lnk--> A. C. Browne of London with the independent discovery in 1878—the same year Bell became aware of the idea. Bell and Tainter, however, were apparently the first to perform a successful experiment, by no means any easy task, as they even had to produce the selenium cells with the desired resistance characteristics themselves.<p>In one experiment in <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> the sender and the receiver were placed on different buildings some 700 <!--del_lnk--> feet (213 <!--del_lnk--> metres) apart. The sender consisted of a mirror directing sunlight onto the mouthpiece, where the light beam was modulated by a vibrating mirror, focused by a <!--del_lnk--> lens and directed at the receiver, which was simply a <!--del_lnk--> parabolic reflector with the selenium cells in the <!--del_lnk--> focus and the telephone attached. With this setup, Bell and Tainter succeeded to communicate clearly.<p>The photophone was <!--del_lnk--> patented on <!--del_lnk--> December 18, <!--del_lnk--> 1880, but the quality of communication remained poor and the research was not pursued by Bell. Later on this helped in the discovery of <!--del_lnk--> fibre optics and <!--del_lnk--> laser communication systems.<p><a id="Metal_detector" name="Metal_detector"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Metal detector</span></h3>
<p>Bell is also credited with the invention of the <!--del_lnk--> metal detector in 1881. The device was hurriedly put together in an attempt to find the bullet in the body of <a href="../../wp/p/President_of_the_United_States.htm" title="President of the United States">U.S. President</a> <a href="../../wp/j/James_Garfield.htm" title="James Garfield">James Garfield</a>. The metal detector worked, but didn't find the bullet because the metal bedframe the President was lying on confused the instrument. Bell gave a full account of his experiments in a paper read before the <!--del_lnk--> American Association for the Advancement of Science in August 1882. Though unsuccessful in its first incarnation, this achievement would eventually change the nature of physical security.<p><a id="The_hydrofoil" name="The_hydrofoil"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The hydrofoil</span></h3>
<p>The March 1906 <i><!--del_lnk--> Scientific American</i> article by American <!--del_lnk--> hydrofoil pioneer William E. Meacham explained the basic principle of hydrofoils. Bell considered the invention of the <!--del_lnk--> hydroplane as a very significant achievement. Based on information gained from that article he began to sketch concepts of what is now called a hydrofoil boat.<p>Bell and Casey Baldwin began hydrofoil experimentation in the summer of 1908 as a possible aid to airplane takeoff from water. Baldwin studied the work of the Italian inventor <!--del_lnk--> Enrico Forlanini and began testing models. This led him and Bell to the development of practical hydrofoil watercraft.<p>During his world tour of 1910–1911 Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in France. They had rides in the Forlanini hydrofoil boat over <!--del_lnk--> Lake Maggiore. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying. On returning to Baddeck a number of designs were tried culminating in the HD-4, using Renault engines. A top speed of 54 miles per hour was achieved, with rapid acceleration, good stability and steering, and the ability to take waves without difficulty.In 1913, Dr. Bell hired Walter Pinaud, a Sydney yacht designer and builder as well as the proprietor of Pinaud's Yacht Yard in Westmount, Nova Scotia to work on the pontoons of the HD-4. Pinaud soon took over the boatyard at Bell Laboratories on Beinn Bhreagh, Bell's estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Pinaud's experience in boatbuilding enabled him to make useful design changes to the HD-4 however soon WWI intervened. After WWI work began again on the HD-4. Bell's report to the navy permitted him to obtain two 350 <!--del_lnk--> horsepower (260 <!--del_lnk--> kW) engines in July 1919. On <!--del_lnk--> September 9, <!--del_lnk--> 1919 the HD-4 set a world's marine speed record of 70.86 miles per hour.<p><a id="Aeronautics" name="Aeronautics"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Aeronautics</span></h3>
<p>Bell was a supporter of aerospace engineering research through the Aerial Experiment Association, officially formed at Baddeck, Nova Scotia in October 1907 at the suggestion of Mrs. Mabel Bell and with her financial support. It was headed by the inventor himself. The founding members were four young men, American <!--del_lnk--> Glenn H. Curtiss, a motorcycle manufacturer who would later be awarded the Scientific American Trophy for the first official one-kilometre flight in the Western hemisphere and later be world-renowned as an airplane manufacturer; Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin, the first Canadian and first British subject to pilot a public flight in Hammondsport, New York; J.A.D. McCurdy; and Lieutenant <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Selfridge, an official observer from the U.S. government. One of the project's inventions, the <!--del_lnk--> aileron, is a standard component of aircraft today. (The aileron was also invented independently by Robert Esnault-Pelterie.)<p>Bell experimented with <!--del_lnk--> box kites and wings constructed of multiple compound <!--del_lnk--> tetrahedral kites covered in silk. The tetrahedral wings were named Cygnet I, II and III, and were flown both unmanned and manned (Cygnet I crashed during a flight carrying Selfridge) in the period from 1907-1912. Some of Bell's kites are on display at the <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site.<p><a id="Other_Inventions" name="Other_Inventions"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Other Inventions</span></h3>
<p>Bell had made many other inventions in his life. They include the metal jacket that assists in breathing, the audiometer to detect minor hearing problems, a device that locates icebergs, investigated on how to separate salt from seawater, and also worked on finding alternative fuels.<p><a id="Eugenics" name="Eugenics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Eugenics</span></h2>
<p>Along with many very prominent thinkers and scientists of the time, Bell was connected with the <!--del_lnk--> eugenics movement in the United States. From 1912 until 1918 he was the chairman of the board of scientific advisors to the <!--del_lnk--> Eugenics Record Office associated with <!--del_lnk--> Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory in <!--del_lnk--> New York, and regularly attended meetings. In 1921 he was the honorary president of the <!--del_lnk--> Second International Congress of Eugenics held under the auspices of the <!--del_lnk--> American Museum of Natural History in New York. Organizations such as these advocated passing laws (with success in some states) that established the <!--del_lnk--> compulsory sterilization of people deemed to be, as Bell called them, a "defective variety of the human race." By the late 1930s about half the states in the US had eugenics laws, the <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a> laws being used as a model for eugenics laws in <a href="../../wp/n/Nazi_Germany.htm" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a>.<p>His ideas about people he considered defective centered on the deaf. This was due to his feelings for his deaf family and his contact with <!--del_lnk--> deaf education. In addition to advocating sterilization of the deaf, Bell wished to prohibit deaf teachers from being allowed to teach in schools for the deaf, he worked to outlaw the marriage of deaf individuals to one another, and he was an ardent supporter of <!--del_lnk--> oralism over <!--del_lnk--> sign language. His avowed goal was to eradicate the language and culture of the deaf so as to force them to assimilate into the hearing culture for their own long-term benefit and for the benefit of society at large. Although this attitude is widely seen as paternalistic and arrogant today, it was mainstream in that era. See also: <!--del_lnk--> audism.<p>Although he supported what many would consider harsh and inhumane policies today, he was not unkind to deaf individuals who supported his theories of oralism. He was a personal and longtime friend of <!--del_lnk--> Helen Keller (although she hated being deaf), and his wife Mabel was deaf, though none of their children were. Bell was known as a kindly father and loving family man who took great pleasure in playing with his many grandchildren.<p><a id="Tributes" name="Tributes"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Tributes</span></h2>
<p>In the early 1970s, UK rock group <!--del_lnk--> The Sweet recorded a tribute to Bell and the telephone, suitably titled "Alexander Graham Bell". The song gives a fictional account of the invention, in which Bell devises the telephone so he can talk to his girlfriend who lives on the other side of the United States. The song reached the top 40 in the UK and went on to sell over one million recordings world-wide.<p>Another musical tribute to Bell was written by the British songwriter and guitarist <!--del_lnk--> Richard Thompson. The chorus of <!--del_lnk--> Thompson's songreminds the listener that "of course there was the telephone, he'd be famous for that alone, but there's fifty other things as well from Alexander Graham Bell". The song mentions Bell's work with discs rather than cylinders, the hydrofoil, Bell's work with the deaf, his invention of the respirator and several other of Bell's achievements.<p>Bell was honored on the television programs the <!--del_lnk--> 100 Greatest Britons (2002), the top-ten <!--del_lnk--> Greatest Canadians (2004), and <!--del_lnk--> the 100 Greatest Americans (2005). The nominees and rankings for these programs were determined by popular vote. Bell was the only person to be on more than one of the programs.<p>There is also a school located in <!--del_lnk--> Ajax, Ontario, Canada called <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Graham Bell Public School. One of the residence halls at <!--del_lnk--> Rochester Institute of Technology adjacent to the <!--del_lnk--> National Technical Institute for the Deaf building is Alexander Graham Bell Hall.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alexander Hamilton</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Historical_figures.htm">Historical figures</a></h3>
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<table cellpadding="3" class="infobox bordered" style="width: 21em; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;">
<caption style="font-size: larger;"><b>Alexander Hamilton</b></caption>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td colspan="2"><a class="image" href="../../images/151/15198.jpg.htm" title=" "><img alt=" " height="227" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Hamilton_small.jpg" src="../../images/151/15198.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /> Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by <!--del_lnk--> Daniel Huntington c.1865, based on a full length portrait painted by <!--del_lnk--> John Trumbull</td>
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<th colspan="2">1st <!--del_lnk--> United States Secretary of the Treasury</th>
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<th colspan="2" style="border-bottom: none; text-align: center;">In office</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="border-top: none; text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> September 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1789 – <!--del_lnk--> January 31, <!--del_lnk--> 1795</td>
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<th>President</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">George Washington</a></td>
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<th>Preceded by</th>
<td>None</td>
</tr>
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<th>Succeeded by</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Oliver Wolcott, Jr.</td>
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<th>Born</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> January 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1755 or <!--del_lnk--> 1757<br /><!--del_lnk--> Nevis, <!--del_lnk--> British West Indies</td>
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<th>Died</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> July 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1804<br /><a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, <!--del_lnk--> New York</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Political party</th>
<td>The Federalist Party <!--del_lnk--> founder</td>
</tr>
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<th>Spouse</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Betsey [Elizabeth] Schuyler Hamilton</td>
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<th>Profession</th>
<td>Secretary of Treasury</td>
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<p><b>Alexander Hamilton</b> (<!--del_lnk--> January 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1755 or <!--del_lnk--> 1757 — <!--del_lnk--> July 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1804) was an <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">American</a> <!--del_lnk--> politician, leading statesman, financier, intellectual, military officer, and founder of the <!--del_lnk--> Federalist party. One of America's foremost constitutional lawyers, he was an influential delegate to the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787; he was one of the two leading authors of the <i><!--del_lnk--> Federalist Papers</i>, which has been the single most important interpretation of the Constitution.<p>He was the first <!--del_lnk--> Secretary of the Treasury and had much influence over the rest of the Government and the formation of policy, including foreign policy. He convinced Congress to use an elastic interpretation of the Constitution to pass far-reaching laws. They included the creation of a national debt, federal assumption of the state debts, creation of a <!--del_lnk--> national bank, and a system of taxes through a <!--del_lnk--> tariff on imports and a <!--del_lnk--> tax on whiskey that would pay for it all. He admired the British system and strongly denounced the <a href="../../wp/f/French_Revolution.htm" title="French Revolution">French Revolution</a>.<p>Hamilton created the <!--del_lnk--> Federalist party, the first American political party, which he built up using <!--del_lnk--> patronage, networks of elite leaders, and aggressive newspaper editors. His great adversary was <a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Jefferson.htm" title="Thomas Jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a>, who opposed his urban, financial, industrially pro-British vision and, with <!--del_lnk--> James Madison, created the "republican party" , eventually<i><sup></sup></i> called the <!--del_lnk--> Democratic-Republican Party. Hamilton retired from the Treasury in 1795 to practice law but returned to the public arena in December, 1798 as organizer of a new army; if full scale war broke out with <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>, the army was intended to conquer the colonies of <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>, France's ally. Hamilton also used it to threaten political foes in <!--del_lnk--> Virginia. He worked to defeat both <a href="../../wp/j/John_Adams.htm" title="John Adams">John Adams</a> and Jefferson in the <!--del_lnk--> election of 1800; but when the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_House_of_Representatives.htm" title="United States House of Representatives">House of Representatives</a> deadlocked, he helped secure the election of Jefferson over <!--del_lnk--> Aaron Burr.<p>Hamilton once proposed (as recorded briefly in notes taken by James Madison) the concept of <!--del_lnk--> elective monarchial <!--del_lnk--> republicanism in a speech<!--del_lnk--> at the <!--del_lnk--> Continental Congress, although he came to doubt its possibility after the election of Jefferson. His nationalist and modernizing vision was rejected in the Jeffersonian "Revolution of 1800." However, after the <!--del_lnk--> War of 1812 showed the need for strong national institutions, his former opponents, led by <!--del_lnk--> John C. Calhoun, came to emulate his programs as they too set up a national bank, tariffs, internal improvements, and a standing army and navy. The later <!--del_lnk--> Whig and <!--del_lnk--> Republican parties adopted many of Hamilton's themes, but his negative reputation after 1800 did not allow them to acknowledge his role until his style of nationalism became dominant again about 1900, when <!--del_lnk--> Progressives such as <a href="../../wp/t/Theodore_Roosevelt.htm" title="Theodore Roosevelt">Theodore Roosevelt</a><!--del_lnk--> and <!--del_lnk--> Herbert Croly, as well as conservative <!--del_lnk--> Henry Cabot Lodge, revived his reputation.<p>
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<p>Alexander Hamilton was born on the <!--del_lnk--> West Indies island of <!--del_lnk--> Nevis to James Hamilton, the fourth son of a <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scottish</a> <!--del_lnk--> laird, and Rachel Fawcett Lavien, of part French <!--del_lnk--> Huguenot descent. Hamilton's mother had been married to Johann Michael Lavien on the island of St. Croix. When she moved to Nevis she left a son from that marriage. (The spelling of <i>Lavien</i> varies; this is Hamilton's version, which may be a <!--del_lnk--> Sephardic spelling of Levine.) The couple may have lived apart from one another under an order of legal separation; since Rachel was the guilty party, re-marriage was impossible.<p>There is some uncertainty as to the year of Hamilton's birth; he used <!--del_lnk--> January 11 as his birthday. Most historians now use <!--del_lnk--> January 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1755, as Hamilton's birthday, although there is disagreement. He claimed 1757 as his birth year when he first came to <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a>; but the Dane, Ramsing, found in <b>1930</b> that he is recorded as thirteen in the probate papers after his mother's death—which would make him two years older. He was often approximate about his age thereafter. Various explanations of this have been suggested: He may have been trying to appear younger than his college classmates, and so precocious; he may have been avoiding standing out as older; the probate document may be wrong; he may have been passing as older than he was, and so more employable, at his mother's death.<p>Hamilton was always sensitive about his illegitimate birth. His father abandoned his two sons in the course of breaking with Hamilton's mother. (This presumably had severe emotional consequences, even among eighteenth-century childhoods.) His mother kept a small store on Nevis, and had, it is said, the largest library on the island—some thirty-odd books. She died in 1768, leaving Hamilton effectively orphaned. A short time afterwards, Rachel's son from her first marriage appeared in Nevis, and (legally) confiscated the few valuables Hamilton's mother had owned, including several valuable silver spoons. Hamilton never saw him again, but years later received his death notice and a small amount of money.<p>Hamilton's business career began in 1768 at the <!--del_lnk--> counting house of <!--del_lnk--> Nicholas Cruger. Cruger took a trip off-island in 1771-72, leaving young Hamilton in charge of business affairs for five months. He displayed a remarkable flair for business and leadership skills that involved dealing with senior ship captains and businessmen on an equal basis. Later, Hugh Knox, a <!--del_lnk--> Presbyterian minister, came to St. Croix. He opened his library to Hamilton and preached about the practical evils produced by <a href="../../wp/s/Slavery.htm" title="Slavery">slavery</a>. He influenced Hamilton greatly; some biographers derive Hamilton's opposition to slavery from Knox. In September, Knox, who also edited the local paper, published a remarkable letter by Hamilton describing and moralizing about a devastating hurricane. The islanders, perhaps chiefly Knox and Cruger, in response to the hurricane letter, raised a fund to send the young man to America for schooling.<p><a id="Education" name="Education"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Education</span></h2>
<p>In 1773, Hamilton attended a college-preparatory program with Francis Barber at <!--del_lnk--> Elizabethtown, New Jersey. There, he most probably came under the influence of a leading intellectual and revolutionary, <!--del_lnk--> Robert Livingston. He may have applied to the College of New Jersey (forerunner to <a href="../../wp/p/Princeton_University.htm" title="Princeton University">Princeton University</a>) and been rejected; but he attended King's College (the predecessor of <!--del_lnk--> Columbia University) in <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>.<p>When Anglican clergyman <!--del_lnk--> Samuel Seabury published a series of pamphlets promoting the Tory cause with conviction, Hamilton struck back with his first political writings, <i>A Full Vindication of the measures of Congress</i>, and <i>The Farmer Refuted</i> written in 1774. He published two other pieces attacking the <!--del_lnk--> Quebec Act as "establishing arbitrary power and Popery" in Canada , and he wrote fourteen anonymous installments of "The Monitor" for Holt's <i>New York Journal</i>. Nevertheless, Hamilton is said to have preferred civil debate over revolutionary fervor; the report that he saved King's College president and Tory sympathizer <!--del_lnk--> Myles Cooper from an angry mob by persuasion alone is generally accepted.<p><a id="Military_career" name="Military_career"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Military career</span></h2>
<p>Hamilton joined a New York volunteer militia company called the <!--del_lnk--> Hearts of Oak in <!--del_lnk--> 1775 after the first engagements of American troops with the <!--del_lnk--> British in <!--del_lnk--> Boston. He drilled with the company (which included other King's students) before classes in the graveyard of nearby <!--del_lnk--> St. Paul's Chapel. Hamilton achieved the rank of lieutenant, studied military history and tactics on his own and, under fire from the HMS <i>Asia</i>, led a successful raid for British cannon in <!--del_lnk--> the Battery, the capture of which resulted in the Hearts of Oak becoming an artillery company thereafter. Through his connections with influential <!--del_lnk--> New York patriots like <!--del_lnk--> Alexander McDougall and <!--del_lnk--> John Jay, he raised his own artillery company of sixty men in <!--del_lnk--> 1776, drilling them, selecting and purchasing their uniforms with donated funds, and winning their loyalty; they chose the young man as their captain. He won the interest of <!--del_lnk--> Nathanael Greene and <a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">George Washington</a> by the proficiency and bravery he displayed in the <!--del_lnk--> campaign of 1776 around <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, particularly at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Harlem Heights.<p>He joined Washington's staff in March 1777 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and for four years served in effect as his chief of staff. He handled the paperwork and drafted many of Washington's orders and letters (but Washington always made the decisions and gave the commands). He negotiated with general officers as Washington's emissary. The important duties with which he was entrusted attest Washington's entire confidence in his abilities and character, then and afterward. Indeed, reciprocal confidence and respect initially took the place of personal attachment in their relations. During the war Hamilton became close friends with several fellow officers, including John Laurens and the Marquis de Lafayette.<div class="thumb tright">
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<p>Hamilton repeatedly sought independent command, especially of small units. He became impatient of detention in what he regarded as a position of unpleasant dependence, and in February 1781, he received a slight reprimand from Washington as an excuse for resigning his staff position. But later, through Washington, he secured a field command: he led an (elite) light infantry regiment that took Redoubt #10 of the British fortifications at <!--del_lnk--> Yorktown, the last necessary to force the British surrender there.<p><a id="Relationship_with_John_Laurens" name="Relationship_with_John_Laurens"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Relationship with John Laurens</span></h3>
<p>Some historians contend that Hamilton had a homosexual relationship with <!--del_lnk--> John Laurens although it was later found out he did not while both were aide-de-camps to Washington. Laurens took leave, travelling to his home state of South Carolina, in an effort to persuade the legislature to recruit African-American troops for the Continental Army. The suspicions about their relationship are based upon letters Hamilton wrote to Laurens shortly afterward. The first correspondence that we have appears to be a response from Hamilton to Laurens, written in December, 1779.<p>The letter says, in part: “Cold in my professions, warm in my friendships, I wish, my Dear Laurens, it might be in my power, by action rather than words to convince you that I love you. I shall only tell you that 'til you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you… You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent. But as you have done it, and as we are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall not scruple to pardon the fraud you have committed, on condition that for my sake, if not for your own, you will always continue to merit the partiality, which you have artfully instilled into me.”<p>In the same letter, however, Hamilton asks Laurens to find him a wife in South Carolina: “She must be young--handsome (I lay most stress upon a good shape) Sensible (a little learning will do)--well bred. . . chaste and tender (I am an enthusiast in my notions of fidelity and fondness); of some good nature--a great deal of generosity (she must neither love money nor scolding, for I dislike equally a termagant and an economist)--In politics, I am indifferent what side she may be of--I think I have arguments that will safely convert her to mine--As to religion a moderate stock will satisfy me--She must believe in god and hate a saint. But as to fortune, the larger stock of that the better."<p>In preparing a biography, Hamilton's family redacted parts of the letters the two sent one another. It remains rumor whether their relationship was sexual or not. Hamilton was apparently never as emotionally open with any other man in his lifetime, but he knew no other comrade or peer in age, rank, and common war experience to share a deep <!--del_lnk--> platonic friendship with. Though the depth of sentiments expressed by him are equaled only in letters he wrote to his wife Eliza, the language is not uncommon between men for the historical period.<p>The two are pictured together in John Trumbull's "Surrender of Lord Cornwallis” and were featured together on a bicentennial US Stamp, issued May 19, 1976. A statue of two men clasping hands is attached to the larger Marquis de Lafayette statue across from the White House in <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a>. For years, it was rumored to depict Hamilton and Laurens congratulating each other after capturing the British redoubt at Yorktown, and served a popular gay rendezvous. However, the figures on the west side of the Marquis de Lafayette statue actually depict Louis Le Bègue Duportail and Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, the Comte de Rochambeau.<p><a id="Under_the_Confederation" name="Under_the_Confederation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Under the Confederation</span></h2>
<p>After the war, he served as a member of the <!--del_lnk--> Congress of the Confederation from 1782 to 1783, and then he retired to open his own law office in <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>. He specialized in defending Tories and British subjects, as in <!--del_lnk--> Rutgers v. Waddington, in which he defeated a claim for damages done to a brewery by the Englishmen who held it during the military occupation of New York. He pleaded that the Mayor's Court should interpret state law to be consistent with the <!--del_lnk--> 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.<p>In 1784, he founded the <!--del_lnk--> Bank of New York, now the oldest ongoing banking organization in the United States, and was also instrumental, along with John Jay, in the revitalization of King's College, which had been severely crippled by the war and discredited for its Tory affiliations, as <!--del_lnk--> Columbia College. His public career resumed when he attended the <!--del_lnk--> Annapolis Convention as a delegate in 1786 and drafted its resolution for a Constitutional convention.<p><a id="Constitution_and_the_Federalist_Papers" name="Constitution_and_the_Federalist_Papers"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Constitution and the <i>Federalist Papers</i></span></h2>
<p>In 1787, he served in the <!--del_lnk--> New York State Legislature and was the first delegate chosen to the <!--del_lnk--> Constitutional Convention. Hamilton's direct influence at the Convention was limited, since New York at the time was dominated by Clintonians (under <!--del_lnk--> George Clinton) in opposition of a strong national government. Not long into the convention, the two other New York delegates left the convention in protest, and Hamilton remained with no vote (two representatives were required for any state to cast a vote).<p>Early in the Convention he made a speech proposing what was considered a very monarchical government for the United States. Though regarded as one of his most eloquent speeches, it had little effect, and deliberations continued largely ignoring his suggestions.<p>Based on his interpretation of history, he concluded the ideal form of government had represented all the interest groups, but maintained a hereditary monarch to decide policy. In Hamilton's opinion, this was impractical in the United States; nevertheless, the country should mimic this form of government as closely as possible. He proposed, therefore, to have a President and Senators for life, though they would be an elected assembly. He was also for the abolition of the state governments. Much later, he stated that his "final opinion" in the Convention was that the President should have a three year term. The notes of the Convention are rather brief; there has been some speculation that he might have also proposed a longer, and more republican, plan.<p>During the convention, he constructed a draft on the basis of the debates which he did not actually present. This has most of the features of the actual Constitution, down to such details as the three-fifths clause, but not all of them. The Senate is elected in proportion to population, being two-fifths the size of the House, and the President and Senators are elected through complex multi-stage elections, in which chosen electors elect smaller bodies of electors; they still held office for life, but were removable for misconduct. The President would have an absolute veto. The Supreme Court was to have immediate jurisdiction over all suits involving the United States, and State governors were to be appointed by the Federal Government.<p>Hamilton was satisfied with the proposed <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Constitution, and became a stalwart promoter. He took the lead in the successful campaign for its ratification in <!--del_lnk--> New York, a crucial victory for ratification. Hamilton recruited John Jay and James Madison to write a defense of the proposed Constitution, now known as The <!--del_lnk--> Federalist Papers, but he made the largest collective contribution (writing 51 of the 85 that were published). Hamilton is considered the leading interpreter of the Constitution, and his essays and arguments were influential in New York state and others during the debates over ratification. The <i>Federalist Papers</i> are more often cited than any other primary source by jurists, lawyers, historians and political scientists as the major contemporary interpretation of the Constitution.<p>In 1788, Hamilton served yet another term in what proved to be the last time the <!--del_lnk--> Continental Congress met under the <!--del_lnk--> Articles of Confederation.<p><a id="Secretary_of_the_Treasury:_1789-1795" name="Secretary_of_the_Treasury:_1789-1795"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Secretary of the Treasury: 1789-1795</span></h2>
<p>President George Washington appointed Hamilton as the first <!--del_lnk--> Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton served in the <!--del_lnk--> Treasury Department from <!--del_lnk--> September 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1789, until <!--del_lnk--> January 31, <!--del_lnk--> 1795.<p>Within one year, Hamilton submitted five reports that amounted to a financial revolution in the American Economy.<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> First Report on the Public Credit<ul>
<li>Communicated to the House of Representatives, <!--del_lnk--> January 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1790.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Operations of the Act Laying Duties on Imports<ul>
<li>Communicated to the House of Representatives, <!--del_lnk--> April 23, <!--del_lnk--> 1790.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Report on a National Bank<ul>
<li>Communicated to the House of Representatives, <!--del_lnk--> December 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1790.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Report on the Establishment of a Mint<ul>
<li>Communicated to the House of Representatives, <!--del_lnk--> January 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1791.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Report on Manufactures<ul>
<li>Communicated to the House of Representatives, <!--del_lnk--> December 5, <!--del_lnk--> 1791.</ul>
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<p>In the Report on Public Credit, the Secretary made the controversial proposal that would have had the Federal Government assume state debts incurred during the Revolution. It was a bold move to empower the federal government over State governments, and it drew sharp criticism from <!--del_lnk--> Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and <!--del_lnk--> Speaker of the House of Representatives <!--del_lnk--> James Madison. The disagreements between Jefferson and Hamilton extended to other proposals Hamilton made to Congress, and they grew especially bitter, with Hamilton's followers calling themselves Federalists and Jefferson's calling themselves republicans. These divisions are the first manifestations of political parties in the U.S.<p>Jefferson and Madison eventually brokered a deal with Hamilton that required him to use his influence to place the permanent capital on the <!--del_lnk--> Potomac River, while Jefferson and Madison would encourage their friends to back Hamilton's assumption plan. In the end, Hamilton's assumption, together with his proposals for funding the debt, passed legislative opposition and became law.<p>Hamilton's next milestone report was his Report on Manufactures. Congress shelved the report without much debate, except for Madison's objection to Hamilton's formulation of the General Welfare clause, which Hamilton construed liberally. Nevertheless, The Report on Manufactures is a classic document heralding the industrial future America would soon inhabit. In it Hamilton counters Jefferson's vision of an Agrarian American nation of farmers and gives a clear vision for a dynamic industrial economy, subservient to manufacturing interests. Hamilton discusses some problems relating to <a href="../../wp/a/Adam_Smith.htm" title="Adam Smith">Adam Smith's</a> <!--del_lnk--> Wealth of Nations, while borrowing from Smith's theory at the same time. As a state paper, the report on manufactures failed to bring about any policy recommendations but was much read during the nineteenth century.<p>Apart from these, Hamilton helped found the <!--del_lnk--> United States Mint, the <!--del_lnk--> First National Bank, the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Coast Guard, and an elaborate system of duties, tariffs, and excises. The complete Hamiltonian program is considered by many scholars to have amounted to a swift, five-year financial revolution that replaced the chaotic financial system of the confederation era with a modern apparatus to give investors the confidence necessary for them to invest in government bonds. His overall financial program is now acknowledged to have strengthened the Federal government considerably, a central objective in Hamilton's nationalist vision.<p>Hamilton's reports are not the only noteworthy elements of his Treasury tenure. The very act of administering his programs has drawn much interest from students of public administration. Hamilton paid attention to how a government implemented policy, as much as what policy it implemented. "Administration," said Hamilton, "this is the true touchstone." James Madison later said:<p>"I deserted Colonel Hamilton, or rather Colonel H. deserted me; in a word, the divergence between us took place from his wishing to administration, or rather to administer the Government into what he thought it ought to be..."<p>While Hamilton never penned a full theory of public administration, his practices in the domain reflect his recurring concern with energy and enterprise. The key idea was that a good administration of the government (meaning the confident and energetic assumption of power) would endear a government to the people. Hamilton worked this principle into the government through his own administration of the Treasury Department and as advisor to President Washington. However, his adherence to this principle engendered as many enemies as allies and brought into question the limits of executive power.<p>As a principal sources of revenue, Hamilton's system imposed an <!--del_lnk--> excise tax on <!--del_lnk--> whiskey. Strong opposition to the whiskey tax erupted into the <!--del_lnk--> Whiskey Rebellion in 1794; in <!--del_lnk--> Western Pennsylvania and western <!--del_lnk--> Virginia, whiskey was commonly made and used (often in place of currency) by most of the community. In response to the rebellion—on the grounds compliance with the laws was vital to the establishment of federal authority—he accompanied President Washington, General <!--del_lnk--> "Light Horse Harry" Lee and more Federal troops than the Continental Line. This overwhelming display of force intimidated the leaders of the insurrection, ending the rebellion virtually without bloodshed.<p><a id="Founding_the_Federalist_Party" name="Founding_the_Federalist_Party"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Founding the Federalist Party</span></h2>
<p>Hamilton created the <!--del_lnk--> Federalist Party and dominated it until 1800. It was the first political party in the nation; some have called it the first mass-based party in any republic; others have seen its chief weakness in having too little connection to the masses. As early as 1790, Hamilton started putting together a nationwide coalition, using the contacts he had made in the Army and the Treasury. To build vocal political support in each state, he signed up prominent men who were like-minded nationalists. The friends of the government especially included merchants, bankers, and financiers in a dozen major cities. By 1792 or 1793 newspapers started calling Hamilton supporters "Federalists" and the opponents "democrats" or "republicans". Religious and educational leaders—hostile to the <a href="../../wp/f/French_Revolution.htm" title="French Revolution">French Revolution</a>—joined his coalition, especially in New England. Hamilton systematically set up a Federalist newspaper network, recruiting and subsidizing editors like <!--del_lnk--> Noah Webster and <!--del_lnk--> John Fenno; he wrote numerous anonymous editorials and essays for his papers.<p>By 1793, Jefferson and Madison started the <i>republican party</i>, which eventually<i><sup></sup></i> became the <!--del_lnk--> Democratic Republicans. The state networks of both parties began to operate in 1794 or 1795, thus firmly establishing what has been called The <!--del_lnk--> First Party System in all the states. Hamilton had over 2,000 Treasury jobs to dispense, while Jefferson had only one. <!--del_lnk--> Jay's Treaty of 1794 injected foreign policy into the party debates, with Hamilton and his party favoring Britain and denouncing the French Revolution, while the Jeffersonians tended to the opposite position.<p>The Federalist and Democratic-Republican newspapers of the 1790s traded "rancorous and venomous abuse." <!--del_lnk--> John Fenno had founded the <i>Gasette of the United States</i> in 1789, on Hamilton's side; <!--del_lnk--> Philip Freneau, known as the "Poet of the Revolution," was a Democratic-Republican editor. The Democratic Republicans attacked Hamilton as a monarchist who betrayed America's true values; after the Reynolds affair became known they used salacious humor relentlessly. One poem began:<dl>
<dd><b>A</b>SK—who lies here beneath this monument?<dd><b>L</b> o!—’tis a self created MONSTER, who<dd><b>E</b> mbraced all vice. His arrogance was like<dd><b>X</b> erxes, who flogg’d the disobedient sea,<dd><b>A</b> dultery his smallest crime</dl>
<p><a id="Industrialist" name="Industrialist"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Industrialist</span></h2>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15201.jpg.htm" title="Statue of Hamilton by Franklin Simmons, overlooking the Great Falls of the Passaic River in Paterson, New Jersey. Hamilton envisioned the use of the falls to power new factories."><img alt="Statue of Hamilton by Franklin Simmons, overlooking the Great Falls of the Passaic River in Paterson, New Jersey. Hamilton envisioned the use of the falls to power new factories." height="209" longdesc="/wiki/Image:DSCN2897_hamilton_statue.jpg" src="../../images/152/15201.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Hamilton was among the first to predict an industrial future. In 1778, he visited the <!--del_lnk--> Great Falls of the Passaic River in northern <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey and saw that the falls could one day be harnessed to provide power for a manufacturing centre on the site. In the 1790s, he helped to found the <!--del_lnk--> Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures, a private corporation that would use the power of the falls to operate mills. Although the company did not succeed in its original purpose, it leased the land around the falls to other mill ventures and continued to operate for over a century and a half.<p><a id="Out_of_the_Cabinet" name="Out_of_the_Cabinet"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Out of the Cabinet</span></h2>
<p><a id="Affair" name="Affair"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Affair</span></h3>
<p>In 1794, Hamilton became intimately involved in an affair with <!--del_lnk--> Maria Reynolds that badly damaged his reputation. Reynolds's husband, James, blackmailed Hamilton for money by threatening to tell Hamilton's wife, Eliza. When James Reynolds was arrested for counterfeiting, he contacted several prominent members of the Democratic-Republican Party, most notably <a href="../../wp/j/James_Monroe.htm" title="James Monroe">James Monroe</a>, touting that he could finger a top level official for corruption. When they visited Hamilton with their suspicions (believing Hamilton had abused his position in Washington's Cabinet), Hamilton insisted he was innocent of any misconduct in public office and admitted to the affair with Maria Reynolds. When rumors began spreading, Hamilton published a confession of his affair, shocking his family and supporters by not merely confessing but narrating the affair in detail. At first Hamilton accused Monroe of making his affair public, and challenged him to a duel. <!--del_lnk--> Aaron Burr stepped in and persuaded Hamilton that Monroe was innocent of the accusation. His well-known vitriolic temper led Hamilton to challenge several others to duels in his career.<p><a name="1796_presidential_election"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1796 presidential election</span></h3>
<p>Hamilton's resignation as <!--del_lnk--> Secretary of the Treasury in 1795 did not remove him from public life. With the resumption of his law practice, he remained close to Washington as an adviser and friend. Hamilton influenced Washington in the composition of his <!--del_lnk--> Farewell Address, and Washington often consulted with him, as did members of his Cabinet.<p>In the election of 1796, each of the presidential <!--del_lnk--> Electors had two votes, which they were to cast for different men; the one with most votes to be President, the second Vice President. This system was not designed for parties, which had been thought disreputable and factious. The Federalists planned to deal with this by having all their Electors vote for Adams and all but a few for <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Pinckney of <!--del_lnk--> South Carolina, then on his way home from a successful embassage to Spain. Jefferson chose Aaron Burr as his vice presidential running mate.<p>Hamilton, however, disliked Adams and saw an opportunity. He urged all the Northern Electors to vote for Adams and Pinckney, lest Jefferson get in; he cooperated with <!--del_lnk--> Edward Rutledge to have South Carolina's Electors vote for Jefferson and Pinckney. If all this worked, Pinckney would have more votes than Adams; Pinckney would be President, and Adams would remain Vice President. It did not. The Federalists found out about it (even the French minister to the United States found out about it), and Northern Federalists voted for Adams but <i>not</i> for Pinckney, in sufficient numbers that Pinckney came in third and Jefferson became Vice President.<p><a id="Quasi-War" name="Quasi-War"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Quasi-War</span></h3>
<p>Adams resented this because, from the non-partisan point of view, his services and seniority were much greater than Pinckney's. Relations between Hamilton and Washington's successor, <a href="../../wp/j/John_Adams.htm" title="John Adams">John Adams</a>, however, were frequently strained. Adams resented Hamilton's influence with Washington and considered him overambitious and scandalous in his private life; Hamilton compared Adams unfavorably with Washington and thought him too emotionally unstable to be President. During the <!--del_lnk--> Quasi-War of 1798-1800, and with Washington's strong endorsement, Adams reluctantly appointed Hamilton a <!--del_lnk--> major general of the army (essentially placing him in command since Washington could not leave Mt. Vernon).<p>Hamilton proceeded to set up an army, which was to guard against invasion and march into the possessions of Spain, then allied with France, and take <!--del_lnk--> Louisiana and <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a>. His correspondence further suggests that when he returned in military glory, he dreamed of setting up a properly energetic government, without any Jeffersonians. Adams, however, derailed all plans for war by opening negotiations with France. Adams had also held it right to retain Washington's cabinet, except for cause; he found, in 1800 (after Washington's death), that they were obeying Hamilton rather than himself and fired several of them.<p><a name="1800_presidential_election"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1800 presidential election</span></h3>
<p>In the 1800 election, Hamilton acted against both sides. He proposed that New York, which Burr had won for Jefferson, should have its election rerun with carefully chosen districts. John Jay, who had given up the Supreme Court to be Governor of New York, declined to support this unbecoming proposal. John Adams was running this time with Pinckney's elder brother <!--del_lnk--> Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. On the other hand, Hamilton toured <!--del_lnk--> New England, again urging Northern Electors to hold firm for this Pinckney, in the renewed hope to make Pinckney President; and he again intrigued in South Carolina. This time, the important reaction was from the Jeffersonian Electors, all of whom voted both for Jefferson and Burr to ensure that no such deal would result in electing a Federalist. (Burr had received only one vote from Virginia in 1796.) On the Federalist side, Governor <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Fenner of Rhode Island denounced these "jockeying tricks" to make Pinckney President, and one Rhode Island Elector voted for Adams and Jay. The result was that Jefferson and Burr tied for first and second; and Pinckney came in fourth.<p>In September, Hamilton wrote a pamphlet (<i>Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States</i>) which was highly critical of Adams, although it closed with a tepid endorsement. He mailed this to two hundred leading Federalists; when a copy fell into Democratic-Republican hands, they printed it. This also hurt Adams's 1800 reelection campaign and split the Federalist Party, virtually assuring the victory of the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Jefferson, in the <!--del_lnk--> election of 1800, and destroyed Hamilton's position among the Federalists.<p>So Jefferson had beaten Adams; both he and his nominal running mate, Aaron Burr, received 73 votes in the Electoral College. With Jefferson and Burr tied, the United States House of Representatives had to choose between the two men. (As a result of this election, the <!--del_lnk--> Twelfth Amendment was proposed and ratified, adopting the method under which presidential elections are held today.) Several Federalists who opposed Jefferson supported Burr, but Hamilton reluctantly threw his weight behind Jefferson, causing one Federalist congressman to abstain from voting after 36 tied ballots. This ensured that Jefferson was elected <!--del_lnk--> President rather than Burr. Even though Hamilton did not like Jefferson and disagreed with him on many issues, he was quoted as saying, "At least Jefferson was honest." Burr then became <!--del_lnk--> Vice President of the United States. When it became clear that he would not be asked to run again with Jefferson, Burr sought the New York governorship in 1804 but was badly defeated by forces led by Hamilton.<p><a id="Family_life" name="Family_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Family life</span></h2>
<p>In spring 1779, Hamilton asked his friend John Laurens to find him a wife in South Carolina: [Mitchell vol 1 p 199]:<blockquote>
<p>"She must be young—handsome (I lay most stress upon a good shape) Sensible (a little learning will do)—well bred. . . chaste and tender (I am an enthusiast in my notions of fidelity and fondness); of some good nature—a great deal of generosity (she must neither love money nor scolding, for I dislike equally a termagant and an economist)—In politics, I am indifferent what side she may be of—I think I have arguments that will safely convert her to mine—As to religion a moderate stock will satisfy me—She must believe in God and hate a saint. But as to fortune, the larger stock of that the better."</blockquote>
<p>Hamilton however found his own bride. On <!--del_lnk--> December 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1780, he married Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General <!--del_lnk--> Philip Schuyler, and thus joined one of the richest and most political families in the state of New York.<p>Hamilton grew extremely close to Eliza's sister Angelica Church, who was married to John Barker Church, a <!--del_lnk--> Member of Parliament.<p>Hamilton's widow, Elizabeth (known as Eliza or Betsey), survived him for fifty years, until 1854; Hamilton had referred to her as "best of wives and best of women." An extremely religious woman, Eliza spent much of her life working to help widows and orphans. After Hamilton's death, she co-founded New York's first private orphanage, the New York Orphan Asylum Society. Despite the Reynolds affair (and several others), Alexander and Eliza were very close, and as a widow she always strove to guard his reputation and enhance his standing in American history.<p><a id="Duel_with_Aaron_Burr" name="Duel_with_Aaron_Burr"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Duel with Aaron Burr</span></h2>
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<div style="width:322px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15202.jpg.htm" title="Hamilton fights his fatal duel with Aaron Burr."><img alt="Hamilton fights his fatal duel with Aaron Burr." height="221" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Hamilton-burr-duel.jpg" src="../../images/152/15202.jpg" width="320" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15202.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Hamilton fights his fatal <!--del_lnk--> duel with <!--del_lnk--> Aaron Burr.</div>
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<p>Soon after the gubernatorial election in New York—in which <!--del_lnk--> Morgan Lewis, greatly assisted by Hamilton, defeated Aaron Burr—a newspaper published a letter from a dinner party in upstate New York, during which Hamilton, discussing Burr, said he could reveal "an even more despicable opinion" of Colonel Burr. Burr, sensing an attack on his honour, and surely still stung by the defeat, demanded an apology. Hamilton refused on the grounds that he could not recall the instance.<p>It was an exchange of three testy letters, and despite the attempts of friends to avert a confrontation, a duel was nevertheless scheduled for <!--del_lnk--> July 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1804, along the bank of the <!--del_lnk--> Hudson River on a rocky ledge in <!--del_lnk--> Weehawken, New Jersey. It was a common dueling site at which two years earlier Hamilton's eldest son, Philip, had been killed in a duel with a prominent Jeffersonian whom he had publicly insulted in a Manhattan theatre.<p>At dawn, the duel began, and Vice President Aaron Burr shot Hamilton. Hamilton's shot broke a tree branch directly above Burr's head. A letter that he wrote the night before the duel states, "I have resolved, if our interview [duel] is conducted in the usual manner, and it pleases God to give me the opportunity, to reserve and throw away my first fire, and I have thoughts even of reserving my second fire." The circumstances of the duel, and Hamilton's actual intentions, are still disputed. Neither of the Seconds, Pendleton or Van Ness, could determine who fired first. The next day they measured and triangulated the shooting (both men were the same height) and determined that Hamilton, probably more nervous than Burr, had fired from the hip. The guns had hair-trigger settings, but according to both seconds were not used. The same guns were used in Philip Hamilton's duel and still exist today.<p>If a duelist decided not to aim at his opponent there was a well-known procedure, obvious to everyone present, for doing so. Hamilton did not follow this procedure. (If so, Burr might have followed suit, and death may have been avoided.) It was a matter of honour among gentlemen to follow these rules. Because of the high incidence of septicemia and death resulting from torso wounds, a high percentage of duels employed this procedure of throwing away fire. Years later, when told that Hamilton may have misled him at the duel, the ever-laconic Burr replied, "Contemptible—if true." <p>After considerable suffering, Hamilton died the next day and was buried in the <!--del_lnk--> Trinity Churchyard Cemetery in <!--del_lnk--> Manhattan (Hamilton was <!--del_lnk--> Episcopalian). <!--del_lnk--> Governor Morris, a political ally of Hamilton's, gave the eulogy at his funeral and secretly established a fund to support his widow and children.<p><a id="Legacy" name="Legacy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Legacy</span></h2>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/140/14029.jpg.htm" title="Alexander Hamilton on the current U.S. $10 bill"><img alt="Alexander Hamilton on the current U.S. $10 bill" height="148" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US10dollarbill-Series_2004A.jpg" src="../../images/152/15203.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/140/14029.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Alexander Hamilton on the current <!--del_lnk--> U.S. $10 bill</div>
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<p>From the start, Hamilton set a precedent as a Cabinet member by dreaming up federal programs, writing them in the form of reports, pushing for their approval by appearing in person to argue them on the floor of <!--del_lnk--> Congress, and then implementing them.<p>Another of Hamilton's legacies was his pro-Federal interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Though the Constitution was drafted in a way that was somewhat ambiguous as to the balance of power between Federal and state governments, Hamilton consistently took the side of greater Federal power at the expense of states. Thus, as Secretary of the Treasury, he established—against the intense opposition of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson—the country's first national bank. Hamilton justified the creation of this bank, and other increased Federal powers, on Congress's constitutional powers to issue currency, to regulate interstate commerce, and anything else that would be "necessary and proper." Jefferson, on the other hand, took a stricter view of the Constitution: parsing the text carefully, he found no specific authorization for a national bank. This controversy was eventually settled by the <a href="../../wp/s/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States.htm" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court of the United States</a> in <i><!--del_lnk--> McCulloch v. Maryland</i>, which in essence adopted Hamilton's view, granting the federal government broad freedom to select the best means to execute its constitutionally enumerated powers, specifically the doctrine of <!--del_lnk--> implied powers.<p>Hamilton's policies as Secretary of the Treasury have had an immeasurable effect on the United States Government and still continue to influence it. In 1962 during the <!--del_lnk--> Cuban Missile Crisis, the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Navy was still using inter-ship communication protocols written by Hamilton for the original U.S. Coast Guard. His constitutional interpretation, specifically of the necessary and proper clause, set precedents for federal authority that are still used by the courts and are considered an authority on constitutional interpretation. The prominent French diplomat <!--del_lnk--> Charles Maurice de Talleyrand once said "I consider Napoleon, Fox, and Hamilton the three greatest men of our epoch, and if I were forced to decide between the three, I would give without hesitation the first place to Hamilton. He divined Europe."<p>Hamilton’s portrait began to appear during the <a href="../../wp/a/American_Civil_War.htm" title="American Civil War">American Civil War</a> on the $2, $5, $10, and $50 notes. His face continues to appear on the front of the ten dollar bill, but after the death of <a href="../../wp/r/Ronald_Reagan.htm" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a>, some suggested replacing Hamilton with Reagan. Hamilton also appears on the $500 Series EE Savings Bond.<p>On the south side of the Treasury Building in <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> is a statue of Hamilton. Hamilton's upper <!--del_lnk--> Manhattan home is preserved as <!--del_lnk--> Hamilton Grange National Memorial.<p><a id="On_slavery" name="On_slavery"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">On slavery</span></h3>
<p>In the nineteenth century, Hamilton earned a reputation for having been a staunch opponent of slavery: <a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a>, for example, characterized Hamilton as among "the most noted anti-slavery men of those times." A member and officer of the New York Manumission Society, Hamilton used his influence to press the New York legislature to adopt a law prohibiting the export of slaves from the state (import was already illegal).<p>Some modern scholars believe that the historical record confirms Hamilton as a "steadfast abolitionist"; others see him as a "hypocrite.". For example, Hamilton returned an escaped slave to a friend. Hamilton's first polemic against King George's ministers contains a paragraph which speaks of the evils which "slavery" to the British would bring upon the Americans. One biographer sees this as an attack on actual slavery; such a view was not uncommon in 1776.<p>During the Revolutionary War, there was a series of proposals to arm slaves, free them, and compensate their masters. Freeing any enlisted slaves had also become customary by then both for the British, who did not compensate their American masters, and for the Continental Army; some states were to require it before the end of the war. In 1779, Hamilton's friend John Laurens suggested such a unit be formed under his command, to relieve besieged <!--del_lnk--> Charleston, South Carolina; Hamilton wrote a letter to the Continental Congress to create up to four battalions of slaves for combat duty, and free them. Congress recommended that South Carolina (and Georgia) acquire up to three thousand slaves, if they saw fit; they did not, even though the South Carolina governor and Congressional delegation had supported the plan in Philadelphia.<p>Hamilton argued that blacks' natural faculties were as good as those of free whites, and he forestalled objections by citing <!--del_lnk--> Frederick the Great and others as praising obedience and lack of cultivation in soldiers; he also argued that if the Americans did not do this, the British would (as they had elsewhere). One of his biographers has cited this incident as evidence that Hamilton and Laurens saw the Revolution and the struggle against slavery as inseparable. Hamilton later attacked his political opponents as demanding freedom for themselves and refusing to allow it to blacks.<p>In January 1785, he attended the second meeting of the (New York) Society for Promoting Manumissions. <!--del_lnk--> John Jay was president and Hamilton was secretary; he later became president. He was also a member of the committee of the society which put a bill through the New York Legislature banning the <i>export</i> of slaves from New York.<p>Three months later, Hamilton returned a fugitive slave to <!--del_lnk--> Henry Laurens of South Carolina; he was later to be Washington's intermediary in getting the Collector of Customs for <!--del_lnk--> Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to ship a runaway slave-woman back to <!--del_lnk--> Mount Vernon if it could be done quietly; it could not be, and she remained there.<p>Hamilton never supported forced emigration for freed slaves; it has been argued from this that he would be comfortable with a multiracial society, and this distinguished him from his contemporaries. In international affairs, he supported <!--del_lnk--> Toussaint L'Ouverture's black government in <a href="../../wp/h/Haiti.htm" title="Haiti">Haiti</a> after the revolt that overthrew French control, as he had supported aid to the slaveowners in 1791 — both measures hurt France.<p>He may have owned household slaves himself (the evidence for this is indirect; one biographer interprets it as referring to paid employees), and he did buy and sell them on behalf of others. He supported a <!--del_lnk--> gag rule to keep divisive discussions of slavery out of Congress, and he supported the compromise by which the United States could not abolish the slave trade for twenty years. When the Quakers of New York petitioned the <!--del_lnk--> First Congress (under the Constitution) for the abolition of the slave trade, and Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society petitioned for the abolition of slavery, the NYMS did not act. Historian James Horton concludes that Hamilton's racial views, while not entirely egalitarian, were relatively progressive for his day.<p><a id="On_economics" name="On_economics"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">On economics</span></h3>
<p>Alexander Hamilton is sometimes considered the "patron-saint" of the <!--del_lnk--> American School of economic philosophy that, according to one historian, dominated economic policy after 1861. He firmly supported government intervention in favour of business, after the manner of <!--del_lnk--> Jean-Baptiste Colbert, as early as the fall of 1781. He inspired the writings and work of <!--del_lnk--> Friedrich List and <!--del_lnk--> Henry C. Carey.<p><a id="Memorial_at_colleges" name="Memorial_at_colleges"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Memorial at colleges</span></h3>
<p>Alexander Hamilton served as one of the first trustees of the <!--del_lnk--> Hamilton-Oneida Academy when the school opened in 1793. When the academy received a college charter in 1812 the school was formally renamed <!--del_lnk--> Hamilton College. There is a prominent statue of Alexander Hamilton in front of the school's chapel (commonly referred to as the "Al-Ham" statue) and the <!--del_lnk--> Burke Library has an extensive collection of Hamilton's personal documents. <!--del_lnk--> Columbia College, Hamilton's alma mater, whose students formed his makeshift artillery company and fired some of the first shots against the British, has official memorials to Hamilton. The college's main classroom building for the humanities is Hamilton Hall, and a large statue of Hamilton stands in front of it. The university press has published his complete works in a multivolume letterpress edition.<p>The main administration building of the <!--del_lnk--> Coast Guard Academy is named Hamilton Hall, because he founded the Coast Guard.<p><a id="In_pop_culture" name="In_pop_culture"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">In pop culture</span></h3>
<p>In Saturday Night Live's comedy music video <i>Lazy Sunday</i>, one of the lyrics reference the infamous duel with Aaron Burr stating, "you can call us Aaron Burr, by the way we droppin' Hamiltons."<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alexander the Great</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Military_People.htm">Military People</a></h3>
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<td colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> July, <!--del_lnk--> 356 BC–<!--del_lnk--> 11 June <!--del_lnk--> 323 BC</td>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;"><a class="image" href="../../images/177/17734.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="207" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AlexanderAttackingDarius.jpg" src="../../images/152/15205.jpg" width="300" /></a><br /> Alexander the Great fighting Persian king <!--del_lnk--> Darius III (not in frame)<br /> (<!--del_lnk--> Alexander Mosaic from <a href="../../wp/p/Pompeii.htm" title="Pompeii">Pompeii</a>, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost)</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Place of birth</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Pella, <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedon</a></td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Place of death</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Babylon (Most probable)</td>
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<th>Wars of <strong class="selflink">Alexander the Great</strong></th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Chaeronea – <!--del_lnk--> Granicus – <!--del_lnk--> Issus – <!--del_lnk--> Tyre – <!--del_lnk--> Gaugamela – <!--del_lnk--> Hydaspes River</td>
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<p><b>Alexander the Great</b> (<!--del_lnk--> Greek: <span class="polytonic" lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος</span>, <i>Megas Alexandros</i>; July <!--del_lnk--> 356 BC–<!--del_lnk--> June 11, <!--del_lnk--> 323 BC), also known as <b>Alexander III</b>, king of <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedon</a> (<!--del_lnk--> 336–<!--del_lnk--> 323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. Before his death, he conquered most of the <!--del_lnk--> world known to the ancient Greeks; he is regarded as one of the greatest military strategists and tacticians who ever lived. Alexander is also known in the <!--del_lnk--> Zoroastrian <!--del_lnk--> Middle Persian work <i><!--del_lnk--> Arda Wiraz Nāmag</i> as "the accursed Alexander" due to his conquest of the <a href="../../wp/p/Persian_Empire.htm" title="Persian Empire">Persian Empire</a> and the destruction of its capital <!--del_lnk--> Persepolis. He is known as <b>Eskandar</b> in <!--del_lnk--> Persian, <i><!--del_lnk--> Dhul-Qarnayn</i> (The two-horned one) in Middle Eastern traditions, <i>al-Iskandar al-Kabeer</i> in <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>, <i>Sikandar-e-azam</i> in <!--del_lnk--> Urdu, <i>Skandar</i> in <!--del_lnk--> Pashto, <i>Alexander Mokdon</i> in <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrew_language.htm" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>, and <i>Tre-Qarnayia</i> in <!--del_lnk--> Aramaic (the two-horned one), apparently due to an image on coins minted during his rule that seemingly depicted him with the two ram's horns of the Egyptian god <!--del_lnk--> Ammon. He is known as <b>Sikandar</b> in <!--del_lnk--> Urdu and <a href="../../wp/h/Hindi.htm" title="Hindi">Hindi</a>, a term also used as a synonym for "expert" or "extremely skilled".<p>Following the unification of the multiple city-states of <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">ancient Greece</a> under the rule of his father, <!--del_lnk--> Philip II of Macedon, (a labour Alexander had to repeat twice because the southern Greeks rebelled after Philip's death), Alexander would conquer the <a href="../../wp/p/Persian_Empire.htm" title="Persian Empire">Persian Empire</a>, including <!--del_lnk--> Anatolia, <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Phoenicia, <!--del_lnk--> Judea, <!--del_lnk--> Gaza, <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Bactria and <a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a> and extend the boundaries of his own <!--del_lnk--> empire as far as the <!--del_lnk--> Punjab. Before his death, Alexander had already made plans to also turn west and conquer Europe. Also he wanted to continue his march eastwards, in order to find the end of the world, since his boyhood tutor <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>, told him tales about where the land ends and the Great Outer Sea begins. Alexander integrated foreigners (non-Macedonians, non-Greeks known as the Successors) into his army and administration, leading some scholars to credit him with a "policy of fusion." He encouraged marriage between his army and foreigners, and practiced it himself. After twelve years of constant military campaigning, Alexander died, possibly of <a href="../../wp/m/Malaria.htm" title="Malaria">malaria</a>, <!--del_lnk--> typhoid, or viral <!--del_lnk--> encephalitis. His conquests ushered in centuries of Greek settlement and rule over distant areas, a period known as the <!--del_lnk--> Hellenistic Age, a combination of Greek and Middle Eastern culture. Alexander himself lived on in the history and myth of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. After his death (and even during his life) his exploits inspired a literary tradition in which he appears as a legendary <!--del_lnk--> hero in the tradition of <a href="../../wp/a/Achilles.htm" title="Achilles">Achilles</a>.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_life" name="Early_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early life</span></h2>
<p>Alexander the Great was the son of King <!--del_lnk--> Philip II of Macedon and of his fourth wife, <!--del_lnk--> Epirote princess <!--del_lnk--> Olympias. According to <!--del_lnk--> Plutarch (<i>Alexander</i> 3.1,3), Olympias was impregnated not by Philip, who was afraid of her and her affinity for sleeping in the company of snakes, but by <!--del_lnk--> Zeus Ammon. <!--del_lnk--> Plutarch relates that both Philip and Olympias dreamt of their son's future birth. Olympias dreamed of a loud burst of thunder and of lightning striking her womb. In Philip's dream, he sealed her womb with the seal of the <a href="../../wp/l/Lion.htm" title="Lion">lion</a>. Alarmed by this, he consulted the seer <!--del_lnk--> Aristander of Telmessus, who determined that his wife was pregnant and that the child would have the character of a lion. Another odd coincidence is that the Temple of <!--del_lnk--> Artemis in <!--del_lnk--> Ephesus was set on fire the same night of his birth. Plutarch claimed the gods were too busy watching over Alexander to care for the temple.<p><a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a> was Alexander's tutor and he gave Alexander a thorough training in <!--del_lnk--> rhetoric and <a href="../../wp/l/Literature.htm" title="Literature">literature</a> and stimulated his interest in <a href="../../wp/s/Science.htm" title="Science">science</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Medicine.htm" title="Medicine">medicine</a>, and <a href="../../wp/p/Philosophy.htm" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a>. After his visit to the <!--del_lnk--> Oracle of <!--del_lnk--> Ammon at <!--del_lnk--> Siwa, according to five historians of antiquity (<!--del_lnk--> Arrian, <!--del_lnk--> Curtius, <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus, <!--del_lnk--> Justin, and <!--del_lnk--> Plutarch), rumors spread that the Oracle had revealed Alexander's father to be <a href="../../wp/z/Zeus.htm" title="Zeus">Zeus</a>, rather than Philip. According to Plutarch, his father descended from <a href="../../wp/h/Heracles.htm" title="Heracles">Heracles</a> through <!--del_lnk--> Caranus and his mother descended from <!--del_lnk--> Aeacus through <!--del_lnk--> Neoptolemus and <a href="../../wp/a/Achilles.htm" title="Achilles">Achilles</a>. Aristotle gave him a copy of the <i><!--del_lnk--> Iliad</i> which he always kept with him and read frequently.<p>As Alexander was walking with his father one day, they came across a few men attempting to tame and mount a wild, black horse. Alexander immediately took a liking for the horse, and begged his father if he would buy it for him. Philip laughed and told him if he could mount the horse, he would. Alexander watched the horse's behaviour, and soon realized that it was merely afraid of its own shadow. He walked over to the horse and faced it towards the sun to hide its shadow, and immediately was able to mount it. His father bought the horse, and he named it Bucephalus (which means "ox-head"), whom would be his loyal steed for the next two decades until it would die in battle.<p><a id="Ascent_of_Macedon" name="Ascent_of_Macedon"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ascent of Macedon</span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15206.jpg.htm" title="Sardonyx cameo representing Alexander the Great. Thought to be by Pyrgoteles, engraver of Alexander, around 325 BC. Cabinet des Médailles, Paris."><img alt="Sardonyx cameo representing Alexander the Great. Thought to be by Pyrgoteles, engraver of Alexander, around 325 BC. Cabinet des Médailles, Paris." height="209" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AlexanderCameo.JPG" src="../../images/152/15206.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15206.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Sardonyx cameo representing Alexander the Great. Thought to be by Pyrgoteles, engraver of Alexander, around <!--del_lnk--> 325 BC. <!--del_lnk--> Cabinet des Médailles, <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a>.</div>
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<p>When Philip led an attack on <!--del_lnk--> Byzantium in <!--del_lnk--> 340 BC, Alexander, aged 16, was left as regent of Macedonia. In <!--del_lnk--> 339 BC, Philip took a fifth wife, the <!--del_lnk--> Macedonian Cleopatra. As Alexander's mother, Olympias, was from Epirus (a land in the western part of the Greek peninsula and not part of Macedon), and Cleopatra was a true Macedonian, this led to a dispute over Alexander's legitimacy as heir to the throne. Attalus, the uncle of the bride, supposedly gave a toast during the wedding feast giving his wish for the wedding to result in a legitimate heir to the throne of Macedon; Alexander hurled his goblet at Attalus shouting "What am I, a bastard then?" Alexander's father apparently had drawn his sword and moved towards Alexander, but then had fallen in a drunken stupor. Alexander remarked "Here is the man planning on conquering from Greece to Asia, and he cannot even move from one table to another." Alexander, his mother, and sister (also named <!--del_lnk--> Cleopatra) then left Macedon in anger.<p>Eventually Philip reconciled with his son, and Alexander returned home; Olympias and Alexander's sister remained in Epirus. In <!--del_lnk--> 338 BC Alexander assisted his father at the decisive <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Chaeronea against the Greek city-states of Athens and <!--del_lnk--> Thebes, in which the <!--del_lnk--> cavalry wing led by Alexander annihilated the <!--del_lnk--> Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite corps regarded as invincible. After the battle, Phillip led a wild celebration, from which Alexander was notably absent (it is believed he was treating the wounded and burying the dead, both of his own troops and of the enemy). Philip was content to deprive Thebes of its dominion over <!--del_lnk--> Boeotia and leave a Macedonian garrison in the citadel. A few months later, to strengthen Macedon's control over the Greek city-states, the <!--del_lnk--> League of Corinth was formed.<p>In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated at the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra of Macedonia to <!--del_lnk--> King Alexander of Epirus. The <!--del_lnk--> assassin was supposedly a former lover of the king, the disgruntled young nobleman <!--del_lnk--> Pausanias of Orestis, who held a grudge against Philip because the king had ignored a complaint he had expressed. Philip's murder was once thought to have been planned with the knowledge and involvement of Alexander or Olympias. Another possible instigator could have been <!--del_lnk--> Darius III, the recently crowned King of Persia. After Philip's death, the army proclaimed Alexander, then aged 20, as the new king of Macedon. Greek cities like Athens and Thebes, which had been forced to pledge allegiance to Philip, saw in the new king an opportunity to retake their full independence. Alexander moved swiftly and Thebes, which had been most active against him, submitted when he appeared at its gates. The assembled Greeks at the <!--del_lnk--> Isthmus of Corinth, with the exception of the <!--del_lnk--> Spartans, elected him to the command against Persia, which had previously been bestowed upon his father.<p>The next year, (<!--del_lnk--> 335 BC), Alexander felt free to engage the <!--del_lnk--> Thracians and the <!--del_lnk--> Illyrians in order to secure the <a href="../../wp/d/Danube.htm" title="Danube">Danube</a> as the northern boundary of the Macedonian kingdom. While he was triumphantly campaigning north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. Alexander reacted immediately and while the other cities once again hesitated, Thebes decided this time to resist with the utmost vigor. The resistance was useless; in the end, the city was conquered with great bloodshed. The Thebans encountered an even harsher fate when their city was razed to the ground and its territory divided between the other Boeotian cities. Moreover, all of the city's citizens were sold into slavery; Alexander spared only the priests, the leaders of the pro-Macedonian party, and the descendants of <!--del_lnk--> Pindar, whose house was the only one left standing. The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission and it readily accepted Alexander's demand for the exile of all the leaders of the anti-Macedonian party, <a href="../../wp/d/Demosthenes.htm" title="Demosthenes">Demosthenes</a> first of all.<p><a id="Period_of_conquests" name="Period_of_conquests"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Period of conquests</span></h2>
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<div style="width:442px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8441.jpg.htm" title="Map of Alexander's empire."><img alt="Map of Alexander's empire." height="211" longdesc="/wiki/Image:MacedonEmpire.jpg" src="../../images/84/8441.jpg" width="440" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8441.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Map of Alexander's empire.</div>
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<p><a id="Fall_of_the_Persian_Empire" name="Fall_of_the_Persian_Empire"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Fall of the Persian Empire</span></h3>
<p>Alexander's army had crossed the <!--del_lnk--> Hellespont with about 42,000 soldiers—primarily Macedonians and Greeks, more southern city-states of Greece, but also including some Thracians, <!--del_lnk--> Paionians and Illyrians. After an initial victory against Persian forces at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Granicus, Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of <!--del_lnk--> Sardis and proceeded down the <!--del_lnk--> Ionian coast. At <!--del_lnk--> Halicarnassus, Alexander successfully waged the first of many <a href="../../wp/s/Siege.htm" title="Siege">sieges</a>, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain <!--del_lnk--> Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian <!--del_lnk--> satrap of <!--del_lnk--> Caria, <!--del_lnk--> Orontobates, to withdraw by sea. Alexander left Caria in the hands of <!--del_lnk--> Ada, who was ruler of Caria before being deposed by her brother <!--del_lnk--> Pixodarus. From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous <!--del_lnk--> Lycia and the <!--del_lnk--> Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities and denying them to his enemy. From Pamphylia onward, the coast held no major ports and so Alexander moved inland. At <!--del_lnk--> Termessus, Alexander humbled but did not storm the <!--del_lnk--> Pisidian city. At the ancient Phrygian capital of <!--del_lnk--> Gordium, Alexander "undid" the tangled <!--del_lnk--> Gordian Knot, a feat said to await the future "king of <!--del_lnk--> Asia." According to the most vivid story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and he hacked it apart with his sword. Another version claims that he did not use the sword, but actually figured out how to undo the knot.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15207.jpg.htm" title="Alexander Mosaic, showing Battle of Issus, from the House of the Faun, Pompei"><img alt="Alexander Mosaic, showing Battle of Issus, from the House of the Faun, Pompei" height="190" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Battle_of_Issus.jpg" src="../../images/152/15207.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15207.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i><!--del_lnk--> Alexander Mosaic</i>, showing <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Issus, from the <!--del_lnk--> House of the Faun, <!--del_lnk--> Pompei</div>
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<p>Alexander's army crossed the <!--del_lnk--> Cilician Gates, met and defeated the main Persian army under the command of Darius III at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Issus in <!--del_lnk--> 333 BC. Darius fled this battle in such a panic for his life that he left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother <!--del_lnk--> Sisygambis, and much of his personal treasure. Proceeding down the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean">Mediterranean</a> coast, he took <!--del_lnk--> Tyre and <!--del_lnk--> Gaza after famous sieges (see <!--del_lnk--> Siege of Tyre). Alexander passed through <!--del_lnk--> Judea near <a href="../../wp/j/Jerusalem.htm" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a> but probably did not visit the city.<p>In 332 BC–331 BC, Alexander was welcomed as a liberator in <!--del_lnk--> Egypt and was pronounced the son of Zeus by Egyptian priests of the god Ammon at the Oracle of the god at the <!--del_lnk--> Siwa Oasis in the <!--del_lnk--> Libyan desert. Henceforth, Alexander referred to the god Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and subsequent currency featuring his head with ram horns was proof of this widespread belief. He founded <!--del_lnk--> Alexandria in Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemaic dynasty after his death. Leaving Egypt, Alexander marched eastward into <a href="../../wp/a/Assyria.htm" title="Assyria">Assyria</a> (now northern <a href="../../wp/i/Iraq.htm" title="Iraq">Iraq</a>) and defeated Darius and a third Persian army at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Gaugamela. Darius was forced to flee the field after his charioteer was killed, and Alexander chased him as far as <!--del_lnk--> Arbela. While Darius fled over the mountains to <!--del_lnk--> Ecbatana (modern <!--del_lnk--> Hamadan), Alexander marched to <!--del_lnk--> Babylon.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15208.jpg.htm" title="Statuette of a Greek soldier, from a 4th–3rd century BC burial site north of the Tian Shan, at the maximum extent of Alexander's advance in the East (Ürümqi, Xinjiang Museum, China) (drawing)."><img alt="Statuette of a Greek soldier, from a 4th–3rd century BC burial site north of the Tian Shan, at the maximum extent of Alexander's advance in the East (Ürümqi, Xinjiang Museum, China) (drawing)." height="346" longdesc="/wiki/Image:UrumqiSoldier.jpg" src="../../images/152/15208.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15208.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Statuette of a Greek soldier, from a 4th–3rd century BC burial site north of the <!--del_lnk--> Tian Shan, at the maximum extent of Alexander's advance in the East (<!--del_lnk--> Ürümqi, <!--del_lnk--> Xinjiang Museum, <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>) (drawing).</div>
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<p>From Babylon, Alexander went to <!--del_lnk--> Susa, one of the <!--del_lnk--> Achaemenid capitals, and captured its treasury. Sending the bulk of his army to <!--del_lnk--> Persepolis, the Persian capital, by the <!--del_lnk--> Royal Road, Alexander stormed and captured the Persian Gates (in the modern <!--del_lnk--> Zagros Mountains), then sprinted for <!--del_lnk--> Persepolis before its treasury could be looted. After several months Alexander allowed the troops to loot Persepolis. A fire broke out in the eastern palace of <!--del_lnk--> Xerxes and spread to the rest of the city. It was not known if it was a drunken accident or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the <!--del_lnk--> Athenian Acropolis during the <!--del_lnk--> Second Persian War. The <i>Book of Arda Wiraz</i>, a Zoroastrian work composed in the 3rd or 4th century AD, also speaks of archives containing "all the <!--del_lnk--> Avesta and Zand, written upon prepared cow-skins, and with gold ink" that were destroyed; but it must be said that this statement is often treated by scholars with a certain measure of skepticism, because it is generally thought that for many centuries the Avesta was transmitted mainly orally by the <!--del_lnk--> Magians.<p>He then set off in pursuit of Darius, who was kidnapped, and then murdered by followers of <!--del_lnk--> Bessus, his <!--del_lnk--> Bactrian satrap and kinsman. Bessus then declared himself Darius' successor as Artaxerxes V and retreated into <!--del_lnk--> Central Asia to launch a <!--del_lnk--> guerrilla campaign against Alexander. With the death of Darius, Alexander declared the war of vengeance over, and released his Greek and other allies from service in the League campaign (although he allowed those that wished to re-enlist as <!--del_lnk--> mercenaries in his imperial army).<p>His three-year campaign against first Bessus and then the satrap of <!--del_lnk--> Sogdiana, <!--del_lnk--> Spitamenes, took him through <!--del_lnk--> Media, <!--del_lnk--> Parthia, <!--del_lnk--> Aria, <!--del_lnk--> Drangiana, <!--del_lnk--> Arachosia, <!--del_lnk--> Bactria, and <!--del_lnk--> Scythia. In the process, he captured and refounded <!--del_lnk--> Herat and <!--del_lnk--> Maracanda. Moreover, he founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern <!--del_lnk--> Kandahar in <a href="../../wp/a/Afghanistan.htm" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern <a href="../../wp/t/Tajikistan.htm" title="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</a>. In the end, both were betrayed by their men, Bessus in 329 BC and Spitamenes the year after.<p><a id="Hostility_toward_Alexander" name="Hostility_toward_Alexander"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Hostility toward Alexander</span></h4>
<p>During this time, Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of <i><!--del_lnk--> proskynesis</i>, a symbolic kissing of the hand that Persians paid to their social superiors, but a practice of which the Greeks disapproved. The Greeks regarded the gesture as the preserve of <!--del_lnk--> deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him much in the sympathies of many of his countrymen. Here, too, a plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers, <!--del_lnk--> Philotas, was executed for treason for failing to bring the plot to his attention. <!--del_lnk--> Parmenion, Philotas' father, who had been charged with guarding the treasury at <!--del_lnk--> Ecbatana, was assassinated by command of Alexander, who feared that Parmenion might attempt to avenge his son. Several other trials for treason followed, and many Macedonians were executed. Later on, in a drunken quarrel at <!--del_lnk--> Maracanda, he also killed the man who had saved his life at Granicus, <!--del_lnk--> Clitus the Black. Later in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life, this one by his own <!--del_lnk--> pages, was revealed, and his official historian, <!--del_lnk--> Callisthenes of <!--del_lnk--> Olynthus (who had fallen out of favour with the king by leading the opposition to his attempt to introduce <i>proskynesis</i>), was implicated on what many historians regard as trumped-up charges. However, the evidence is strong that Callisthenes, the teacher of the pages, must have been the one who persuaded them to assassinate the king.<p><a id="Invasion_of_India" name="Invasion_of_India"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Invasion of India</span></h3>
<p>After the death of Spitamenes and his marriage to <!--del_lnk--> Roxana (Roshanak in <!--del_lnk--> Bactrian) to cement his relations with his new Central Asian satrapies, in <!--del_lnk--> 326 BC Alexander was finally free to turn his attention to <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>. Alexander invited all the <!--del_lnk--> chieftains of the former satrapy of <!--del_lnk--> Gandhara, in the north of present-day <a href="../../wp/p/Pakistan.htm" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a>, to come to him and submit to his authority. <!--del_lnk--> Ambhi, ruler of <!--del_lnk--> Taxila, whose kingdom extended from the <!--del_lnk--> Indus to the Hydaspes (<!--del_lnk--> Jhelum), complied. But the chieftains of some hilly clans including the <!--del_lnk--> Aspasios and <!--del_lnk--> Assakenois sections of the <!--del_lnk--> Kambojas (<i>classical names</i>), known in Indian texts as <!--del_lnk--> Ashvayanas and <!--del_lnk--> Ashvakayanas (<i>names referring to their <!--del_lnk--> equestrian nature</i>), refused to submit.<p>Alexander personally took command of the shield-bearing guards, foot-companions, archers, Agrianians and horse-javelin-men and led them against the <!--del_lnk--> Kamboja <!--del_lnk--> clans—the <!--del_lnk--> Aspasios of <!--del_lnk--> Kunar/<!--del_lnk--> Alishang <!--del_lnk--> valleys, the Guraeans of the Guraeus (<!--del_lnk--> Panjkora) valley, and the Assakenois of the <!--del_lnk--> Swat and <!--del_lnk--> Buner valleys. Writes one modern historian: "They were brave people and it was hard work for Alexander to take their strongholds, of which <!--del_lnk--> Massaga and <!--del_lnk--> Aornus need special mention." A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasios in which Alexander himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart but eventually the Aspasios lost the fight; 40,000 of them were enslaved. The Assakenois faced Alexander with an army of 30,000 cavalry, 38,000 infantry and 30 <!--del_lnk--> elephants. They had fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to the invader in many of their strongholds like cities of <!--del_lnk--> Ora, <!--del_lnk--> Bazira and Massaga. The fort of Massaga could only be reduced after several days of bloody fighting in which Alexander himself was wounded seriously in the ankle. When the <!--del_lnk--> Chieftain of Massaga fell in the battle, the supreme command of the army went to his old mother <!--del_lnk--> Cleophis (q.v.) who also stood determined to defend her motherland to the last extremity. The example of Cleophis assuming the supreme command of the military also brought the entire women of the locality into the fighting. Alexander could only reduce Massaga by resorting to political strategem and actions of betrayal. According to <!--del_lnk--> Curtius: "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubbles." A similar manslaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenois.<p>In the aftermath of general <!--del_lnk--> slaughter and <!--del_lnk--> arson committed by Alexander at Massaga and Ora, numerous <!--del_lnk--> Assakenian people fled to a high fortress called <!--del_lnk--> Aornos. Alexander followed them close behind their heels and captured the strategic hill-fort but only after the fourth day of a bloody fight. <i>The story of Massaga was repeated at Aornos and a similar <!--del_lnk--> carnage on the tribal-people followed here too</i>.<p>Writing on Alexander's campaign against the Assakenois, Victor Hanson comments: "After promising the surrounded Assacenis their lives upon capitulation, he executed all their soldiers who had surrendered. Their strongholds at Ora and Aornus were also similarly stormed. Garrisons were probably all slaughtered.”<p>Sisikottos, who had helped Alexander in this campaign, was made the governor of Aornos.<p>After reducing Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against <!--del_lnk--> Porus, a ruler of a region in the <!--del_lnk--> Punjab in the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC.<p>After the victory, Alexander was greatly impressed by Porus for his bravery in battle, and therefore made an alliance with him and appointed him as satrap of his own kingdom, even adding some land he did not own before. Alexander then named one of the two new cities that he founded, Bucephala, in honour of the horse who had brought him to India, who had died during the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Hydaspes. Alexander continued on to conquer all the headwaters of the Indus River.<p>East of Porus' kingdom, near the <a href="../../wp/g/Ganges_River.htm" title="Ganges River">Ganges River</a>, was the powerful empire of <!--del_lnk--> Magadha ruled by the <!--del_lnk--> Nanda dynasty. Fearing the prospects of facing another powerful Indian army and exhausted by years of campaigning, his army mutinied at the <!--del_lnk--> Hyphasis River (the modern <!--del_lnk--> Beas River), refusing to march further east. This river thus marks the eastern-most extent of Alexander's conquests:<dl>
<dd>"As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at-arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants." Plutarch, Vita Alexandri, 62</dl>
<p>Alexander, after the meeting with his officer <!--del_lnk--> Coenus, was convinced that it was better to return. Alexander was forced to turn south. He sent much of his army to <!--del_lnk--> Carmania (modern southern <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a>) with his general <!--del_lnk--> Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the <a href="../../wp/p/Persian_Gulf.htm" title="Persian Gulf">Persian Gulf</a> shore under his admiral <!--del_lnk--> Nearchus, while he led the rest of his forces back to Persia by the southern route through the <!--del_lnk--> Gedrosian Desert (now part of southern <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Makran in southern <a href="../../wp/p/Pakistan.htm" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a>).<p>Alexander left forces in India however. In the territory of the Indus, he nominated his officer <!--del_lnk--> Peithon as a <!--del_lnk--> satrap, a position he would hold for the next ten years until <!--del_lnk--> 316 BC, and in the <!--del_lnk--> Punjab he left <!--del_lnk--> Eudemus in charge of the army, at the side of the satrap <!--del_lnk--> Porus and <!--del_lnk--> Taxiles. Eudemus became ruler of the Punjab after their death. Both rulers returned to the West in 316 BC with their armies, and <!--del_lnk--> Chandragupta Maurya established the <!--del_lnk--> Maurya Empire in India.<p><a id="After_India" name="After_India"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">After India</span></h3>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15210.jpg.htm" title="Alexander and Porus by Charles Le Brun, 1673."><img alt="Alexander and Porus by Charles Le Brun, 1673." height="160" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Le_Brun%2C_Alexander_and_Porus.jpg" src="../../images/152/15210.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15210.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Alexander and <!--del_lnk--> Porus</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Charles Le Brun, <!--del_lnk--> 1673.</div>
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<p>Discovering that many of his <!--del_lnk--> satraps and <!--del_lnk--> military <!--del_lnk--> governors had misbehaved in his absence, Alexander executed a number of them as examples on his way to <!--del_lnk--> Susa. As a gesture of thanks, he paid off the debts of his soldiers, and announced that he would send those over-aged and disabled veterans back to Macedonia under Craterus, but his troops misunderstood his intention and mutinied at the town of <!--del_lnk--> Opis, refusing to be sent away and bitterly criticizing his adoption of Persian customs and dress and the introduction of Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units. Alexander executed the ringleaders of the mutiny, but forgave the rank and file. In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, he held a mass marriage of his senior officers to Persian and other noblewomen at Susa, but few of those marriages seem to have lasted much beyond a year.<p>His attempts to merge Persian culture with his Greek soldiers also included training a regiment of Persian boys in the ways of Macedonians. Most historians believe that Alexander adopted the Persian royal title of <i><!--del_lnk--> shahanshah</i> ("great king" or "king of kings").<p>It is claimed that Alexander wanted to overrun or integrate the Arabian peninsula, but this theory is widely disputed. It was assumed that Alexander would turn westwards and attack <!--del_lnk--> Carthage and <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, had he conquered Arabia.<p>After traveling to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure, his closest friend and possibly lover <!--del_lnk--> Hephaestion died of an illness, or possibly of poisoning.<p><a id="Death" name="Death"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Death</span></h2>
<p>On the afternoon of June 10–11, 323 BC, Alexander died of a mysterious illness in the palace of <!--del_lnk--> Nebuchadrezzar II of <!--del_lnk--> Babylon. He was just one month shy of attaining 33 years of age. Various theories have been proposed for the cause of his death which include <!--del_lnk--> poisoning by the sons of <!--del_lnk--> Antipater or others, sickness that followed a drinking party, or a relapse of the <a href="../../wp/m/Malaria.htm" title="Malaria">malaria</a> he had contracted in <!--del_lnk--> 336 BC. It is known that on May 29, Alexander participated in a banquet organized by his friend <!--del_lnk--> Medius of <!--del_lnk--> Larissa. After some heavy drinking, immediately before or after a bath, he was forced into bed due to severe illness. The rumors of his illness circulated with the troops causing them to be more and more anxious. On June 9, the generals decided to let the soldiers see their king alive one last time. They were admitted to his presence one at a time. While the king was too ill to speak, confined himself to move his hand. The day after, Alexander was dead. The poisoning theory derives from the story held in antiquity by Justin and Curtius. The original story stated that <!--del_lnk--> Cassander, son of Antipater, viceroy of Greece, brought the poison to Alexander in Babylon in a mule's hoof, and that Alexander's royal cupbearer, <!--del_lnk--> Iollas, brother of Cassander, administered it. Many had powerful motivations for seeing Alexander gone, and were none the worse for it after his death. Deadly agents that could have killed Alexander in one or more doses include hellebore and <!--del_lnk--> strychnine. In R. Lane Fox's opinion, the strongest argument against the poison theory is the fact that twelve days had passed between the start of his illness and his death and in the ancient world, such long-acting poisons were probably not available.<p>However, the warrior culture of Macedon favoured the sword over strychnine, and many ancient historians, like Plutarch and <!--del_lnk--> Arrian, maintained that Alexander was not poisoned, but died of natural causes. Instead, it is likely that Alexander died of malaria or typhoid fever, which were rampant in ancient Babylon. Other illnesses could have also been the culprit, including <!--del_lnk--> acute pancreatitis or the <!--del_lnk--> West Nile virus. Recently, theories have been advanced stating that Alexander may have died from the treatment not the disease. <!--del_lnk--> Hellebore, believed to have been widely used as a medicine at the time but deadly in large doses, may have been overused by the impatient king to speed his recovery, with deadly results. Disease-related theories often cite the fact that Alexander's health had fallen to dangerously low levels after years of heavy drinking and suffering several appalling wounds (including one in India that nearly claimed his life), and that it was only a matter of time before one sickness or another finally killed him.<p>No story is conclusive. Alexander's death has been reinterpreted many times over the centuries, and each generation offers a new take on it. What is certain is that Alexander died of a high fever on June 10 or 11 of <!--del_lnk--> 323 BC.<p>On his death bed, his marshals asked him to whom he bequeathed his kingdom. Since Alexander had no heir (his son Alexander IV would be born after his death), it was a question of vital importance. There is some debate to what Alexander replied. Some believe that Alexander said, "To the strongest!" It should be taken into note however that he might have said, "To <!--del_lnk--> Craterus". This is possible because the Greek pronunciation of "the strongest" and "Craterus" is different only by accent. The phrase and name are in fact, separated by only one letter in the ancient Greek language. Most scholars believe that if Alexander did intend to choose one of his generals, his obvious choice would have been Craterus because he was the commander of the largest part of the army (infantry), because he had proven himself to be an excellent strategist, and because he displayed traits of the "ideal" Macedonian. Regardless of his reply, Craterus was eventually assassinated before he could organize a coup with the infantry and Alexander's empire was split into four kingdoms.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15212.jpg.htm" title="A diary from the year 323-322 BC that records the death of Alexander. Located at the British Museum, London"><img alt="A diary from the year 323-322 BC that records the death of Alexander. Located at the British Museum, London" height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Death_of_Alexander.JPG" src="../../images/152/15212.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15212.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A diary from the year 323-322 BC that records the death of Alexander. Located at the <!--del_lnk--> British Museum, <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a></div>
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<p>Alexander's death has been surrounded by as much controversy as many of the events of his life. Before long, accusations of foul play were being thrown about by his generals at one another, making it incredibly hard for a modern historian to sort out the propaganda and the half-truths from the actual events. No contemporary source can be fully trusted because of the incredible level of self-serving recording, and as a result what truly happened to Alexander the Great may never be known.<p>Alexander's body was placed in a gold anthropid <!--del_lnk--> sarcophagus, which was in turn placed in a second gold casket and covered with a purple robe. Alexander's coffin was placed, together with his armour, in a gold carriage which had a vaulted roof supported by an <!--del_lnk--> Ionic peristyle. The decoration of the carriage was very rich and is described in great detail by Diodoros.<p>According to legend, Alexander was preserved in a clay vessel full of <a href="../../wp/h/Honey.htm" title="Honey">honey</a> (which acts as a preservative) and interred in a glass <!--del_lnk--> coffin. According to Aelian (<i>Varia Historia</i> 12.64), <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemy stole the body and brought it to Alexandria, where it was on display until Late Antiquity. It was here that <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemy IX, one of the last successors of Ptolemy I, replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with a glass one, and melted the original down in order to strike emergency gold issues of his coinage. The citizens of Alexandria were outraged at this and soon after <a href="../../wp/p/Ptolemy.htm" title="Ptolemy">Ptolemy</a> IX was killed. Its current whereabouts are unknown.<p>The so-called "Alexander Sarcophagus," discovered near <!--del_lnk--> Sidon and now in the <!--del_lnk--> Istanbul Archaeological Museum, is now generally thought to be that of <!--del_lnk--> Abdylonymus, whom Hephaestion appointed as the king of Sidon by Alexander's order. The sarcophagus depicts Alexander and his companions hunting and in battle with the Persians.<p><a id="Alexander.27s_testament" name="Alexander.27s_testament"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alexander's testament</span></h2>
<p>Some classical authors, such as <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus, relate that Alexander had given detailed written instructions to <!--del_lnk--> Craterus some time before his death. Although Craterus had already started to implement Alexander's orders, such as the building of a fleet in <!--del_lnk--> Cilicia for expedition against <!--del_lnk--> Carthage, Alexander's successors chose not to further implement them, on the ground they were impractical and dispendious.<p>The testament, described in Diodorus XVIII, called for military expansion into the Southern and Western Mediterranean, monumental constructions, and the intermixing of Eastern and Western populations. Its most remarkable items were:<ul>
<li>The completion of a pyre to <!--del_lnk--> Hephaestion<li>The building of "a thousand warships, larger than triremes, in Phoenicia, Syria, Cilicia, and Cyprus for the campaign against the Carthaginians and the other who live along the coast of <a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Iberia and the adjoining coastal regions as far as <!--del_lnk--> Sicily"<li>The building of a road in northern Africa as far as the <!--del_lnk--> Pillars of Heracles, with ports and shipyards along it.<li>The erection of great temples in <!--del_lnk--> Delos, <!--del_lnk--> Delphi, <!--del_lnk--> Dodona, <!--del_lnk--> Dium, <!--del_lnk--> Amphipolis, <!--del_lnk--> Cyrnus and <!--del_lnk--> Ilium.<li>The construction of a monumental tomb for his father Philip, "to match the greatest of the <a href="../../wp/p/Pyramid.htm" title="Pyramid">pyramids</a> of Egypt"<li>The establishment of cities and the "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties." (<!--del_lnk--> Diodorus Siculus, <i>Bibliotheca historia</i>, XVIII)</ul>
<p><a id="Personal_life" name="Personal_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Personal life</span></h2>
<p>Ancient historians have written extensively on Alexander's love affairs and sexual appetites. Diodorus Siculus writes, "Then he put on the Persian diadem and dressed himself in the white robe and the Persian sash and everything else except the trousers and the long-sleeved upper garment. He distributed to his companions cloaks with purple borders and dressed the horses in Persian harness. In addition to all this, he added concubines to his retinue in the manner of Dareius, in number not less than the days of the year and outstanding in beauty as selected from all the women of Asia. Each night these paraded about the couch of the king so that he might select the one with whom he would lie that night. Alexander, as a matter of fact, employed these customs rather sparingly and kept for the most part to his accustomed routine, not wishing to offend the Macedonians "<p>A number of ancient sources have reported on Alexander's <!--del_lnk--> attachments to both males and females. While the object of his affection may have varied, he was admired for treating all his lovers humanely. <!--del_lnk--> Plutarch has argued that Alexander's love of males took an ethical approach, inspired by the teachings of his mentor, Aristotle. He gives several examples of Alexander's morality in this domain:<dl>
<dd>When <!--del_lnk--> Philoxenus, the leader of the seashore, wrote to Alexander that there was a youth in Ionia whose beauty has yet to be seen and asked him in a letter if he (Alexander) would like him (the boy) to be sent over, he (Alexander) responded in a strict and disgusted manner: "You are the most hideous and malign of all men, have you ever seen me involved in such dirty work that you found the urge to flatter me with such hedonistic business?"</dl>
<p>Plutarch also wrote:<dl>
<dd>When Philoxenus, the commander of his forces on the sea-board, wrote that there was with him a certain Theodorus of Tarentum, who had two youths of surpassing beauty to sell, and enquired whether Alexander would buy them, Alexander was incensed, and cried out many times to his friends, asking them what shameful thing Philoxenus had ever seen in him that he should spend his time in making such disgraceful proposals.</dl>
<p>His moral approach towards sexual relations also extended to relations with prisoners of war: "But as for the other captive women, seeing that they were surpassingly stately and beautiful, he merely said jestingly that Persian women were torments to the eyes. And displaying in rivalry with their fair looks the beauty of his own sobriety and self-control, he passed them by as though they were lifeless images for display."<p>The above quotations would be in line with the thoughts laid about before him by Aristotle, who regarded relationships based purely on carnal relations to be shameful.<p>Many have discussed Alexander's sexual leanings. <!--del_lnk--> Curtius reports, "He scorned sensual pleasures to such an extent that his mother was anxious lest he be unable to beget offspring." To encourage a relationship with a woman, King Philip and Olympias brought in a high-priced <!--del_lnk--> Thessalian <!--del_lnk--> courtesan named Callixena.<p>Later in life, Alexander married several princesses of former Persian territories, <!--del_lnk--> Roxana of <!--del_lnk--> Bactria, <!--del_lnk--> Statira, daughter of Darius III, and <!--del_lnk--> Parysatis, daughter of <!--del_lnk--> Ochus. He fathered two children, (<!--del_lnk--> Heracles), born by his concubine <!--del_lnk--> Barsine (the daughter of satrap <!--del_lnk--> Artabazus of Phrygia) in <!--del_lnk--> 327 BC, and <!--del_lnk--> Alexander IV of Macedon, born by Roxana shortly after his death in 323 BC.<p><a id="Hephaestion" name="Hephaestion"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Hephaestion</span></h3>
<p>Alexander's greatest emotional attachment is generally considered to have been to his companion, cavalry commander (<i>chiliarchos</i>) and childhood friend, <!--del_lnk--> Hephaestion. He studied with Alexander, as did a handful of other children of Macedonian aristocracy, under the tutelage of Aristotle. Hephaestion makes his appearance in history at the point when Alexander reaches <!--del_lnk--> Troy. There the two friends made sacrifices at the shrines of the two heroes <a href="../../wp/a/Achilles.htm" title="Achilles">Achilles</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Patroclus; Alexander honoring Achilles, and Hephaestion honoring Patroclus. <!--del_lnk--> Aelian in his <i>Varia Historia</i> (12.7) claims that Hephaestion "thus intimated that he was the <!--del_lnk--> eromenos ["beloved"] of Alexander, as Patroclus was of Achilles."<p>No contemporary source states that Alexander and Hephaistion were lovers. However, the historian <!--del_lnk--> Paul Cartledge has written: "Whether Alexander's relationship with the slightly older Hephaestion was ever of the sort that once dared not speak its name is not certain, but it is likely enough that it was. At any rate, Macedonian and Greek mores would have favoured an actively sexual component rather than inhibiting or censoring it." <!--del_lnk--> Robin Lane Fox says that "In youth, his great friend was Hephaestion, and surely the sexual element (frequent between young males, or an older and younger male, in Greek city-states) developed already then." Alexander and Hephaestion remained, in Fox's words, "exceptionally deep and close friends" until Hephaestion's untimely death, after which Alexander mourned him greatly, and did not eat for days.<p><a id="Campaspe" name="Campaspe"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Campaspe</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Campaspe, also known as <b>Pancaste</b>, mistress of Alexander and possibly the first woman Alexander had a sexual relationship with. She was thought to be a prominent citizen of <!--del_lnk--> Larisa in <!--del_lnk--> Thessaly; <!--del_lnk--> Aelian surmised that she initiated the young Alexander in love.<p>Campaspe was painted by <!--del_lnk--> Apelles, who enjoyed the reputation in <!--del_lnk--> Antiquity for being the greatest of painters. The episode occasioned an apocryphal exchange that was reported in <!--del_lnk--> Pliny's <i>Naturalis Historia</i> (35.79-97): seeing the beauty of the nude portrait, Alexander saw that the artist appreciated Campaspe (and loved her) more than he. And so Alexander kept the portrait but presented Campaspe to Apelles. Modern historian <!--del_lnk--> Robin Lane Fox says "so Alexander gave him Campaspe as a present, the most generous gift of any patron and one which would remain a model for patronage and painters on through the <a href="../../wp/r/Renaissance.htm" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a>".<p>Campaspe does not appear in the five major sources we have for the life of Alexander. Robin Lane Fox again, traces her legend back to the Roman authors <!--del_lnk--> Pliny the Elder, <!--del_lnk--> Lucian of Samosata and Aelian's <!--del_lnk--> <i>Varia Historia</i>.<p>Campaspe became a generic poetical pseudonym for a man's mistress.<p><a id="Barsine" name="Barsine"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Barsine</span></h3>
<p>Barsine was a noble Persian, daughter of Artabazus, and wife of Memnon. After Memnon's death, several ancient historians have written of a love affair between her and Alexander. Plutarch writes, "At any rate Alexander, so it seems, thought it more worthy of a king to subdue his own passions than to conquer his enemies, and so he never came near these women, nor did he associate with any other before his marriage, with the exception only of Barsine. This woman, the widow of Memnon, the Greek mercenary commander, was captured at Damascus. She had received a Greek education, was of a gentle disposition, and could claim royal descent, since her father was Artabazus who had married one of the Persian kings daughters. These qualities made Alexander the more willing he was encouraged by Parmenio, so Aristobulus tells us to form an attachment to a woman of such beauty and noble lineage." In addition Justin writes, "As he afterwards contemplated the wealth and display of Darius, he was seized with admiration of such magnificence. Hence it was that he first began to indulge in luxurious and splendid banquets, and fell in love with his captive Barsine for her beauty, by whom he had afterwards a son that he called Hercules." Plutarch writes that his relationship with Barsine produced a son named Heracles.<p><a id="Roxana" name="Roxana"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Roxana</span></h3>
<p>Ancient historians, as well as modern ones, have also written on Alexander's marriage to Roxana. Robin Lane Fox writes, "Roxane, was said by contemporaries to be the most beautiful lady in all Asia. She deserved her Iranian name of <!--del_lnk--> Roshanak meaning 'little star.' Marriage to a local noble's family made sound political sense. But contemporaries implied that Alexander, aged twenty-eight, also lost his heart. A wedding-feast for the two of them was arranged high on one of the Sogdian rocks. Alexander and his bride shared a loaf of bread, a custom still observed in Turkestan. Characteristically, Alexander sliced it with his sword." Ulrich Wilcken writes, "The fairest prize that fell to him was Roxane, the daughter of Oxyartes, in the first bloom of youth, and in the judgment of Alexander’s companions, next to Stateira the wife of Darius, the most beautiful woman that they had seen in Asia. Alexander fell passionately in love with her and determined to raise her to the position of his consort." <p>Roxana accompanied Alexander all the way to India, and bore him a child also named Alexander, six months after Alexander the Great died.<p><a id="Bagoas" name="Bagoas"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Bagoas</span></h3>
<p>Some ancient sources suggest that Alexander had possibly another favorite, <!--del_lnk--> Bagoas; a <!--del_lnk--> eunuch (a castrated youth) exceptional in beauty and in the very flower of boyhood, with whom Darius was intimate and with whom Alexander would later be intimate." <!--del_lnk--> Plutarch recounts an episode (also mentioned by <!--del_lnk--> Dicaearchus) during some festivities on the way back from India) in which his men clamor for him to kiss the young man: "Bagoas...sat down close to him, which so pleased the Macedonians, that they made loud acclamations for him to kiss Bagoas, and never stopped clapping their hands and shouting till Alexander put his arms round him and kissed him."<p>The modern historian Robin Lane Fox, says that both direct and indirect evidence suggest a "sexual element, this time of pure physical desire" between the two, but as for the consummation of that passion he comments that "[l]ater gossip presumed that Bagoas was Alexander’s lover. This is uncertain." <!--del_lnk--> Mary Renault, author of <!--del_lnk--> The Persian Boy, a novel about the love between Alexander and Bagoas, claims that "No historian states plainly whether they were physical lovers." Whatever Alexander's relationship with Bagoas, it was no impediment to relations with his queen: six months after Alexander's death Roxana gave birth to his son and heir, <!--del_lnk--> Alexander IV.<p>Historical accounts describing Alexander's love for Hephaestion and Bagoas as sexual have been contested on the grounds that they were written centuries afterwards. On the other hand, as will be seen below, a great amount of our detailed information regarding Alexander comes from much later sources. It should be noted that the concept of homosexuality as understood today did not exist in <!--del_lnk--> Greco-Roman <!--del_lnk--> antiquity. If Alexander's love life was transgressive, it was not for his love of beautiful youths but for his persistent love of a man his own age.<p><a id="Legacy_and_division_of_the_empire" name="Legacy_and_division_of_the_empire"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Legacy and division of the empire</span></h2>
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<dd>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15213.jpg.htm" title="Coin of Alexander bearing an Aramaic language inscription."><img alt="Coin of Alexander bearing an Aramaic language inscription." height="108" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alexander_Aramaic_coin.jpg" src="../../images/152/15213.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15213.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Coin of Alexander bearing an <!--del_lnk--> Aramaic language inscription.</div>
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<p>After Alexander's death, in 323 BC, the rule of his Empire was given to Alexander's half-brother <!--del_lnk--> Philip Arridaeus and Alexander's son <!--del_lnk--> Alexander IV. However, since Philip was mentally ill and the son of Alexander still a baby, two regents were named in <!--del_lnk--> Perdiccas (who had received Alexander's ring at this death) and <!--del_lnk--> Craterus (who may have been the one mentioned as successor by Alexander), although Perdiccas quickly managed to take sole power.<p>Perdiccas soon eliminated several of his opponents, killing about 30 (Diodorus Siculus), and at the <!--del_lnk--> Partition of Babylon named former generals of Alexander as <!--del_lnk--> satraps of the various regions of his Empire. In <!--del_lnk--> 321 BC Perdiccas was assassinated by his own troops during his conflict with <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemy, leading to the <!--del_lnk--> Partition of Triparadisus, in which <!--del_lnk--> Antipater was named as the new regent, and the satrapies again shared between the various generals. From that time, Alexander's officers were focused on the explicit formation of rival monarchies and territorial states.<p>Ultimately, the conflict was settled after the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Ipsus in <!--del_lnk--> Phrygia in 301 BC. Alexander's empire was divided at first into four major portions: <!--del_lnk--> Cassander ruled in <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedon</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Lysimachus in <!--del_lnk--> Thrace, <!--del_lnk--> Seleucus in <a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a> and Iran, and <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemy I Soter in the <!--del_lnk--> Levant and <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Antigonus ruled for a while in <!--del_lnk--> Anatolia and <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a> but was eventually defeated by the other generals at Ipsus (301 BC). Control over Indian territory passed to <!--del_lnk--> Chandragupta Maurya, the first <!--del_lnk--> Maurya emperor, who further expanded his dominions after a settlement with Seleucus.<p>By <!--del_lnk--> 270 BC, <!--del_lnk--> Hellenistic states were consolidated, with:<dl>
<dd>
<ul>
<li>The <!--del_lnk--> Antigonid Empire centered on Macedon.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> Seleucid Empire in Asia<li>The <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt, Palestine and <!--del_lnk--> Cyrenaica</ul>
</dl>
<p>By the 1st century BC though, most of the Hellenistic territories in the West had been absorbed by the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic. In the East, they had been dramatically reduced by the expansion of the <!--del_lnk--> Parthian Empire and the secession of the <!--del_lnk--> Greco-Bactrian kingdom.<p>Alexander's conquests also had long term <!--del_lnk--> cultural effects, with the flourishing of <!--del_lnk--> Hellenistic civilization throughout the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Central Asia, and the development of <!--del_lnk--> Greco-Buddhist art in the <!--del_lnk--> Indian subcontinent.<p><a id="Influence_on_Ancient_Rome" name="Influence_on_Ancient_Rome"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Influence on <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Ancient Rome</a></span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15214.jpg.htm" title="A mural in Pompeii, depicting the marriage of Alexander to Barsine (Stateira) in 324 BC. The couple are apparently dressed as Ares and Aphrodite."><img alt="A mural in Pompeii, depicting the marriage of Alexander to Barsine (Stateira) in 324 BC. The couple are apparently dressed as Ares and Aphrodite." height="249" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Mosaica.jpg" src="../../images/152/15214.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15214.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A mural in <a href="../../wp/p/Pompeii.htm" title="Pompeii">Pompeii</a>, depicting the marriage of Alexander to Barsine (Stateira) in 324 BC. The couple are apparently dressed as Ares and Aphrodite.</div>
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<p>Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements, although very little is known about Roman-Macedonian diplomatic relations of that time. <a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a> wept in Spain at the mere sight of Alexander's statue and <!--del_lnk--> Pompey the Great rummaged through the closets of conquered nations for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which the Roman general then wore as the costume of greatness. However, in his zeal to honour Alexander, <a href="../../wp/a/Augustus.htm" title="Augustus">Augustus</a> accidentally broke the nose off the Macedonian's mummified corpse while laying a wreath at the hero's shrine in Alexandria, Egypt. The unbalanced emperor <!--del_lnk--> Caligula later took the dead king's armor from that tomb and donned it for luck. The Macriani, a Roman family that rose to the imperial throne in the 3rd century A.D., always kept images of Alexander on their persons, either stamped into their bracelets and rings or stitched into their garments. Even their dinnerware bore Alexander's face, with the story of the king's life displayed around the rims of special bowls.<p>In the summer of 1995, during the archaeological work of the season centered on excavating the remains of domestic architecture of early-Roman date, a statue of Alexander was recovered from the structure, which was richly decorated with mosaic and marble pavements and probably was constructed in the 1st century AD and occupied until the 3rd century.<p><a id="General_timeline" name="General_timeline"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">General timeline</span></h2>
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<p><a id="Alexander.27s_character" name="Alexander.27s_character"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alexander's character</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8440.jpg.htm" title="Equestrian statue of Alexander the Great, on the waterfront at Thessaloniki, capital of Greek Macedonia."><img alt="Equestrian statue of Alexander the Great, on the waterfront at Thessaloniki, capital of Greek Macedonia." height="333" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ac_alexanderstatue.jpg" src="../../images/152/15215.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8440.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Equestrian statue of Alexander the Great, on the waterfront at <!--del_lnk--> Thessaloniki, capital of <!--del_lnk--> Greek Macedonia.</div>
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<p>Modern opinion on Alexander has run the gamut from the idea that he believed he was on a divinely-inspired mission to unite the <!--del_lnk--> human race, to the view that he was a <!--del_lnk--> megalomaniac bent on <!--del_lnk--> world domination. Such views tend to be <!--del_lnk--> anachronistic, however, and the sources allow for a variety of interpretations. Much about Alexander's personality and aims remains enigmatic.<p>Alexander is remembered as a legendary hero in <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a> and much of both <!--del_lnk--> Southwest Asia and <!--del_lnk--> Central Asia, where he is known as <b>Iskander</b> or <b>Iskandar Zulkarnain</b>. To <!--del_lnk--> Zoroastrians, on the other hand, he is remembered as the destroyer of their first great empire and as the destroyer of <!--del_lnk--> Persepolis. Ancient sources are generally written with an agenda of either glorifying or denigrating the man, making it difficult to evaluate his actual character. Most refer to a growing instability and megalomania in the years following Gaugamela, but it has been suggested that this simply reflects the Greek <!--del_lnk--> stereotype of an orientalizing king. The murder of his friend <!--del_lnk--> Clitus, which Alexander deeply and immediately regretted, is often cited as a sign of his paranoia, as is his execution of Philotas and his general Parmenion for failure to pass along details of a plot against him. However, this may have been more prudence than paranoia.<p>Modern Alexandrists continue to debate these same issues, among others, in modern times. One unresolved topic involves whether Alexander was actually attempting to better the world by his conquests, or whether his purpose was primarily to rule the world.<p>Partially in response to the ubiquity of positive portrayals of Alexander, an alternate character is sometimes presented which emphasizes some of Alexander's negative aspects. Some proponents of this view cite the destructions of <!--del_lnk--> Thebes, <!--del_lnk--> Tyre, <!--del_lnk--> Persepolis, and <!--del_lnk--> Gaza as examples of atrocities, and argue that Alexander preferred to fight rather than negotiate. It is further claimed, in response to the view that Alexander was generally tolerant of the cultures of those whom he conquered, that his attempts at cultural fusion were severely practical and that he never actually admired Persian art or culture. To this way of thinking, Alexander was, first and foremost, a general rather than a statesman.<p>Alexander's character also suffers from the interpretation of historians who themselves are subject to the bias and idealisms of their own time. Good examples are <!--del_lnk--> W. W. Tarn, who wrote during the late 19th century and early 20th century, and who saw Alexander in an extremely good light, and <!--del_lnk--> Peter Green, who wrote after <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a> and for whom Alexander did little that was not inherently selfish or ambition-driven. Tarn wrote in an age where world conquest and warrior-heroes were acceptable, even encouraged, whereas Green wrote with the backdrop of <a href="../../wp/t/The_Holocaust.htm" title="The Holocaust">the Holocaust</a> and <a href="../../wp/n/Nuclear_weapon.htm" title="Nuclear weapon">nuclear weapons</a>.<p><a id="Greek_and_Latin_sources" name="Greek_and_Latin_sources"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alexander's legend</span></h2>
<p>Alexander was a legend in his own time. His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in <!--del_lnk--> Cilicia as drawing back from him in <!--del_lnk--> proskynesis. Writing after Alexander's death, another participant, <!--del_lnk--> Onesicritus, went so far as to invent a <!--del_lnk--> tryst between Alexander and <!--del_lnk--> Thalestris, queen of the mythical <!--del_lnk--> Amazons. When Onesicritus read this passage to his patron, Alexander's general and later King <!--del_lnk--> Lysimachus reportedly quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time."<p>In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the more legendary material coalesced into a text known as the <i><!--del_lnk--> Alexander Romance</i>, later falsely ascribed to the historian Callisthenes and therefore known as <i>Pseudo-Callisthenes</i>. This text underwent numerous expansions and revisions throughout Antiquity and the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>, exhibiting a plasticity unseen in "higher" literary forms. Latin and <!--del_lnk--> Syriac translations were made in Late Antiquity. From these, versions were developed in all the major languages of <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a> and the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>, including <!--del_lnk--> Armenian, <!--del_lnk--> Georgian, <!--del_lnk--> Persian, <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Turkish, <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrew_language.htm" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Serbian, <!--del_lnk--> Slavonic, <!--del_lnk--> Romanian, <!--del_lnk--> Hungarian, <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Italian, and <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a>. The "Romance" is regarded by many Western scholars as the source of the <!--del_lnk--> account of Alexander given in the Qur'an (<!--del_lnk--> Sura <i>The Cave</i>). It is the source of many incidents in <!--del_lnk--> Ferdowsi's "<!--del_lnk--> Shahnama". A <!--del_lnk--> Mongolian version is also extant.<p>Alexander is also a character of Greek folklore (and other regions), as the protagonist of 'apocryphal' tales of bravery. A maritime legend says that his sister is a <!--del_lnk--> mermaid and asks the sailors if her brother is still alive. Alexander is also a character of a <!--del_lnk--> Karagiozis play.<p>Some believe that, excepting certain religious texts, it is the most widely-read work of pre-modern times.<p><a id="Alexander_in_the_Qur.27an" name="Alexander_in_the_Qur.27an"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alexander in the <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a></span></h3>
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<p>Alexander was often identified in Persian and Arabic-language sources as <!--del_lnk--> Dhul-Qarnayn, Arabic for the "Two-Horned One", possibly a reference to the appearance of a horn-headed figure that appears on coins minted during his rule and later imitated in ancient Middle Eastern coinage. If this theory is followed, <!--del_lnk--> Islamic accounts of the Alexander legend, particularly in the <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a> and in Persian legends, combined the Pseudo-Callisthenes legendary, pseudo-religious material about Alexander. The same legends from the Pseudo-Callisthenes were combined in Persia with <!--del_lnk--> Sasanid Persian ideas about Alexander in the <!--del_lnk--> Iskandarnamah. Alexander built a wall of iron and melted copper in which <!--del_lnk--> Gog and Magog are confined. However, some Muslim scholars disagree that Alexander was Dhul Qarnayn.<p><a id="Alexander_in_ancient_and_modern_culture" name="Alexander_in_ancient_and_modern_culture"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alexander in ancient and modern culture</span></h3>
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<p>Around seventy towns or outposts are claimed to have been founded by Alexander. <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus Siculus credits Alexander with planning cities on a <!--del_lnk--> grid plan.<p>Alexander has figured in works of both "high" and popular culture from his own era to the modern day.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alfred Hitchcock</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Producers_directors_and_media_figures.htm">Producers, directors and media figures</a></h3>
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<caption style="font-size: larger; background-color:transparent;"><b>Alfred Hitchcock</b></caption>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/538.jpg.htm" title=" "><img alt=" " height="284" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alfred_Hitchcock_NYWTS.jpg" src="../../images/5/538.jpg" width="220" /></a><br /><small>Hitchcock in 1956.</small></td>
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<th style="text-align: right;">Born:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> August 13, <!--del_lnk--> 1899<br /><!--del_lnk--> Leytonstone, <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a></td>
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<th style="text-align: right;">Died:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> April 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1980<br /><!--del_lnk--> Bel Air, <a href="../../wp/l/Los_Angeles%252C_California.htm" title="Los Angeles, California">Los Angeles</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">USA</a></td>
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<th style="text-align: right;">Occupation:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Film director and <!--del_lnk--> producer</td>
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<th style="text-align: right;">Spouse:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Alma Reville</td>
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<p><b>Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock</b>, <!--del_lnk--> KBE (<!--del_lnk--> August 13, <!--del_lnk--> 1899 – <!--del_lnk--> April 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1980) was a highly influential British <!--del_lnk--> director and <!--del_lnk--> producer who pioneered many techniques in the <!--del_lnk--> suspense and <!--del_lnk--> thriller genres. He directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades, from the <a href="../../wp/s/Silent_film.htm" title="Silent film">silent film</a> era, through the invention of <!--del_lnk--> talkies, to the <!--del_lnk--> colour era. Hitchcock was among the most consistently successful and publicly recognizable directors in the world during his lifetime, and remains one of the best known and most popular directors of all time, famous for his expert and largely unrivaled control of pace and suspense throughout his movies. <i><!--del_lnk--> Entertainment Weekly</i> went so far as to give him the title of the greatest film director ever.<p>Hitchcock was born and raised in <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>. While he began his directing career in London, he worked primarily in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> beginning in 1939 and applied for U.S. <a href="../../wp/c/Citizenship.htm" title="Citizenship">citizenship</a> in 1956. Hitchcock and his family lived in a mountaintop estate high above <!--del_lnk--> Scotts Valley, <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>, from 1940 to 1972. He died of <!--del_lnk--> renal failure in 1980.<p>Hitchcock's films draw heavily on both <!--del_lnk--> fear and <!--del_lnk--> fantasy, and are known for their <!--del_lnk--> droll humour. They often portray innocent people caught up in circumstances beyond their control or understanding. This often involves a <i><!--del_lnk--> transference of guilt</i> in which the "innocent" character's failings are transferred to another character, and magnified. Another common theme is the basic incompatibility of men and women; Hitchcock's films often take a <!--del_lnk--> cynical view of traditional romance.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Rebecca</i> was the only one of his films to win the <!--del_lnk--> Academy Award for Best Picture, although four others were nominated. Hitchcock never won the Academy Award for Best Director. He was awarded <!--del_lnk--> the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in 1967, but never personally received an <!--del_lnk--> Academy Award of Merit.<p>Until the later part of his career, Hitchcock was far more popular with film audiences than with <!--del_lnk--> film critics, especially the elite British and American critics. In the late 1950s the <!--del_lnk--> French New Wave critics, especially <!--del_lnk--> Éric Rohmer, <!--del_lnk--> Claude Chabrol, and <!--del_lnk--> François Truffaut, were among the first to see and promote his films as artistic works. Hitchcock was one of the first directors to whom they applied their <!--del_lnk--> auteur theory, which stresses the artistic authority of the director in the film-making process.<p>Hitchcock's innovations and vision have influenced a great number of filmmakers, producers, and <a href="../../wp/a/Actor.htm" title="Actor">actors</a>. His influence helped start a trend for <!--del_lnk--> film directors to control artistic aspects of their movies without answering to the movie's <!--del_lnk--> producer.<p>
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</script><a id="Life" name="Life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Life</span></h2>
<p><a id="Early_life" name="Early_life"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Early life</span></h3>
<p>Alfred Hitchcock was born on <!--del_lnk--> August 13, <!--del_lnk--> 1899, in <!--del_lnk--> Leytonstone, Essex (now <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>), the second son and youngest of the three children of William Hitchcock, a <!--del_lnk--> greengrocer, and his wife, Emma Jane Hitchcock (née Whelan). His family was mostly <!--del_lnk--> Roman Catholic. Hitchcock was sent to Catholic boarding schools in London. He often described his childhood as being very lonely and sheltered, which was undoubtedly compounded by his weight issues.<p>Hitchcock claimed that on one occasion early in his life, after he had acted childishly, his father sent him to the local police station carrying a note. When he presented the police officer on duty with the note, he was locked in a cell for a few moments, long enough to be petrified. This was a favorite anecdote of his, and the incident is often cited in connection with the theme of distrust of police which runs through many of his films. His mother would often make him address her while standing at the foot of her bed, especially if he behaved badly, forcing him to stand there for hours. This would be recalled by the character <!--del_lnk--> Norman Bates in <i><!--del_lnk--> Psycho</i>.<p>At 14, Hitchcock lost his father and left the Jesuit-run <!--del_lnk--> St Ignatius' College in <!--del_lnk--> Stamford Hill, his school at the time, to study at the School for Engineering and Navigation. After graduating, he became a <!--del_lnk--> draftsman and <a href="../../wp/a/Advertising.htm" title="Advertising">advertising</a> designer with a cable company.<p>About that time, Hitchcock became intrigued by <a href="../../wp/p/Photography.htm" title="Photography">photography</a> and started working in film in London. In 1920, he obtained a full-time job at Islington Studios under its American owners, <!--del_lnk--> Famous Players-Lasky, and their British successors, <!--del_lnk--> Gainsborough Pictures, designing the titles for silent movies.<p><a id="Pre-war_British_career" name="Pre-war_British_career"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Pre-war British career</span></h3>
<p>In 1925, <!--del_lnk--> Michael Balcon of Gainsborough Pictures gave him a chance to direct his first film, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Pleasure Garden</i> made at <!--del_lnk--> Ufa studios in Germany. The commercial failure of this film and the one that followed it, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Mountain Eagle</i>, threatened to derail his promising career. In <!--del_lnk--> 1926, however, Hitchcock made his debut in the thriller genre. The resulting film, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog</i> was a major commercial and critical success. Like many of his earlier works, it was influenced by <!--del_lnk--> Expressionist techniques he had witnessed firsthand in Germany. This is the first truly "Hitchcockian" film, incorporating such themes as the "wrong man".<p>Following the success of <i>The Lodger</i>, Hitchcock began his first efforts to promote himself in the media, and hired a publicist to cement his growing reputation as one of the British film industry's rising stars. In 1926, he was to marry his assistant director <!--del_lnk--> Alma Reville. Their daughter <!--del_lnk--> Patricia was born in 1928. Alma was Hitchcock's closest collaborator. She wrote some of his screenplays and (though often uncredited) worked with him on every one of his films.<p>In 1929, he began work on his tenth film <i><!--del_lnk--> Blackmail</i>. While the film was in production, the studio decided to make it one of Britain's first sound pictures. With the climax of the film taking place on the dome of the <!--del_lnk--> British Museum, <i>Blackmail</i> began the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences.<p>In 1933, Hitchcock was once again working for Michael Balcon at Gaumont-British Picture Corporation. His first film for the company, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Man Who Knew Too Much</i> (1934), was a success and his second, <i><!--del_lnk--> The 39 Steps</i> (1935), is often considered one of the best films from his early period. It was also one of the first to introduce the concept of the "<!--del_lnk--> MacGuffin", a plot device around which a whole story would revolve. In <i>The 39 Steps</i>, the MacGuffin is a stolen set of blueprints.<p>His next major success was in 1938, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Lady Vanishes</i>, a clever and fast-paced film about the search for a kindly old Englishwoman (<!--del_lnk--> Dame May Whitty), who disappears while on board a train in the fictional country of Vandrika (a thinly-veiled version of <a href="../../wp/n/Nazism.htm" title="Nazism">Nazi</a> <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>).<p>By the end of the 1930s, Hitchcock was at the top of his game artistically, and in a position to name his own terms when <!--del_lnk--> David O. Selznick managed to entice the Hitchcocks to Hollywood.<p><a id="Hollywood" name="Hollywood"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Hollywood</span></h3>
<p>Hitchcock's <!--del_lnk--> gallows humour and the suspense that became his trademark continued in his American work. However, working arrangements with his new producer were less than optimal. Selznick suffered from perennial money problems and Hitchcock was often unhappy with the amount of creative control demanded by Selznick over his films. Consequently, Selznick ended up "loaning" Hitchcock to the larger studios more often than producing Hitchcock's films himself.<p>With the prestigious Selznick picture <i><!--del_lnk--> Rebecca</i> in 1940, Hitchcock made his first American movie, although it was set in England and based on a novel by English author Dame <!--del_lnk--> Daphne du Maurier. This <!--del_lnk--> Gothic <!--del_lnk--> melodrama explores the fears of a naïve young bride who enters a great English country home and must grapple with the problems of a distant husband, a predatory housekeeper, and the legacy of her husband's late wife, the beautiful, mysterious Rebecca. The film has also subsequently been noted for the lesbian undercurrents in <!--del_lnk--> Judith Anderson's performance. It won the <!--del_lnk--> Academy Award for <!--del_lnk--> Best Picture of 1940. However, the statuette went to Selznick as the film's producer, and the film did not win the <!--del_lnk--> Best Director award. There were additional problems between Selznick and Hitchcock; Selznick, as he usually did, imposed very restrictive rules upon Hitchcock, hindering his creative control. Hitchcock was forced to shoot the film as Selznick wanted, immediately creating friction within their relationship. At the same time, Selznick complained about Hitchcock's "goddam jigsaw cutting," which meant that the producer did not have nearly the leeway to create his own film as he liked, but had to follow Hitchcock's vision of the finished product.<p>Hitchcock's second American film, the European-set thriller <i><!--del_lnk--> Foreign Correspondent</i>, was also nominated for Best Picture that year.<p>Hitchcock's work during the 1940s was diverse, ranging from the romantic comedy <i><!--del_lnk--> Mr. & Mrs. Smith</i> (1941) and the courtroom drama <i><!--del_lnk--> The Paradine Case</i> (1947) to the dark and disturbing <i><!--del_lnk--> Shadow of a Doubt</i> (1943).<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Saboteur</i> (1942) was the first of two films that Hitchcock made for <!--del_lnk--> Universal, a studio where he would work in his later years. Dealing with the threat of sabotage, without labeling the actual nation for whom the saboteurs worked (probably Nazi Germany), Hitchcock was forced to utilize Universal contract players <!--del_lnk--> Robert Cummings and <!--del_lnk--> Priscilla Lane, both known for their work in comedies and light dramas, and made the most of the situation. Breaking with Hollywood tradition, Hitchcock did extensive location filming, especially in <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, and memorably depicted a confrontation between a suspected saboteur (Cummings) and a real saboteur (<!--del_lnk--> Norman Lloyd) atop the <!--del_lnk--> Statue of Liberty.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Shadow of a Doubt</i>, his personal favourite and the second of the Universal films, was about young Charlotte "Charlie" Newton (<!--del_lnk--> Teresa Wright) who suspects her beloved uncle Charlie Spencer (<!--del_lnk--> Joseph Cotten) of murder. In its use of overlapping characters, dialogue, and closeups it has provided a generation of film theorists with psychoanalytic potential, including <!--del_lnk--> Jacques Lacan and <!--del_lnk--> Slavoj Žižek. The film also harkens to one of Cotten's better known films, <i><a href="../../wp/c/Citizen_Kane.htm" title="Citizen Kane">Citizen Kane</a></i>. Hitchcock again filmed extensively on location, this time in the Northern California town of <!--del_lnk--> Santa Rosa.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Spellbound</i> explored the then fashionable subject of <!--del_lnk--> psychoanalysis and featured a dream sequence which was designed by <a href="../../wp/s/Salvador_Dal%25C3%25AD.htm" title="Salvador Dalí">Salvador Dalí</a>. The actual dream sequence in the film was considerably cut from the original scene planned to run for some minutes, but proved too disturbing for the finished film.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Notorious</i> (1946) marked Hitchcock's first film as a producer as well as director. As Selznick failed to see the subject's potential, he allowed Hitchcock to make the film for <!--del_lnk--> RKO. From this point on, Hitchcock would produce his own films, giving him a far greater degree of freedom to pursue the projects that interested him. Starring Hitchcock regulars <!--del_lnk--> Ingrid Bergman and <!--del_lnk--> Cary Grant and featuring a plot about Nazis, uranium, and South America, <i><!--del_lnk--> Notorious</i> was a huge box office success and has remained one of Hitchcock's most acclaimed films. Its inventive use of suspense and props briefly led to Hitchcock's being under surveillance by the <!--del_lnk--> CIA due to his use of <a href="../../wp/u/Uranium.htm" title="Uranium">uranium</a> as a plot device.<p>Hitchcock's first colour film, <i><!--del_lnk--> Rope</i> appeared in 1948. Here Hitchcock experimented with marshalling suspense in a confined environment, as he had done earlier with <i><!--del_lnk--> Lifeboat</i>. He also experimented with exceptionally long takes — up to ten minutes (see <!--del_lnk--> Themes and devices). Featuring <a href="../../wp/j/James_Stewart_%2528actor%2529.htm" title="James Stewart (actor)">James Stewart</a> in the leading role, <i>Rope</i> was the first of an eventual four films Stewart would make for Hitchcock. Based on the <!--del_lnk--> Leopold and Loeb case of the 1920s, <i>Rope</i> is also among several films with <!--del_lnk--> homosexual subtext to emerge from the <!--del_lnk--> Hays Office–controlled Hollywood studio era.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Under Capricorn</i> (1949), set in nineteenth-century Australia, also used this short-lived technique, but to a more limited extent. He again used <!--del_lnk--> Technicolor in this production, then returned to black and white films for several years. For these two films Hitchcock formed a production company with Sidney Bernstein, called <!--del_lnk--> Transatlantic Pictures, which folded after these two unsuccessful pictures.<p><a id="Peak_years_and_decline" name="Peak_years_and_decline"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Peak years and decline</span></h3>
<p>With <i><!--del_lnk--> Strangers on a Train</i> (1951), based on the novel by <!--del_lnk--> Patricia Highsmith, Hitchcock combined many of the best elements from his preceding British and American films. Two men casually meet and speculate on removing people who are causing them difficulty. One of the men, though, takes this banter entirely seriously. With <!--del_lnk--> Farley Granger reprising some elements of his role from <i>Rope</i>, <i>Strangers</i> continued the director's interest in the narrative possibilities of homosexual blackmail and murder. This was Hitchcock's first production for <!--del_lnk--> Warner Brothers, which had distributed <i>Rope</i> and <i>Under Capricorn</i>.<p><!--del_lnk--> MCA head <!--del_lnk--> Lew Wasserman, whose client list included <a href="../../wp/j/James_Stewart_%2528actor%2529.htm" title="James Stewart (actor)">James Stewart</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Janet Leigh, and other actors who would appear in Hitchcock's films, had a significent impact in packaging and marketing Hitchcock's films beginning in the 1950s. With Wasserman's help, Hitchcock received tremendous creative freedom from the studios, as well as substantive financial rewards as a result of Paramount's profit-sharing contract.<p>Three very popular films starring <!--del_lnk--> Grace Kelly followed. <i><!--del_lnk--> Dial M for Murder</i> (1954) was adapted from the popular stage play by <!--del_lnk--> Frederick Knott. This was originally another experimental film, with Hitchcock using the technique of <!--del_lnk--> 3D cinematography, although the film was not released in this format at first; it did receive screenings in the early 1980s in 3D form. The film also marked a return to <!--del_lnk--> Technicolor productions for Hitchcock. <i><!--del_lnk--> Rear Window</i> starred James Stewart again, as well as <!--del_lnk--> Thelma Ritter and <!--del_lnk--> Raymond Burr. Here, the wheelchair-bound Stewart observes the movements of his neighbours across the courtyard and becomes convinced one of them has murdered his wife. Like <i><!--del_lnk--> Lifeboat</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Rope</i>, the movie was photographed almost entirely within the confines of a small space: Stewart's tiny studio apartment overlooking the massive courtyard set. <i><!--del_lnk--> To Catch a Thief</i>, set in the French Riviera, starred Kelly and <!--del_lnk--> Cary Grant.<p>1956 saw the release of two films by Hitchcock: <i><!--del_lnk--> The Wrong Man</i>, based on a real-life case of mistaken identity, his only film to star <a href="../../wp/h/Henry_Fonda.htm" title="Henry Fonda">Henry Fonda</a>, and a remake of his own 1934 film <i><!--del_lnk--> The Man Who Knew Too Much</i>, this time with James Stewart and <!--del_lnk--> Doris Day, who sang the theme song, "<!--del_lnk--> Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Qué Será, Será)" (which became a big hit for Day).<p>1958's <i><!--del_lnk--> Vertigo</i> again starred Stewart, this time with <!--del_lnk--> Kim Novak and <!--del_lnk--> Barbara Bel Geddes. The film was a commercial failure, but has come to be viewed by many as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces.<p>Hitchcock followed <i>Vertigo</i> with three more successful pictures. All are also recognised as among his very best films: <i><!--del_lnk--> North by Northwest</i> (1959), <i><!--del_lnk--> Psycho</i> (1960), and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Birds</i> (1963). The latter two were particularly notable for their unconventional soundtracks, both by <!--del_lnk--> Bernard Herrmann: the screeching strings in the murder scene in <i>Psycho</i> pushed the limits of the time, and <i>The Birds</i> dispensed completely with conventional instruments, using an electronically produced soundtrack. These were his last great films, after which his career slowly wound down (although some critics such as Robin Wood and Donald Spoto contend <i><!--del_lnk--> Marnie</i>, from 1964, is first-class Hitchcock). In 1972, Hitchcock returned to <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a> to film <i><!--del_lnk--> Frenzy</i>, his last major success. For the first time, Hitchcock allowed nudity and profane language, which had before been taboo, in one of his films.<p>Failing health slowed down his output over the last two decades of his life.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Family Plot</i> (1976) was his last film. It related the escapades of "Madam" Blanche Tyler played by <!--del_lnk--> Barbara Harris, a fraudulent spiritualist, and her taxi driver lover <!--del_lnk--> Bruce Dern making a living from her phony powers. <!--del_lnk--> William Devane, <!--del_lnk--> Karen Black and <!--del_lnk--> Katherine Helmond co-starred.<p>Near the end of his life, Hitchcock worked on the script for a project spy thriller, <i>The Short Night</i>, which was never filmed. The script was published in book form after Hitchcock's death.<p>Hitchcock was created a <!--del_lnk--> Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by <a href="../../wp/e/Elizabeth_II_of_the_United_Kingdom.htm" title="Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom">Queen Elizabeth II</a> in the 1980 <!--del_lnk--> New Years Honours. He died just four months later, on <!--del_lnk--> April 29, before he had the opportunity to be formally invested by the Queen. Despite the brief period between his knighthood and death, he was nevertheless entitled to be known as <b>Sir Alfred Hitchcock</b> and to use the postnominal letters "KBE", because he remained a British subject when he adopted American citizenship in 1956.<p>Alfred Hitchcock died from <!--del_lnk--> renal failure in his <!--del_lnk--> Bel-Air, <!--del_lnk--> Los Angeles home, aged 80, and was survived by his wife <!--del_lnk--> Alma Reville, and their daughter, <!--del_lnk--> Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell. A funeral service was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills. His body was cremated and the ashes scattered.<p><a id="Themes_and_devices" name="Themes_and_devices"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Themes and devices</span></h2>
<p>Hitchcock preferred the use of suspense over surprise in his films. In surprise, the director assaults the viewer with frightening things. In suspense, the director tells or shows things to the audience which the characters in the film do not know, and then artfully builds tension around what will happen when the characters finally learn the truth.<p>Further blurring the moral distinction between the innocent and the guilty, occasionally making this indictment inescapably clear to viewers one and all, Hitchcock also makes voyeurs of his "respectable" audience. In <i>Rear Window</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1954), after L. B. Jeffries (played by James Stewart) has been staring across the courtyard at him for most of the film, Lars Thorwald (played by <!--del_lnk--> Raymond Burr) confronts Jeffries by saying, "What do you want of me?" Burr might as well have been addressing the audience. In fact, shortly before asking this, Thorwald turns to face the camera directly for the first time — at this point, audiences often gasp.<p>One of Hitchcock's favourite devices for driving the plots of his stories and creating suspense was what he called the "<!--del_lnk--> MacGuffin." The <i>Oxford English Dictionary,</i> however, credits Hitchcock's friend, the Scottish screenwriter <!--del_lnk--> Angus McPhail, as being the true inventor of the term. Hitchcock defined this term in an interview to François Truffaut, in 1966. Hitchcock would use this plot device extensively. Many of his suspense films revolve around this device: a detail which, by inciting curiosity and desire, drives the plot and motivates the actions of characters within the story, but whose specific identity and nature is unimportant to the spectator of the film. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Vertigo</i>, for instance, "Carlotta Valdes" is a MacGuffin; she never appears and the details of her death are unimportant to the viewer, but the story about her ghost's haunting of Madeleine Elster is the spur for Scottie's investigation of her, and hence the film's entire plot. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Notorious</i> the uranium that the main characters must recover before it reaches Nazi hands serves as a similarly arbitrary motivation: any dangerous object would suffice. And state secrets of various kinds serve as MacGuffins in several of the spy films, especially his earlier British films <i><!--del_lnk--> The Man Who Knew Too Much</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> The 39 Steps</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Lady Vanishes</i>. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Psycho</i>, an obvious MacGuffin at the beginning of the film (a package containing $40,000 in stolen money) is actually a <!--del_lnk--> red herring.<p>Most of Hitchcock's films contain <!--del_lnk--> cameo <!--del_lnk--> appearances by Hitchcock himself: the director would be seen for a brief moment boarding a bus, crossing in front of a building, standing in an apartment across the courtyard, or appearing in a photograph. This playful gesture became one of Hitchcock's signatures. As a recurring theme he would carry a musical instrument — especially memorable was the large double bass case that he wrestles onto the train at the beginning of <i><!--del_lnk--> Strangers on a Train</i>.<p>In his earliest appearances he would fill in as an obscure extra, standing in a crowd or walking through a scene in a long camera shot. But he became more prominent in his later appearances, as when he turns to see <!--del_lnk--> Jane Wyman's disguise when she passes him on the street in <i><!--del_lnk--> Stage Fright</i>, and in stark silhouette in his final film <i><!--del_lnk--> Family Plot</i>. (See a <!--del_lnk--> list of Hitchcock cameo appearances.)<p>Hitchcock includes the consumption of <!--del_lnk--> brandy in nearly every sound film. "I'll get you some brandy. Drink this down. Just like medicine ..." says James Stewart's character to <!--del_lnk--> Kim Novak, in <i>Vertigo.</i> In a real-life incident, Hitchcock dared <!--del_lnk--> Montgomery Clift at a dinner party around the filming of <i><!--del_lnk--> I Confess</i> (1953) to swallow a carafe of brandy, which caused the actor to pass out almost immediately. This near obsession with brandy remains unexplained. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Torn Curtain</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Topaz</i>, brandy is replaced by <!--del_lnk--> cognac.<p>Another almost inexplicable feature of any Hitchcock film is the inclusion of a staircase. Of course, stairways inspire many suspenseful moments, most notably the final sequence in <i><!--del_lnk--> Notorious</i> and the detective's demise in the Bates' mansion in <i>Psycho.</i> However, a completely nonfunctional staircase adorns the apartment of the James Stewart character in <i><!--del_lnk--> Rear Window</i>, as if Hitchcock feels compelled to its inclusion by some unspoken superstition. This, too, could be Hitchcock under the influence of <!--del_lnk--> German Expressionism, the films of which often featured heavily stylized and menacing staircases (cf. <i><!--del_lnk--> The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari</i>). In fact, early director <!--del_lnk--> Leopold Jessner is often credited with creating the first dramatic, filmic staircases in his 1921 film <i><!--del_lnk--> Hintertreppe</i>.<p>Hitchcock seemed to delight in the technical challenges of filmmaking. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Lifeboat</i>, Hitchcock sets the entire action of the movie in a small boat, yet manages to keep the cinematography from monotonous repetition. His trademark cameo appearance was a dilemma, given the claustrophobic setting; so Hitchcock appeared on camera in a fictitious newspaper ad for a weight loss product.<p>In <i>Spellbound</i> two unprecedented point-of-view shots were achieved by constructing a large wooden hand (which would appear to belong to the character whose point of view the camera took) and outsized props for it to hold: a bucket-sized glass of milk and a large wooden gun. For added novelty and impact, the climactic gunshot was hand-coloured red on some copies of the black-and-white print of the film.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Rope</i> (1948) was another technical challenge: a film that appears to have been shot entirely in a single take. The film was actually shot in eight takes of approximately 10 minutes each, which was the amount of film that would fit in a single camera reel; the transitions between reels were hidden by having a dark object fill the entire screen for a moment. Hitchcock used those points to hide the cut, and began the next take with the camera in the same place.<p>His 1958 film <i>Vertigo</i> contains a camera trick that has been imitated and re-used so many times by filmmakers, it has become known as the <!--del_lnk--> Hitchcock zoom.<p>Although famous for inventive camera angles, Hitchcock generally avoided points of view that were physically impossible from a human perspective. For example, he would never place the camera looking out from inside a refrigerator. This helps to draw audience members into the film's action. (A notable exception is the pacing of the mysterious lodger being viewed through the floor from beneath in <i>The Lodger</i> (1927), giving the audience a visual to what the family is imagining in response to the sound of footsteps - which otherwise wouldn't come across as strongly in a silent film.)<p>Regarding Hitchcock's sometimes less than pleasant relationship with actors, there was a persistent rumor that he had said that actors were cattle. Hitchcock later denied this, typically <!--del_lnk--> tongue-in-cheek, clarifying that he had only said that actors should be treated like cattle. <!--del_lnk--> Carole Lombard, tweaking Hitchcock and drumming up a little publicity, brought some cows along with her when she reported to the set of <i><!--del_lnk--> Mr. and Mrs. Smith</i>. For Hitchcock, the actors, like the props, were part of the film's setting.<p>Hitchcock often dealt with matters that he felt were sexually perverse or kinky, and many of his films aimed to subvert the restrictive <!--del_lnk--> Hollywood Production Code that prohibited any mention of <!--del_lnk--> homosexuality.<p>A recurring theme in Hitchcock's movies is mistaken identity. Audiences see this theme in almost all of Hitchcock's movies. A prime example can be found in <i>North By Northwest</i>, when Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for George Kaplan, a non-existent government agent made up by the FBI.<p>In many of Hitchcock's movies, an ordinary person is thrust into an extraordinary situation. In <i>The Man Who Knew Too Much</i> (1956) Dr. Ben McKenna is an ordinary man from Indianapolis who is on a vacation in Morocco and he winds up with his son getting kidnapped. This entangling of an ordinary protagonist in peril and guilt is also evident in <i>Strangers on a Train</i>, <i>I Confess</i>, <i>Rear Window</i>, <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, <i>The Wrong Man</i>, <i>Vertigo</i>, <i>North By Northwest</i>, <i>Psycho</i>, <i>The Birds</i> and others.<p>Hitchcock loved the number 7. He often placed numbers that added up to 7 in his movies.<p>Another reoccuring theme in Hitchcock's films is that of the bumbling authorities. In almost every single film, the police have little to no impact, often mistaking important clues or letting the villain go. This reportedly stems from an incident when Hitchcock was a young man, when as part of a tour to a police station he was locked in a cell briefly.<p><a id="His_character_and_its_effects_on_his_films" name="His_character_and_its_effects_on_his_films"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">His character and its effects on his films</span></h2>
<p>Hitchcock's films sometimes feature male characters struggling in their relationships with their mothers. In <i><!--del_lnk--> North by Northwest</i> (1959), Roger Thornhill (<!--del_lnk--> Cary Grant's character) is an innocent man ridiculed by his mother for insisting that shadowy, murderous men are after him (in this case, they are). In <i><!--del_lnk--> The Birds</i> (1963), the <!--del_lnk--> Rod Taylor character, an innocent man, finds his world under attack by vicious birds, and struggles to free himself of a clinging mother (<!--del_lnk--> Jessica Tandy). The killer in <i><!--del_lnk--> Frenzy</i> (1972) has a loathing of women but idolizes his mother. The villain Bruno in <i>Strangers on a Train</i> hates his father, but has an incredibly close relationship with his mother (played by <!--del_lnk--> Marion Lorne). Sebastian (<!--del_lnk--> Claude Rains) in <i><!--del_lnk--> Notorious</i> has a clearly conflictual relationship with his mother, who is (correctly) suspicious of his new bride Alicia Huberman (<!--del_lnk--> Ingrid Bergman). And, of course, Norman Bates' troubles with his mother in <i><!--del_lnk--> Psycho</i> are infamous.<p>Hitchcock heroines tend to be lovely, cool blondes who seem proper at first but, when aroused by passion or danger, respond in a more sensual, animal, or even criminal way. As noted, the famous victims in <i>The Lodger</i> are all blondes. In <i><!--del_lnk--> The 39 Steps</i>, Hitchcock's glamorous blonde star, <!--del_lnk--> Madeleine Carroll, is put in handcuffs. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Marnie</i> (1964), glamorous blonde <!--del_lnk--> Tippi Hedren is a <!--del_lnk--> kleptomaniac. In <i><!--del_lnk--> To Catch a Thief</i> (1955), glamorous blonde <!--del_lnk--> Grace Kelly offers to help someone she believes is a cat burglar. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Rear Window</i>, Lisa risks her life by breaking into Lars Thorwald's apartment. And, most notoriously, in <i>Psycho</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Janet Leigh's character steals $40,000 and gets murdered by a reclusive lunatic. Hitchcock's last blonde heroine was - years after <!--del_lnk--> Dany Robin and her "daughter" <!--del_lnk--> Claude Jade in <i><!--del_lnk--> Topaz</i> - <!--del_lnk--> Barbara Harris as a phony psychic turned amateur sleuth in his final film, 1976's <i><!--del_lnk--> Family Plot</i>. It is interesting to note that in the same film, the diamond smuggler played by <!--del_lnk--> Karen Black could also fit that role, as she wears a long blonde wig in various scenes and is becoming increasingly uncomfortable about her line of work.<p>Hitchcock saw that reliance on actors and actresses was a holdover from the theatre tradition. He was a pioneer in using camera movement, camera set ups and montage to explore the outer reaches of cinematic art.<p>Most critics and Hitchcock scholars, including Donald Spoto and Roger Ebert, agree that <i><!--del_lnk--> Vertigo</i> represents the director's most personal and revealing film, dealing with the obsessions of a man who crafts a woman into the woman he desires. <i>Vertigo</i> explores more frankly and at greater length his interest in the relation between sex and death than any other film in his filmography.<p>Hitchcock often said that his personal favourite was <i><!--del_lnk--> Shadow of a Doubt</i>.<p><a id="His_style_of_working" name="His_style_of_working"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">His style of working</span></h2>
<p>Hitchcock once commented, "The writer and I plan out the entire script down to the smallest detail, and when we're finished all that's left to do is to shoot the film. Actually, it's only when one enters the studio that one enters the area of compromise. Really, the novelist has the best casting since he doesn't have to cope with the actors and all the rest."<p>Hitchcock would storyboard each movie down to the finest detail. He was reported to have never even bothered looking through the viewfinder, since he didn't need to do so, though in publicity photos he was shown doing so. He also used this as an excuse to never have to change his films from his initial vision. If a studio asked him to change a film, he would claim that it was already shot in a single way, and that there were no alternate takes to consider. However respected film critic Bill Krohn in his book <i>Hitchcock At Work</i> has questioned the popular notion of Hitchcock's reliance on storyboards. In his book, Krohn after researching script revisions of Hitchcock's most popular works, concludes that Hitchcock's reliance on storyboards has been over-exaggerated and argues that Hitchcock only storyboarded a few sequences and not each and every scene as most think. He however admits that this myth was largely perpetuated by Hitchcock himself.<p>Similarly much of Hitchcock's hatred of actors has been exaggerated. Hitchcock simply did not tolerate the <!--del_lnk--> method approach as he believed that actors should only concentrate on their performances and leave work on script and character to the directors and screenwriters. In a <!--del_lnk--> Sight and Sound interview, he stated that, ' the method actor is OK in the theatre because he has a free space to move about. But when it comes to cutting the face and what he sees and so forth, there must be some discipline' (see <!--del_lnk--> ). During the making of <i>Lifeboat</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Walter Slezak, who played the German character, stated that Hitchcock knew the mechanics of acting better than anyone he knew. Several critics have observed that despite his reputation as a man who disliked actors, several actors who worked with him gave fine, often brilliant performances and these performances contribute to the film's success.<p>The first book devoted to the director is simply named <i>Hitchcock</i>. It is a document of a one-week interview by <!--del_lnk--> François Truffaut in 1967. (<!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0-671-60429-5)<p><a id="Awards" name="Awards"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Awards</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Hitchcock the <!--del_lnk--> Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, in 1967. However, despite six earlier nominations, he never won an <!--del_lnk--> Oscar in a contested category. His Oscar nominations were:<ul>
<li>for <!--del_lnk--> Best Director: <i><!--del_lnk--> Rebecca</i> (1940), <i><!--del_lnk--> Lifeboat</i> (1944), <i><!--del_lnk--> Spellbound</i> (1945), <i><!--del_lnk--> Rear Window</i> (1954), and <i><!--del_lnk--> Psycho</i> (1960); and</ul>
<p>as a producer, for <!--del_lnk--> Best Picture: <i><!--del_lnk--> Suspicion</i> (1941).<p><i>Rebecca</i>, which Hitchcock directed, won the 1940 <!--del_lnk--> Best Picture Oscar for its producer <!--del_lnk--> David O. Selznick. In addition to <i>Rebecca</i> and <i>Suspicion</i>, two other films Hitchcock directed, <i>Foreign Correspondent</i> and <i>Spellbound</i>, were nominated for Best Picture.<p>Hitchcock was knighted in 1980.<p><a id="Television_and_books" name="Television_and_books"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Television and books</span></h2>
<p>Along with <a href="../../wp/w/Walt_Disney.htm" title="Walt Disney">Walt Disney</a>, Hitchcock was one of the first persons to fully envision just how popular the medium of television would become. From <!--del_lnk--> 1955 to <!--del_lnk--> 1965, Hitchcock was the host and producer of a long-running <a href="../../wp/t/Television.htm" title="Television">television</a> series entitled <i><!--del_lnk--> Alfred Hitchcock Presents</i>. While his films had made Hitchcock's name strongly associated with suspense, the TV series made Hitchcock a celebrity himself. His <!--del_lnk--> irony-tinged voice, image, and mannerisms became instantly recognizable and were often the subject of parody. He directed a few episodes of the TV series himself and he upset a number of movie production companies when he insisted on using his TV production crew to produce his motion picture <i>Psycho</i>. In the late 1980s, a new version of <i>Alfred Hitchcock Presents</i> was produced for television, making use of Hitchcock's original introductions.<p>Alfred Hitchcock is also immortalised in print and appeared as himself in the very popular juvenile detective series, <i><!--del_lnk--> Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators</i>. The long-running detective series was clever and well written, with characters much younger than the <!--del_lnk--> Hardy Boys. In ghost-written introductions, "Alfred Hitchcock" formally introduced each case at the beginning of the book, often giving them new cases to solve. At the end of each book, Alfred Hitchcock would discuss the specifics of the case with Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews and Peter Crenshaw and every so often the three boys would give Alfred Hitchcock mementos of their case.<p>When Alfred Hitchcock died, his chores as the boys' mentor/friend would be done by a fictional character: a retired detective named Hector Sebastian. Due to the popularity of the series, <i>Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators</i> scored several reprints and out of respect, the latter reprints were changed to just <i><!--del_lnk--> The Three Investigators</i>. Over the years, more than one name has been used to replace Alfred Hitchcock's character, especially for the earlier books when his role was emphasised.<p>At the height of Hitchcock's success, he was also asked to introduce a set of books with his name attached. The series was a collection of short stories by popular short story writers, primarily focused on suspense and thrillers. These titles included <i>Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum</i>, <i>Alfred Hithcock's Supernatural Tales of Terror and Suspense</i>, <i>Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbinders in Suspense</i>, <i>Alfred Hitchcock's Witch's Brew</i>, <i>Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery</i>, <i>Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories to be Read with the Door Locked</i>, and <i>Alfred Hitchcock's Haunted Houseful.</i> Hitchcock himself was not actually involved in the reading, reviewing, editing or selection of the short stories; in fact, even his introductions were ghost-written. The entire extent of his involvement with the project was to lend his name and collect a check.<p>Some notable writers whose works were used in the collection include <!--del_lnk--> Shirley Jackson (<i>Strangers in Town</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Lottery</i>), <!--del_lnk--> T.H. White (<i><!--del_lnk--> The Once and Future King</i>), <!--del_lnk--> Robert Bloch, <!--del_lnk--> H. G. Wells (<i><!--del_lnk--> The War of the Worlds</i>), <!--del_lnk--> Robert Louis Stevenson, <!--del_lnk--> Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, <a href="../../wp/m/Mark_Twain.htm" title="Mark Twain">Mark Twain</a> and the creator of <i><!--del_lnk--> The Three Investigators</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Robert Arthur.<p><a id="Filmography" name="Filmography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Filmography</span></h2>
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<p><a id="Phobias" name="Phobias"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Phobias</span></h2>
<p><a id="Fear_of_Eggs_.28Ovophobia.29" name="Fear_of_Eggs_.28Ovophobia.29"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Fear of Eggs (Ovophobia)</span></h3>
<p>Alfred Hitchcock had an extreme fear of <!--del_lnk--> eggs (also known as ovophobia), he said: <i>I’m frightened of eggs, worse than frightened, they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes … have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting. I’ve never tasted it.</i> <!--del_lnk--> Fear of eggs<p><a id="Fear_of_the_police" name="Fear_of_the_police"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Fear of the police</span></h3>
<p>Hitchcock also had a serious fear of the <a href="../../wp/p/Police.htm" title="Police">police</a>, which reportedly was the reason he never learned to drive. His reasoning was that if one never drove, then one would never have an opportunity to be pulled over by the police and issued a ticket. <!--del_lnk--> <p><a id="Frequent_collaborators" name="Frequent_collaborators"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Frequent collaborators</span></h2>
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<li><!--del_lnk--> Sara Allgood<li><!--del_lnk--> Saul Bass<li><!--del_lnk--> Charles Bennett<li><!--del_lnk--> Ingrid Bergman<li><!--del_lnk--> Robert Burks<li><!--del_lnk--> Madeleine Carroll<li><!--del_lnk--> Leo G. Carroll<li><!--del_lnk--> Joseph Cotten<li><!--del_lnk--> Hume Cronyn<li><!--del_lnk--> Robert Cummings<li><!--del_lnk--> Joan Fontaine<li><!--del_lnk--> John Forsythe<li><!--del_lnk--> Farley Granger<li><!--del_lnk--> Cary Grant<li><!--del_lnk--> Ben Hecht<li><!--del_lnk--> Tippi Hedren<li><!--del_lnk--> Bernard Herrmann<li><!--del_lnk--> Malcolm Keen<li><!--del_lnk--> Grace Kelly<li><!--del_lnk--> Charles Laughton<li><!--del_lnk--> Peter Lorre<li><!--del_lnk--> Vera Miles<li><!--del_lnk--> Ivor Novello<li><!--del_lnk--> Anny Ondra<li><!--del_lnk--> Gregory Peck<li><!--del_lnk--> Jessie Royce Landis<li><a href="../../wp/j/James_Stewart_%2528actor%2529.htm" title="James Stewart (actor)">James Stewart</a><li><!--del_lnk--> John Williams<li><!--del_lnk--> Edith Head<li><!--del_lnk--> Albert Whitlock</ul>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock"</div>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Chemists.htm">Chemists</a></h3>
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<th>Born</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> October 21, <!--del_lnk--> 1833<br /><a href="../../wp/s/Stockholm.htm" title="Stockholm">Stockholm</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Sweden.htm" title="Sweden">Sweden</a></td>
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<th>Died</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> December 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1896<br /><!--del_lnk--> Sanremo, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a></td>
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<th>Occupation</th>
<td>Chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of <!--del_lnk--> dynamite.</td>
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<p><span class="unicode audiolink"><!--del_lnk--> <b>Alfred Bernhard Nobel</b></span> (<!--del_lnk--> October 21, <!--del_lnk--> 1833, <a href="../../wp/s/Stockholm.htm" title="Stockholm">Stockholm</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Sweden.htm" title="Sweden">Sweden</a>—<!--del_lnk--> December 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1896, <!--del_lnk--> Sanremo, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>) was a <a href="../../wp/s/Sweden.htm" title="Sweden">Swedish</a> chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the <!--del_lnk--> inventor of <!--del_lnk--> dynamite. He owned <!--del_lnk--> Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its previous role as an iron and steel mill. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the <!--del_lnk--> Nobel Prizes. The <!--del_lnk--> synthetic element <a href="../../wp/n/Nobelium.htm" title="Nobelium">Nobelium</a> was named after him.<p>
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<p>Nobel, a descendant of the 17th century scientist, <!--del_lnk--> Olaus Rudbeck (1630-1708), was the third son of <!--del_lnk--> Immanuel Nobel (1801-1872). Born in <a href="../../wp/s/Stockholm.htm" title="Stockholm">Stockholm</a>, he went with his family in 1842 to <a href="../../wp/s/Saint_Petersburg.htm" title="Saint Petersburg">St. Petersburg</a>, where his father (who had invented modern <!--del_lnk--> plywood) started a <!--del_lnk--> "torpedo" works. In 1859 this was left to the care of the second son, <!--del_lnk--> Ludvig Nobel (1831-1888), by whom it was greatly enlarged, and Alfred, returning to America with his family and his father after the bankruptcy of their family business, devoted himself to the study of <!--del_lnk--> explosives, and especially to the safe manufacture and use of <!--del_lnk--> nitroglycerine (discovered in 1847 by <!--del_lnk--> Ascanio Sobrero, one of his fellow-students under <!--del_lnk--> Théophile-Jules Pelouze at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Torino). Several explosions were reported at their family-owned factory in <!--del_lnk--> Heleneborg, and a disastrous one in 1864 killed Alfred's younger brother Emil and several other workers.<p>Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been honoring men and women from all corners of the globe for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. The foundations for the prize were laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth to the establishment of the Nobel Prize.<p>Less well known is that Alfred Nobel also wrote a book. His only book, <i><!--del_lnk--> Nemesis</i>, a prose tragedy in four acts about <!--del_lnk--> Beatrice Cenci, partly inspired by <!--del_lnk--> Percy Bysshe Shelley's blank verse tragedy in five acts <i><!--del_lnk--> The Cenci</i>, was printed when he was dying, and the whole stock except for three copies was destroyed immediately after his death, being regarded as scandalous and blasphemous. The first surviving edition (bilingual Swedish-<a href="../../wp/e/Esperanto.htm" title="Esperanto">Esperanto</a>) was published in Sweden in 2003. The play has not yet (May 2003) been translated into any language other than Esperanto.<p>Alfred Nobel is buried in <!--del_lnk--> Norra begravningsplatsen in <a href="../../wp/s/Stockholm.htm" title="Stockholm">Stockholm</a>.<p><a id="Dynamite" name="Dynamite"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline"><!--del_lnk--> Dynamite</span></h2>
<p>Nobel found that when <!--del_lnk--> nitroglycerin was incorporated in an absorbent inert substance like <!--del_lnk--> kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) it became safer and more convenient to manipulate, and this mixture he <!--del_lnk--> patented in 1867 as <!--del_lnk--> dynamite. Nobel demonstrated his explosive for the first time that year, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England.<p>He next combined nitroglycerin with another explosive, <!--del_lnk--> gun-cotton, and obtained a transparent, jelly-like substance, which was a still more powerful explosive than dynamite. <!--del_lnk--> Gelignite, or <!--del_lnk--> Blasting gelatin as it was called, was patented in 1876, and was followed by a host of similar combinations, modified by the addition of <a href="../../wp/p/Potassium_nitrate.htm" title="Potassium nitrate">potassium nitrate</a>, and various other substances.<p><a id="The_Prizes" name="The_Prizes"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The Prizes</span></h2>
<p>The erroneous publication in 1888 of a <!--del_lnk--> premature obituary of Nobel by a French newspaper, condemning his invention of dynamite, is said to have made him decide to leave a better legacy to the world after his death. The obituary stated <i>Le marchand de la mort est mort</i> ("The merchant of death is dead") and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday."<p>On <!--del_lnk--> November 27, <!--del_lnk--> 1895 at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a>, Nobel signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the <!--del_lnk--> Nobel Prizes, to be awarded annually without distinction of nationality. He died of a <a href="../../wp/s/Stroke.htm" title="Stroke">stroke</a> on <!--del_lnk--> December 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1896 at <!--del_lnk--> Sanremo, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>. The amount set aside for the Nobel Prize foundation was 31 million kronor (4,223,500.00 USD).<p>The first three of these prizes are for eminence in <!--del_lnk--> physical science, in <!--del_lnk--> chemistry and in <!--del_lnk--> medical science or physiology; the fourth is for the most remarkable <!--del_lnk--> literary work "in an ideal direction" and <a href="../../wp/n/Nobel_Peace_Prize.htm" title="Nobel Peace Prize">the fifth</a> is to be given to the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international brother/sisterhood, in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of <a href="../../wp/p/Peace.htm" title="Peace">peace</a> congresses.<p>The formulation about the literary prize, "in an ideal direction" (Swedish <i>i idealisk riktning</i>), is cryptic and has caused much consternation. For many years, the Swedish Academy interpreted "ideal" as "idealistic" (in Swedish <i>idealistisk</i>), and used it as a pretext to not give the prize to important but less <a href="../../wp/r/Romanticism.htm" title="Romanticism">romantic</a> authors, such as <a href="../../wp/h/Henrik_Ibsen.htm" title="Henrik Ibsen">Henrik Ibsen</a>, <!--del_lnk--> August Strindberg and <a href="../../wp/l/Leo_Tolstoy.htm" title="Leo Tolstoy">Leo Tolstoy</a>. This interpretation has been revised, and the prize given to, for example, <!--del_lnk--> Dario Fo and <!--del_lnk--> José Saramago, who definitely do not belong to the camp of literary idealism.<p>When reading <i>Nemesis</i> in its original Swedish and looking at his own philosophical and literary standpoint, it seems possible that his intention might have been rather the opposite of that first believed - that the prize should be given to authors who fight for their ideals <i>against</i> such authorities as God, Church and State.<p>There was also quite a lot of room for interpretation by the bodies he had named for deciding on the physical sciences and chemistry prizes, given that he had not consulted them before making the will. In his one-page testament he stipulated that the money should go to discoveries or inventions in the physical sciences and to discoveries or improvements in chemistry. He had opened the door to technological awards, but he had not left instructions on how to do the split between science and technology. Since the deciding bodies he had chosen in these domains were more concerned with science than technology it is not surprising that the prizes went to scientists and not to engineers, technicians or other inventors. In a sense the technological prizes announced recently by the <!--del_lnk--> World Technology Network are an indirect (and thus not funded by the Nobel foundation) continuation of the wishes of Nobel, as he set them out in his testament.<p>In 2001, his great-grandnephew, Peter, asked the Bank of Sweden to differentiate its award to economists given "in Alfred Nobel's memory" from the five other awards. This has caused much controversy whether the prize for <a href="../../wp/e/Economics.htm" title="Economics">Economics</a> is actually a "Nobel Prize" (see <!--del_lnk--> Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel).<p><a id="Nobel_Prize_rumors" name="Nobel_Prize_rumors"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Nobel Prize rumors</span></h2>
<p>There is no Nobel Prize for mathematics (the <!--del_lnk--> Fields Medal is often considered to be the equivalent in terms of prestige). A common legend states that Nobel decided against a prize in mathematics because a woman - said to be either his fiancé, wife, or mistress - rejected him for or cheated on him with a famous mathematician, often claimed to be <!--del_lnk--> Gösta Mittag-Leffler. There is no historical evidence to support the story, and Nobel was never married.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel"</div>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><i>King of the <!--del_lnk--> Anglo-Saxons <small><!--del_lnk--> (more...)</small></i></td>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><i>Statue of Alfred the Great, <!--del_lnk--> Wantage, <!--del_lnk--> Oxfordshire</i></td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Reign</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 23 April <!--del_lnk--> 871 — <!--del_lnk--> 26 October <!--del_lnk--> 899</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Predecessor</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ethelred of Wessex</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Successor</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Edward the Elder</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Spouse</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ealhswith (<!--del_lnk--> 852 — <!--del_lnk--> 905)</td>
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<th colspan="2">Issue</th>
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<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Aelfthryth<br /><!--del_lnk--> Ethelfleda<br /><!--del_lnk--> Edward the Elder</td>
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<th colspan="2">Full name</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">Ælfrēd of Wessex</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;"><!--del_lnk--> Royal house</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> House of Wessex</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Father</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ethelwulf of Wessex</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Mother</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Osburga</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Born</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> c. <!--del_lnk--> 849<br /><!--del_lnk--> Wantage, <!--del_lnk--> Berkshire</td>
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Died</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 26 October <!--del_lnk--> 899<br />
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<th style="vertical-align: top;">Burial</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> c. <!--del_lnk--> 1100<br />
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<p><b>Alfred</b> (also <i>Ælfred</i> from the <a href="../../wp/o/Old_English_language.htm" title="Old English language">Old English</a>: <i>Ælfrēd</i>) (c. <!--del_lnk--> 849 – <!--del_lnk--> 26 October <!--del_lnk--> 899) was king of the southern <!--del_lnk--> Anglo-Saxon kingdom of <a href="../../wp/w/Wessex.htm" title="Wessex">Wessex</a> from <!--del_lnk--> 871 to <!--del_lnk--> 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the <!--del_lnk--> Danish <a href="../../wp/v/Viking.htm" title="Vikings">Vikings</a>, becoming the only English King to be awarded the <!--del_lnk--> epithet 'the Great' (although not English, <a href="../../wp/c/Canute_the_Great.htm" title="Canute the Great">Canute the Great</a> was another <i>King of England</i> given this title by the Danes). Alfred was the first <!--del_lnk--> King of the West Saxons to style himself '<!--del_lnk--> King of the Anglo-Saxons'. Details of his life are discussed in a work by the <!--del_lnk--> Welsh scholar, <!--del_lnk--> Asser. A learned man, Alfred encouraged education and improved the kingdom's law system.<p>In 2002, he was ranked 14th in the <!--del_lnk--> 100 Greatest Britons poll.<script type="text/javascript">
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<p><a id="Childhood" name="Childhood"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Childhood</span></h2>
<p>Alfred was born sometime between <!--del_lnk--> 847 and <!--del_lnk--> 849 at <!--del_lnk--> Wantage in the present-day <!--del_lnk--> ceremonial county of <!--del_lnk--> Oxfordshire (though historically speaking in the <!--del_lnk--> historic county of <!--del_lnk--> Berkshire). He was the fifth and youngest son of King <!--del_lnk--> Ethelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, <!--del_lnk--> Osburga.<p>King Alfred was the son of king Ethelwulf, who was the son of Egbert, who was the son of Elmund, was the son of Eafa, who was the son of Eoppa. <!--del_lnk--> The Life of King Alfred<p>At five years of age, Alfred is said to have been sent to <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a> where, according to the <i><!--del_lnk--> Anglo-Saxon Chronicle</i>, he was confirmed by <!--del_lnk--> Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king." <!--del_lnk--> Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory <!--del_lnk--> coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, this coronation could not have been foreseen at the time, since Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a 'consul' a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a> and spending some time at the court of <!--del_lnk--> Charles the Bald, King of the <a href="../../wp/f/Franks.htm" title="Franks">Franks</a>, around <!--del_lnk--> 854–<!--del_lnk--> 855. In <!--del_lnk--> 858, Ethelwulf died and Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession.<p>Asser tells the story about how as a child Alfred's mother offered a volume of Anglo Saxon poetry to the first of her children able to memorize it. This story may be true, or it may be a myth designed to illustrate the young Alfred's love of learning.<p><a id="Royal_prince_and_military_commander" name="Royal_prince_and_military_commander"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Royal prince and military commander</span></h2>
<p>During the short reigns of his two eldest brothers, <!--del_lnk--> Ethelbald and <!--del_lnk--> Ethelbert, Alfred is not mentioned. However, with the accession of the third brother, <!--del_lnk--> Ethelred I, in <!--del_lnk--> 866, the public life of Alfred began. It is during this period that Asser applies to him the unique title of 'secundarius,' which may indicate a position akin to that of the <!--del_lnk--> Celtic <i>tanist</i>, a recognized successor closely associated with the reigning monarch. It is possible that this arrangement was sanctioned by the <!--del_lnk--> Witenagemot, to guard against the danger of a disputed succession should Ethelred fall in battle. The arrangement of crowning a successor as <!--del_lnk--> diarch is well-known among <!--del_lnk--> Germanic <!--del_lnk--> tribes, such as the <!--del_lnk--> Swedes and <a href="../../wp/f/Franks.htm" title="Franks">Franks</a>, with whom the Anglo-Saxons had close ties.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 868, Alfred, fighting beside his brother Ethelred, unsuccessfully attempted to keep the invading Danes out of the adjoining kingdom of <a href="../../wp/m/Mercia.htm" title="Mercia">Mercia</a>. For nearly two years, Wessex itself was spared attacks. However, at the end of <!--del_lnk--> 870, the Danes arrived in his home land. The year that followed has been called "Alfred's year of battles". Nine general engagements were fought with varying fortunes, though the place and date of two of the battles have not been recorded. In Berkshire, a successful skirmish at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Englefield, on <!--del_lnk--> 31 December 870, was followed by a severe defeat at the <!--del_lnk--> Siege and Battle of Reading, on <!--del_lnk--> 5 January 871, and then, four days later, a brilliant victory at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Ashdown on the <!--del_lnk--> Berkshire Downs, possibly near <!--del_lnk--> Compton or <!--del_lnk--> Aldworth. Alfred is particularly credited with the success of this latter conflict. However, later that month, on <!--del_lnk--> 22 January, the English were again defeated at <!--del_lnk--> Basing and, on the following <!--del_lnk--> 22 March at 'Merton' (perhaps <!--del_lnk--> Marden in <!--del_lnk--> Wiltshire or <!--del_lnk--> Martin in <a href="../../wp/d/Dorset.htm" title="Dorset">Dorset</a>). Two unidentified battles may also have occurred in between.<p><a id="King_of_war" name="King_of_war"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">King of war</span></h2>
<p>In April 871, King Ethelred died, most probably from wounds received at the Battle of Merton. Alfred succeeded to the throne of Wessex and the burden of its defence, despite the fact that Ethelred left two young sons. Although contemporary turmoil meant the accession of Alfred — an adult with military experience and patronage resources — over his nephews went unchallenged, he remained obliged to secure their property rights. While he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the Danes defeated the English in his absence at an unnamed spot, and then again in his presence at <!--del_lnk--> Wilton in May. Following this, peace was made and, for the next five years, the Danes were occupied in other parts of England. However, in <!--del_lnk--> 876, under their new leader, <!--del_lnk--> Guthrum, the enemy slipped past the English army and attacked <!--del_lnk--> Wareham in Dorset. From there, early in <!--del_lnk--> 877, and under the pretext of talks, they moved westwards and took <!--del_lnk--> Exeter in <!--del_lnk--> Devon. There, Alfred blockaded them and, a relieving fleet having been scattered by a storm, the Danes were forced to submit. They withdrew to Mercia, but, in January <!--del_lnk--> 878, made a sudden attack on <!--del_lnk--> Chippenham, a royal stronghold in which Alfred had been staying over Christmas, "and most of the people they reduced, except the King Alfred, and he with a little band made his way by wood and swamp, and after Easter he made a fort at <!--del_lnk--> Athelney, and from that fort kept fighting against the foe" (<i><!--del_lnk--> Anglo-Saxon Chronicle</i>).<div class="thumb tright">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/45/4573.jpg.htm" title="Statue of Alfred the Great at Winchester"><img alt="Statue of Alfred the Great at Winchester" class="thumbimage" height="333" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Statue_d%27Alfred_le_Grand_%C3%A0_Winchester.jpg" src="../../images/525/52558.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/45/4573.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Statue of Alfred the Great at Winchester</div>
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<p>A popular legend tells how, when he first fled to the <!--del_lnk--> Somerset Levels, Alfred was given shelter by a peasant woman who, unaware of his identity, left him to watch some cakes she had left cooking on the fire. Preoccupied with the problems of his kingdom, Alfred accidentally let the cakes burn and was taken to task by the woman upon her return. Upon realizing the king's identity, the woman apologised profusely, but Alfred insisted that he was the one who needed to apologise. From his fort at Athelney, a marshy island near <!--del_lnk--> North Petherton, Alfred was able to mount an effective resistance movement while rallying the local militia from <!--del_lnk--> Somerset, <!--del_lnk--> Wiltshire and <a href="../../wp/h/Hampshire.htm" title="Hampshire">Hampshire</a>.<p>Another story relates how Alfred disguised himself as a <!--del_lnk--> minstrel in order to gain entry to Guthrum's camp and discover his plans. This supposedly led to the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Edington, near <!--del_lnk--> Westbury in Wiltshire. The result was a decisive victory for Alfred. The Danes submitted and, according to Asser, Guthrum, and twenty-nine of his chief men, received baptism when they signed the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Wedmore. As a result, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a> became split in two: the south-western half kept by the <!--del_lnk--> Saxons and the north-eastern half including <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, thence known as the <!--del_lnk--> Danelaw, by the Vikings. By the following year (<!--del_lnk--> 879), not only Wessex, but also Mercia, west of <a href="../../wp/w/Watling_Street.htm" title="Watling Street">Watling Street</a>, was cleared of the invaders.<p>The tide had turned. For the next few years there was peace, the Danes being kept busy in Europe. A landing in Kent in <!--del_lnk--> 884 or <!--del_lnk--> 885 close to <!--del_lnk--> Plucks Gutter, though successfully repelled, encouraged the <!--del_lnk--> East Anglian Danes to rise up. The measures taken by Alfred to repress this uprising culminated in the taking of London in 885 or <!--del_lnk--> 886, and an agreement was reached between Alfred and Guthrum, known as the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum. Once more, for a time, there was a lull, but in the autumn of <!--del_lnk--> 892 or <!--del_lnk--> 893, the Danes attacked again. Finding their position in Europe somewhat precarious, they crossed to England in 330 ships in two divisions. They entrenched themselves, the larger body at <!--del_lnk--> Appledore, Kent, and the lesser, under <!--del_lnk--> Haesten, at <!--del_lnk--> Milton also in Kent. The invaders brought their wives and children with them, indicating a meaningful attempt at conquest and colonization. Alfred, in 893 or <!--del_lnk--> 894, took up a position from where he could observe both forces. While he was in talks with Haesten, the Danes at Appledore broke out and struck north-westwards. They were overtaken by Alfred's eldest son, <!--del_lnk--> Edward, and defeated in a general engagement at <!--del_lnk--> Farnham in <!--del_lnk--> Surrey. They were obliged to take refuge on an island in the <!--del_lnk--> Hertfordshire Colne, where they were blockaded and ultimately compelled to submit. The force fell back on Essex and, after suffering another defeat at <!--del_lnk--> Benfleet, coalesced with Haesten's force at <!--del_lnk--> Shoebury.<p>Alfred had been on his way to relieve his son at Thorney when he heard that the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes were besieging Exeter and an unnamed stronghold on the <!--del_lnk--> North Devon shore. Alfred at once hurried westward and raised the Siege of Exeter. The fate of the other place is not recorded. Meanwhile the force under Haesten set out to march up the <!--del_lnk--> Thames Valley, possibly with the idea of assisting their friends in the west. But they were met by a large force under the three great ealdormen of Mercia, Wiltshire and Somerset, and made to head off to the north-west, being finally overtaken and blockaded at <!--del_lnk--> Buttington. Some identify this with <!--del_lnk--> Buttington Tump at the mouth of the <!--del_lnk--> Wye River, others with Buttington near <!--del_lnk--> Welshpool. An attempt to break through the English lines was defeated. Those who escaped retreated to Shoebury. Then after collecting reinforcements they made a sudden dash across England and occupied the ruined Roman walls of <!--del_lnk--> Chester. The English did not attempt a winter blockade, but contented themselves with destroying all the supplies in the neighbourhood. Early in 894 (or <!--del_lnk--> 895), want of food obliged the Danes to retire once more to Essex. At the end of this year and early in 895 (or <!--del_lnk--> 896), the Danes drew their ships up the Thames and <!--del_lnk--> Lea and fortified themselves twenty miles above London. A direct attack on the Danish lines failed, but later in the year, Alfred saw a means of obstructing the river so as to prevent the egress of the Danish ships. The Danes realised that they were out-manoeuvred. They struck off north-westwards and wintered at <!--del_lnk--> Bridgenorth. The next year, 896 (or <!--del_lnk--> 897), they gave up the struggle. Some retired to Northumbria, some to East Anglia. Those who had no connections in England withdrew to the Continent. The long campaign was over.'..<p><a id="Reorganisation" name="Reorganisation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Reorganisation</span></h2>
<p>After the dispersal of the Danish invaders, Alfred turned his attention to the increase of the royal <!--del_lnk--> navy, partly to repress the ravages of the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes on the coasts of Wessex, partly to prevent the landing of fresh invaders. This is not, as often asserted, the beginning of the English navy. There had been earlier naval operations under Alfred. One naval engagement was certainly fought under <!--del_lnk--> Aethelwulf in <!--del_lnk--> 851, and earlier ones, possibly in <!--del_lnk--> 833 and <!--del_lnk--> 840. The <i>Anglo-Saxon Chronicle</i>, however, does credit Alfred with the construction of a new type of ship, built according to the king's own designs, "swifter, steadier and also higher/more responsive (hierran) than the others". However, these new ships do not seem to have been a great success, as we hear of them grounding in action and foundering in a storm. Nevertheless both the <a href="../../wp/r/Royal_Navy.htm" title="Royal Navy">Royal Navy</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> United States Navy claim Alfred as the founder of their traditions. The first vessel ever commissioned into the Continental Navy, precursor to the United States Navy, was named the <!--del_lnk--> <i>Alfred</i>.<p>Alfred's main fighting force, the <i><!--del_lnk--> fyrd</i>, was separated into two, "so that there was always half at home and half out" (<i>Anglo-Saxon Chronicle</i>). The level of organisation required to mobilise his large army in two shifts, of which one was feeding the other, must have been considerable. The complexity which Alfred's administration had attained by 892 is demonstrated by a reasonably reliable charter whose witness list includes a <i>thesaurius</i>, <i>cellararius</i> and <i>pincerna</i>—treasurer, food-keeper and butler. Despite the irritation which Alfred must have felt in 893, when one division, which had "completed their call-up (stemn)", gave up the siege of a Danish army just as Alfred was moving to relieve them, this system seems to have worked remarkably well on the whole.<dl>
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<p>One of the weaknesses of pre-Alfredian defences had been that, in the absence of a standing army, fortresses were largely left unoccupied, making it very possible for a Viking force to quickly secure a strong strategic position. Alfred substantially upgraded the state of the defences of Wessex, by erecting fortified <!--del_lnk--> burhs (or boroughs) throughout the kingdom. During the systematic excavation of at least four of these (at <!--del_lnk--> Wareham, <!--del_lnk--> Cricklade, <!--del_lnk--> Lydford and <!--del_lnk--> Wallingford]) it has been demonstrated that "in every case the rampart associated by the excavators with the borough of the Alfredian period was the primary defence on the site" (Brooks). The obligations for the upkeep and defence of these and many other sites, with permanent garrisons, are further documented in surviving transcripts of the administrative manuscript known as the <!--del_lnk--> Burghal Hidage. Dating from, at least, within 20 years of Alfred's death, if not actually from his reign, it almost certainly reflects Alfredian policy. Comparison of town plans for Wallingford and Wareham with that of Winchester, shows "that they were laid out in the same scheme" (Wormald). Thus supporting the proposition that these newly established burhs were also planned as centres of habitation and trade as well as a place of safety in moments of immediate danger. Thereafter, the English population and its wealth was drawn into such towns where it was not only safer from Viking soldiers, but also taxable by the King.<p>Alfred is thus credited with a significant degree of civil reorganization, especially in the districts ravaged by the Danes. Even if one rejects the thesis crediting the 'Burghal Hidage' to Alfred, what is undeniable is that, in the parts of Mercia acquired by Alfred from the Vikings, the <!--del_lnk--> shire system seems now to have been introduced for the first time. This is probably what prompted the legend that Alfred was the inventor of shires, <!--del_lnk--> hundreds and <!--del_lnk--> tithings. Alfred's care for the administration of justice is testified both by history and legend; and he has gained the popular title 'protector of the poor'. Of the actions of the <!--del_lnk--> Witangemot, we do not hear very much under Alfred. He was certainly anxious to respect its rights, but both the circumstances of the time and the character of the king would have tended to throw more power into his hands. The legislation of Alfred probably belongs to the later part of the reign, after the pressure of the Danes had relaxed. He also paid attention to the country's finances, though details are lacking.<p><a id="Foreign_relations" name="Foreign_relations"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Foreign relations</span></h2>
<p>Asser speaks grandiosely of Alfred's relations with foreign powers, but little definite information is available. His interest in foreign countries is shown by the insertions which he made in his translation of <!--del_lnk--> Orosius. He certainly corresponded with <!--del_lnk--> Elias III, the <!--del_lnk--> Patriarch of Jerusalem, and possibly sent a mission to <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>. Contact was also made with the Caliph in Baghdad. Embassies to Rome conveying the English alms to the <a href="../../wp/p/Pope.htm" title="Pope">Pope</a> were fairly frequent. Around <!--del_lnk--> 890, <!--del_lnk--> Wulfstan of Haithabu undertook a journey from <!--del_lnk--> Haithabu on <!--del_lnk--> Jutland along the <a href="../../wp/b/Baltic_Sea.htm" title="Baltic Sea">Baltic Sea</a> to the <!--del_lnk--> Prussian trading town of <!--del_lnk--> Truso. Alfred ensured he reported to him details of his trip.<p>Alfred's relations to the Celtic princes in the western half of <a href="../../wp/g/Great_Britain.htm" title="Great Britain">Britain</a> are clearer. Comparatively early in his reign, according to Asser, the <!--del_lnk--> southern Welsh princes, owing to the pressure on them of <!--del_lnk--> North Wales and Mercia, commended themselves to Alfred. Later in the reign the <!--del_lnk--> North Welsh followed their example, and the latter co-operated with the English in the campaign of 893 (or 894). That Alfred sent alms to <a href="../../wp/i/Ireland.htm" title="Ireland">Irish</a> as well as to European monasteries may be taken on Asser's authority. The visit of the three pilgrim 'Scots' (i.e., Irish) to Alfred in 891 is undoubtedly authentic. The story that he himself in his childhood was sent to Ireland to be healed by <!--del_lnk--> Saint Modwenna, though mythical, may show Alfred's interest in that island.<p><a id="Law:_Code_of_Alfred.2C_Doom_book" name="Law:_Code_of_Alfred.2C_Doom_book"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Law: Code of Alfred, Doom book</span></h2>
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<p>Alfred the Great’s most enduring work was his legal Code, reconciling the long established laws of the Christian kingdoms of Kent, Mercia and Wessex. These formed Alfred’s ‘’‘Deemings’‘’ or Book of ‘’‘Dooms’‘’ (Book of Laws). See: <!--del_lnk--> Doom book or the Code of Alfred. Sir <a href="../../wp/w/Winston_Churchill.htm" title="Winston Churchill">Winston Churchill</a> observed that Alfred blended these with the Mosaic Code, the Christian principles of Celto-Brythonic Law and old Germanic customs. <!--del_lnk--> Lee, F. N. traced the <!--del_lnk--> parallels between Alfred’s Code and the Mosaic Code. Churchill stated that Alfred’s Code was amplified by his successors and grew into the body of Customary Law administered by the <!--del_lnk--> Shire and The Hundred Courts. This led to the <!--del_lnk--> Charter of Liberties, <!--del_lnk--> Henry AD 1000. The Norman kings then undertook to respect this body of law under that title the "Laws of <a href="../../wp/e/Edward_the_Confessor.htm" title="Edward the Confessor">Edward the Confessor</a>". Out of this emerged the <!--del_lnk--> Common Law which was re-confirmed in the <a href="../../wp/m/Magna_Carta.htm" title="Magna Carta">Magna Carta</a> of AD 1215.<p><a id="Religion_and_culture" name="Religion_and_culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Religion and culture</span></h2>
<p>The history of the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Catholic_Church.htm" title="Roman Catholic Church">Church</a> under Alfred is most obscure. The Danish inroads had tolled heavily upon it. The monasteries had been especial points of attack and, though Alfred founded two or three monasteries and brought foreign monks to England, there was no general revival of monasticism under him. To the ruin of learning and education wrought by the Danes, and the practical extinction of the knowledge of Latin even among the clergy, the preface to Alfred's translation into <a href="../../wp/o/Old_English_language.htm" title="Old English language">Old English</a> of <!--del_lnk--> Pope Gregory's <i><!--del_lnk--> Pastoral Care</i> bears eloquent if not impartial witness. It was to remedy these evils that he established a court school, after the example of <a href="../../wp/c/Charlemagne.htm" title="Charlemagne">Charlemagne</a>; for this he imported scholars like <!--del_lnk--> Grimbald and <!--del_lnk--> John the Saxon from Europe and Asser from South Wales; for this, above all, he put himself to school, and made the series of translations for the instruction of his clergy and people, most of which yet survive. These belong unquestionably to the later part of his reign, likely to the last four years, during which the chronicles are almost silent.<div class="thumb tleft">
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<p>Apart from the lost <i>Handboc</i> or <i><!--del_lnk--> Encheiridion,</i> which seems to have been merely a commonplace book kept by the king, the earliest work to be translated was the <i>Dialogues of Gregory,</i> a book greatly popular in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>. In this case the translation was made by Alfred's great friend <!--del_lnk--> Werferth, Bishop of <!--del_lnk--> Worcester, the king merely furnishing a foreword. The next work to be undertaken was Gregory's <i>Pastoral Care,</i> especially for the good of the parish clergy. In this Alfred keeps very close to his original; but the introduction which he prefixed to it is one of the most interesting documents of the reign, or indeed of English history. The next two works taken in hand were historical, the <i>Universal History</i> of <!--del_lnk--> Orosius and <a href="../../wp/b/Bede.htm" title="Bede">Bede's</a> <!--del_lnk--> <i>Ecclesiastical History of the English People</i>. The priority should likely be given to the Orosius, but the point has been much debated. In the Orosius, by omissions and additions, Alfred so remodels his original as to produce an almost new work; in the Bede the author's text is closely stuck to, no additions being made, though most of the documents and some other less interesting matters are omitted. Of late years doubts have been raised as to Alfred's authorship of the Bede translation. But the sceptics cannot be regarded as having proved their point.<p>We come now to what is in many ways the most interesting of Alfred's works, his translation of <a href="../../wp/c/Consolation_of_Philosophy.htm" title="Consolation of Philosophy"><i>The Consolation of Philosophy</i></a> of <!--del_lnk--> Boethius, the most popular philosophical handbook of the Middle Ages. Here again Alfred deals very freely with his original and though the late Dr. G. Schepss showed that many of the additions to the text are to be traced not to Alfred himself, but to the glosses and commentaries which he used, still there is much in the work which is solely Alfred's and highly characteristic of his genius. It is in the Boethius that the oft-quoted sentence occurs: "My will was to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good works." The book has come down to us in two manuscripts only. In one of these the writing is prose, in the other a combination of prose and alliterating verse. The latter manuscript was severely damaged in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the authorship of the verse has been much disputed; but likely it also is by Alfred. In fact, he writes in the prelude that he first created a prose work and then used it as the basis for his poem, the <!--del_lnk--> Lays of Boethius, his crowning literary achievement. He spent a great deal of time working on these books, which he tells us he gradually wrote through the many stressful times of his reign to refresh his mind. Of the authenticity of the work as a whole there has never been any doubt.<p>The last of Alfred's works is one to which he gave the name <i>Blostman</i>, i.e., "Blooms" or Anthology. The first half is based mainly on the <i>Soliloquies</i> of St <a href="../../wp/a/Augustine_of_Hippo.htm" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustine of Hippo</a>, the remainder is drawn from various sources, and contains much that is Alfred's own and highly characteristic of him. The last words of it may be quoted; they form a fitting epitaph for the noblest of English kings. "Therefore he seems to me a very foolish man, and truly wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear."<p>Beside these works of Alfred's, the Saxon Chronicle almost certainly, and a Saxon Martyrology, of which fragments only exist, probably owe their inspiration to him. A prose version of the first fifty <!--del_lnk--> Psalms has been attributed to him; and the attribution, though not proved, is perfectly possible. Additionally, Alfred appears as a character in <i><!--del_lnk--> The Owl and the Nightingale,</i> where his wisdom and skill with proverbs is attested. Additionally, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Proverbs of Alfred</i>, which exists for us in a 13th century manuscript contains sayings that very likely have their origins partly with the king.<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Alfred jewel, discovered in <!--del_lnk--> Somerset in <!--del_lnk--> 1693, has long been associated with King Alfred because of its <!--del_lnk--> Old English inscription "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN" (<i>Alfred Ordered Me To Be Made</i>). This relic, of unknown use, certainly dates from Alfred's reign but it is possibly just one of several that once existed. The inscription does little to clarify the identity of the central figure which has long been believed to depict God or Christ.<p><a id="Family" name="Family"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Family</span></h2>
<p>In 868, Alfred married <!--del_lnk--> Ealhswith, daughter of <!--del_lnk--> Aethelred Mucill, who is called <!--del_lnk--> Ealdorman of the <!--del_lnk--> Gaini, the people from the <!--del_lnk--> Gainsborough region of <!--del_lnk--> Lincolnshire. She appears to have been the maternal granddaughter of a King of <a href="../../wp/m/Mercia.htm" title="Mercia">Mercia</a>. They had five or six children together, including Edward the Elder, who succeeded his father as King of Wessex; <!--del_lnk--> Ethelfleda, who would become Queen of <a href="../../wp/m/Mercia.htm" title="Mercia">Mercia</a> in her own right, and <!--del_lnk--> Aelfthryth (alias Elfrida) who married <!--del_lnk--> Baldwin II, Count of Flanders.<p>Every monarch of England and subsequently every monarch of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, with the exception of <!--del_lnk--> Canute, <!--del_lnk--> Harold Harefoot, <!--del_lnk--> Harthacanute, <a href="../../wp/w/William_I_of_England.htm" title="William I of England">William the Conqueror</a> (who married Alfred's great-granddaughter <!--del_lnk--> Matilda) and his adversary <!--del_lnk--> Harold II, down to and including Queen <a href="../../wp/e/Elizabeth_II_of_the_United_Kingdom.htm" title="Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom">Elizabeth II</a> (and her own descendants) is directly descended from Alfred.<div class="center">
<div class="thumb tnone">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:552px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/525/52561.png.htm" title="Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia"><img alt="Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia" class="thumbimage" height="562" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Genealogy_england_bis_1000.svg" src="../../images/525/52561.png" width="550" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/525/52561.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a id="Death_and_burial" name="Death_and_burial"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Death and burial</span></h2>
<p>Alfred died on <!--del_lnk--> 26 October <!--del_lnk--> 899. The actual year is not certain, but it was not necessarily <!--del_lnk--> 901 as stated in the <!--del_lnk--> Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. How he died is unknown. He was originally buried temporarily in the <!--del_lnk--> Old Minster in <!--del_lnk--> Winchester, then moved to the <!--del_lnk--> New Minster (perhaps built especially to receive his body). When the New Minster moved to Hyde, a little north of the city, in <!--del_lnk--> 1110, the monks transferred to <!--del_lnk--> Hyde Abbey along with Alfred's body. His grave was apparently excavated during the building of a new prison in <!--del_lnk--> 1788 and the bones scattered. However, bones found on a similar site in the <!--del_lnk--> 1860s were also declared to be Alfred's and later buried in Hyde churchyard. Extensive excavations in <!--del_lnk--> 1999, revealed his grave-cut but no bodily remains.<p><a id="Veneration" name="Veneration"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Veneration</span></h2>
<p>He is regarded as a <!--del_lnk--> saint, with a <!--del_lnk--> feast day of October 26..<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Algebra</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Mathematics.htm">Mathematics</a></h3>
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<p><b>Algebra</b> is a branch of <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematics.htm" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a> concerning the study of <!--del_lnk--> structure, <!--del_lnk--> relation and <a href="../../wp/q/Quantity.htm" title="Quantity">quantity</a>. The name is derived from the treatise written by the <!--del_lnk--> Persian mathematician <span class="Unicode"><a href="../../wp/m/Muhammad_ibn_Musa_al-Khwarizmi.htm" title="Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi">Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḵwārizmī</a></span> titled <i>Al-Kitab</i> <b>al-Jabr</b> <i>wa-l-Muqabala</i> (meaning "<!--del_lnk--> The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing"), which provided symbolic operations for the systematic solution of <!--del_lnk--> linear and <!--del_lnk--> quadratic equations.<p>Together with <a href="../../wp/g/Geometry.htm" title="Geometry">geometry</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematical_analysis.htm" title="Mathematical analysis">analysis</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> number theory, algebra is one of the several main branches of <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematics.htm" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a>. <a href="../../wp/e/Elementary_algebra.htm" title="Elementary algebra">Elementary algebra</a> is often part of the curriculum in <!--del_lnk--> secondary education and provides an introduction to the basic ideas of algebra, including effects of <!--del_lnk--> adding and <!--del_lnk--> multiplying <a href="../../wp/n/Number.htm" title="Number">numbers</a>, the concept of <!--del_lnk--> variables, definition of <!--del_lnk--> polynomials, along with factorization and determining their <!--del_lnk--> roots.<p>Algebra is much broader than elementary algebra and can be generalized. In addition to working directly with numbers, algebra covers working with <!--del_lnk--> symbols, variables, and <a href="../../wp/s/Set.htm" title="Set">set</a> <!--del_lnk--> elements. Addition and multiplication are viewed as general <!--del_lnk--> operations, and their precise definitions lead to structures such as <a href="../../wp/g/Group_%2528mathematics%2529.htm" title="Group (mathematics)">groups</a>, <!--del_lnk--> rings and <!--del_lnk--> fields.<p>
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</script><a id="Classification" name="Classification"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Classification</span></h2>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/113.jpg.htm" title="Linear algebra lecture about determinants and inverse matrices."><img alt="Linear algebra lecture about determinants and inverse matrices." height="263" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Math_lecture_at_TKK.JPG" src="../../images/1/113.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/113.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/l/Linear_algebra.htm" title="Linear algebra">Linear algebra</a> lecture about <!--del_lnk--> determinants and <!--del_lnk--> inverse matrices.</div>
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<p>Algebra may be divided roughly into the following categories:<ul>
<li><b><a href="../../wp/e/Elementary_algebra.htm" title="Elementary algebra">Elementary algebra</a></b>, in which the properties of operations on the <!--del_lnk--> real number system are recorded using symbols as "place holders" to denote <!--del_lnk--> constants and <!--del_lnk--> variables, and the rules governing <!--del_lnk--> mathematical expressions and <!--del_lnk--> equations involving these symbols are studied (note that this usually includes the subject matter of courses called <i>intermediate algebra</i> and <i>college algebra</i>);<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Abstract algebra</b>, sometimes also called <i>modern algebra</i>, in which <!--del_lnk--> algebraic structures such as <a href="../../wp/g/Group_%2528mathematics%2529.htm" title="Group (mathematics)">groups</a>, <!--del_lnk--> rings and <!--del_lnk--> fields are <!--del_lnk--> axiomatically defined and investigated;<li><b><a href="../../wp/l/Linear_algebra.htm" title="Linear algebra">Linear algebra</a></b>, in which the specific properties of <!--del_lnk--> vector spaces are studied (including <a href="../../wp/m/Matrix_%2528mathematics%2529.htm" title="Matrix (mathematics)">matrices</a>);<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Universal algebra</b>, in which properties common to all algebraic structures are studied.</ul>
<p>In advanced studies, axiomatic algebraic systems such as groups, rings, fields, and algebras over a field are investigated in the presence of a natural <a href="../../wp/g/Geometry.htm" title="Geometry">geometric</a> structure (a <a href="../../wp/t/Topology.htm" title="Topology">topology</a>) which is compatible with the algebraic structure. The list includes a number of areas of <!--del_lnk--> functional analysis:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Normed linear spaces<li><!--del_lnk--> Banach spaces<li><!--del_lnk--> Hilbert spaces<li><!--del_lnk--> Banach algebras<li><!--del_lnk--> Normed algebras<li><!--del_lnk--> Topological algebras<li><!--del_lnk--> Topological groups</ul>
<p><a id="Elementary_algebra" name="Elementary_algebra"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Elementary algebra</span></h2>
<p><b>Elementary algebra</b> is the most basic form of algebra. It is taught to students who are presumed to have no knowledge of <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematics.htm" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a> beyond the basic principles of <a href="../../wp/a/Arithmetic.htm" title="Arithmetic">arithmetic</a>. Although in arithmetic, only <a href="../../wp/n/Number.htm" title="Number">numbers</a> and their arithmetical operations (such as +, −, ×, ÷) occur, in algebra, numbers are often denoted by symbols (such as <i>a</i>, <i>x</i>, <i>y</i>). This is useful because:<ul>
<li>It allows the general formulation of arithmetical laws (such as <i>a</i> + <i>b</i> = <i>b</i> + <i>a</i> for all <i>a</i> and <i>b</i>), and thus is the first step to a systematic exploration of the properties of the <!--del_lnk--> real number system.<li>It allows the reference to "unknown" numbers, the formulation of <!--del_lnk--> equations and the study of how to solve these (for instance, "Find a number <i>x</i> such that 3<i>x</i> + 1 = 10").<li>It allows the formulation of <!--del_lnk--> functional relationships (such as "If you sell <i>x</i> tickets, then your profit will be 3<i>x</i> - 10 dollars, or <i>f</i>(<i>x</i>) = 3<i>x</i> - 10, where <i>f</i> is the function, and <i>x</i> is the number the function is performed on.").</ul>
<p>
<br />
<p><a id="Abstract_algebra" name="Abstract_algebra"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Abstract algebra</span></h2>
<p><b>Abstract algebra</b> extends the familiar concepts found in elementary algebra and <a href="../../wp/a/Arithmetic.htm" title="Arithmetic">arithmetic</a> of <!--del_lnk--> numbers to more general concepts.<p><b><a href="../../wp/s/Set.htm" title="Set">Sets</a></b>: Rather than just considering the different types of <a href="../../wp/n/Number.htm" title="Number">numbers</a>, abstract algebra deals with the more general concept of <i>sets</i>: a collection of objects called <!--del_lnk--> elements. All the familiar types of numbers are sets. Other examples of sets include the set of all two-by-two <a href="../../wp/m/Matrix_%2528mathematics%2529.htm" title="Matrix (mathematics)">matrices</a>, the set of all second-degree <!--del_lnk--> polynomials (<i>ax</i><sup>2</sup> + <i>bx</i> + <i>c</i>), the set of all two dimensional <!--del_lnk--> vectors in the plane, and the various <!--del_lnk--> finite groups such as the <!--del_lnk--> cyclic groups which are the group of integers <!--del_lnk--> modulo <i>n</i>. <!--del_lnk--> Set theory is a branch of <a href="../../wp/l/Logic.htm" title="Logic">logic</a> and not technically a branch of algebra.<p><b><!--del_lnk--> Binary operations</b>: The notion of <!--del_lnk--> addition (+) is abstracted to give a <i>binary operation</i>, * say. For two elements <i>a</i> and <i>b</i> in a set <i>S</i> <i>a</i>*<i>b</i> gives another element in the set, (technically this condition is called <!--del_lnk--> closure). <!--del_lnk--> Addition (+), <!--del_lnk--> subtraction (-), <!--del_lnk--> multiplication (×), and <!--del_lnk--> division (÷) are all binary operations as is addition and multiplication of matrices, vectors, and polynomials.<p><b><!--del_lnk--> Identity elements</b>: The numbers zero and one are abstracted to give the notion of an <i>identity element</i>. Zero is the identity element for addition and one is the identity element for multiplication. For a general binary operator * the identity element <i>e</i> must satisfy <i>a</i> * <i>e</i> = <i>a</i> and <i>e</i> * <i>a</i> = <i>a</i>. This holds for addition as <i>a</i> + 0 = <i>a</i> and 0 + <i>a</i> = <i>a</i> and multiplication <i>a</i> × 1 = <i>a</i> and 1 × <i>a</i> = <i>a</i>. However, if we take the positive natural numbers and addition, there is no identity element.<p><b><!--del_lnk--> Inverse elements</b>: The negative numbers give rise to the concept of <i>inverse elements</i>. For addition, the inverse of <i>a</i> is <i>-a</i>, and for multiplication the inverse is 1/<i>a</i>. A general inverse element <i>a</i><sup>-1</sup> must satisfy the property that <i>a</i> * <i>a</i><sup>-1</sup> = <i>e</i> and <i>a</i><sup>-1</sup> * <i>a</i> = <i>e</i>.<p><b><!--del_lnk--> Associativity</b>: Addition of integers has a property called associativity. That is, the grouping of the numbers to be added does not affect the sum. For example: (2+3)+4=2+(3+4). In general, this becomes (<i>a</i> * <i>b</i>) * <i>c</i> = <i>a</i> * (<i>b</i> * <i>c</i>). This property is shared by most binary operations, but not subtraction or division.<p><b><!--del_lnk--> Commutativity</b>: Addition of integers also has a property called commutativity. That is, the order of the numbers to be added does not affect the sum. For example: 2+3=3+2. In general, this becomes <i>a</i> * <i>b</i> = <i>b</i> * <i>a</i>. Only some binary operations have this property. It holds for the integers with addition and multiplication, but it does not hold for <!--del_lnk--> matrix multiplication.<p><a id="Groups" name="Groups"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Groups</span></h3>
<p>Combining the above concepts gives one of the most important structures in mathematics: a <b><a href="../../wp/g/Group_%2528mathematics%2529.htm" title="Group (mathematics)">group</a></b>. A group is a combination of a set <i>S</i> and a <!--del_lnk--> binary operation '*' with the following properties:<ul>
<li>The operation is closed: if <i>a</i> and <i>b</i> are members of <i>S</i>, then so is <i>a</i> * <i>b</i>.</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd><small>In fact, it is redundant to mention this property, for every binary operation must be closed. So, the statement "a group is a combination of a set <i>S</i> and a binary operation '*'" is already saying that the operation is closed. However, <!--del_lnk--> closure is frequently emphasized repeating it as a group property.</small></dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>An identity element <i>e</i> exists, such that for every member <i>a</i> of <i>S</i>, <i>e</i> * <i>a</i> and <i>a</i> * <i>e</i> are both identical to <i>a</i>.<li>Every element has an inverse: for every member <i>a</i> of <i>S</i>, there exists a member <i>a</i><sup>-1</sup> such that <i>a</i> * <i>a</i><sup>-1</sup> and <i>a</i><sup>-1</sup> * <i>a</i> are both identical to the identity element).<li>The operation is associative: if <i>a</i>, <i>b</i> and <i>c</i> are members of <i>S</i>, then (<i>a</i> * <i>b</i>) * <i>c</i> is identical to <i>a</i> * (<i>b</i> * <i>c</i>).</ul>
<p>If a group is also <!--del_lnk--> commutative - that is, for any two members <i>a</i> and <i>b</i> of <i>S</i>, <i>a</i> * <i>b</i> is identical to <i>b</i> * <i>a</i> – then the group is said to be <!--del_lnk--> Abelian.<p>For example, the set of integers under the operation of addition is a group. In this group, the identity element is 0 and the inverse of any element <i>a</i> is its negation, -<i>a</i>. The associativity requirement is met, because for any integers <i>a</i>, <i>b</i> and <i>c</i>, (<i>a</i> + <i>b</i>) + <i>c</i> = <i>a</i> + (<i>b</i> + <i>c</i>).<p>The nonzero <!--del_lnk--> rational numbers form a group under multiplication. Here, the identity element is 1, since 1 × <i>a</i> = <i>a</i> × 1 = <i>a</i> for any rational number <i>a</i>. The inverse of <i>a</i> is 1/<i>a</i>, since <i>a</i> × 1/<i>a</i> = 1.<p>The integers under the multiplication operation, however, do not form a group. This is because, in general, the multiplicative inverse of an integer is not an integer. For example, 4 is an integer, but its multiplicative inverse is 1/4, which is not an integer.<p>The theory of groups is studied in <!--del_lnk--> group theory. A major result in this theory is the <!--del_lnk--> classification of finite simple groups, mostly published between about 1955 and 1983, which is thought to classify all of the <!--del_lnk--> finite <!--del_lnk--> simple groups into roughly 30 basic types.<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<td colspan="11">Examples</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Set:</th>
<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Natural numbers <img alt="\mathbb{N}" class="tex" src="../../images/96/9622.png" /></td>
<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Integers <img alt="\mathbb{Z}" class="tex" src="../../images/96/9623.png" /></td>
<td colspan="4"><!--del_lnk--> Rational numbers <img alt="\mathbb{Q}" class="tex" src="../../images/96/9624.png" /> (also <!--del_lnk--> real <img alt="\mathbb{R}" class="tex" src="../../images/96/9625.png" /> and <!--del_lnk--> complex <img alt="\mathbb{C}" class="tex" src="../../images/96/9626.png" /> numbers)</td>
<td colspan="2">Integers mod 3: {0,1,2}</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>operation</th>
<td>+</td>
<td>× (w/o zero)</td>
<td>+</td>
<td>× (w/o zero)</td>
<td>+</td>
<td>−</td>
<td>× (w/o zero)</td>
<td>÷ (w/o zero)</td>
<td>+</td>
<td>× (w/o zero)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Closed</th>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>identity</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>NA</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>NA</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>inverse</td>
<td>NA</td>
<td>NA</td>
<td>-a</td>
<td>NA</td>
<td>-a</td>
<td>a</td>
<td><img alt="\begin{matrix} \frac{1}{a} \end{matrix}" class="tex" src="../../images/96/9627.png" /></td>
<td>a</td>
<td>0,2,1, respectively</td>
<td>NA, 1, 2, respectively</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Associative</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Commutative</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Structure</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> monoid</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> monoid</td>
<td>Abelian group</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> monoid</td>
<td>Abelian group</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> quasigroup</td>
<td>Abelian group</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> quasigroup</td>
<td>Abelian group</td>
<td>Abelian group (<img alt="\mathbb{Z}_2" class="tex" src="../../images/96/9628.png" />)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Semigroups, <!--del_lnk--> quasigroups, and <!--del_lnk--> monoids are structures similar to groups, but more general. They comprise a set and a closed binary operation, but do not necessarily satisfy the other conditions. A <!--del_lnk--> semigroup has an <i>associative</i> binary operation, but might not have an identity element. A <!--del_lnk--> monoid is a semigroup which does have an identity but might not have an inverse for every element. A <!--del_lnk--> quasigroup satisfies a requirement that any element can be turned into any other by a unique pre- or post-operation; however the binary operation might not be associative.<p>All groups are monoids, and all monoids are semigroups.<p><a id="Rings_and_fields.E2.80.94structures_with_two_binary_operations" name="Rings_and_fields.E2.80.94structures_with_two_binary_operations"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Rings and fields—structures with two binary operations</span></h3>
<p>Groups just have one binary operation. To fully explain the behaviour of the different types of numbers, structures with two operators need to be studied. The most important of these are <!--del_lnk--> rings, and <!--del_lnk--> fields.<p><b><!--del_lnk--> Distributivity</b> generalised the <i>distributive law</i> for numbers, and specifies the order in which the operators should be applied, (called the <!--del_lnk--> precedence). For the integers (<i>a</i> + <i>b</i>) × c = <i>a</i>×<i>c</i>+ <i>b</i>×<i>c</i> and <i>c</i> × (<i>a</i> + <i>b</i>) = <i>c</i>×<i>a</i> + <i>c</i>×<i>b</i>, and × is said to be <i>distributive</i> over +.<p>A <b><!--del_lnk--> ring</b> has two binary operations (+) and (×), with × distributive over +. Under the first operator (+) it forms an <i>Abelian group</i>. Under the second operator (×) it is associative, but it does not need to have identity, or inverse, so division is not allowed. The additive (+) identity element is written as 0 and the additive inverse of <i>a</i> is written as -<i>a</i>.<p>The integers are an example of a ring. The integers have additional properties which make it an <b><!--del_lnk--> integral domain</b>.<p>A <b><!--del_lnk--> field</b> is a <i>ring</i> with the additional property that all the elements excluding 0 form an <i>Abelian group</i> under ×. The multiplicative (×) identity is written as 1 and the multiplicative inverse of <i>a</i> is written as <i>a</i><sup>-1</sup>.<p>The rational numbers, real number and complex numbers are all examples of fields.<p><a id="Algebras" name="Algebras"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Algebras</span></h2>
<p>The word <i><b>algebra</b></i> is also used for various <!--del_lnk--> algebraic structures:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Algebra over a field<li><!--del_lnk--> Algebra over a set<li><!--del_lnk--> Boolean algebra<li><!--del_lnk--> F-algebra and <!--del_lnk--> F-coalgebra in <!--del_lnk--> category theory<li><!--del_lnk--> Sigma-algebra</ul>
<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:177px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/181/18126.jpg.htm" title="Hellenistic mathematician Euclid details geometrical algebra in Elements."><img alt="Hellenistic mathematician Euclid details geometrical algebra in Elements." height="277" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Euklid2.jpg" src="../../images/1/114.jpg" width="175" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/181/18126.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Hellenistic mathematician <a href="../../wp/e/Euclid.htm" title="Euclid">Euclid</a> details <a href="../../wp/g/Geometry.htm" title="Geometric">geometrical</a> algebra in <i><!--del_lnk--> Elements</i>.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The origins of algebra can be traced to the ancient <!--del_lnk--> Babylonians, who developed an advanced <a href="../../wp/a/Arithmetic.htm" title="Arithmetic">arithmetical system</a> with which they were able to do calculations in an algebraic fashion. With the use of this system they were able to apply formulas and calculate solutions for unknown values for a class of problems typically solved today by using <!--del_lnk--> linear equations, <!--del_lnk--> quadratic equations, and <!--del_lnk--> indeterminate linear equations. By contrast, most <!--del_lnk--> Egyptians of this era, and most <!--del_lnk--> Indian, <!--del_lnk--> Greek and <!--del_lnk--> Chinese mathematicians in the <!--del_lnk--> first millennium BC, usually solved such equations by <a href="../../wp/g/Geometry.htm" title="Geometry">geometric</a> methods, such as those described in the <i><!--del_lnk--> Rhind Mathematical Papyrus</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Sulba Sutras</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Euclid's <i>Elements</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art</i>. The geometric work of the Greeks, typified in the <i>Elements</i>, provided the framework for generalizing formulae beyond the solution of particular problems into more general systems of stating and solving equations.<p>The word "algebra" is named after the <!--del_lnk--> Arabic word "<i>al-jabr</i>" from the title of the book <i><span class="Unicode"><!--del_lnk--> al-Kitāb al-muḫtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-ğabr wa-l-muqābala</span></i>, meaning <i>The book of Summary Concerning Calculating by Transposition and Reduction</i>, a book written by the <!--del_lnk--> Persian <!--del_lnk--> Muslim mathematician <span class="Unicode"><a href="../../wp/m/Muhammad_ibn_Musa_al-Khwarizmi.htm" title="Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi">Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-khwārizmī</a></span> in 820. The word <i>Al-Jabr</i> means <i>"reunion"</i>. The Hellenistic mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Diophantus has traditionally been known as "the father of algebra" but debate now exists as to whether or not Al-Khwarizmi should take that title from <!--del_lnk--> Diophantus. Those who support Al-Khwarizmi point to the fact that much of his work on <!--del_lnk--> reduction is still in use today and that he gave an exhaustive explanation of solving quadratic equations. While those who support <!--del_lnk--> Diophantus point to the fact that the algebra found in <i>Al-Jabr</i> is more elementary than the algebra found in <i>Arithmetica</i> and that <i>Arithmetica</i> is syncopated while <i>Al-Jabr</i> is fully rhetorical. Another <!--del_lnk--> Persian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Omar Khayyam developed <!--del_lnk--> algebraic geometry and found the general geometric solution of the <!--del_lnk--> cubic equation. The Indian mathematicians <!--del_lnk--> Mahavira and <!--del_lnk--> Bhaskara, and the Chinese mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Zhu Shijie, solved various cubic, <!--del_lnk--> quartic, <!--del_lnk--> quintic and higher-order <!--del_lnk--> polynomial equations.<p>Another key event in the further development of algebra was the general algebraic solution of the cubic and quartic equations, developed in the mid-16th century. The idea of a <!--del_lnk--> determinant was developed by <!--del_lnk--> Japanese mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Kowa Seki in the 17th century, followed by <a href="../../wp/g/Gottfried_Leibniz.htm" title="Gottfried Leibniz">Gottfried Leibniz</a> ten years later, for the purpose of solving systems of simultaneous linear equations using <a href="../../wp/m/Matrix_%2528mathematics%2529.htm" title="Matrix (mathematics)">matrices</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Gabriel Cramer also did some work on matrices and determinants in the 18th century. <!--del_lnk--> Abstract algebra was developed in the 19th century, initially focusing on what is now called <!--del_lnk--> Galois theory, and on <!--del_lnk--> constructibility issues.<p>The stages of the development of symbolic algebra are roughly as follows:<ul>
<li>Rhetorical algebra, which was developed by the Babylonians and remained dominant up to the 16th century;<li>Geometric constructive algebra, which was emphasised by the <!--del_lnk--> Vedic Indian and classical Greek mathematicians;<li>Syncopated algebra, as developed by <!--del_lnk--> Diophantus and in the <i><!--del_lnk--> Bakhshali Manuscript</i>; and<li>Symbolic algebra, which sees its culmination in the work of <a href="../../wp/g/Gottfried_Leibniz.htm" title="Leibniz">Leibniz</a>.</ul>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/115.jpg.htm" title="Cover of the 1621 edition of Diophantus' Arithmetica, translated into Latin by Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac."><img alt="Cover of the 1621 edition of Diophantus' Arithmetica, translated into Latin by Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac." height="324" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Diophantus-cover.jpg" src="../../images/1/115.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/115.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Cover of the 1621 edition of Diophantus' <i>Arithmetica</i>, translated into <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> by <!--del_lnk--> Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac.</div>
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<p>A timeline of key algebraic developments are as follows:<ul>
<li>Circa 1800 BC: The <!--del_lnk--> Old Babylonian Strassburg tablet seeks the solution of a quadratic elliptic equation.<li>Circa 1600 BC: The <i><!--del_lnk--> Plimpton 322</i> tablet gives a table of <!--del_lnk--> Pythagorean triples in <a href="../../wp/b/Babylonia.htm" title="Babylonia">Babylonian</a> <!--del_lnk--> Cuneiform script.<li>Circa 800 BC: Indian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Baudhayana, in his <i>Baudhayana <!--del_lnk--> Sulba Sutra</i>, discovers Pythagorean triples algebraically, finds geometric solutions of linear equations and quadratic equations of the forms ax<sup>2</sup> = c and ax<sup>2</sup> + bx = c, and finds two sets of positive integral solutions to a set of simultaneous <!--del_lnk--> Diophantine equations.<li>Circa 600 BC: Indian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Apastamba, in his <i>Apastamba Sulba Sutra</i>, solves the general linear equation and uses simultaneous Diophantine equations with up to five unknowns.<li>Circa 300 BC: In Book II of his Elements, <a href="../../wp/e/Euclid.htm" title="Euclid">Euclid</a> gives a geometric construction with Euclidean tools for the solution of the quadratic equation for positive real roots. The construction is due to the Pythagorean School of geometry.<li>Circa 300 BC: A geometric construction for the solution of the cubic is sought (doubling the cube problem). It is now well known that the general cubic has no such solution using <!--del_lnk--> Euclidean tools.<li>Circa 100 BC: Algebraic equations are treated in the Chinese mathematics book <i><!--del_lnk--> Jiuzhang suanshu</i> (<i>The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art</i>), which contains solutions of linear equations solved using the <!--del_lnk--> rule of double false position, geometric solutions of quadratic equations, and the solutions of matrices equivalent to the modern method, to solve systems of simultaneous linear equations.<li>Circa 100 BC: The <i><!--del_lnk--> Bakhshali Manuscript</i> written in <!--del_lnk--> ancient India uses a form of algebraic notation using letters of the alphabet and other signs, and contains cubic and quartic equations, algebraic solutions of <!--del_lnk--> linear equations with up to five unknowns, the general algebraic formula for the quadratic equation, and solutions of indeterminate quadratic equations and simultaneous equations.<li>Circa 150 AD: <!--del_lnk--> Hellenized <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Egyptian</a> mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Hero of Alexandria, treats algebraic equations in three volumes of mathematics.<li>Circa 200: Hellenized <!--del_lnk--> Babylonian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Diophantus, who lived in Egypt and is often considered the "father of algebra", writes his famous <i><!--del_lnk--> Arithmetica</i>, a work featuring solutions of algebraic equations and on the theory of numbers.<li>499: Indian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Aryabhata, in his treatise <i>Aryabhatiya</i>, obtains whole-number solutions to linear equations by a method equivalent to the modern one, describes the general integral solution of the indeterminate linear equation, gives integral solutions of simultaneous indeterminate linear equations, and describes a <a href="../../wp/d/Differential_equation.htm" title="Differential equation">differential equation</a>.<li>Circa 625: Chinese mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Wang Xiaotong finds numerical solutions of cubic equations.<li>628: Indian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Brahmagupta, in his treatise <i>Brahma Sputa Siddhanta</i>, invents the <!--del_lnk--> <i>chakravala</i> method of solving indeterminate quadratic equations, including <!--del_lnk--> Pell's equation, and gives rules for solving linear and quadratic equations. He discovers that <!--del_lnk--> quadratic equations have two <!--del_lnk--> roots, including both <!--del_lnk--> negative as well as <!--del_lnk--> irrational roots.<li>820: The word <i>algebra</i> is derived from operations described in the treatise written by the <!--del_lnk--> Persian mathematician <span class="Unicode"><a href="../../wp/m/Muhammad_ibn_Musa_al-Khwarizmi.htm" title="Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi">Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḵwārizmī</a></span> titled <i>Al-Kitab al-Jabr wa-l-Muqabala</i> (meaning "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing") on the systematic solution of <!--del_lnk--> linear and <!--del_lnk--> quadratic equations. Al-Khwarizmi is often considered as the "father of algebra", much of whose works on reduction was included in the book and added to many methods we have in algebra now.<li>Circa 850: <!--del_lnk--> Persian mathematician al-Mahani conceived the idea of reducing geometrical problems such as <!--del_lnk--> duplicating the cube to problems in algebra.<li>Circa 850: Indian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Mahavira solves various quadratic, cubic, quartic, quintic and higher-order equations, as well as indeterminate quadratic, cubic and higher-order equations.<li>Circa 990: <!--del_lnk--> Persian <!--del_lnk--> Abu Bakr al-Karaji, in his treatise <i>al-Fakhri</i>, further develops algebra by extending Al-Khwarizmi's methodology to incorporate integral powers and integral roots of unknown quantities. He replaces geometrical operations of algebra with modern arithmetical operations, and defines the <!--del_lnk--> monomials x, x<sup>2</sup>, x<sup>3</sup>, ... and 1/x, 1/x<sup>2</sup>, 1/x<sup>3</sup>, ... and gives rules for the products of any two of these.<li>Circa 1050: Chinese mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Jia Xian finds numerical solutions of polynomial equations.<li>1072: <!--del_lnk--> Persian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Omar Khayyam develops algebraic geometry and, in the <i>Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra</i>, gives a complete classification of cubic equations with general geometric solutions found by means of intersecting conic sections.<li>1114: Indian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Bhaskara, in his <i>Bijaganita</i> (<i>Algebra</i>), recognizes that a positive number has both a positive and negative <!--del_lnk--> square root, and solves quadratic equations with more than one unknown, various cubic, quartic and higher-order polynomial equations, <!--del_lnk--> Pell's equation, the general indeterminate quadratic equation, as well as indeterminate cubic, quartic and higher-order equations.<li>1150: Bhaskara, in his <i>Siddhanta Shiromani</i>, solves differential equations.<li>1202: Algebra is introduced to <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a> largely through the work of <!--del_lnk--> Leonardo Fibonacci of <!--del_lnk--> Pisa in his work <i><!--del_lnk--> Liber Abaci</i>.<li>Circa 1300: Chinese mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Zhu Shijie deals with <!--del_lnk--> polynomial algebra, solves quadratic equations, simultaneous equations and equations with up to four unknowns, and numerically solves some quartic, <!--del_lnk--> quintic and higher-order polynomial equations.<li>Circa 1400: Indian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Madhava of Sangamagramma finds the solution of <!--del_lnk--> transcendental equations by <!--del_lnk--> iteration, <!--del_lnk--> iterative methods for the solution of non-linear equations, and solutions of differential equations.<li>1515: Scipione del Ferro solves a cubic such that the quadratic term is missing.<li>1535: Nicolo Fontana <!--del_lnk--> Tartaglia solves a cubic such that the linear term is missing.<li>1545: Girolamo <!--del_lnk--> Cardano publishes <i>Ars magna</i> -<i>The great art</i> which gives solutions for a variety of cubics as well as Ludovico Ferrari's solution of a special quartic equation.<li>1572: Rafael <!--del_lnk--> Bombelli recognizes the complex roots of the cubic and improves current notation.<li>1591: Francois <!--del_lnk--> Viete develops improved symbolic notation for various powers of an unknown and uses vowels for unknowns and consonants for constants in <i>In artem analyticam isagoge</i>.<li>1631: Thomas Harriot in a posthumus publication uses exponential notation and is the first to use symbols to indicate "less than" and "greater than".<li>1682: <a href="../../wp/g/Gottfried_Leibniz.htm" title="Gottfried Leibniz">Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz</a> develops his notion of symbolic manipulation with formal rules which he calls <i>characteristica generalis</i>.<li>1683: Japanese mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Kowa Seki, in his <i>Method of solving the dissimulated problems</i>, discovers the <!--del_lnk--> determinant, <!--del_lnk--> discriminant, and <!--del_lnk--> Bernoulli numbers.<li>1685: Kowa Seki solves the general cubic equation, as well as some quartic and quintic equations.<li>1693: Leibniz solves systems of simultaneous linear equations using matrices and determinants.<li>1750: <!--del_lnk--> Gabriel Cramer, in his treatise <i>Introduction to the analysis of algebraic curves</i>, states <!--del_lnk--> Cramer's rule and studies <!--del_lnk--> algebraic curves, matrices and determinants.<li>1830: Galois theory is developed by <!--del_lnk--> Évariste Galois in his work on abstract algebra.</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebra"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Algeria</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.African_Geography.African_Countries.htm">African Countries</a>; <a href="../index/subject.Countries.htm">Countries</a></h3><div class="soslink"> SOS Children works in Algeria. For more information see <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria_A.htm" title="SOS Children in Algeria, Africa">SOS Children in Algeria, Africa</a></div>
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<td align="center" class="mergedtoprow" colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; font-size:1.2em;"><b><span style="line-height:1.33em;">الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية<br /><i>Al-Jumhurīyah al-Jazā’irīyah<br /> ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah ash-Sha’bīyah</i></span></b><br /><b><span style="line-height:1.33em;">People's Democratic Republic of Algeria</span></b></td>
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<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><span style="border:1px solid #bbbbbb; display:table-cell;"><a class="image" href="../../images/159/15900.png.htm" title="Flag of Algeria"><img alt="Flag of Algeria" height="83" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Algeria.svg" src="../../images/158/15880.png" width="125" /></a></span></td>
<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/158/15881.png.htm" title="Emblem of Algeria"><img alt="Emblem of Algeria" height="85" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algeria_coa.png" src="../../images/158/15881.png" width="85" /></a></td>
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<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Flag</small></td>
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<td colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Motto: <span style="line-height:1.25em;">من الشعب و للشعب <small>(<a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>)<br /> "The Revolution by the People and for the People"</small></span></td>
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<td colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Anthem: <span style="line-height:1.25em;"><i><!--del_lnk--> Kassaman</i> <small>(<a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>)<br /> "The Pledge"</small></span></td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Capital</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a><br /><small><span class="plainlinksneverexpand"><!--del_lnk--> 36°42′N 3°13′E</span></small></td>
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<th><a href="../../wp/d/Demographics_of_Algeria.htm" title="Demographics of Algeria">Largest city</a></th>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a></td>
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<th><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><!--del_lnk--> Official languages</span></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Arabic; <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a> is the language of business; <!--del_lnk--> Tamazight also spoken</td>
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<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;"><b><a href="../../wp/l/List_of_countries_by_system_of_government.htm" title="List of countries by system of government">Government</a></b></td>
<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;">Democratic <!--del_lnk--> Republic</td>
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<td> - <!--del_lnk--> President</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Bouteflika</td>
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<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Prime Minister</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Belkhadem</td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Establishment</th>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - <a href="../../wp/o/Ottoman_Empire.htm" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman</a> rule</td>
<td>from <!--del_lnk--> 1516 </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> rule</td>
<td>from <!--del_lnk--> 1830 </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Independence</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> July 5, <!--del_lnk--> 1962 </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Area</th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Total</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 2,381,741 km² (<!--del_lnk--> 11th)<br /> 919,595 sq mi </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Water (%)</td>
<td>negligible</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Population</th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - 2005 estimate</td>
<td>32,854,000 (<!--del_lnk--> 35th)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - 1998 census</td>
<td>29,100,867</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Density</td>
<td>14/km² (<!--del_lnk--> 196th)<br /> 36/sq mi</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> GDP (<!--del_lnk--> PPP)</th>
<td>2005 estimate</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Total</td>
<td>$237.684 billion (<!--del_lnk--> 38th)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Per capita</td>
<td>$7,189 (<!--del_lnk--> 86th)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><b><!--del_lnk--> HDI</b> (2003)</th>
<td>0.722 (<font color="#FFCC00">medium</font>) (<!--del_lnk--> 103rd)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">Currency</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Algerian dinar (<code><!--del_lnk--> DZD</code>)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><a href="../../wp/t/Time_zone.htm" title="Time zone">Time zone</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CET (<!--del_lnk--> UTC+1)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Internet TLD</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> .dz</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Calling code</th>
<td>+213</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Algeria</b> (<a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>: الجزائر <!--del_lnk--> IPA <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɛlʤɛˈzɛːʔir]</span>, <a href="../../wp/b/Berber_languages.htm" title="Berber languages">Berber</a> (Tamazight): <i>Lz̦ayer</i> <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ldzæjər]</span>), is the largest country on the <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">African</a> continent after <a href="../../wp/s/Sudan.htm" title="Sudan">Sudan</a>. It is bordered by <a href="../../wp/t/Tunisia.htm" title="Tunisia">Tunisia</a> in the northeast, <a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a> in the east, <a href="../../wp/n/Niger.htm" title="Niger">Niger</a> in the southeast, <a href="../../wp/m/Mali.htm" title="Mali">Mali</a> and <a href="../../wp/m/Mauritania.htm" title="Mauritania">Mauritania</a> in the southwest, and <a href="../../wp/m/Morocco.htm" title="Morocco">Morocco</a> as well as a few kilometers of its annexed territory, <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Sahara.htm" title="Western Sahara">Western Sahara</a>, in the west. <!--del_lnk--> Constitutionally, it is defined as an <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islamic</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Arab, and <!--del_lnk--> Amazigh (Berber) country. The name Algeria is derived from the name of the city of <a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a> (French <i>Alger</i>), from the <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> word <i>al-jazā’ir</i>, which translates as <i>the islands</i>, referring to the four islands which lay off that city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525; <i>al-jazā’ir</i> is itself short for the older name <i>jazā’ir banī mazghannā</i>, "the islands of (the tribe) Bani Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as <!--del_lnk--> al-Idrisi and <!--del_lnk--> Yaqut al-Hamawi.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<p>Algeria has been inhabited by <!--del_lnk--> Berbers (or Imazighen) since at least <!--del_lnk--> 10,000 BC. From 1000 BC onwards, the <!--del_lnk--> Carthaginians became an influence on them, establishing settlements along the coast. Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably <!--del_lnk--> Numidia, seizing the opportunity offered by the <!--del_lnk--> Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage only to be taken over soon after by the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic in 200 BC. As the western <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> collapsed, the Berbers became independent again in much of the area, while the <!--del_lnk--> Vandals took over parts of the area until later expelled by the generals of the <!--del_lnk--> Byzantine Emperor, <!--del_lnk--> Justinian I. The <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a> then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the <!--del_lnk--> Arabs in the 8th century.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15883.jpg.htm" title="Roman arch of Trajan at Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria"><img alt="Roman arch of Trajan at Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria" height="153" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Roman_Arch_of_Trajan_at_Thamugadi_%28Timgad%29%2C_Algeria_04966r.jpg" src="../../images/158/15883.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15883.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Roman arch of Trajan at Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria</div>
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<p>After some decades of fierce resistance under leaders such as <!--del_lnk--> Kusayla and <!--del_lnk--> Kahina, the Berbers adopted <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islam</a> <i>en masse</i>, but almost immediately expelled the <!--del_lnk--> Umayyad <!--del_lnk--> caliphate from Algeria, establishing an <!--del_lnk--> Ibadi state under the <!--del_lnk--> Rustamids. Having converted the <!--del_lnk--> Kutama of <!--del_lnk--> Kabylie to its cause, the <!--del_lnk--> Shia <!--del_lnk--> Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids, and conquered Egypt. They left Algeria and Tunisia to their <!--del_lnk--> Zirid vassals; when the latter rebelled and adopted <!--del_lnk--> Sunnism, they sent in a populous <!--del_lnk--> Arab tribe, the <!--del_lnk--> Banu Hilal, to weaken them, thus incidentally initiating the <!--del_lnk--> Arabization of the countryside. The <!--del_lnk--> Almoravids and <!--del_lnk--> Almohads, Berber dynasties from the west founded by religious reformers, brought a period of relative peace and development; however, with the Almohads' collapse, Algeria became a battleground for their three <!--del_lnk--> successor states, the Algerian <!--del_lnk--> Zayyanids, Tunisian <!--del_lnk--> Hafsids, and Moroccan <!--del_lnk--> Marinids. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> started attacking and taking over many coastal cities, prompting some to seek help from the <a href="../../wp/o/Ottoman_Empire.htm" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a>.<p>Algeria was brought into the Ottoman Empire by <!--del_lnk--> Khair ad-Din and his brother <!--del_lnk--> Aruj, who established Algeria's modern boundaries in the north and made its coast a base for the <!--del_lnk--> corsairs; their privateering peaked in Algiers in the 1600s. Piracy on American vessels in the Mediterranean resulted in the <!--del_lnk--> First and <!--del_lnk--> Second Barbary War with the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>. Those piracy acts were the occasion of a slave trade, reducing people captured on the boats to slavery or attacking coastal villages in southern Europe, At the same time Europe also devoted itself it to piracy. But in the XIX century there was no corsairs. On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> invaded Algiers in 1830, Algerians were exterminated as explained by <!--del_lnk--> Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison.<p>Contrary to Morocco and Tunisia, the conquest of Algeria was long and particularly violent since it resulted in the disappearance of about a third of the Algerian population. .<p>The French Army subjected village after village, whereas it was enough to sign some agreements to impose a protectorate on Morocco and for Tunisia but it should be specified that what characterizes the colonization of Algeria and holds place of characteristic is that it acts of a colony of settlement.<p>In 1794, when France was attacked on all sides, that its territory was invaded on several faces and that its people and his army were likely to be famished, the dey of Algiers Hussein offered to Convention all facilitated to make its purchases of corn since it did not find what nowhere to nourish its soldiers. Under the directory, since the war does not continue any less and that the treasure is empty, the dey of Algiers authorizes a loan of a million without interêts to France. The finished war, France does not honour its debt, any the modes which follow one another do not pay in Algeria the sums due and the dey is thus in cold with the French Consul, understanding that it will recover neither the payment of the deliveries having however been so profitable for the fight of the borrower against the European powers which had been united against the Revolution nor the lent money.<p>In 1827, the dey of Algiers still discovers a fact much more serious, at the end is Regency in Calle, France had the concession of a commercial warehouse. The French government, by the voice of its Deval representative, had promised to the dey that the warehouse would not be strengthened - it was a site to make trade, but anything more - but France had strengthened it. Not obtaining explanations on behalf of the in writing solicited French government, April 30, 1827 the dey asked some the French Consul verbally. Being unaware of his requests openly, not condescending to answer, the consul took the thing top, then furious of such a contempt, the dey carried, insulted, and finally gave to the "representative of France" a blow of his drive out-fly. The government of the restoration and Charles X, anxious to regild the image of France abroad and to reinforce the royal authority in France, then found in this incident a pretext to intervene militarily.<p>However, intense resistance from such muslim personalities as <!--del_lnk--> Emir Abdelkader, <!--del_lnk--> Ahmed Bey and <!--del_lnk--> Fatma N'Soumer made for a slow conquest of Algeria, not technically completed until the early 1900s when the last <!--del_lnk--> Tuareg were conquered.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15884.jpg.htm" title="Constantine, Algeria 1840"><img alt="Constantine, Algeria 1840" height="129" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Constantine_Algerien_002.jpg" src="../../images/158/15884.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15884.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Constantine, Algeria 1840</div>
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<p>Meanwhile, however, the French made Algeria an integral part of France, a status that would end only with the collapse of the <!--del_lnk--> Fourth Republic. Tens of thousands of settlers from France, Italy, Spain, and Malta moved in to farm the Algerian coastal plain and occupy the most prized parts of Algeria's cities, benefiting from the French government's confiscation of communally held land, and the application of modern agriculture techniques that increased the amount of arable land. People of European descent in Algeria settlers (or natives like Spanish people in Oran), as well as the native Algerian Jews (typically Sephardic in origin), became full French citizens starting from the end of the 19th century (the so-called <i><!--del_lnk--> Pieds-Noirs</i> after the independence); by contrast, the vast majority of Muslim Algerians (even veterans of the French army) received neither French citizenship nor the right to vote. Algeria's social fabric was stretched to breaking point during this period: literacy plummeted<!--del_lnk--> , while land confiscation uprooted much of the population. However, the population increased steadily<!--del_lnk--> .<p>Before the putsch of December 2, 1851 in France, even though the extension of colonisation was made difficult due to the maintain of intagibillity of individual property and banning transactions over tribe's territory, 131 000 Europeans including 66 000 French were installed in Algeria. This name replaces the old name "Possessions françaises dans le Nord de l'Afrique" not because of an official act, like a decree or an ordonance. Indeed, a letter from General SCHNEIDER, Ministre of War, dated from October 14, 1839 to Marechal VALEE General Governor states that the name Algérie (Algeria) shorter and most sgnificant, must be used in all acts and certificates issued by military and civil authorities.<p>In 1954, the <!--del_lnk--> National Liberation Front (FLN) launched the <!--del_lnk--> guerrilla <!--del_lnk--> Algerian War of Independence; after nearly a decade of urban and rural warfare, they succeeded in pushing France out in 1962. Most of the 1,025,000 <i><!--del_lnk--> Pieds-Noirs</i>, as well as 91,000 <i><!--del_lnk--> Harkis</i> (pro-French Muslim Algerians serving in the French Army), together forming about 10% of the population of Algeria in 1962, fled Algeria for France in just a few months in the middle of that year.<p>Algeria's first president, the FLN leader <!--del_lnk--> Ahmed Ben Bella, was overthrown by his former ally and defense minister, <!--del_lnk--> Houari Boumédiènne in 1965. Under Ben Bella the government had already become increasingly socialist and dictatorial, and this trend continued throughout Boumedienne's government; however, Boumedienne relied much more heavily on the army, and reduced the sole legal party to a merely symbolic role. Agriculture was collectivised, and a massive industrialization drive launched. Oil extraction facilities were nationalized and this increased the state's wealth, especially after the 1973 oil crisis, but the Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil, bringing hardship when the price collapsed in the 1980s. In foreign policy Algeria was a member and leader of the 'non-aligned' nations. A dispute with Morocco over the <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Sahara.htm" title="Western Sahara">Western Sahara</a> nearly led to war. Dissent was rarely tolerated, and the state's control over the media and the outlawing of political parties other than the FLN was cemented in the repressive constitution of 1976. Boumédienne died in 1978, but the rule of his successor, <!--del_lnk--> Chadli Bendjedid, was little more open. The state took on a strongly bureaucratic character and corruption was widespread.<p>The modernization drive brought considerable demographic changes to Algeria. Village traditions underwent significant change as urbanization increased, new industries emerged, agriculture was substantially reduced, and education, a rarity in colonial times, was extended nationwide, raising the literacy rate from less than 10% to over 60%. Improvements in healthcare led to a dramatic increase in the birthrate (7-8 children per mother) which had two consequences: a very youthful population, and a housing crisis. The new generation struggled to relate to the cultural obsession with the war years and two conflicting protest movements developed: left-wingers, including Berber identity movements, and Islamic 'intégristes'. Both protested against one-party rule but also clashed with each other in universities and on the streets during the 1980s. Mass protests from both camps in autumn 1988 forced Benjedid to concede the end of one-party rule, and elections were announced for 1991.<p>In December 1991, the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Salvation Front won the <!--del_lnk--> first round of the country's first multiparty elections. The military then canceled the second round, forced then-president Bendjedid to resign, and banned the Islamic Salvation Front. The ensuing conflict engulfed Algeria in the violent <a href="../../wp/a/Algerian_Civil_War.htm" title="Algerian Civil War">Algerian Civil War</a>. More than 160,000 people were killed (17-Jan-1992 to June 2002), often in unprovoked massacres of civilians. The question of who was responsible for these massacres remains controversial among academic observers; many were claimed by the <!--del_lnk--> Armed Islamic Group. After 1998, the war waned, and by 2002 the main guerrilla groups had either been destroyed or surrendered, taking advantage of an amnesty program, though sporadic fighting continued in some areas. Elections resumed in 1995, and on <!--del_lnk--> 27 April 1999, after a series of short-term leaders representing the military, <!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the current president, was elected. The issue of Berber language and identity increased in significance, particularly after the extensive <!--del_lnk--> Kabyle protests of 2001 and the near-total boycott of local elections in <!--del_lnk--> Kabylie; the government responded with concessions including naming of <!--del_lnk--> Tamazight (Berber) as a national language and teaching it in schools. Much of Algeria is now recovering, developing into an emerging economy. The high prices of oil & gas are being used by the new government to improve the county's infrastructure and especially improve industry and agricultural land. Recent overseas investment in Algeria has increased.<p><a id="Politics" name="Politics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Politics</span></h2>
<p>The head of state is the <!--del_lnk--> President of the Republic, who is elected to a 5-year term, renewable once. Algeria has <!--del_lnk--> universal suffrage. The President is the head of the Council of Ministers and of the High Security Council. He appoints the <!--del_lnk--> Prime Minister who is also the head of government. The Prime Minister appoints the Council of Ministers.<p>The Algerian <!--del_lnk--> parliament is bicameral, consisting of a lower chamber, the National People's Assembly (APN), with 380 members and an upper chamber, the Council Of Nation, with 144 members. The APN is elected every 5 years.<p>Throughout the 1960s, Algeria supported many independence movements in sub-Saharan Africa, and was a leader in the <!--del_lnk--> Non-Aligned Movement. While it shares much of its history and cultural heritage with neighbouring <a href="../../wp/m/Morocco.htm" title="Morocco">Morocco</a>, the two countries have had somewhat hostile relations with each other ever since Algeria's independence. This is due to two reasons: Morocco's <!--del_lnk--> disputed claim to portions of western Algeria (which led to the <!--del_lnk--> Sand war in 1963), and Algeria's support for the <!--del_lnk--> Polisario, an armed group of <!--del_lnk--> Sahrawi <!--del_lnk--> refugees seeking <!--del_lnk--> independence for the Moroccan-ruled <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Sahara.htm" title="Western Sahara">Western Sahara</a>, which it hosts within its borders in the city of <!--del_lnk--> Tindouf. Tensions between Algeria and Morocco, as well as issues relating to the <a href="../../wp/a/Algerian_Civil_War.htm" title="Algerian Civil War">Algerian Civil War</a>, have put great obstacles in the way of tightening the <!--del_lnk--> Maghreb Arab Union, nominally established in 1989 but with little practical weight, with its coastal neighbors..<p>Under the 1976 Constitution (as modified 1979, and amended in 1988, 1989, and 1996) Algeria is a multi-party state. All parties must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior. To date, Algeria has had more than 40 legal political parties. According to the Constitution, no political association may be formed if it is "based on differences in religion, language, race gender or region."<p><a id="Military" name="Military"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Military</span></h2>
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<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Armed forces of Algeria are comprised of:<ul>
<li><b>The <!--del_lnk--> People's National Army</b> (ANP)<li><b>Algerian National Navy</b> (MRA)<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Algerian National Air Force</b> (QJJ)<li><b>Territorial Air Defense Force</b></ul>
<p>It is the direct successor of the <!--del_lnk--> Armé de Libération Nationale (ALN), which fought <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> <!--del_lnk--> colonial <!--del_lnk--> occupation during the <!--del_lnk--> Algerian War of Independence (1954-62).<p>The People's National Army consits of 127,500 members, with some 100,000 reservists. The army is under the control of the <!--del_lnk--> president, who also is minister of National Defense (current president is <!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Bouteflika). Defense expenditures accounted for some $2.67 billion or 3.5% of GDP. One and a half years of national military service is compulsory for males.<p>Algeria is a leading military power in <a href="../../wp/n/North_Africa.htm" title="North Africa">North Africa</a> and has its force oriented toward its western (<a href="../../wp/m/Morocco.htm" title="Morocco">Morocco</a>) and eastern (<a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a>) borders. Its primary military supplier has been the former <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>, which has sold various types of sophisticated equipment under military trade agreements, and the <a href="../../wp/p/People%2527s_Republic_of_China.htm" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a>. Algeria has attempted, in recent years, to diversify its sources of military material. Military forces are supplemented by a 45,000-member <!--del_lnk--> gendarmerie or rural police force under the control of the president and 30,000-member <i>Sûreté nationale</i> or Metropolitan <a href="../../wp/p/Police.htm" title="Police">police</a> force under the Ministry of the Interior.<p>Recently, the Algerian Air Force signed a deal with <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a> to purchase 49 <!--del_lnk--> MiG-29SMT and 6 MiG-29UBT at an estimated $1.5 Billion. They also agreed to return old <!--del_lnk--> airplanes purchased from the <!--del_lnk--> Former USSR.<p><a id="Administrative_divisions" name="Administrative_divisions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Administrative divisions</span></h2>
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<p>Algeria is currently divided into 48 <!--del_lnk--> wilayas (<!--del_lnk--> provinces), 553 <!--del_lnk--> dairas (<!--del_lnk--> counties) and 1541 <!--del_lnk--> baladiyahs (<!--del_lnk--> municipalities). The capital and the largest city of Algerian wilayas, dairas, and baladiyahs has always the same name as the wilaya, the daira, or the baladiyah it is located in, the same counts for the largest daira of the wilaya or the largest baladiyah of the daira. According to the Algerian constitution, a wilaya is a "territorial collectivity" enjoying some economic freedom, the APW, or <i>"L'Assemblée Populaire Wilayale"</i> (the <i>Popular "Wilayale" Parliament</i>) is the political entity governing a province, directed by the "<!--del_lnk--> Wali" (<!--del_lnk--> Prefect), who is chosen by the <!--del_lnk--> Algerian President to handle the APW's decisions, the APW has also a "president", who is elected by the members of the APW.<p>The administrative divisions have changed several times since independence. Currently (since <!--del_lnk--> 1983) they are:<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:282px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15886.png.htm" title="Map of the provinces of Algeria in alphabetical order."><img alt="Map of the provinces of Algeria in alphabetical order." height="378" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algeria_provinces_numbered.png" src="../../images/158/15886.png" width="280" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15886.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Map of the provinces of Algeria in alphabetical order.</div>
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<ol>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Adrar<li><!--del_lnk--> Aïn Defla<li><!--del_lnk--> Aïn Témouchent<li><!--del_lnk--> Algiers<li><!--del_lnk--> Annaba<li><!--del_lnk--> Batna<li><!--del_lnk--> Béchar<li><!--del_lnk--> Béjaïa<li><!--del_lnk--> Biskra<li><!--del_lnk--> Blida<li><!--del_lnk--> Bordj Bou Arréridj<li><!--del_lnk--> Bouira<li><!--del_lnk--> Boumerdès<li><!--del_lnk--> Chlef<li><!--del_lnk--> Constantine<li><!--del_lnk--> Djelfa<li><!--del_lnk--> El Bayadh<li><!--del_lnk--> El Oued<li><!--del_lnk--> Sétif<li><!--del_lnk--> Ghardaïa<li><!--del_lnk--> Guelma<li><!--del_lnk--> Illizi<li><!--del_lnk--> Jijel<li><!--del_lnk--> Khenchela<li><!--del_lnk--> Laghouat<li><!--del_lnk--> Médéa<li><!--del_lnk--> Mila<li><!--del_lnk--> Mostaganem<li><!--del_lnk--> M'Sila<li><!--del_lnk--> Muaskar<li><!--del_lnk--> Naama<li><!--del_lnk--> Oran<li><!--del_lnk--> Ouargla<li><!--del_lnk--> Oum el-Bouaghi<li><!--del_lnk--> Relizane<li><!--del_lnk--> Saida<li><!--del_lnk--> El Tarf<li><!--del_lnk--> Sidi Bel Abbes<li><!--del_lnk--> Skikda<li><!--del_lnk--> Souk Ahras<li><!--del_lnk--> Tamanghasset<li><!--del_lnk--> Tébessa<li><!--del_lnk--> Tiaret<li><!--del_lnk--> Tindouf<li><!--del_lnk--> Tipasa<li><!--del_lnk--> Tissemsilt<li><!--del_lnk--> Tizi Ouzou<li><!--del_lnk--> Tlemcen</ol>
<p><a id="Geography" name="Geography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Geography</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15887.jpg.htm" title="The Hoggar Mountains."><img alt="The Hoggar Mountains." height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Hoggar3.jpg" src="../../images/158/15887.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15887.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> Hoggar Mountains.</div>
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<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15888.jpg.htm" title="Satellite image of Algeria, generated from raster graphics data supplied by The Map Library"><img alt="Satellite image of Algeria, generated from raster graphics data supplied by The Map Library" height="158" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algeria_sat.jpg" src="../../images/158/15888.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15888.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Satellite image of Algeria, generated from <!--del_lnk--> raster graphics data supplied by <!--del_lnk--> The Map Library</div>
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<p>Most of the coastal area is hilly, sometimes even mountainous, and there are few good harbours. The area just south of the coast, known as the <!--del_lnk--> Tell, is fertile. Further south is the <!--del_lnk--> Atlas mountain range and the <a href="../../wp/s/Sahara.htm" title="Sahara">Sahara</a> desert. <a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Oran and <!--del_lnk--> Constantine are the main cities.<p>Algeria's <a href="../../wp/c/Climate.htm" title="Climate">climate</a> is arid and hot, although the coastal climate is mild, and the winters in the mountainous areas can be severe. Algeria is prone to <!--del_lnk--> sirocco, a hot dust- and sand-laden wind especially common in summer.<p><a id="Climate_and_hydrology" name="Climate_and_hydrology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Climate and hydrology</span></h3>
<p>Northern Algeria is in the temperate zone and enjoys a mild, Mediterranean climate. It lies within approximately the same latitudes as southern California and has somewhat similar climatic conditions. Its broken topography, however, provides sharp local contrasts in both prevailing temperatures and incidence of rainfall. Year-to-year variations in climatic conditions are also common.<p>In the Tell, temperatures in summer average between 21 and 24 °C and in winter drop to 10 to 12 °C. Winters are not cold, but the humidity is high and houses are seldom adequately heated. In eastern Algeria, the average temperatures are somewhat lower, and on the steppes of the High Plateaus winter temperatures hover only a few degrees above freezing. A prominent feature of the climate in this region is the sirocco, a dusty, choking south wind blowing off the desert, sometimes at gale force. This wind also occasionally reaches into the coastal Tell.<p>In Algeria only a relatively small corner of the Sahara lies across the Tropic of Cancer in the torrid zone, but even in winter, midday desert temperatures can be very hot. After sunset, however, the clear, dry air permits rapid loss of heat, and the nights are cool to chilly. Enormous daily ranges in temperature are recorded.<p>Rainfall is fairly abundant along the coastal part of the Tell, ranging from 400 to 670 mm annually, the amount of precipitation increasing from west to east. Precipitation is heaviest in the northern part of eastern Algeria, where it reaches as much as 1000 mm in some years. Farther inland the rainfall is less plentiful. Prevailing winds that are easterly and northeasterly in summer change to westerly and northerly in winter and carry with them a general increase in precipitation from September to December, a decrease in the late winter and spring months, and a near absence of rainfall during the summer months.<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15897.jpg.htm" title="Algiers is the capital and economic hub of Algeria."><img alt="Algiers is the capital and economic hub of Algeria." height="167" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algernuit.jpg" src="../../images/158/15889.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15897.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a> is the capital and economic hub of Algeria.</div>
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<p>The fossil fuels energy sector is the backbone of Algeria's economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of <!--del_lnk--> GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. The country ranks 14th in <a href="../../wp/p/Petroleum.htm" title="Petroleum">Petroleum</a> reserves, containing 11.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves with estimates suggesting that the actual amount is even more. The Energy Information Administration reported that in 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven <a href="../../wp/n/Natural_gas.htm" title="Natural gas">natural gas</a> reserves, the 8th largest in the world.<p>Algeria’s financial and economic indicators improved during the mid-1990s, in part because of policy reforms supported by the <!--del_lnk--> International Monetary Fund (IMF) and <!--del_lnk--> debt rescheduling from the <!--del_lnk--> Paris Club. Algeria’s finances in 2000 and 2001 benefited from an increase in <!--del_lnk--> oil prices and the government’s tight fiscal policy, leading to a large increase in the trade surplus, record highs in foreign exchange reserves, and reduction in <!--del_lnk--> foreign debt. The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic <!--del_lnk--> investment outside the energy sector has had little success in reducing high <!--del_lnk--> unemployment and improving living standards. In 2001, the government signed an Association Treaty with the <a href="../../wp/e/European_Union.htm" title="European Union">European Union</a> that will eventually lower tariffs and increase trade. In March 2006, <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a> agreed to erase $4.74 billion of Algeria's <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet</a>-era debt during a visit by <!--del_lnk--> President <!--del_lnk--> Vladimir Putin to the country, the first by a Russian leader in half a century. In return, president <!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Bouteflika agreed to buy $7.5 billion worth of combat planes, air-defence systems and other arms from Russia, according to the head of Russia's state arms exporter <!--del_lnk--> Rosoboronexport.<p>Algeria also decided in 2006 to pay off its full $8bn (£4.3bn) debt to the <!--del_lnk--> Paris Club group of rich creditor nations before schedule. This will reduce the Algerian foreign debt to less than $5bn in the end of 2006. The <!--del_lnk--> Paris Club said the move reflected Algeria's economic recovery in recent years. Rich in oil and gas, it has benefited from high energy prices.<p><a id="Agriculture" name="Agriculture"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Agriculture</span></h3>
<p>Since Roman times Algeria has been noted for the fertility of its soil. About a quarter of the inhabitants are engaged in <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agricultural</a> pursuits. More than 7,500,000 acres (30,000 km²) are devoted to the cultivation of <!--del_lnk--> cereal grains. The Tell is the grain-growing land. During the time of <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> rule its productivity was increased substantially by the sinking of <!--del_lnk--> artesian wells in districts which only required water to make them fertile. Of the crops raised, <a href="../../wp/w/Wheat.htm" title="Wheat">wheat</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Barley.htm" title="Barley">barley</a> and <a href="../../wp/o/Oat.htm" title="Oat">oats</a> are the principal cereals. A great variety of <a href="../../wp/v/Vegetable.htm" title="Vegetable">vegetables</a> and of <a href="../../wp/f/Fruit.htm" title="Fruit">fruits</a>, especially <a href="../../wp/c/Citrus.htm" title="Citrus">citrus</a> products, is exported.<p>A considerable amount of <a href="../../wp/c/Cotton.htm" title="Cotton">cotton</a> was grown at the time of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>' <a href="../../wp/a/American_Civil_War.htm" title="American Civil War">Civil War</a>, but the industry declined afterwards. In the early years of the 20th century efforts to extend the cultivation of the plant were renewed. A small amount of <a href="../../wp/c/Cotton.htm" title="Cotton">cotton</a> is also grown in the southern oases. Large quantities of <!--del_lnk--> crin vegetal (vegetable horse-hair) an excellent fibre, are made from the leaves of the dwarf palm. The <!--del_lnk--> olive (both for its fruit and <a href="../../wp/p/Petroleum.htm" title="Petroleum">Petroleum</a>) and <a href="../../wp/t/Tobacco.htm" title="Tobacco">tobacco</a> are cultivated with great success.<p>Algeria also exports <!--del_lnk--> figs, <!--del_lnk--> dates, <!--del_lnk--> esparto grass, and <!--del_lnk--> cork. It is the largest oat market in Africa.<p><a id="Demographics" name="Demographics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demographics</span></h2>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/38/3862.png.htm" title="Demographics of Algeria, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands."><img alt="Demographics of Algeria, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands." height="176" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algeria_demography.png" src="../../images/38/3862.png" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/38/3862.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Demographics of Algeria, Data of <!--del_lnk--> FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.</div>
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<p>The current population of Algeria is 32,930,091 (July 2006 est.). About 70% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the minority who inhabit the <!--del_lnk--> Sahara desert are mainly concentrated in <!--del_lnk--> oases, although some 1.5 million remain <!--del_lnk--> nomadic or partly nomadic. Almost 30% of Algerians are under 15.<p>Ninety-nine percent of the population is classified ethnically as <!--del_lnk--> Arab/<!--del_lnk--> Berber and religiously as <!--del_lnk--> Sunni Muslim, the few non-Sunni Muslims are mainly <!--del_lnk--> Ibadis from the <!--del_lnk--> M'Zab valley. (See also <!--del_lnk--> Islam in Algeria.) A mostly foreign <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Catholic_Church.htm" title="Roman Catholic Church">Roman Catholic</a> community of about 45,000 exists, as do very small <!--del_lnk--> Protestant and <a href="../../wp/j/Judaism.htm" title="Judaism">Jewish</a> communities. The <!--del_lnk--> Jewish community of Algeria, which once constituted 2% of the total population, has substancially decreased due to emigration mostly to <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> and <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a>.<p>Europeans account for less than 1% of the population. During the colonial period there was a large European (primarily French) <!--del_lnk--> pied-noir population, concentrated on the coast and forming a majority in certain cities. Almost all of this population left during or immediately after independence from France.<p>Most Algerians are Arab or Berber, by language or identity, and of mixed Berber-Arab ancestry, the origin Berber being in a majority. The Berbers inhabited Algeria before the arrival of Arab tribes during the expansion of Islam, in the 7th century. The issue of ethnicity and language is sensitive after many years of government marginalization of Berber (or Imazighen, as some prefer) culture. Today, the Arab-Berber issue is often a case of self-identification or identification through language and culture, rather than a racial or ethnic distinction. The 20% or so of the population who self-identify as Berbers, and primarily speak <a href="../../wp/b/Berber_languages.htm" title="Berber languages">Berber languages</a> (also termed <!--del_lnk--> Tamazight), are divided into several ethnic groups, notably <!--del_lnk--> Kabyle (the largest) in the mountainous north-central area, <!--del_lnk--> Chaoui in the eastern <!--del_lnk--> Atlas Mountains, <!--del_lnk--> Mozabites in the <!--del_lnk--> M'zab valley, and <!--del_lnk--> Tuareg in the far south.<p>Housing and medicine continue to be pressing problems in Algeria. Failing infrastructure and the continued influx of people from rural to urban areas has overtaxed both systems. According to the <!--del_lnk--> UNDP, Algeria has one of the world's highest per housing unit occupancy rates for housing, and government officials have publicly stated that the country has an immediate shortfall of 1.5 million housing units.<p><a id="Education" name="Education"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Education</span></h3>
<p><a id="Structure_of_school_system" name="Structure_of_school_system"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Structure of school system</span></h3>
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<dt>Basic<dd>Type of school providing this education Ecole fondamentale<br /> Length of program: 9 years<br /> Age range: age 6 to 15 old<br /> Certificate/diploma awarded: Brevet d'Enseignement fondamental</dl>
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<dt>General Secondary<dd>Type of school providing this education: Lycée d'Enseignement général, lycées polyvalents<br /> Length of program: 3 years<br /> Age range: age 15 to 18<br /> Certificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat de l'Enseignement secondaire</dl>
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<dt>Technical Secondary<dd>Type of school providing this education: Lycées d'Enseignment technique (technicum)<br /> Length of program: 3 years<br /> Certificate/diploma awarded: Baccalauréat technique</dl>
<p>Education in Algeria has been explained as pretty good compared to the other developing countries. Schooling in Algeria is compulsory and is attended by most children in Algeria. This lasts for 9 years. You start off at 6 years old and go through until you are 15 years old. 97% of boys attend school while 91% of girls attend school in Algeria. Algeria only has 10 universities across the whole country and a number of technical colleges. All of this tallies up to 350,000 students going to college or university.<p><a id="Languages" name="Languages"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Languages</span></h3>
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<p>Algeria's official <a href="../../wp/l/Language.htm" title="Language">language</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>, is spoken natively in <!--del_lnk--> dialectal form ("<!--del_lnk--> Darja") by some 80% of the population, and, as in the entire <!--del_lnk--> Arab world, used in the <!--del_lnk--> Modern Standard Arabic variant in the <!--del_lnk--> media and on official occasions. Some 20% of the population, identified as <!--del_lnk--> Berbers or <!--del_lnk--> Imazighen, are native speakers not of Arabic, but of some dialect of <!--del_lnk--> Tamazight. Many Algerians are however fluent in both languages to some degree. <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> remains Algeria's only <!--del_lnk--> official language, although <!--del_lnk--> Tamazight has recently been recognized as a <!--del_lnk--> national language alongside it. The <!--del_lnk--> Ethnologue counts 18 living languages within Algeria, splitting both Arabic and Tamazight into several different languages, as well as mentioning the unrelated <!--del_lnk--> Korandje language.<p>The language issue is politically sensitive, particularly for the Berber <!--del_lnk--> minority, which has been disadvantaged by state-sanctioned <!--del_lnk--> Arabization. <!--del_lnk--> Language politics and Arabization have partly been a reaction to the fact that 130 years of <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> <!--del_lnk--> colonization had left both the state <!--del_lnk--> bureaucracy and much of the educated upper class completely <!--del_lnk--> Francophone, as well as being motivated by the <!--del_lnk--> Arab nationalism promoted by successive Algerian governments.<p><a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a> is still the most widely studied <!--del_lnk--> foreign language, and widely spoken (distantly followed by <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a>), but very rare as a <!--del_lnk--> native language. Since <!--del_lnk--> independence, the government has pursued a policy of linguistic Arabization of <a href="../../wp/e/Education.htm" title="Education">education</a> and bureaucracy, with some success, although many <a href="../../wp/u/University.htm" title="University">university</a> courses continue to be taught in French.<p><a id="Culture" name="Culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Culture</span></h2>
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<p>[[Image:Amazigh_berber_language.PNG|thumb|350px|<!--del_lnk--> Bereber in North Africa [[Image:Algiers mosque.jpg|thumb|<a href="../../wp/m/Mosque.htm" title="Mosque">Mosque</a> in Algiers.]] Modern Algerian literature, split between Arabic and French, has been strongly influenced by the country's recent history. <!--del_lnk--> Famous novelists of the 20th century include <!--del_lnk--> Mohammed Dib, <!--del_lnk--> Albert Camus, and <!--del_lnk--> Kateb Yacine, while <!--del_lnk--> Assia Djebar is widely translated. Important novelists of the 1980s included <!--del_lnk--> Rachid Mimouni, later vice-president of Amnesty International, and <!--del_lnk--> Tahar Djaout, murdered by an <!--del_lnk--> Islamist group in 1993 for his secularist views. As early as Roman times, <!--del_lnk--> Apuleius, born in <!--del_lnk--> Mdaourouch, was native to what would become Algeria.<p>In philosophy and the humanities, <!--del_lnk--> Malek Bennabi and <!--del_lnk--> Frantz Fanon are noted for their thoughts on <!--del_lnk--> decolonization, while <a href="../../wp/a/Augustine_of_Hippo.htm" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustine of Hippo</a> was born in <!--del_lnk--> Tagaste (about 60 miles from the present day city of <!--del_lnk--> Annaba), and <!--del_lnk--> Ibn Khaldun, though born in <a href="../../wp/t/Tunis.htm" title="Tunis">Tunis</a>, wrote the <!--del_lnk--> Muqaddima while staying in Algeria.<p>Algerian culture has been strongly influenced by <!--del_lnk--> Islam, the main religion. The works of the <!--del_lnk--> Sanusi family in pre-colonial times, and of Emir <!--del_lnk--> Abdelkader and Sheikh <!--del_lnk--> Ben Badis in colonial times, are widely noted.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Algerian musical genre best known abroad is <!--del_lnk--> raï, a pop-flavored, opinionated take on folk music, featuring international stars such as <!--del_lnk--> Khaled and <!--del_lnk--> Cheb Mami. However, in Algeria itself the older, highly verbal <!--del_lnk--> chaabi style remains more popular, with such stars as <!--del_lnk--> El Hadj El Anka or <!--del_lnk--> Dahmane El Harrachi, while the tuneful melodies of <!--del_lnk--> Kabyle music, exemplified by <!--del_lnk--> Idir, <!--del_lnk--> Ait Menguellet, or <!--del_lnk--> Lounès Matoub, have a wide audience. For more classical tastes, <!--del_lnk--> Andalusi music, brought from <!--del_lnk--> Al-Andalus by <!--del_lnk--> Morisco refugees, is preserved in many older coastal towns.<p>In painting, <!--del_lnk--> Mohammed Khadda and <!--del_lnk--> M'Hamed Issiakhem are notable in recent years.<p><a id="UNESCO_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Algeria" name="UNESCO_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Algeria"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria</span></h3>
<p>There are several <!--del_lnk--> UNESCO <!--del_lnk--> World Heritage Sites in Algeria:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad<li><!--del_lnk--> Casbah of <a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a><li><!--del_lnk--> Djémila<li><!--del_lnk--> M'Zab Valley<li><!--del_lnk--> Tassili n'Ajjer<li><!--del_lnk--> Timgad<li><!--del_lnk--> Tipasa</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria"</div>
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<!-- NEWS --><div id="news"><span class="boxtop"></span><dl><dt>SOS Algeria News</dt><dd><span>13/12/2006</span> <a href="../../wp/z/Zidane_Algeria_131206.htm">Zidane visits SOS Children in Algeria</a></dd></dl><span class="boxbot"></span></div><!-- ENDNEWS -->
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<h2>SOS Children in Algeria</h2>
<img src="../../wp/a/Algeria_Map.jpg" width="405" height="381" alt="SOS Children Sponsorship Sites in Algeria" class="left" /><p>Algeria is the second largest country in Africa. On the shores of the Mediterranean, it borders Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Morocco. Like most of the Sahara region, it has been populated since the early Stone Age. French colonisation began in 1827 and after a bitter war of independence with France lasting eight years, Algeria became independent in 1962.</p><p>Unlike many African countries, Algeria is relatively highly industrialised, the leading industry being hydrocarbons. Crude oil and liquified natural gas are the main exports. Unemployment is high though and the overall standard of living remains very low. Despite its many social and economic problems, Algeria has been very successful in implementing an education policy and over 70 per cent of Algerian children are enrolled in school, which is the highest rate in the developing world.</p><img src="../../wp/a/Algeria2.JPG" width="250" height="400" alt="Algeria2" class="right" /><p>Following the earthquake in Algeria in 1980, supported by donors, SOS Children offered to build a community to help victims of the catastrophe, for which the government provided the land. In 1984, a new agreement was signed between the Algerian government and SOS Children which led to the construction of a new, replacement SOS Children's community in Draria, a suburb of Algiers, which was completed in 1990.</p><p>The SOS Children's community Al Achour/Draria is 13 kilometres south of the city of Algiers, a city of around 4 million people. The village has ten family houses which are home to over 90 children and their SOS mothers. It also has a youth house for the older children completing their education or training and taking their first guided steps towards independence. For the younger children there is a kindergarten which is also used by families in the local community. The older children attend local schools.</p><p>Following a further earthquake in May, 2003 which claimed over 2000 lives and left thousands more homeless, SOS Children established an emergency aid programme, providing food and temporary shelter and accommodation.</p><h3>Local Contact</h3>
<p>SOS Children in Algeria<br />Association Algérienne des Villages d'Enfants SOS, Tribu Zitouni, 16003 Draria, Algeria<br />Tel: +213 2130 7642<br />e-mail: [email protected]</p><p><strong><a href="../../wp/s/Sponsor_A_Child.htm">Algeria Child Sponsorship</a></strong></p>
<p>Next Country: <a href="../../wp/a/Angola_A.htm">Angola</a></p>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Algerian Civil War</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Military_History_and_War.htm">Military History and War</a></h3>
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<table class="infobox" style="width: 315px; border-spacing: 2px; font-size: 95%; text-align: left;">
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Algerian Civil War</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/575.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="190" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algerian_civil_war.jpg" src="../../images/5/575.jpg" width="250" /></a><br /> A June 1997 suicide bombing of a bus.</td>
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<table class="infobox" style="margin: 0; cellpadding: 0; padding: 0; border: 0;" width="100%">
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Date</th>
<td>1991 to 2002</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Location</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a></td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Result</th>
<td>Victory for Algerian government</td>
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</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Combatants</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%"><a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algerian</a> government</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%"><!--del_lnk--> Islamic Armed Movement (MIA)<br /><!--del_lnk--> Armed Islamic Group (GIA)<br /><!--del_lnk--> Islamic Salvation Army (AIS)<br /><i><!--del_lnk--> others...</i></td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Commanders</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%"><!--del_lnk--> Ali Kafi<br /><!--del_lnk--> Liamine Zéroual<br /><!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Bouteflika</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%">MIA: <!--del_lnk--> Abdelkader Chebouti<br /> GIA: <!--del_lnk--> Antar Zouabri <i>et al.</i><br /> AIS: <!--del_lnk--> Madani Mezrag</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Strength</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%">140,000 (1994)<br /> 124,000 (in 2001)</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%">2,000 (1992)<br /> 40,000 (1994)<br /> 10,000 (1996)<br /> 300-1,000 (2005)</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Casualties</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%">
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<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%">
</td>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">~150,000 - 200,000 dead</td>
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<p>The <b>Algerian Civil War</b> was an armed conflict between the <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algerian</a> government and various <!--del_lnk--> Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives. The conflict effectively ended with a government victory, following the surrender of the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Salvation Army and the 2002 defeat of the <!--del_lnk--> Armed Islamic Group. However, low-level fighting still continues in some areas.<p>The conflict began in <!--del_lnk--> December 1991, when the government cancelled <!--del_lnk--> elections after the first round results had shown that the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) party would win, citing fears that the FIS would end <a href="../../wp/d/Democracy.htm" title="Democracy">democracy</a>. After the FIS was banned and thousands of its members arrested, Islamist <!--del_lnk--> guerrillas rapidly emerged and began an armed campaign against the government and its supporters. They formed themselves into several <!--del_lnk--> armed groups, principally the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Armed Movement (MIA), based in the mountains, and the <!--del_lnk--> Armed Islamic Group (GIA), based in the towns. The guerrillas initially targeted the <!--del_lnk--> army and police, but some groups soon started attacking civilians. In 1994, as negotiations between the government and the FIS's imprisoned leadership reached their height, the GIA declared war on the FIS and its supporters, while the MIA and various smaller groups regrouped, becoming the FIS-loyalist <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Salvation Army (AIS).<p>Soon after, the talks collapsed, and new <!--del_lnk--> elections were held—won by the army's candidate, General <!--del_lnk--> Liamine Zéroual. Conflict between the GIA and AIS intensified. Over the next few years, the GIA began a series of <!--del_lnk--> massacres targeting entire neighborhoods or villages; some evidence also suggests the involvement of government forces. These massacres peaked in 1997 around the parliamentary elections, which were won by a newly created pro-Army party, the <!--del_lnk--> National Democratic Rally (RND). The AIS, under attack from both sides, opted for a unilateral ceasefire with the government in 1997, while the GIA was torn apart by splits as various subdivisions objected to its new massacre policy. In 1999, following the election of a new president, <!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a new law gave amnesty to most guerrillas, motivating large numbers to "repent" (as it was termed) and return to normal life. The violence declined substantially, with effective victory for the government. The remnants of the GIA proper were hunted down over the next two years, and had practically disappeared by 2002.<p>However, a splinter group of the GIA, the <!--del_lnk--> Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), initially based on the fringes of <!--del_lnk--> Kabylie, had formed in 1998 to dissociate itself from the massacres. However, despite its former repudiation of attacking non-combatants, targeting only army and police, they "...eventually returned to killing civilians" and in October of 2003, publicly endorsed <!--del_lnk--> Al-Qaeda. The GSPC rejected the amnesty and has continued to fight, although many individual members have surrendered. While as of 2006, its comparatively sparse activities - mainly in mountainous parts of the east - are the only remaining fighting in Algeria, a complete end to the violence is not yet in sight.<p>
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</script><a id="Liberalization:_prelude_to_war" name="Liberalization:_prelude_to_war"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Liberalization: prelude to war</span></h2>
<p>By the end of 1987, the single-party socialist dictatorship under which <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> had fared relatively well since the 1960s no longer seemed viable. The government had relied heavily on high <a href="../../wp/p/Petroleum.htm" title="Petroleum">oil</a> prices, and when, in 1986, oil prices went from $30 to $10 a barrel, the planned economy came under severe strain, with shortages and unemployment rife. In October 1988 ("<!--del_lnk--> Black October"), massive demonstrations against President <!--del_lnk--> Chadli Bendjedid took place throughout Algerian cities, with an <!--del_lnk--> Islamist element prominent among the demonstrators. The army fired on the demonstrators, leaving some dead and shocking many.<p>The president's response was to make moves towards reform. In 1989, he brought in a new constitution which disestablished the ruling party, the <!--del_lnk--> National Liberation Front (FLN), and made no mention of <a href="../../wp/s/Socialism.htm" title="Socialism">socialism</a>, while promising "freedom of expression, association, and assembly". By the end of the year, a variety of political parties were being established and recognized by the government—among them, the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).<p>The FIS incorporated a broad spectrum of <!--del_lnk--> Islamist opinion, exemplified by its two leaders. Its president, <!--del_lnk--> Abbassi Madani, a professor and ex-independence fighter, represented a relatively moderate religious conservatism and symbolically connected the party to the <!--del_lnk--> Algerian War of Independence, the traditionally emphasized source of the ruling <!--del_lnk--> FLN's legitimacy; he expressed tepid support for the concept of democracy and rejected the idea that it could override the <i><!--del_lnk--> sharia</i>. The vice-president, <!--del_lnk--> Ali Belhadj, a younger and less educated <a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a> preacher who had already played a significant role in the October demonstrations, made aggressively radical speeches that rallied dissatisfied lower-class youth and alarmed non-Islamists with his clear-cut rejection of <a href="../../wp/d/Democracy.htm" title="Democracy">democracy</a> and what they considered his repressive views on women. In February 1989, for example, Belhadj stated:<blockquote>
<dl>
<dd><i>There is no democracy because the only source of power is Allah through the Koran, and not the people. If the people vote against the law of God, this is nothing other than blasphemy. In this case, it is necessary to kill the non-believers for the good reason that they wish to substitute their authority for that of God.</i></dl>
</blockquote>
<p>The FIS rapidly became by far the biggest Islamist party, with a huge following concentrated especially in large urban areas. In 1990 they swept the <!--del_lnk--> local elections with 54% of votes cast. The <!--del_lnk--> Gulf War further energized the party, as it outdid the government in gestures opposing <!--del_lnk--> Desert Storm.<p>In May 1991, the FIS called for a general strike to protest the government's redrawing of electoral districts, which it saw as a form of <!--del_lnk--> gerrymandering. The strike itself was a failure, but the huge demonstrations the FIS organized in Algiers were effective; the FIS was persuaded in June to call the strike off by the promise of fair parliamentary elections. Shortly afterwards, the increasingly alarmed government arrested Madani and Belhadj, along with a number of lower-ranking members. The party, however, remained legal, and passed to the effective leadership of <!--del_lnk--> Abdelkader Hachani.<p>The rise of the party continued. It eventually agreed to participate in the next elections, after expelling dissenters, such as <!--del_lnk--> Said Mekhloufi, who advocated direct action against the government. In late November, armed Islamists connected to the extremist <!--del_lnk--> Takfir wal Hijra attacked a border post at <!--del_lnk--> Guemmar, foreshadowing the conflict to come; otherwise, an uneasy calm prevailed. On <!--del_lnk--> December 26, the FIS handily won the <!--del_lnk--> first round of parliamentary elections; with 48% of the overall popular vote, they won 188 of the 232 seats decided and an FIS government seemed inevitable.<p><a id="Elections_cancelled:_a_guerrilla_war_begins" name="Elections_cancelled:_a_guerrilla_war_begins"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Elections cancelled: a guerrilla war begins</span></h2>
<p>The army saw this outcome as unacceptable. The FIS had made open threats against the ruling <i>pouvoir</i>, condemning them as unpatriotic and pro-French, as well as financially corrupt. Additionally, FIS leadership was at best divided on the desirability of democracy, and some expressed fears that a FIS government would be, as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State <!--del_lnk--> Edward Djerejian put it, "one man, one vote, one time."<p>On <!--del_lnk--> January 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1992, the army cancelled the electoral process, forcing President <!--del_lnk--> Chadli Bendjedid to resign and bringing in the exiled independence fighter <!--del_lnk--> Mohammed Boudiaf to serve as a new president. So many FIS members were arrested—5,000 by the army's account, 30,000 according to FIS, and including <!--del_lnk--> Abdelkader Hachani—that the jails had insufficient space to hold them in; camps were set up for them in the <a href="../../wp/s/Sahara.htm" title="Sahara">Sahara</a> desert, and bearded men feared to leave their houses lest they be arrested as FIS sympathizers. A state of emergency was declared, and many ordinary constitutional rights were suspended. Any protests that occurred were suppressed, and <a href="../../wp/h/Human_rights.htm" title="Human rights">human rights</a> organizations, such as <!--del_lnk--> Amnesty International, reported frequent government use of <!--del_lnk--> torture and holding of suspects without charge or trial. The government officially dissolved the FIS on <!--del_lnk--> March 4.<p>Of the few FIS activists that remained free, many took this as a declaration of war. Throughout much of the country, remaining FIS activists, along with some Islamists too radical for FIS, took to the hills with whatever weapons were available and became guerrilla fighters. Their first attacks on the security forces (not counting the <!--del_lnk--> Guemmar incident) began barely a week after the coup, and soldiers and policemen rapidly became targets. As in previous wars, the guerrillas were almost exclusively based in the mountains of northern Algeria, where the forest and scrub cover were well-suited to guerrilla warfare, and in certain areas of the cities; the very sparsely populated but oil-rich Sahara would remain mostly peaceful for almost the entire duration of the conflict. This meant that the government's principal source of money—oil exporting—was largely unaffected.<p>The tense situation was compounded by the economy, which collapsed even further that year, as almost all of the longstanding subsidies on food were eliminated. The hopes many placed in the seemingly untainted figure of Boudiaf were soon dashed when he fell to a bullet from one of his own security guards in late June. Soon afterwards, <!--del_lnk--> Abbassi Madani and <!--del_lnk--> Ali Belhadj were sentenced to 12 years in prison.<p>By <!--del_lnk--> August 26, it had become apparent that some guerrillas were beginning to target civilians as well as government figures: the bombing of the <!--del_lnk--> Algiers airport claimed 9 lives and injured 128 people. The FIS condemned the bombing along with the other major parties, but the FIS's influence over the guerrillas turned out to be limited.<p>The initial fighting appears to have been led by the small extremist group <!--del_lnk--> Takfir wal Hijra and associated ex-Afghan fighters. However, the first major armed movement to emerge, starting almost immediately after the coup, was the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Armed Movement (MIA). It was led by the ex-soldier <!--del_lnk--> Abdelkader Chebouti, a longstanding Islamist who had kept his distance from the FIS during the electoral process. In February 1992, ex-soldier, ex-Afghan fighter, and former FIS head of security <!--del_lnk--> Said Mekhloufi founded the <!--del_lnk--> Movement for an Islamic State (MEI). The various groups arranged several meetings to attempt to unite their forces, accepting the overall leadership of Chebouti in theory. At the last of these, at <!--del_lnk--> Tamesguida on <!--del_lnk--> September 1, Chebouti expressed his concern about the movement's lack of discipline, in particular worrying that the Algiers airport attack, which he had not approved, could alienate supporters. Takfir wal Hijra and the Afghans (led by <!--del_lnk--> Noureddine Seddiki) responded by agreeing to join the MIA. However, the meeting was broken up by an assault from the security forces, provoking suspicions which prevented any further meetings.<p>The FIS itself established an underground network, with clandestine newspapers and even an MIA-linked radio station, and began issuing official statements from abroad starting in late 1992. However, at this stage the opinions of the guerrilla movements on the FIS were mixed; while many supported FIS, a significant faction, led by the "Afghans", regarded party political activity as inherently un-Islamic, and therefore rejected FIS statements.<p>In January 1993, <!--del_lnk--> Abdelhak Layada declared his group independent of Chebouti's. The new faction was called the <!--del_lnk--> Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a> <i>Groupe Islamique Armé</i>). It became particularly prominent around Algiers and its suburbs, in urban environments. It took a hardline position, opposed to both the government and the FIS, affirming that "political pluralism is equivalent to sedition" and issuing death threats against several FIS and MIA leaders. It was far less selective than the MIA, which insisted on ideological training; as a result, it was regularly infiltrated by the security forces, resulting in a rapid leadership turnover as successive heads were killed.<p>In 1993, the divisions within the guerrilla movement became more distinct. The MIA and MEI, concentrated in the <i>maquis</i>, attempted to develop a military strategy against the state, typically targeting the security services and sabotaging or bombing state institutions. From its inception on, however, the GIA, concentrated in urban areas, called for and implemented the killing of anyone supporting the authorities, including government employees such as teachers and civil servants. It assassinated journalists and intellectuals (such as <!--del_lnk--> Tahar Djaout), saying that "The journalists who fight against Islamism through the pen will perish by the sword.". It soon stepped up its attacks by targeting civilians who refused to live by their prohibitions, and later in 1993 began killing foreigners, declaring that "anyone who exceeds that period [a one-month deadline] will be responsible for his own sudden death." After a few conspicuous killings, virtually all foreigners left the country; indeed, (often illegal) Algerian emigration too rose substantially, as people sought a way out. At the same time, the number of <!--del_lnk--> visas granted to Algerians by other countries began to drop substantially.<p><a id="Failed_negotiations_and_guerrilla_infighting" name="Failed_negotiations_and_guerrilla_infighting"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Failed negotiations and guerrilla infighting</span></h2>
<p>The violence continued throughout 1994, although the economy began to improve during this time; following negotiations with the IMF, the government succeeded in rescheduling debt repayments, providing it with a substantial financial windfall, and further obtained some 40 billion francs from the international community to back its economic liberalization. As it became obvious that the fighting would continue for some time, General <!--del_lnk--> Liamine Zéroual was named new president of the <!--del_lnk--> High Council of State; he was considered to belong to the <i><!--del_lnk--> dialoguiste</i> (pro-negotiation) rather than <i>éradicateur</i> (<!--del_lnk--> eradicator) faction of the army. Soon after taking office, he began negotiations with the imprisoned FIS leadership, releasing some prisoners by way of encouragement. The talks split the political spectrum; the largest political parties, especially the <!--del_lnk--> socialist <!--del_lnk--> FLN and <!--del_lnk--> Kabyle socialist <!--del_lnk--> FFS, continued to call for compromise, while other forces—most notably the <!--del_lnk--> General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA), but including smaller leftist and feminist groups such as the ultra-secularist <!--del_lnk--> RCD—sided with the "eradicators". A few shadowy pro-government paramilitaries, such as the <!--del_lnk--> Organisation of Young Free Algerians (OJAL), emerged and began attacking civilian Islamist supporters. On <!--del_lnk--> March 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1994, over 1000 (mainly Islamist) prisoners <!--del_lnk--> escaped Tazoult prison in what appeared to be a major coup for the guerrillas; later, conspiracy theorists would suggest that this had been staged to allow the security forces to infiltrate the GIA.<p>Meanwhile, under <!--del_lnk--> Cherif Gousmi (its leader since March), the GIA became the most high-profile guerrilla army in 1994. In May, the FIS suffered an apparent blow as several of its leaders that were not jailed, along with the MEI's <!--del_lnk--> Said Makhloufi, joined the GIA; since the GIA had been issuing death threats against them since November 1993, this came as a surprise to many observers, who interpreted it either as the result of intra-FIS competition or as an attempt to change the GIA's course from within. On <!--del_lnk--> August 26, the GIA even declared a <!--del_lnk--> caliphate, or Islamic government, for Algeria, with Gousmi as "<!--del_lnk--> Commander of the Faithful". However, the very next day, Said Mekhloufi announced his withdrawal from the GIA, claiming that the GIA had deviated from Islam and that this caliphate was an effort by ex-FIS leader Mohammed Said to take over the GIA. The GIA continued attacks on its usual targets, notably assassinating artists, such as <!--del_lnk--> Cheb Hasni, and in late August added a new practice to its activities: threatening insufficiently Islamist schools with <!--del_lnk--> arson.<p>FIS-loyal guerrillas, threatened with marginalization, attempted to unite their forces. In July 1994, the MIA, together with the remainder of the MEI and a variety of smaller groups, united as the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic Salvation Army (a term that had previously sometimes been used as a general label for pro-FIS guerrillas), declaring their allegiance to FIS and thus strengthening FIS's hand in the negotiations. By the end of 1994, they controlled over half the guerrillas of the east and west, but barely 20% in the centre, near the capital, which was where the GIA were mainly based. They issued communiqués condemning the GIA's indiscriminate targeting of women, journalists and other civilians "not involved in the repression", and attacked the GIA's school arson campaign.<p>At the end of October, the government announced the failure of its negotiations with the FIS. Instead, Zéroual embarked on a new plan: he scheduled presidential elections for 1995, while promoting "eradicationists" such as Lamari within the army and organizing "self-defense militias" in villages to fight the guerrillas. The end of 1994 saw a noticeable upsurge in violence. Over 1994, Algeria's isolation deepened; most foreign press agencies, such as <!--del_lnk--> Reuters, left the country this year, while the Moroccan border closed and the main foreign airlines cancelled all routes. The resulting gap in news coverage was further worsened by a government order in June banning Algerian media from reporting any terrorism-related news not covered in official press releases.<p>A few FIS leaders, notably <!--del_lnk--> Rabah Kebir, had escaped into exile abroad. Upon the invitation of the Rome-based Community of <!--del_lnk--> Sant’Egidio, in November 1994, they began negotiations in Rome with other opposition parties, both Islamist and secular (FLN, FFS, FIS, MDA, PT, JMC). They came out with a mutual agreement on <!--del_lnk--> January 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1995: the <!--del_lnk--> Sant'Egidio platform. This presented a set of principles: respect for human rights and multi-party democracy, rejection of army rule and dictatorship, recognition of <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islam</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Arab and <!--del_lnk--> Berber ethnic identity as essential aspects of Algeria's national identity, demand for the release of FIS leaders, and an end to extrajudicial killing and torture on all sides. To the surprise of many, even Ali Belhadj endorsed the agreement, which meant that the FIS had returned into the legal framework, alongside with the other opposition parties. However, a crucial signatory was missing: the government itself. As a result, the platform's effect was at best limited - though some argue that, in the words of <!--del_lnk--> Andrea Riccardi who brokered the negotiations for the Community of <!--del_lnk--> Sant’Egidio, “the platform made the Algerian military leave the cage of a solely military confrontation and forced them to react with a political act”, the 1995 presidential elections. The next few months saw the killing of some 100 Islamist prisoners in the <!--del_lnk--> Serkadji prison mutiny, and a major success for the security forces in battle at <!--del_lnk--> Ain Defla, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of guerrilla fighters.<p>Cherif Gousmi was eventually succeeded by <!--del_lnk--> Djamel Zitouni as GIA head. Zitouni extended the GIA's attacks on civilians to French soil, beginning with the hijacking of <!--del_lnk--> Air France Flight 8969 at the end of December 1994 and continuing with <!--del_lnk--> several bombings and attempted bombings throughout 1995. In Algeria itself, he continued likewise, with car bombs and assassinations of musicians, sportsmen, and unveiled women, as well as the usual victims. Even at this stage, the seemingly counterproductive nature of many of its attacks led to speculation (encouraged by FIS members abroad) that the group had been infiltrated by Algerian secret services. The region south of <a href="../../wp/a/Algiers.htm" title="Algiers">Algiers</a>, in particular, came to be dominated by the GIA, who called it the "liberated zone". Later, it would come to be known as the "<!--del_lnk--> Triangle of Death".<p>Reports of battles between the AIS and GIA increased, and the GIA reiterated its death threats against FIS and AIS leaders, assassinating a co-founder of the FIS, <!--del_lnk--> Abdelbaki Sahraoui, in <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a>. At this point, foreign sources estimated the total number of guerrillas to be about 27,000.<p><a id="Politics_resume.2C_militias_emerge" name="Politics_resume.2C_militias_emerge"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Politics resume, militias emerge</span></h2>
<p>Following the breakdown of negotiations with the FIS, the government decided to hold presidential elections. On <!--del_lnk--> November 16, <!--del_lnk--> 1995, <!--del_lnk--> Liamine Zéroual was elected president with 60% of votes cast. The <!--del_lnk--> election, contested by many candidates, including the Islamists <!--del_lnk--> Mahfoud Nahnah (25%) and <!--del_lnk--> Noureddine Boukrouh (<4%) and the secularist <!--del_lnk--> Said Sadi (10%), but excluding FIS, enjoyed a high turnout (officially 75%, a number confirmed by most observers) despite the FIS, FFS and FLN's call for a boycott and the GIA's threats to kill anyone who voted (using the slogan "one vote, one bullet"). A high level of security was maintained, with massive mobilization during the period immediately leading up to election day. Foreign observers from the Arab League, the UN and the Organization of African Unity voiced no major reservations. While some cried foul, the elections were generally perceived by foreigners as quite free, and the results were considered reasonably plausible, given the limited choices available.<!--del_lnk--> <p>The results reflected various popular opinions, ranging from support for secularism and opposition to Islamism to a desire for an end to the violence, regardless of politics. Hopes grew that Algerian politics would finally be normalized. Zéroual followed this up by pushing through a new constitution in 1996, substantially strengthening the power of the president and adding a second house that would be partly elected and partly appointed by the president. In November 1996, the text was passed by a national referendum; while the official turnout rate was 80%, this vote was unmonitored, and the claimed high turnout was considered by most to be implausible.<p>The government's political moves were combined with a substantial increase in the pro-government militias' profile. "Self-defense militias", often called "Patriots" for short, consisting of trusted local citizens trained by the army and given government weapons, were founded in towns near areas where guerrillas were active, and were promoted on national TV . The program was received well in some parts of the country, but was less popular in others; it would be substantially increased over the next few years, particularly after the massacres of 1997.<p>The election results were a setback for the armed groups, who saw a significant increase in desertions immediately following the elections. The FIS' <!--del_lnk--> Rabah Kebir responded to the apparent shift in popular mood by adopting a more conciliatory tone towards the government, but was condemned by some parts of the party and of the AIS. The GIA was shaken by internal dissension; shortly after the election, its leadership killed the FIS leaders who had joined the GIA, accusing them of attempting a takeover. This purge accelerated the disintegration of the GIA: <!--del_lnk--> Mustapha Kartali, <!--del_lnk--> Ali Benhadjar and <!--del_lnk--> Hassan Hattab's factions all refused to recognize Zitouni's leadership starting around late 1995, although they would not formally break away until later. In December, the GIA killed the AIS leader for central Algeria, <!--del_lnk--> Azzedine Baa, and in January pledged to fight the AIS as an enemy; particularly in the west, full-scale battles between them became common.<p><a id="Massacres_and_reconciliation" name="Massacres_and_reconciliation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Massacres and reconciliation</span></h2>
<p>In July 1996, GIA leader <!--del_lnk--> Djamel Zitouni was killed by one of the breakaway ex-GIA factions and was succeeded by <!--del_lnk--> Antar Zouabri, who would prove an even bloodier leader.<p><!--del_lnk--> Parliamentary elections were held on <!--del_lnk--> June 5, <!--del_lnk--> 1997. They were dominated by the <!--del_lnk--> National Democratic Rally (RND), a new party created in early 1997 for Zéroual's supporters, which got 156 out of 380 seats, followed mainly by the <!--del_lnk--> MSP (as Hamas had been required to rename itself) and the FLN at over 60 seats each. Views on this election were mixed; most major opposition parties filed complaints, and the success of the extremely new RND raised eyebrows. The RND, FLN and MSP formed a coalition government, with the RND's <!--del_lnk--> Ahmed Ouyahia as prime minister. There were hints of a softening towards FIS: <!--del_lnk--> Abdelkader Hachani was released, and <!--del_lnk--> Abbassi Madani moved to house arrest.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:412px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/637.png.htm" title="Massacres of over 50 people in the years 1997 and 1998"><img alt="Massacres of over 50 people in the years 1997 and 1998" height="233" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algerian_massacres_1997-1998.png" src="../../images/6/637.png" width="410" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/637.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Massacres of over 50 people in the years 1997 and 1998</div>
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<p>At this point, however, a new and vital problem emerged. Starting around April (the <!--del_lnk--> Thalit massacre), Algeria was wracked by massacres of intense brutality and unprecedented size; previous massacres had occurred in the conflict, but always on a substantially smaller scale. Typically targeting entire villages or neighborhoods and disregarding the age and sex of victims, GIA guerrillas killed tens, and sometimes hundreds, of civilians at a time. These massacres continued through the end of 1998, changing the nature of the political situation considerably. The areas south and east of Algiers, which had voted strongly for FIS in 1991, were hit particularly hard; the <!--del_lnk--> Rais and <!--del_lnk--> Bentalha massacres in particular shocked worldwide observers. Pregnant women were sliced open, children were hacked to pieces or dashed against walls, men's limbs were hacked off one by one, and, as the attackers retreated, they would kidnap young women to keep as sex slaves. Although this quotation by <!--del_lnk--> Nesroullah Yous, a survivor of Bentalha, may be an exaggeration, it expresses the apparent mood of the attackers:<dl>
<dd>"We have the whole night to rape your women and children, drink your blood. Even if you escape today, we'll come back tomorrow to finish you off! We're here to send you to your God!"</dl>
<p>The GIA's responsibility for these massacres is undisputed; it claimed credit for both Rais and Bentalha (calling the killings an "offering to God" and the victims "impious" supporters of tyrants in a press release), and its policy of massacring civilians was cited by the <!--del_lnk--> Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat as one of the main reasons it split off from the GIA. At this stage, it had apparently adopted a <i><!--del_lnk--> takfirist</i> ideology, believing that practically all Algerians not actively fighting the government were corrupt to the point of being <i><!--del_lnk--> kafirs</i>, and could be killed righteously with impunity; an unconfirmed communiqué by Zouabri had stated that "except for those who are with us, all others are apostates and deserving of death." In some cases, it has been suggested that the GIA were motivated to commit a massacre by a village's joining the Patriot program, which they saw as evidence of disloyalty; in others, that rivalry with other groups (e.g., <!--del_lnk--> Mustapha Kartali's breakaway faction) played a part.<p>However, in both Rais and Bentalha, survivors claimed that the army had arrived at the scene of the massacre while it was happening, but had stayed outside of the area, even in some cases preventing the villagers from fleeing their attackers. In many cases (e.g., Rais, Bentalha, <!--del_lnk--> Si Zerrouk and <!--del_lnk--> Beni-Messous), army barracks were stationed within a few hundred meters of the villages, yet did nothing to stop the killing. At Rais, some witnesses are reported to have recognized their attackers as local guerrillas and their sympathisers (in one case, according to <!--del_lnk--> Zazi Sadou, even an elected member of the FIS was seen among the attackers), although at Bentalha witnesses are reported to have said they recognised none of them as local guerrillas. In some cases, it has been suggested that the GIA were motivated to commit a massacre by a village's joining the Patriot program, which they saw as evidence of disloyalty; in others, that rivalry with other groups (e.g. <!--del_lnk--> Mustapha Kartali's breakaway faction) played a part. In some cases — the <!--del_lnk--> Guelb el-Kebir massacre and <!--del_lnk--> Sidi Hamed massacre — Algerian newspapers blamed the AIS, despite its denial of any involvement.<p>However, according to reports by <!--del_lnk--> Amnesty International<!--del_lnk--> and <!--del_lnk--> Human Rights Watch<!--del_lnk--> army barracks were stationed within a few hundred meters of the villages, yet did nothing to stop the killings. At about the same time, a number of people claiming to be defectors from the Algerian security services (such as <!--del_lnk--> Habib Souaidia), having fled to Western countries, alleged that the security services had themselves committed some of the massacres. These and other details raised suspicions that the state was in some way collaborating with, or even controlling parts of, the GIA (particularly through infiltration by the secret services) - a theory popularised by <!--del_lnk--> Nesroullah Yous, and FIS itself. <!--del_lnk--> This suggestion provoked furious reactions from some quarters in Algeria, and has been rejected by many academics, though others regard it as plausible. On the other hand, some Algerians, such as <!--del_lnk--> Zazi Sadou, have collected testimonies by survivors that their attackers were unmasked and were recognised as local radicals - in one case even an elected member of the FIS. <!--del_lnk--> Robert D. Kaplan, writing in <i><!--del_lnk--> The Atlantic Monthly</i>, dismissed insinuations of government involvement in the massacres; "To people who had been watching Algeria's evolution, the assumption that sinister complicities within the Algerian state were involved in the assassinations and massacres was libelous." However, as Dr <!--del_lnk--> Youcef Bouandel notes; "Regardless of the explanations one may have regarding the violence, the authorities credibility has been tarnished by its non-assistance to endangered civilian villagers being massacred in the vicinity of military barracks."<p>The AIS, which at this point was engaged in an all-out war with the GIA as well as the government, found itself in an untenable position. The GIA seemed a more immediately pressing enemy, and AIS members expressed fears that the massacres—which it had condemned more than once—would be blamed on them. On <!--del_lnk--> September 21, <!--del_lnk--> 1997, the AIS' head, <!--del_lnk--> Madani Mezrag, ordered a unilateral and unconditional ceasefire starting <!--del_lnk--> October 1, in order to "unveil the enemy that hides behind these abominable massacres." The AIS thus largely took itself out of the political equation, reducing the fighting to a struggle between the government, the GIA, and the various splinter groups that were increasingly breaking away from the GIA. <!--del_lnk--> Ali Benhadjar's FIS-loyalist <!--del_lnk--> Islamic League for Da'wa and Jihad (LIDD), formed in February 1997, allied itself with the AIS and observed the same ceasefire. Over the next three years, the AIS would gradually negotiate an amnesty for its members.<p><a id="GIA_destroyed.2C_GSPC_continues" name="GIA_destroyed.2C_GSPC_continues"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">GIA destroyed, GSPC continues</span></h2>
<p>After receiving much international pressure to act, the <a href="../../wp/e/European_Union.htm" title="European Union">EU</a> sent two delegations, one of them led by <!--del_lnk--> Mário Soares, to visit Algeria and investigate the massacres in the first half of 1998; their reports condemned the Islamist armed groups. Towns soon became safer, although massacres continued in rural areas. The GIA's policy of massacring civilians had already caused a split among its commanders, with some rejecting the policy; on <!--del_lnk--> September 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1998, this disagreement was formalized with the formation of the <!--del_lnk--> Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), based in the mountains west of Kabylie and led by <!--del_lnk--> Hassan Hattab.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> September 11, Zéroual surprised observers by announcing his resignation. New elections were arranged, and on <!--del_lnk--> April 15, <!--del_lnk--> 1999, the army-backed ex-independence-fighter <!--del_lnk--> Abdelaziz Bouteflika was <!--del_lnk--> elected president with, according to the authorities, 74% of the votes. All the other candidates had withdrawn from the election shortly before, citing fraud concerns. Bouteflika continued negotiations with the AIS, and on <!--del_lnk--> June 5 the AIS agreed, in principle, to disband. Bouteflika followed up this success for the government by pardoning a number of Islamist prisoners convicted of minor offenses and pushing the Civil Harmony Act through parliament, a law allowing Islamist fighters not guilty of murder or rape to escape all prosecution if they turn themselves in. This law was finally approved by referendum on <!--del_lnk--> September 16, <!--del_lnk--> 1999, and a number of fighters, including <!--del_lnk--> Mustapha Kartali, took advantage of it to give themselves up and resume normal life—sometimes angering those who had suffered at the hands of the guerrillas. FIS leadership expressed dissatisfaction with the results, feeling that the AIS had stopped fighting without solving any of the issues; but their main voice outside of prison, <!--del_lnk--> Abdelkader Hachani, was assassinated on <!--del_lnk--> November 22. Violence declined, though not stopping altogether, and a sense of normality started returning to Algeria.<p>The AIS fully disbanded after <!--del_lnk--> January 11, <!--del_lnk--> 2000, having negotiated a special amnesty with the government. The GIA, torn by splits and desertions and denounced by all sides even in the Islamist movement, was slowly destroyed by army operations over the next few years; by the time of <!--del_lnk--> Antar Zouabri's death in early 2002, it was effectively incapacitated. The government's efforts were given a boost in the aftermath of the <a href="../../wp/s/September_11%252C_2001_attacks.htm" title="September 11, 2001">September 11, 2001</a> attacks; <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> sympathy for Algeria's government increased, and was expressed concretely through such actions as the freezing of GIA and GSPC assets and the supply of infrared goggles to the army.<p>With the GIA's decline, the GSPC was left as the most active rebel group, with about 300 fighters in 2003. It continued a campaign of assassinations of police and army personnel in its area, and also managed to expand into the <a href="../../wp/s/Sahara.htm" title="Sahara">Sahara</a>, where its southern division, led by <!--del_lnk--> Amari Saifi (nicknamed "Abderrezak el-Para", the "paratrooper"), kidnapped a number of German tourists in 2003, before being forced to flee to sparsely populated areas of <a href="../../wp/m/Mali.htm" title="Mali">Mali</a>, and later <a href="../../wp/n/Niger.htm" title="Niger">Niger</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Chad.htm" title="Chad">Chad</a>, where he was captured. By late 2003, the group's founder had been supplanted by the even more radical <!--del_lnk--> Nabil Sahraoui, who announced his open support for <!--del_lnk--> al-Qaeda, thus strengthening government ties between the U.S. and Algeria. He was reportedly killed shortly afterwards, and was succeeded by <!--del_lnk--> Abou Mossaab Abdelouadoud in 2004<p>The release of FIS leaders Madani and Belhadj in 2003 had no observable effect on the situation, illustrating a newfound governmental confidence which would be deepened by the <!--del_lnk--> 2004 presidential election, in which Bouteflika was reelected by 85% with support from two major parties and one faction of the third major party. The vote was seen as confirming strong popular support for Bouteflika's policy towards the guerrillas and the successful termination of large-scale violence. In September 2005 a national referendum was held on an <!--del_lnk--> amnesty proposal by Bouteflika's government, similar to the 1999 law, to end legal proceedings against individuals who were no longer fighting, and to provide compensation to families of people killed by government forces; the proposal was declared to have won with 97% support (see <!--del_lnk--> Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation). The proposal was implemented by Presidential decree in February 2006; particularly controversial was its provision of immunity against prosecution to surrendered ex-guerrillas (for all but the worst crimes) and Army personnel (for any action "safeguarding the nation".) According to Algerian paper <i>El Khabar</i>, over 400 GSPC guerrillas surrendered under its terms; estimates of the GSPC's size in 2005 had ranged from 300 to 1000. The fighting continued to die down in 2006, and elements within the <!--del_lnk--> FLN suggested changing the constitution to allow Bouteflika to run for a third term.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_Civil_War"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Algiers</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.African_Geography.htm">African Geography</a></h3>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" style="width:100%; font-size: 1.25em;"><b>Algiers <span style="white-space: nowrap;">(الجزائر)</span></b></td>
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<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/158/15891.jpg.htm" title="Algiers as seen from space."><img alt="Algiers as seen from space." height="179" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algiersnasa.jpg" src="../../images/158/15891.jpg" width="250" /></a></span></div><small>Algiers as seen from space.</small></td>
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<td style="vertical-align: middle;"><a class="image" href="../../images/158/15892.gif.htm" title="Official seal of Algiers"><img alt="Official seal of Algiers" height="129" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Blason-alger.gif" src="../../images/158/15892.gif" width="100" /></a></td>
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<td><small><b><!--del_lnk--> Seal</b></small></td>
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<td align="center" colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Nickname: "<i>al-Bahjah</i>"</td>
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<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/158/15893.png.htm" title="Location of Algiers within Algeria"><img alt="Location of Algiers within Algeria" height="171" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algeria-Alger.png" src="../../images/158/15893.png" width="175" /></a></span></div><small>Location of Algiers within <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a></small></td>
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<th>Algiers</th>
<td>944 A.D.</td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Area</th>
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<th> - City</th>
<td>273 <!--del_lnk--> km²</td>
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<th>Population</th>
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<th> - City (2003)</th>
<td>around 2.9 million people</td>
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<p><b>Algiers</b> (<a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>: <b>الجزائر</b> <i>al-Jazāʼir</i>, literally "the Islands"; <a href="../../wp/b/Berber_languages.htm" title="Berber languages">Berber</a>: <b>Ldzayer</b>, <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a>: <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Alger</i></span>) is the <a href="../../wp/c/Capital.htm" title="Capital">capital</a> and largest city of <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> in <a href="../../wp/n/North_Africa.htm" title="North Africa">North Africa</a>. According to the 1998 census the population of the city proper was 1,519,570, whilst the total for the <!--del_lnk--> agglomeration was 2,135,630. Nicknamed <i>al-Bahjah</i> (البهجة) or <i>Alger la Blanche</i> ("Algiers the White") for the glistening white of its buildings as seen sloping up from the sea, it is situated on the west side of a bay of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a>. The city name is derived from its location on the slopes of the "<!--del_lnk--> Sahel", a chain of hills parallel to the coast.<p>The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore and the old part, the ancient city of the <!--del_lnk--> deys, climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the <!--del_lnk--> casbah or citadel, 400 feet above the sea. The casbah and the two quays form a triangle.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8480.jpg.htm" title="Algiers coast"><img alt="Algiers coast" height="263" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algiers_coast.jpg" src="../../images/158/15894.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8480.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Algiers coast</div>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15895.jpg.htm" title="City and harbour of Algiers, circa 1921"><img alt="City and harbour of Algiers, circa 1921" height="173" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algiers_CNE-v1-p58-J.jpg" src="../../images/158/15895.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15895.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> City and harbour of Algiers, circa 1921</div>
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<p>A <!--del_lnk--> Phoenician commercial outpost called <i>Ikosim</i>, turned into a <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Roman</a> small town called <!--del_lnk--> Icosium, existed on what is now the marine quarter of the city. The <i>rue de la Marine</i> follows the lines of a Roman street. Roman cemeteries existed near <i><!--del_lnk--> Bab-el-Oued</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Bab Azoun</i>. The city was given <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> rights by <!--del_lnk--> Vespasian. The <!--del_lnk--> bishops of Icosium are mentioned as late as the 5th century.<p>The present city was founded in 944 by <!--del_lnk--> Buluggin ibn Ziri, the founder of the <!--del_lnk--> Zirid-<!--del_lnk--> Senhaja dynasty, which was overthrown by <!--del_lnk--> Roger II of Sicily in 1148. The <!--del_lnk--> Zirids had before that date lost Algiers, which in 1159 was occupied by the <!--del_lnk--> Almohades, and in the 13th century came under the dominion of the Abd-el-Wadid sultans of <!--del_lnk--> Tlemcen.<p>Nominally part of the sultanate of <!--del_lnk--> Tlemcen, Algiers had a large measure of independence under <!--del_lnk--> amirs of its own, <!--del_lnk--> Oran being the chief seaport of the Abd-el-Wahid. The islet in front of the harbour, subsequently known as the Penon, had been occupied by the Spaniards as early as 1302. Thereafter, a considerable trade grew up between Algiers and <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>.<p>Algiers, however, continued to be of comparatively little importance until after the expulsion from Spain of the <!--del_lnk--> Moors, many of whom sought an asylum in the city. In 1510, following their occupation of Oran and other towns on the coast of <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a>, the Spaniards fortified the Penon. In 1516, the amir of Algiers, Selim b. Teumi, invited the brothers Arouj and Khair-ad-Din (<!--del_lnk--> Barbarossa) to expel the Spaniards. Arouj came to Algiers, caused Selim to be assassinated, and seized the town. Khair-ad-Din, succeeding Arouj, drove the Spaniards from the Penon (1550) and was the founder of the <i><!--del_lnk--> pashaluk</i>, afterwards <i><!--del_lnk--> beylik</i>, of Algeria.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15896.jpg.htm" title="The bombardment of Algiers by Lord Exmouth, August 1816, painted by Thomas Luny"><img alt="The bombardment of Algiers by Lord Exmouth, August 1816, painted by Thomas Luny" height="167" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Sm_Bombardment_of_Algiers%2C_August_1816-Luny.jpg" src="../../images/158/15896.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15896.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The bombardment of Algiers by Lord Exmouth, August 1816, painted by Thomas Luny</div>
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<p>Algiers from this time became the chief seat of the <!--del_lnk--> Barbary pirates. In October 1541, the emperor <a href="../../wp/c/Charles_V%252C_Holy_Roman_Emperor.htm" title="Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor">Charles V</a> sought to capture the city, but a storm destroyed a great number of his ships, and his army of some 30,000, chiefly Spaniards, was defeated by the Algerians under their <!--del_lnk--> pasha, Hassan. From the 17th century, Algiers, free of <a href="../../wp/o/Ottoman_Empire.htm" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman</a> control and sited on the periphery of both the Ottoman and European economic spheres, and depending for its existence on a Mediterranean that was increasingly controlled by European shipping, backed by European navies, turned to piracy and ransoming. Repeated attempts were made by various nations to subdue the pirates that disturbed shipping in the western Mediterranean and engaged in slave raids as far north as Cornwall. The <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> fought two wars (the <!--del_lnk--> First and <!--del_lnk--> Second Barbary Wars) over Algiers' attacks on shipping.<p>In 1816, the city was bombarded by a British squadron under <!--del_lnk--> Lord Exmouth (a descendant of Thomas Pellew, taken in an Algierian slave raid in 1715), assisted by <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Dutch</a> men-of-war, and the corsair fleet burned. On the 4th of July in 1830, on the pretext of an affront to their consul — whom the <!--del_lnk--> dey had hit with a <!--del_lnk--> fly-whisk when he said the French government was not prepared to pay its large outstanding debts to two Algerian Jewish merchants — a French army under <!--del_lnk--> General de Bourmont attacked the city, which capitulated on the following day.<p>The history of Algiers from 1830 to 1962 is bound to the larger history of <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> and its relationship to <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>.<p>In 1962, after a bloody independence struggle in which hundreds of thousands of Algerians died (a million according to official Algerian history) at the hands of the French army and the Algerian <!--del_lnk--> Front de Libération Nationale, Algeria finally gained its independence, with Algiers as its capital. Since then, despite losing its entire European or <!--del_lnk--> Pied-noir population, the city has expanded massively — it now has 3 million inhabitants, or 10% of Algeria's population — and its suburbs now cover most of the surrounding <!--del_lnk--> Metidja plain.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15897.jpg.htm" title="Algiers by night"><img alt="Algiers by night" height="200" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algernuit.jpg" src="../../images/158/15897.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15897.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Algiers by night</div>
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<ul>
<li>Algiers is hosting the <!--del_lnk--> 2007 All-Africa Games for the 2nd time, they hosted the event in <!--del_lnk--> 1978.</ul>
<p><a id="Local_architecture" name="Local_architecture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Local architecture</span></h2>
<p>There are many public buildings of interest, including the whole <!--del_lnk--> casbah quarter, Martyrs Square (<i>Sahat ech-Chouhada</i> ساحة الشهداء), the government offices (formerly the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">British</a> consulate), the "Grand", "New", and Ketchaoua <a href="../../wp/m/Mosque.htm" title="Mosque">Mosques</a>, the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Catholic cathedral of <!--del_lnk--> Notre Dame d'Afrique, the <!--del_lnk--> Bardo Museum (a former Turkish mansion), the old <i>Bibliotheque Nationale d'Alger</i> — a <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkish</a> palace built in 1799–1800 — and the new National Library, built in a style reminiscent of the <!--del_lnk--> British Library.<p>The main building in the <!--del_lnk--> casbah was begun in 1516 on the site of an older building, and served as the palace of the deys until the <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> conquest. A road has been cut through the centre of the building, the mosque turned into <!--del_lnk--> barracks, and the hall of audience allowed to fall into ruin. There still remain a <!--del_lnk--> minaret and some marble arches and columns. Traces exist of the vaults in which were stored the treasures of the dey.<p>The Grand Mosque (<i>Jamaa-el-Kebir</i> الجامع الكبير) is traditionally said to be the oldest mosque in Algiers. The pulpit (<i><!--del_lnk--> minbar</i> منبر) bears an inscription showing that the building existed in 1018. The minaret was built by <!--del_lnk--> Abu Tachfin, sultan of <!--del_lnk--> Tlemcen, in 1324. The interior of the mosque is square and is divided into aisles by columns joined by <!--del_lnk--> Moorish arches.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15898.jpg.htm" title="The New Mosque (Jamaa el-Jedid) in Algiers — late 1800's"><img alt="The New Mosque (Jamaa el-Jedid) in Algiers — late 1800's" height="164" longdesc="/wiki/Image:New_Mosque_%28Jamaa_el-Jedid%29_in_Algiers_04968r.jpg" src="../../images/158/15898.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15898.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The New Mosque (Jamaa el-Jedid) in Algiers — late 1800's</div>
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<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15899.jpg.htm" title="The Monument of the Martyrs (Maquam E’chahid)."><img alt="The Monument of the Martyrs (Maquam E’chahid)." height="263" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Houbel.JPG" src="../../images/158/15899.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/158/15899.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Monument of the Martyrs (Maquam E’chahid).</div>
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<p>The New Mosque (<i>Jamaa-el-Jedid</i> الجامع الجديد), dating from the 17th century, is in the form of a <!--del_lnk--> Greek cross, surmounted by a large white cupola, with four small cupolas at the corners. The minaret is 90 ft. high. The interior resembles that of the Grand Mosque.<p>The church of the Holy Trinity (built in 1870) stands at the southern end of the <i>rue d'Isly</i> near the site of the demolished Fort Bab Azoun باب عزون. The interior is richly decorated with various coloured marbles. Many of these marbles contain memorial inscriptions relating to the English residents (voluntary and involuntary) of Algiers from the time of John Tipton, British consul in 1580. One tablet records that in 1631 two Algerine pirate crews landed in <a href="../../wp/i/Ireland.htm" title="Ireland">Ireland</a>, sacked <!--del_lnk--> Baltimore, and carried off its inhabitants to slavery; another recalls the romantic escape of Ida M’Donnell, daughter of Admiral Ulric, consul-general of <a href="../../wp/d/Denmark.htm" title="Denmark">Denmark</a>, and wife of the British consul. When Lord Exmouth was about to bombard the city in 1816, the British consul was thrown into prison and loaded with chains. Mrs M’Donnell — who was but sixteen — escaped to the British fleet disguised as a midshipman, carrying a basket of vegetables in which her baby was hidden. (Mrs M’Donnell subsequently married the duc de Talleyrand-Perigord and died at <!--del_lnk--> Florence in 1880). Among later residents commemorated is Edward Lloyd, who was the first person to show the value of <!--del_lnk--> esparto grass for the manufacture of paper, and thus started an industry which is one of the most important in Algeria.<p>The Ketchaoua mosque (<i>Djamaa Ketchaoua</i> جامع كتشاوة), at the foot of the Casbah, was before independence in 1962 the cathedral of St Philippe, itself made in 1845 from a mosque dating from 1612. The principal entrance, reached by a flight of 23 steps, is ornamented with a <!--del_lnk--> portico supported by four black-veined marble columns. The roof of the nave is of <!--del_lnk--> Moorish <!--del_lnk--> plaster work. It rests on a series of arcades supported by white marble columns. Several of these columns belonged to the original mosque. In one of the chapels was a tomb containing the bones of <!--del_lnk--> San Geronimo. The building seems a curious blend of Moorish and <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine</a> styles.<p>Algiers possesses a college with schools of law, medicine, science and letters. The college buildings are large and handsome. The <!--del_lnk--> Bardo museum holds some of the ancient sculptures and mosaics discovered in Algeria, together with medals and Algerian money.<p>The port of Algiers is sheltered from all winds. There are two harbours, both artificial — the old or northern harbour and the southern or Agha harbour. The northern harbour covers an area of 235 acres (950,000 m²). An opening in the south <!--del_lnk--> jetty affords an entrance into Agha harbour, constructed in Agha Bay. Agha harbour has also an independent entrance on its southern side.<p>The inner harbour was begun in 1518 by Khair-ad-Din <!--del_lnk--> Barbarossa (see History, below), who, to accommodate his pirate vessels, caused the island on which was Fort Penon to be connected with the mainland by a <!--del_lnk--> mole. The lighthouse which occupies the site of Fort Penon was built in 1544.<p>Algiers was a walled city from the time of the deys until the close of the 19th century. The French, after their occupation of the city (1830), built a <!--del_lnk--> rampart, <!--del_lnk--> parapet and <!--del_lnk--> ditch, with two terminal forts, <!--del_lnk--> Bab Azoun باب عزون to the south and <!--del_lnk--> Bab-el-Oued باب الواد to the north. The forts and part of the ramparts were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century, when a line of forts occupying the heights of <!--del_lnk--> Bouzareah بوزريعة (at an elevation of 1300 ft. above the sea) took their place.<p>Notre-Dame d'Afrique, a church built (1858–1872) in a mixture of the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman</a> and <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine</a> styles, is conspicuously situated, overlooking the sea, on the shoulder of the <!--del_lnk--> Bouzareah hills, 2 m. to the north of the city. Above the altar is a statue of the <!--del_lnk--> Virgin depicted as a black woman. The church also contains a solid silver statue of the <!--del_lnk--> archangel Michael, belonging to the confraternity of <!--del_lnk--> Neapolitan fishermen.<p>Villa Abd-el-Tif, former residence of the <!--del_lnk--> dey, was used during the French period, to accommodate French artists, chiefly painters, and winners of the <!--del_lnk--> Abd-el-Tif prize, among whom <!--del_lnk--> Maurice Boitel, for a while of two years. Nowadays, Algerian artists are back in the villa's studios.<p><a id="Sister_relationships" name="Sister_relationships"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Sister relationships</span></h2>
<p>Algiers has <!--del_lnk--> sister relationships with several places worldwide:<table width="100%">
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<td valign="top">
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<li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/584.png.htm" title="People's Republic of China"><img alt="People's Republic of China" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China.svg" src="../../images/5/584.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/b/Beijing.htm" title="Beijing">Beijing</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/People%2527s_Republic_of_China.htm" title="People's Republic of China">China</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/538.png.htm" title="Germany"><img alt="Germany" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Germany.svg" src="../../images/5/538.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/b/Berlin.htm" title="Berlin">Berlin</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/72/7234.png.htm" title="Egypt"><img alt="Egypt" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Egypt.svg" src="../../images/3/386.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/c/Cairo.htm" title="Cairo">Cairo</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/526.png.htm" title="France"><img alt="France" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_France.svg" src="../../images/5/526.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a>, <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/187/18768.png.htm" title="Canada"><img alt="Canada" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Canada.svg" src="../../images/7/738.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/m/Montreal.htm" title="Montreal">Montreal</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/3/395.png.htm" title="Morocco"><img alt="Morocco" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Morocco.svg" src="../../images/3/395.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Casablanca, <a href="../../wp/m/Morocco.htm" title="Morocco">Morocco</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/7/789.png.htm" title="United Kingdom"><img alt="United Kingdom" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg" src="../../images/7/789.png" width="22" /></a> <a class="image" href="../../images/5/525.png.htm" title="England"><img alt="England" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_England_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/5/525.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/3/396.png.htm" title="Tunisia"><img alt="Tunisia" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Tunisia.svg" src="../../images/3/396.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/t/Tunis.htm" title="Tunis">Tunis</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Tunisia.htm" title="Tunisia">Tunisia</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/592.png.htm" title="Russia"><img alt="Russia" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Russia_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/5/592.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/m/Moscow.htm" title="Moscow">Moscow</a>, <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/6/695.png.htm" title="United States"><img alt="United States" height="12" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg" src="../../images/6/695.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/539.png.htm" title="Spain"><img alt="Spain" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Spain.svg" src="../../images/5/539.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/b/Barcelona.htm" title="Barcelona">Barcelona</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/7/719.png.htm" title="Switzerland"><img alt="Switzerland" height="20" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Switzerland.svg" src="../../images/5/541.png" width="20" /></a> <a href="../../wp/g/Geneva.htm" title="Geneva">Geneva</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/3/393.png.htm" title="Libya"><img alt="Libya" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Libya.svg" src="../../images/3/393.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/t/Tripoli.htm" title="Tripoli">Tripoli</a>, <a href="../../wp/l/Libya.htm" title="Libya">Libya</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/551.png.htm" title="Italy"><img alt="Italy" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Italy.svg" src="../../images/5/551.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a>, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/10/1045.png.htm" title="Senegal"><img alt="Senegal" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Senegal.svg" src="../../images/10/1045.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/d/Dakar.htm" title="Dakar">Dakar</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Senegal.htm" title="Senegal">Senegal</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/545.png.htm" title="Netherlands"><img alt="Netherlands" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg" src="../../images/5/545.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/a/Amsterdam.htm" title="Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a>, <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a></ul>
</td>
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</table>
<p><i>In addition, many of the wards and cities within Algiers maintain sister-city relationships with other foreign cities.</i><p><a id="Algiers_Communes_and_Dairas" name="Algiers_Communes_and_Dairas"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algiers"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Algol</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Physics.Space_Astronomy.htm">Space (Astronomy)</a></h3>
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<table class="toccolours" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em;">
<caption style="margin-left: inherit;"><b>Beta Persei A/B/C</b></caption>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;">
<div style="width: 250px; text-align: center;"><a class="image" href="../../images/164/16448.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="210" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Position_Beta_Per.png" src="../../images/164/16448.png" width="250" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: smaller;">The position of Algol.</span></div>
</td>
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<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background-color: #FFFFC0;">Observation data<br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Epoch J2000</small></th>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Constellation</b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Perseus</td>
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<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Right ascension</b></td>
<td>03<sup>h</sup> 08<sup>m</sup> 10.1315<sup>s</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Declination</b></td>
<td>+40° 57′ 20.332″</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Apparent magnitude <small>(V)</small></b></td>
<td>2.12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background-color: #FFFFC0;">Characteristics</th>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Spectral type</b></td>
<td>B8V/K02IV/A5V</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td><b>B-V <!--del_lnk--> colour index</b></td>
<td>-0.05</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td><b>U-B <!--del_lnk--> colour index</b></td>
<td>-0.37</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Variable type</b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Eclipsing binary</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background-color: #FFFFC0;"><!--del_lnk--> Astrometry</th>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Radial velocity <small>(R<sub>v</sub>)</small></b></td>
<td>3.7 <!--del_lnk--> km/s</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Proper motion <small>(μ)</small></b></td>
<td>RA: 2.39 <!--del_lnk--> mas/<!--del_lnk--> yr<br /> Dec.: -1.44 <!--del_lnk--> mas/<!--del_lnk--> yr</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Parallax <small>(π)</small></b></td>
<td>35.14 ± 0.90 <!--del_lnk--> mas</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Distance</b></td>
<td>93 ± 2 <!--del_lnk--> ly<br /> (28.5 ± 0.7 <!--del_lnk--> pc)</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Absolute magnitude <small>(M<sub>V</sub>)</small></b></td>
<td>-0.15</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background-color: #FFFFC0;">Details</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Mass</b></td>
<td>3.59/0.79/1.67 <!--del_lnk--> <i>M</i><sub>☉</sub></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Radius</b></td>
<td>2.3/3.0/0.9 <!--del_lnk--> <i>R</i><sub>☉</sub></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Luminosity</b></td>
<td>98/3.4/4.1 <!--del_lnk--> <i>L</i><sub>☉</sub></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Temperature</b></td>
<td>12,000/4,500/8,500 <!--del_lnk--> K</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Metallicity</b></td>
<td><i>Not available</i></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Rotation</b></td>
<td>65 km/s.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Age</b></td>
<td>< 3 × 10<sup>8</sup> <!--del_lnk--> years</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background-color: #FFFFC0;"><!--del_lnk--> Other designations</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<div style="width: 250px;">Algol, Gorgona, Gorgonea Prima, Demon Star, El Ghoul, 26 Per, <!--del_lnk--> GJ 9110, <!--del_lnk--> HR 936, <!--del_lnk--> BD +40°673, <!--del_lnk--> HD 19356, <!--del_lnk--> GCTP 646.00, <!--del_lnk--> SAO 38592, FK5 111, Wo 9110, ADS 2362, WDS 03082+4057A, <!--del_lnk--> HIP 14576.</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Algol</b> (β Per / <!--del_lnk--> Beta Persei) is a bright <a href="../../wp/s/Star.htm" title="Star">star</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> constellation <!--del_lnk--> Perseus. It is one of the best known <!--del_lnk--> eclipsing binaries, the first such star to be discovered, and also one of the first (non-<!--del_lnk--> nova) <!--del_lnk--> variable stars to be discovered. Algol's <!--del_lnk--> magnitude changes regularly between 2.1 and 3.4 over a period of 2 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes.<p>
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<p>The name Algol means "demon star," (from <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> <b>الغول</b> <i>al-ghūl</i>, "the <!--del_lnk--> ghoul") which was probably given due to its peculiar behaviour. In the <!--del_lnk--> constellation Perseus, it represents the eye of the <!--del_lnk--> Gorgon <!--del_lnk--> Medusa.<p>It is known as 大陵五 (the Fifth Star of the Mausoleum) in Chinese.<p><a href="../../wp/a/Astrology.htm" title="Astrology">Astrologically</a>, Algol is considered the most <!--del_lnk--> unfortunate star in the sky. In the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> it was one of the 15 <!--del_lnk--> Behenian stars, associated with the <a href="../../wp/d/Diamond.htm" title="Diamond">diamond</a> and <!--del_lnk--> hellebore, and marked with the <!--del_lnk--> kabbalistic sign <a class="image" href="../../images/164/16449.png.htm" title="Image:Agrippa1531_caputAlgol.png"><img alt="Image:Agrippa1531_caputAlgol.png" height="14" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Agrippa1531_caputAlgol.png" src="../../images/164/16449.png" width="37" /></a>.<p>The variability of Algol was first recorded in <!--del_lnk--> 1667 by <!--del_lnk--> Geminiano Montanari, but it is probable that this property was noticed long before this time. The first person to propose a mechanism for the variability of this star was the British amateur astronomer <!--del_lnk--> John Goodricke. In May, 1783 he presented his findings to the <!--del_lnk--> Royal Society, suggesting that the periodic variability was caused by a dark body passing in front of the star (or else that the star itself has a darker region that is periodically turned toward the Earth.) For his report he was awarded the <!--del_lnk--> Copley Medal. <p>In 1881, the Harvard astronomer <!--del_lnk--> Edward Pickering presented evidence that Algol was actually an eclipsing binary. This was confirmed a few years later, in 1889, when the Potsdam astronomer <!--del_lnk--> Hermann Vogel found periodic <!--del_lnk--> doppler shifts in the spectrum of Algol, infering variations in the <!--del_lnk--> radial velocity of this binary system. Thus Algol became one of the first known <!--del_lnk--> spectroscopic binaries.<p><a id="Star_system" name="Star_system"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Star system</span></h2>
<p>As an eclipsing binary, it is actually two stars in close orbit around one another. Because the <!--del_lnk--> orbital plane coincidentally contains the <a href="../../wp/e/Earth.htm" title="Earth">Earth</a>'s line of sight, the dimmer star (Algol B) passes in front of the brighter star (Algol A) once per orbit, and the amount of light reaching Earth is temporarily decreased. To be more precise, however, Algol happens to be a triple star system: the eclipsing binary pair is separated by only 0.062 <!--del_lnk--> AU, while the third star (Algol C) is at an average distance of 2.69 AU from the pair and the mutual <!--del_lnk--> orbital period is 681 days (1.86 years). The total mass of the system is about 5.8 solar masses, and the mass ratios of A, B and C are about 4.5 : 1 : 2.<table class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto">
<caption><i>Orbital Elements of the Algol System</i></caption>
<tr>
<th>Components</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> Semimajor axis</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> Ellipticity</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> Period</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> Inclination</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>A—B</th>
<td align="center">0.00218″</td>
<td align="center">0.00</td>
<td align="center">2.87 days</td>
<td align="center">97.69°</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>(AB)—C</th>
<td align="center">0.09461″</td>
<td align="center">0.225</td>
<td align="center">680.05 days</td>
<td align="center">83.98°</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>Studies of Algol led to the <b>Algol paradox</b> in the theory of <!--del_lnk--> stellar evolution: although components of a binary star form at the same time, and massive stars evolve much faster than the less massive ones, it was observed that the more massive component Algol A is still in the <!--del_lnk--> main sequence, while the less massive Algol B is a <!--del_lnk--> subgiant star at a later evolutionary stage. The paradox can be solved by <!--del_lnk--> mass transfer: when the more massive star became a subgiant, it filled its <!--del_lnk--> Roche lobe, and most of the mass was transferred to the other star, which is still in the main sequence. In some binaries similar to Algol, a gas flow can actually be seen.<p>This system also exhibits variable activity in the form of <!--del_lnk--> x-ray and <a href="../../wp/r/Radio.htm" title="Radio">radio</a> flares. The former is thought to be caused by the magnetic fields of the AB components interacting with the mass transfer. The radio emissions may be created by magnetic cycles similar to <!--del_lnk--> sunspots, but, as the magnetic fields around these stars are up to ten times stronger than that of the <a href="../../wp/s/Sun.htm" title="Sun">Sun</a>, these radio flares are more powerful and longer lasting.<p>Algol is 92.8 <!--del_lnk--> light years from Earth; however, about 7.3 million years ago it passed within 9.8 light years and its <!--del_lnk--> apparent magnitude was approximately −2.5, considerably brighter than <a href="../../wp/s/Sirius.htm" title="Sirius">Sirius</a> is today. Because the total mass of the system is 5.8 solar masses, and despite the fairly large distance at closest approach, this may have been enough to slightly perturb the <a href="../../wp/s/Solar_System.htm" title="Solar system">solar system</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> Oort cloud and increase the number of <a href="../../wp/c/Comet.htm" title="Comet">comets</a> entering the inner solar system. However, the actual increase in net cratering rate is believed to have been quite small.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algol"</div>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Design_and_Technology.Railway_transport.htm">Railway transport</a></h3>
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<table class="infobox bordered" style="width: 23em; text-align: left; font-size: 90%">
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<th bgcolor="#CC9966" colspan="2" style="font-size: large; text-align:center"><b>Algoma Central Railway</b></th>
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<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="logo" height="115" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algoma-central-railway-logo.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="115" /></td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Reporting marks</th>
<td>AC, ACIS</td>
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<tr>
<th>Locale</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Northern Ontario</td>
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<tr>
<th>Dates of operation</th>
<td>1899 – 2001</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> Track gauge</th>
<td>4 <!--del_lnk--> ft 8½ <!--del_lnk--> in (1435 <!--del_lnk--> mm) (<!--del_lnk--> standard gauge)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Headquarters</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario</td>
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</table>
<p>The <b>Algoma Central Railway</b> (<!--del_lnk--> AAR <!--del_lnk--> reporting marks <b>AC</b>, <b>ACIS</b>) was a <!--del_lnk--> railway in <!--del_lnk--> Northern Ontario that ran between <!--del_lnk--> Sault Ste. Marie and <!--del_lnk--> Hearst, with a branch line to <!--del_lnk--> Michipicoten Harbour. The area served by the railway is sparsely populated, with few <!--del_lnk--> roads. The railway is well known for its <!--del_lnk--> Agawa Canyon tour train. The railway was purchased by <!--del_lnk--> Wisconsin Central in 1995 (which in turn was purchased by <!--del_lnk--> Canadian National Railway in 2001) and is now operated as part of CN's Eastern Division.<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>The Algoma Central Railway was initially owned by <!--del_lnk--> Francis H. Clergue, who required a railway to haul resources from the interior of the <!--del_lnk--> Algoma District to Clergue's industries in Sault Ste. Marie; specifically, to transport logs to his <!--del_lnk--> pulp mill and <!--del_lnk--> iron ore from the <!--del_lnk--> Helen Mine near <!--del_lnk--> Wawa to a proposed <!--del_lnk--> steel mill (which was later named <!--del_lnk--> Algoma Steel). The Algoma Central Railway was chartered on <!--del_lnk--> August 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1899. The railway's Dominion and provincial charters gave it authority to build north from Sault Ste. Marie to a <!--del_lnk--> junction with the <a href="../../wp/c/Canadian_Pacific_Railway.htm" title="Canadian Pacific Railway">Canadian Pacific Railway</a>'s main line, as well as a branch line to Michipicoten Harbour, on <a href="../../wp/l/Lake_Superior.htm" title="Lake Superior">Lake Superior</a> near Wawa.<p>In 1901 Clergue acquired the charter of the <!--del_lnk--> Ontario, Hudson Bay and Western Railway, who were intending to build a line between the CPR main line and <a href="../../wp/h/Hudson_Bay.htm" title="Hudson Bay">Hudson Bay</a> and then changed the name of the Algoma Central Railway to the <i>Algoma Central and Hudson Bay Railway</i>, anticipating a connection either to <!--del_lnk--> Moose Factory on <!--del_lnk--> James Bay, or to some point on Hudson Bay.<p>The Algoma Central fell victim to the bankruptcy of Clergue's <!--del_lnk--> Consolidated Lake Superior Corporation in 1903. At that time, the line reached 56 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie with a 20 mile segment running east from Michipicoten Harbour that did not yet connect with the main line. Construction was stopped, but was resumed in 1909 and the line was extended northward through to junctions with the Michipicoten Harbour branch (at <!--del_lnk--> Hawk Junction), the Canadian Pacific Railway (at <!--del_lnk--> Franz) and the <!--del_lnk--> Canadian Northern Railway (at <!--del_lnk--> Oba). In 1914 it finally reached Hearst, a town 296 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie that was a divisional point on the <!--del_lnk--> National Transcontinental Railway. By that point, Clergue's dream of building a railway to Hudson Bay or James Bay had long been abandoned, and the railway's northern terminus remained at Hearst, around 150 miles from James Bay. However, the phrase <i>and Hudson Bay</i> was not removed from the railway's name until <!--del_lnk--> June 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1965.<p>The Algoma Central was the first <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canadian</a> railway to fully dieselize, in 1952.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16451.jpg.htm" title="The Algoma Central Railway's popular Agawa Canyon Tour Train"><img alt="The Algoma Central Railway's popular Agawa Canyon Tour Train" height="232" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algoma_Central_Railway%2C_Sault_Ste._Marie%2C_Ontario.jpg" src="../../images/164/16451.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16451.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Algoma Central Railway's popular <!--del_lnk--> Agawa Canyon Tour Train</div>
</div>
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<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16452.png.htm" title="Waypoints on the Algoma Central Railway"><img alt="Waypoints on the Algoma Central Railway" height="434" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Algoma_Central_Railway_waypoints_1.png" src="../../images/164/16452.png" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16452.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Waypoints on the Algoma Central Railway</div>
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</div>
<p>In the 1960s, the railway began to promote the natural beauty of the District of Algoma to <!--del_lnk--> tourists, especially the <!--del_lnk--> Agawa Canyon, a canyon around the <!--del_lnk--> Agawa River, 114 rail miles north of Sault Ste. Marie that is not accessible by road. The Algoma Central developed a tourist stopover here, which was a great success for the railway. Due to the popularity of the Agawa Canyon excursions, the Algoma Central would run the longest <!--del_lnk--> passenger trains in <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a>, often up to 20 to 24 cars long. During the 1970s and 1980s around 100,000 people per year would tour Agawa Canyon.<p>The railway had been in the <!--del_lnk--> shipping business since 1900, when it had purchased four <!--del_lnk--> steamships. Starting around the 1960s, the railway greatly expanded its marine operations and diversified into <!--del_lnk--> trucking, <!--del_lnk--> real estate, <!--del_lnk--> forestry, and <a href="../../wp/m/Mining.htm" title="Mining">mining</a> operations. These operations were more profitable than the railway operations, and on <!--del_lnk--> April 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1990, as part of a corporate reorganization, the name of the company was changed to <!--del_lnk--> Algoma Central Corporation, and the Algoma Central Railway became a subsidiary of it. A few years later the Algoma Central Railway was put up for sale. On <!--del_lnk--> February 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1995, Wisconsin Central Ltd. purchased Algoma Central Railway Incorporated, operating the railway as a separate <!--del_lnk--> subsidiary, Wisconsin Central Canada Holdings. In 1998, Algoma Steel closed its iron ore mine in Wawa, and the branch line between Michipicoten Harbour and Hawk Junction was abandoned. Wisconsin Central Ltd. was acquired by Canadian National on <!--del_lnk--> October 9, <!--del_lnk--> 2001, whereupon the Algoma Central became part of CN's Eastern Division.<p>The railway is the subject of a song by <!--del_lnk--> Stompin' Tom Connors.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algoma_Central_Railway"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Algorithm</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Mathematics.htm">Mathematics</a></h3>
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<p>In <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematics.htm" title="Mathematics">mathematics</a>, <!--del_lnk--> computing, <a href="../../wp/l/Linguistics.htm" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a>, and related disciplines, an <b>algorithm</b> is a finite list of well-defined instructions for accomplishing some task that, given an initial state, will <!--del_lnk--> terminate in a defined end-state.<p>The concept of an algorithm originated as a means of recording procedures for solving mathematical problems such as finding the common <!--del_lnk--> divisor of two numbers or multiplying two numbers. The concept was formalized in 1936 through <a href="../../wp/a/Alan_Turing.htm" title="Alan Turing">Alan Turing</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> Turing machines and <!--del_lnk--> Alonzo Church's <!--del_lnk--> lambda calculus, which in turn formed the foundation of <a href="../../wp/c/Computer_science.htm" title="Computer science">computer science</a>.<script type="text/javascript">
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<p><a id="Etymology" name="Etymology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Etymology</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Al-Khwārizmī, the <!--del_lnk--> Persian astronomer and <!--del_lnk--> mathematician, wrote a treatise in <!--del_lnk--> Arabic in 825 AD, <i>On Calculation with Hindu Numerals</i>, which was translated into Latin in the 12th century as <i>Algoritmi de numero Indorum</i><!--del_lnk--> , which title was likely intended to mean "Algoritmi on the numbers of the Indians", where "Algoritmi" was the translator's rendition of the author's name; but people misunderstanding the title treated <i>Algoritmi</i> as a Latin plural and this led to the word "algorithm" (Latin <i>algorithmus</i>) coming to mean "calculation method". The intrusive "h" is most likely due to a false cognate with <!--del_lnk--> Greek αριθμος <i>arithmos</i> = "number".<p>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/56.png.htm" title="Flowcharts are often used to graphically represent algorithms."><img alt="Flowcharts are often used to graphically represent algorithms." class="thumbimage" height="246" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LampFlowchart.svg" src="../../images/0/56.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/0/56.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Flowcharts are often used to graphically represent algorithms.</div>
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<p><a id="Why_algorithms_are_necessary:_an_informal_definition" name="Why_algorithms_are_necessary:_an_informal_definition"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Why algorithms are necessary: an informal definition</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd><i>For a detailed presentation of the various points of view around the definition of "algorithm" see <!--del_lnk--> Algorithm characterizations. For examples of simple addition algorithms specified in the detailed manner described in <!--del_lnk--> Algorithm characterizations, see <!--del_lnk--> Algorithm examples.</i></dl>
<p>No generally accepted <i>formal</i> definition of "algorithm" exists. We can, however, derive clues to the issues involved and an informal meaning of the word from the following quotation from Boolos and Jeffrey (1974, 1999):<dl>
<dd>"No human being can write fast enough, or long enough, or small enough to list all members of an enumerably infinite set by writing out their names, one after another, in some notation. But humans can do something equally useful, in the case of certain enumerably infinite sets: They can give <b>explicit instructions for determining the nth member of the set</b>, for arbitrary finite n. Such instructions are to be given quite explicitly, in a form in which <b>they could be followed by a computing machine</b>, or by a <b>human who is capable of carrying out only very elementary operations on symbols</b>" (boldface added, p. 19).</dl>
<p>The words "enumerably infinite" mean "countable using integers perhaps extending to infinity". Thus Boolos and Jeffrey are saying that an algorithm <i>implies</i> instructions for a process that "creates" output integers from an <i>arbitrary</i> "input" integer or integers that, in theory, can be chosen from 0 to infinity. Thus we might expect an algorithm to be an algebraic equation such as <b>y = m + n</b> — two arbitrary "input variables" <b>m</b> and <b>n</b> that produce an output <b>y</b>. Unfortunately — as we see in <!--del_lnk--> Algorithm characterizations — the word algorithm implies much more than this, something on the order of (for our addition example):<dl>
<dd>Precise instructions (in language understood by "the computer") for a "fast, efficient, good" <i>process</i> that specifies the "moves" of "the computer" (machine or human, equipped with the necessary internally-contained information and capabilities) to find, decode, and then munch arbitrary input integers/symbols <b>m</b> and <b>n</b>, symbols <b>+</b> and <b>=</b> ... and (reliably, correctly, "effectively") produce, in a "reasonable" time, output-integer <b>y</b> at a specified place and in a specified format.</dl>
<p><a id="Formalization_of_algorithms" name="Formalization_of_algorithms"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Formalization of algorithms</span></h2>
<p>Algorithms are essential to the way <a href="../../wp/c/Computer.htm" title="Computer">computers</a> process information, because a <!--del_lnk--> computer program is essentially an algorithm that tells the computer what specific steps to perform (in what specific order) in order to carry out a specified task, such as calculating employees’ paychecks or printing students’ report cards. Thus, an algorithm can be considered to be any sequence of operations that can be performed by a <!--del_lnk--> Turing-complete system. Authors who assert this thesis include Savage (1987) and Gurevich (2000):<dl>
<dd>"...Turing's informal argument in favour of his thesis justifies a stronger thesis: every algorithm can be simulated by a Turing machine" (Gurevich 2000 p.1) ...according to Savage [1987], "an algorithm is a computational process defined by a Turing machine."(Gurevich 2000 p.3)</dl>
<p>Typically, when an algorithm is associated with processing information, data is read from an input source or device, written to an output sink or device, and/or stored for further processing. Stored data is regarded as part of the internal state of the entity performing the algorithm. In practice, the state is stored in a <!--del_lnk--> data structure, but an algorithm requires the internal data only for specific operation sets called <!--del_lnk--> abstract data types.<p>For any such computational process, the algorithm must be rigorously defined: specified in the way it applies in all possible circumstances that could arise. That is, any conditional steps must be systematically dealt with, case-by-case; the criteria for each case must be clear (and computable).<p>Because an algorithm is a precise list of precise steps, the order of computation will almost always be critical to the functioning of the algorithm. Instructions are usually assumed to be listed explicitly, and are described as starting 'from the top' and going 'down to the bottom', an idea that is described more formally by <i><!--del_lnk--> flow of control</i>.<p>So far, this discussion of the formalization of an algorithm has assumed the premises of <a href="../../wp/i/Imperative_programming.htm" title="Imperative programming">imperative programming</a>. This is the most common conception, and it attempts to describe a task in discrete, 'mechanical' means. Unique to this conception of formalized algorithms is the <!--del_lnk--> assignment operation, setting the value of a variable. It derives from the intuition of '<!--del_lnk--> memory' as a scratchpad. There is an example below of such an assignment.<p>For some alternate conceptions of what constitutes an algorithm see <a href="../../wp/f/Functional_programming.htm" title="Functional programming">functional programming</a> and <!--del_lnk--> logic programming .<p><a id="Termination" name="Termination"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Termination</span></h3>
<p>Some writers restrict the definition of <i>algorithm</i> to procedures that eventually finish. In such a category Kleene 1952 places the "<i>decision procedure</i> or <i>decision method</i> or <i>algorithm</i> for the question" (Kleene p. 136). Others, including Kleene, include procedures that could run forever without stopping; such a procedure has been called a "computational method" (Knuth, Vol.1 p. 5) or "<i>calculation procedure</i> or <i>algorithm</i>" (Kleene p. 137); however, Kleene notes that such a method must eventually exhibit "some object" (Kleene p. 137).<p>Minksy makes the pertinent observation that if an algorithm hasn't terminated then we cannot answer the question "Will it terminate with the correct answer?":<dl>
<dd>"But if the length of the process is not known in advance, then 'trying' it may not be decisive, because if the process does go on forever — then at no time will we ever be sure of the answer" (Minsky (1967) p. 105)</dl>
<p>Thus the answer is: <i>undecidable</i>. We can never know, nor can we do an analysis beforehand to find out. The analysis of algorithms for their likelihood of termination is called <!--del_lnk--> Termination analysis. See <!--del_lnk--> Halting problem for more about this knotty issue.<p>In the case of non-halting computation method (calculation procedure) success can no longer be defined in terms of <i>halting</i> with a meaningful output. Instead, terms of success that allow for unbounded output sequences must be defined. For example, an algorithm that verifies if there are more zeros than ones in an infinite random binary sequence must run forever to be effective. If it is implemented correctly, however, the algorithm's output will be useful: for as long as it examines the sequence, the algorithm will give a positive response while the number of examined zeros outnumber the ones, and a negative response otherwise. Success for this algorithm could then be defined as eventually outputting only positive responses if there are actually more zeros than ones in the sequence, and in any other case outputting any mixture of positive and negative responses.<p>See the examples of (im-)"proper" subtraction at <!--del_lnk--> partial function for more about what can happen when an algorithm fails for certain of its input numbers — e.g. (i) non-termination, (ii) production of "junk" (output in the wrong format to be considered a number) or no number(s) at all (halt ends the computation with no output), (iii) wrong number(s), or (iv) a combination of these. Kleene (1952) p. 322–323 proposed that the production of "junk" or failure to produce a number is solved by having the algorithm detect these instances and produce e.g. an error message (he suggested "0"), or preferably, force the algorithm into an endless loop. (Davis (1958) does this to his subtraction algorithm (p. 12–15) — he fixes his algorithm in a second example so that it is proper subtraction). Along with the logical outcomes "true" and "false" Kleene also proposes the use of a third logical symbol "u" — undecided (p. 326) — thus an algorithm will always produce <i>something</i> when confronted with a "proposition". The problem of wrong answers must be solved with an independent "proof" of the algorithm e.g. using induction:<dl>
<dd><i>"We normally require auxiliary evidence for this (that the algorithm correctly defines a <!--del_lnk--> mu recursive function), e.g. in the form of an inductive proof that, for each argument value, the computation terminates with a unique value" (Minsky (1967) p. 186)</i></dl>
<p><a id="Expressing_algorithms" name="Expressing_algorithms"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Expressing algorithms</span></h3>
<p>Algorithms can be expressed in many kinds of notation, including <!--del_lnk--> natural languages, <!--del_lnk--> pseudocode, <!--del_lnk--> flowcharts, and <a href="../../wp/p/Programming_language.htm" title="Programming language">programming languages</a>. Natural language expressions of algorithms tend to be verbose and ambiguous, and are rarely used for complex or technical algorithms. Pseudocode and flowcharts are structured ways to express algorithms that avoid many of the ambiguities common in natural language statements, while remaining independent of a particular implementation language. Programming languages are primarily intended for expressing algorithms in a form that can be executed by a <a href="../../wp/c/Computer.htm" title="Computer">computer</a>, but are often used as a way to define or document algorithms.<p>For example, Boolos-Burgess-Jeffrey (2002) (p. 26) give examples of <!--del_lnk--> Turing machine programs written as "machine tables" (see more at <!--del_lnk--> Turing machine, <!--del_lnk--> finite state machine, <!--del_lnk--> state transition table), as "flow charts" (see more at <!--del_lnk--> state diagram), or as a form of rudimentary <!--del_lnk--> machine code or <!--del_lnk--> assembly code called "sets of quadruples" (see more at <!--del_lnk--> Turing machine). They give a more detailed outline of their "multiplication machine" (cf figure 3.7 p. 30) drawn as a "flow chart", portions of which are labeled with short natural-language descriptions.<p>When describing the computations of their "abacus machine" model (see more at <!--del_lnk--> register machine) Boolos-Burgess-Jeffrey (2002) supplement small "flow charts" (state diagrams) with natural-language and/or arithmetic expressions written inside "<!--del_lnk--> block diagrams" to summarize what the "flow charts" are accomplishing. Sometimes they combine both "block diagrams" and "flow charts" in their descriptions.<p>In his chapter 3.3 titled <i>The Definition of Algorithm</i> Sipser (2006) describes three levels of Turing machine description (all quotes p. 157):<ul>
<li><b>1 High-level description</b>:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>"...prose to describe an algorithm, ignoring the implementation details. At this level we do not need to mention how the machine manages its tape or head"</dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li><b>2 Implementation description</b>:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>"...prose used to define the way the Turing machine uses its head and the way that it stores data on its tape. At this level we do not give details of states or transition function"</dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li><b>3 Formal description</b>:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>Most detailed, "lowest level", gives the Turing machine's "state table".</dl>
</dl>
<p><a id="Implementation" name="Implementation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Implementation</span></h3>
<p>Most algorithms are intended to be implemented as <!--del_lnk--> computer programs. However, algorithms are also implemented by other means, such as in a biological <!--del_lnk--> neural network (for example, the <!--del_lnk--> human brain implementing <a href="../../wp/a/Arithmetic.htm" title="Arithmetic">arithmetic</a> or an insect looking for food), in an <!--del_lnk--> electrical circuit, or in a mechanical device.<p><a id="Example" name="Example"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Example</span></h2>
<p>One of the simplest algorithms is to find the largest number in an (unsorted) list of numbers. The solution necessarily requires looking at every number in the list, but only once at each. From this follows a simple algorithm, which can be stated in a high-level description <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> prose, as:<p><b>High-level description:</b><ol>
<li>Assume the first item is largest.<li>Look at each of the remaining items in the list and if it is larger than the largest item so far, make a note of it.<li>The last noted item is the largest in the list when the process is complete.</ol>
<p><b>(Quasi-) Formal description:</b> Written in prose but much closer to the high-level language of a computer program, the following is the more formal coding of the algorithm in <!--del_lnk--> pseudocode or <!--del_lnk--> pidgin code:<div style="border:1px solid #cccccc; background-color:#f8f8f8; padding:4px;"><pre>
<b>Algorithm</b> LargestNumber
Input: A non-empty list of numbers <i>L</i>.
Output: The <i>largest</i> number in the list <i>L</i>.
<i>largest</i> ← <i>L</i><sub>0</sub>
<b>for each</b> <i>item</i> <b>in</b> the list <i>L<sub>≥1</sub></i>, <b>do</b>
<b>if</b> the <i>item</i> > <i>largest</i>, <b>then</b>
<i>largest</i> ← the <i>item</i>
<b>return</b> <i>largest</i>
</pre><ul>
<li><small>"←" is a loose shorthand for "changes to". For instance, "<i>largest</i> ← <i>item</i>" means that the value of <i>largest</i> changes to the value of <i>item</i>.</small><li><small>"<b>return</b>" terminates the algorithm and outputs the value that follows.</small></ul>
</div>
<p>For a more complex example of an algorithm, see <!--del_lnk--> Euclid's algorithm for the <!--del_lnk--> greatest common divisor, one of the earliest algorithms known.<dl>
<dd><i>For detailed examples of the simple algorithm "ADD m+n", precisely defined for a <!--del_lnk--> Turing machine and for a "counter machine" in the manner of the three description-levels of Sipser (2006) and the precise input-output specifications of Boolos-Burgess-Jeffrey (2002) see <!--del_lnk--> Algorithm examples.</i></dl>
<p><a id="Algorithm_analysis" name="Algorithm_analysis"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Algorithm analysis</span></h3>
<p>As it happens, it is important to know how much of a particular resource (such as time or storage) is required for a given algorithm. Methods have been developed for the <!--del_lnk--> analysis of algorithms to obtain such quantitative answers; for example, the algorithm above has a time requirement of O(<i>n</i>), using the <!--del_lnk--> big O notation with <i>n</i> as the length of the list. At all times the algorithm only needs to remember two values: the largest number found so far, and its current position in the input list. Therefore it is said to have a space requirement of <i>O(1)</i>. (Note that the size of the inputs is not counted as space used by the algorithm.)<p>Different algorithms may complete the same task with a different set of instructions in less or more time, space, or effort than others. For example, given two different recipes for making potato salad, one may have <i>peel the potato</i> before <i>boil the potato</i> while the other presents the steps in the reverse order, yet they both call for these steps to be repeated for all potatoes and end when the potato salad is ready to be eaten.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> analysis and study of algorithms is a discipline of <a href="../../wp/c/Computer_science.htm" title="Computer science">computer science</a>, and is often practiced abstractly (without the use of a specific <a href="../../wp/p/Programming_language.htm" title="Programming language">programming language</a> or other implementation). In this sense, it resembles other mathematical disciplines in that the analysis focuses on the underlying principles of the algorithm, and not on any particular implementation. The pseudocode is simplest and abstract enough for such analysis.<p><a id="Classes" name="Classes"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Classes</span></h2>
<p>There are various ways to classify algorithms, each with its own merits.<p><a id="Classification_by_implementation" name="Classification_by_implementation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Classification by implementation</span></h3>
<p>One way to classify algorithms is by implementation means.<ul>
<li><b>Recursion</b> or <b>iteration</b>: A <!--del_lnk--> recursive algorithm is one that invokes (makes reference to) itself repeatedly until a certain condition matches, which is a method common to <a href="../../wp/f/Functional_programming.htm" title="Functional programming">functional programming</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Iterative algorithms use repetitive constructs like <!--del_lnk--> loops and sometimes additional data structures like <!--del_lnk--> stacks to solve the given problems. Some problems are naturally suited for one implementation or the other. For example, <!--del_lnk--> towers of hanoi is well understood in recursive implementation. Every recursive version has an equivalent (but possibly more or less complex) iterative version, and vice versa.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Logical</b>: An algorithm may be viewed as controlled <!--del_lnk--> logical deduction. This notion may be expressed as:<br />
<center><b>Algorithm = logic + control</b>.</center> The logic component expresses the axioms that may be used in the computation and the control component determines the way in which deduction is applied to the axioms. This is the basis for the <!--del_lnk--> logic programming paradigm. In pure logic programming languages the control component is fixed and algorithms are specified by supplying only the logic component. The appeal of this approach is the elegant <!--del_lnk--> semantics: a change in the axioms has a well defined change in the algorithm.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Serial</b> or <b>parallel</b> or <b>distributed</b>: Algorithms are usually discussed with the assumption that computers execute one instruction of an algorithm at a time. Those computers are sometimes called serial computers. An algorithm designed for such an environment is called a serial algorithm, as opposed to <!--del_lnk--> parallel algorithms or <!--del_lnk--> distributed algorithms. Parallel algorithms take advantage of computer architectures where several processors can work on a problem at the same time, whereas distributed algorithms utilise multiple machines connected with a <!--del_lnk--> network. Parallel or distributed algorithms divide the problem into more symmetrical or asymmetrical subproblems and collect the results back together. The resource consumption in such algorithms is not only processor cycles on each processor but also the communication overhead between the processors. Sorting algorithms can be parallelized efficiently, but their communication overhead is expensive. Iterative algorithms are generally parallelizable. Some problems have no parallel algorithms, and are called inherently serial problems.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Deterministic</b> or <b>non-deterministic</b>: <!--del_lnk--> Deterministic algorithms solve the problem with exact decision at every step of the algorithm whereas <!--del_lnk--> non-deterministic algorithm solve problems via guessing although typical guesses are made more accurate through the use of heuristics.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Exact</b> or <b>approximate</b>: While many algorithms reach an exact solution, <!--del_lnk--> approximation algorithms seek an approximation that is close to the true solution. Approximation may use either a deterministic or a random strategy. Such algorithms have practical value for many hard problems.</ul>
<p><a id="Classification_by_design_paradigm" name="Classification_by_design_paradigm"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Classification by design paradigm</span></h3>
<p>Another way of classifying algorithms is by their design methodology or paradigm. There is a certain number of paradigms, each different from the other. Furthermore, each of these categories will include many different types of algorithms. Some commonly found paradigms include:<ul>
<li><b>Divide and conquer</b>. A <!--del_lnk--> divide and conquer algorithm repeatedly reduces an instance of a problem to one or more smaller instances of the same problem (usually <!--del_lnk--> recursively), until the instances are small enough to solve easily. One such example of divide and conquer is <!--del_lnk--> merge sorting. Sorting can be done on each segment of data after dividing data into segments and sorting of entire data can be obtained in conquer phase by merging them. A simpler variant of divide and conquer is called <b>decrease and conquer algorithm</b>, that solves an identical subproblem and uses the solution of this subproblem to solve the bigger problem. Divide and conquer divides the problem into multiple subproblems and so conquer stage will be more complex than decrease and conquer algorithms. An example of decrease and conquer algorithm is <!--del_lnk--> binary search algorithm.<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Dynamic programming</b>. When a problem shows <!--del_lnk--> optimal substructure, meaning the optimal solution to a problem can be constructed from optimal solutions to subproblems, and <!--del_lnk--> overlapping subproblems, meaning the same subproblems are used to solve many different problem instances, a quicker approach called <i>dynamic programming</i> avoids recomputating solutions that have already been computed. For example, the shortest path to a goal from a vertex in a weighted <!--del_lnk--> graph can be found by using the shortest path to the goal from all adjacent vertices. Dynamic programming and <!--del_lnk--> memoization go together. The main difference between dynamic programming and divide and conquer is, subproblems are more or less independent in divide and conquer, where as the overlap of subproblems occur in dynamic programming. The difference between the dynamic programming and straightforward recursion is in caching or memoization of recursive calls. When subproblems are independent and there is no repetition, memoization does not help; Hence dynamic programming is not a solution for all complex problems. By using memoization or maintaining a <!--del_lnk--> table of subproblems already solved, dynamic programming reduces the exponential nature of many problems to polynomial complexity.<li><b>The greedy method</b>. A <!--del_lnk--> greedy algorithm is similar to a <!--del_lnk--> dynamic programming algorithm, but the difference is that solutions to the subproblems do not have to be known at each stage; instead a "greedy" choice can be made of what looks best for the moment. The difference between dynamic programming and the greedy method is, it extends the solution with the best possible decision (not all feasible decisions) at an algorithmic stage based on the current local optimum and the best decision (not all possible decisions) made in previous stage. It is not exhaustive, and does not give accurate answer to many problems. But when it works, it will be the fastest method. The most popular greedy algorithm is finding the minimal spanning tree as given by <!--del_lnk--> Kruskal.<li><b>Linear programming</b>. When solving a problem using <!--del_lnk--> linear programming, the program is put into a number of linear <!--del_lnk--> inequalities and then an attempt is made to maximize (or minimize) the inputs. Many problems (such as the <!--del_lnk--> maximum flow for directed <!--del_lnk--> graphs) can be stated in a linear programming way, and then be solved by a 'generic' algorithm such as the <!--del_lnk--> simplex algorithm. A complex variant of linear programming is called integer programming, where the solution space is restricted to all integers.<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Reduction</b>. This is another powerful technique in solving many problems by transforming one problem into another problem. For example, one <!--del_lnk--> selection algorithm for finding the median in an unsorted list is first translating this problem into sorting problem and finding the middle element in sorted list. The goal of reduction algorithms is finding the simplest transformation such that complexity of reduction algorithm does not dominate the complexity of reduced algorithm. This technique is also called <i>transform and conquer</i>.<li><b>Search and enumeration</b>. Many problems (such as playing <a href="../../wp/c/Chess.htm" title="Chess">chess</a>) can be modeled as problems on <!--del_lnk--> graphs. A <!--del_lnk--> graph exploration algorithm specifies rules for moving around a graph and is useful for such problems. This category also includes the <!--del_lnk--> search algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> branch and bound enumeration and <!--del_lnk--> backtracking.<li><b>The probabilistic and heuristic paradigm</b>. Algorithms belonging to this class fit the definition of an algorithm more loosely.</ul>
<ol>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Probabilistic algorithms are those that make some choices randomly (or pseudo-randomly); for some problems, it can in fact be proven that the fastest solutions must involve some <!--del_lnk--> randomness.<li><!--del_lnk--> Genetic algorithms attempt to find solutions to problems by mimicking biological <a href="../../wp/e/Evolution.htm" title="Evolution">evolutionary</a> processes, with a cycle of random mutations yielding successive generations of "solutions". Thus, they emulate reproduction and "survival of the fittest". In <!--del_lnk--> genetic programming, this approach is extended to algorithms, by regarding the algorithm itself as a "solution" to a problem. Also there are<li><!--del_lnk--> Heuristic algorithms, whose general purpose is not to find an optimal solution, but an approximate solution where the time or resources are limited. They are not practical to find perfect solutions. An example of this would be <!--del_lnk--> local search, <!--del_lnk--> taboo search, or <!--del_lnk--> simulated annealing algorithms, a class of heuristic probabilistic algorithms that vary the solution of a problem by a random amount. The name "simulated annealing" alludes to the metallurgic term meaning the heating and cooling of metal to achieve freedom from defects. The purpose of the random variance is to find close to globally optimal solutions rather than simply locally optimal ones, the idea being that the random element will be decreased as the algorithm settles down to a solution.</ol>
<p><a id="Classification_by_field_of_study" name="Classification_by_field_of_study"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Classification by field of study</span></h3>
<p>Every field of science has its own problems and needs efficient algorithms. Related problems in one field are often studied together. Some example classes are <!--del_lnk--> search algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> sorting algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> merge algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> numerical algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> graph algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> string algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> computational geometric algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> combinatorial algorithms, <!--del_lnk--> machine learning, <a href="../../wp/c/Cryptography.htm" title="Cryptography">cryptography</a>, <!--del_lnk--> data compression algorithms and <!--del_lnk--> parsing techniques.<p>Fields tend to overlap with each other, and algorithm advances in one field may improve those of other, sometimes completely unrelated, fields. For example, dynamic programming was originally invented for optimisation of resource consumption in industry, but is now used in solving a broad range of problems in many fields.<p><a id="Classification_by_complexity" name="Classification_by_complexity"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Classification by complexity</span></h3>
<p>This is actually problem classification in the strict sense. Some algorithms complete in linear time proportional to input size, and some do in exponential amount of time, and some never do. Some problems may have multiple algorithms, some problems may have no algorithms, and some problems have no known efficient algorithms. There are also mappings from some problems to other problems. So computer scientists found it is suitable to classify the problems rather than algorithms into equivalence classes based on the complexity.<p><a id="Legal_issues" name="Legal_issues"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Legal issues</span></h2>
<p>Some countries allow algorithms to be <!--del_lnk--> patented when embodied in software or in hardware. Patents have long been a controversial issue (see, for example, the <!--del_lnk--> software patent debate). Some countries do not allow certain algorithms, such as cryptographic algorithms, to be <!--del_lnk--> exported from that country (see <!--del_lnk--> export of cryptography).<p><a id="History:_Development_of_the_notion_of_.22algorithm.22" name="History:_Development_of_the_notion_of_.22algorithm.22"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History: Development of the notion of "algorithm"</span></h2>
<p><a id="Origin_of_the_word" name="Origin_of_the_word"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Origin of the word</span></h3>
<p>The word <i>algorithm</i> comes from the name of the 9th century <!--del_lnk--> Persian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi whose works introduced Indian numerals and algebraic concepts. He worked in <a href="../../wp/b/Baghdad.htm" title="Baghdad">Baghdad</a> at the time when it was the centre of scientific studies and trade. The word <i><!--del_lnk--> algorism</i> originally referred only to the rules of performing <a href="../../wp/a/Arithmetic.htm" title="Arithmetic">arithmetic</a> using <!--del_lnk--> Arabic numerals but evolved via European Latin translation of al-Khwarizmi's name into <i>algorithm</i> by the 18th century. The word evolved to include all definite procedures for solving problems or performing tasks.<p><a id="Discrete_and_distinguishable_symbols" name="Discrete_and_distinguishable_symbols"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Discrete and distinguishable symbols</span></h3>
<p><b>Tally-marks</b>: To keep track of their flocks, their sacks of grain and their money the ancients used tallying — accumulating stones, or marks — discrete symbols in clay or scratched on sticks. Through the Babylonians and Egyptian use of marks and symbols eventually <!--del_lnk--> Roman numerals and the <a href="../../wp/a/Abacus.htm" title="Abacus">abacus</a> evolved. (Dilson, p.16–41) Tally marks appear prominently in <!--del_lnk--> unary numeral system arithmetic used in <!--del_lnk--> Turing machine and <!--del_lnk--> Post-Turing machine computations.<p><a id="Manipulation_of_symbols_as_.22place_holders.22_for_numbers:_algebra" name="Manipulation_of_symbols_as_.22place_holders.22_for_numbers:_algebra"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Manipulation of symbols as "place holders" for numbers: algebra</span></h3>
<p>The work of the ancient Greek geometers, Persian mathematician <!--del_lnk--> Al-Khwarizmi — often considered as the "father of <a href="../../wp/a/Algebra.htm" title="Algebra">algebra</a>", Chinese and Western European mathematicans culminated in <a href="../../wp/g/Gottfried_Leibniz.htm" title="Leibniz">Leibniz</a>' notion of the <!--del_lnk--> calculus ratiocinator (ca 1680):<dl>
<dd>"A good century and a half ahead of his time, Leibniz proposed an algebra of logic, an algebra that would specify the rules for manipulating logical concepts in the manner that ordinary algebra specifies the rules for manipulating numbers" (Davis (2000) p. 18).</dl>
<p><a id="Mechanical_contrivances_with_discrete_states" name="Mechanical_contrivances_with_discrete_states"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Mechanical contrivances with discrete states</span></h3>
<p><b>The clock</b>: Bolter credits the invention of the weight-driven <a href="../../wp/c/Clock.htm" title="Clock">clock</a> as “The key invention [of Europe in the Middle Ages]", in particular the <!--del_lnk--> verge escapement (Bolter p. 24) that provides us with the tick and tock of a mechanical clock. “The accurate automatic machine” (Bolter p. 26 quoting Mumford) led immediately to "mechanical <!--del_lnk--> automata" beginning in the thirteenth century and finally to “computational machines" – the <!--del_lnk--> difference engine and <!--del_lnk--> analytical engines of <a href="../../wp/c/Charles_Babbage.htm" title="Charles Babbage">Charles Babbage</a> and Countess <!--del_lnk--> Ada Lovelace (Bolter p.33–34, p.204–206).<p><b>Jacquard loom, Hollerith punch cards, telegraphy and telephony — the electromechanical relay</b>: Bell and Newell (1971) indicate that the <!--del_lnk--> Jacquard loom (1801), precursor to <!--del_lnk--> Hollerith cards (punch cards, 1887), and “telephone switching technologies” were the roots of a tree leading to the development of the first computers (Bell and Newell diagram p. 39, cf Davis (2000)). By the mid-1800s the <!--del_lnk--> telegraph, as the precursor of the telephone, was in use throughout the world, its discrete and distinguishable encoding of letters as “dots and dashes” a common sound. By the late 1800s the <!--del_lnk--> ticker tape (ca 1870s) was in use, as were the use of <!--del_lnk--> Hollerith cards in the 1890 U.S. census, the <!--del_lnk--> Teletype (ca 1910) with its the use of punched-paper binary encoding <!--del_lnk--> Baudot code on tape.<p>Telephone-switching networks of electromechanical <!--del_lnk--> relays (invented 1835) was behind the work of <!--del_lnk--> George Stibitz (1937), the inventor of the digital adding device. As he worked in Bell Laboratories, he observed the “burdensome’ use of mechanical calculators with gears. "He went home one evening in 1937 intending to test his idea.... When the tinkering was over, Stibitz had constructed a binary adding device" (Valley News, p. 13).<p>Davis (2000) observes the particular importance of the electromechanical relay (with its two "binary states" <i>open</i> and <i>closed</i>):<dl>
<dd>It was only with the development, beginning in the 1930s, of electromechanical calculators using electrical relays, that machines were built having the scope Babbage had envisioned." (Davis, p. 148)</dl>
<p><a id="Mathematics_during_the_1800s_up_to_the_mid-1900s" name="Mathematics_during_the_1800s_up_to_the_mid-1900s"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Mathematics during the 1800s up to the mid-1900s</span></h3>
<p><b>Symbols and rules</b>: In rapid succession the mathematics of <!--del_lnk--> George Boole (1847, 1854), <!--del_lnk--> Gottlob Frege (1879), and <!--del_lnk--> Giuseppe Peano (1888–1889) reduced arithmetic to a sequence of symbols manipulated by rules. Peano's <i>The principles of arithmetic, presented by a new method</i> (1888) was "the first attempt at an axiomatization of mathematics in a symbolic language" (Heijenoort, p. 81ff).<p>But Heijenoort gives Frege (1879) this kudos: Frege’s is "perhaps the most important single work ever written in logic. ... in which we see a " 'formula language', that is a <i>lingua characterica</i>, a language written with special symbols, "for pure thought", that is, free from rhetorical embellishments ... constructed from specific symbols that are manipulated according to definite rules"( p. 1). The work of Frege was further simplified and amplified by <!--del_lnk--> Alfred North Whitehead and <a href="../../wp/b/Bertrand_Russell.htm" title="Bertrand Russell">Bertrand Russell</a> in their <!--del_lnk--> Principia Mathematica (1910–1913).<p><b>The paradoxes</b>: At the same time a number of disturbing paradoxes appeared in the literature, in particular the <!--del_lnk--> Burali-Forti paradox (1897), the <!--del_lnk--> Russell paradox (1902–03), and the <!--del_lnk--> Richard Paradox (1905, Dixon 1906), (cf Kleene (1952) p. 36–40). The resultant considerations led to <!--del_lnk--> Kurt Gödel’s paper (1931) — he specifically cites the paradox of the liar — that completely reduces rules of <!--del_lnk--> recursion to numbers. In rapid succession the following appeared: Church-Kleene's <!--del_lnk--> λ-calculus (cf footnote in <!--del_lnk--> Alonzo Church's paper, Undecidable p. 90), Church's (1936) theorem (Undecidable, p. 88ff), <!--del_lnk--> Emil Post's (1936) "process" (<i>Undecidable</i>, p. 289–290), <a href="../../wp/a/Alan_Turing.htm" title="Alan Turing">Alan Turing</a>'s (1936–1937) "a- [automatic-] machine" (<i>Undecidable</i>, p. 116ff), <!--del_lnk--> J. Barkley Rosser's (1939) definition of "effective method" in terms of "a machine" (<i>Undecidable</i>, p. 226), and <!--del_lnk--> S. C. Kleene's (1943) proposal of the "Church-Turing thesis" (<i>Undecidable</i>, p. 273–274)<p><a id="Emil_Post_.281936.29_and_Alan_Turing_.281936.2C_1937.29" name="Emil_Post_.281936.29_and_Alan_Turing_.281936.2C_1937.29"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Emil Post (1936) and Alan Turing (1936, 1937)</span></h3>
<p>Here is a remarkable coincidence of two men not knowing each other but describing a process of men-as-computers working on computations — and they yield virtually identical definitions.<p><!--del_lnk--> Emil Post (1936) described the actions of a "computer" (human being) as follows:<dl>
<dd>"...two concepts are involved: that of a <i>symbol space</i> in which the work leading from problem to answer is to be carried out, and a fixed unalterable <i>set of directions</i>.</dl>
<p>His symbol space would be<dl>
<dd>"a two way infinite sequence of spaces or boxes... The problem solver or worker is to move and work in this symbol space, being capable of being in, and operating in but one box at a time.... a box is to admit of but two possible conditions, i.e. being empty or unmarked, and having a single mark in it, say a vertical stroke.</dl>
<dl>
<dd>"One box is to be singled out and called the starting point. ...a specific problem is to be given in symbolic form by a finite number of boxes [i.e. INPUT] being marked with a stroke. Likewise the answer [i.e. OUTPUT] is to be given in symbolic form by such a configuration of marked boxes....</dl>
<dl>
<dd>"A set of directions applicable to a general problem sets up a deterministic process when applied to each specific problem. This process will terminate only when it comes to the direction of type (C ) [i.e. STOP]." (U p. 289–290) See more at <!--del_lnk--> Post-Turing machine</dl>
<p><a href="../../wp/a/Alan_Turing.htm" title="Alan Turing">Alan Turing</a>’s work (1936–1937) preceded that of Stibitz (1937); it is unknown if Stibitz knew of the work of Turing. Turing’s biographer believed that Turing’s use of a typewriter-like model derived from a youthful interest: “Alan had dreamt of inventing typewriters as a boy; Mrs. Turing had a typewriter; and he could well have begun by asking himself what was meant by calling a typewriter 'mechanical'" (Hodges, p. 96) Given the prevalence of Morse code and telegraphy, ticker tape machines, and Teletypes we might conjecture that all were influences.<p>Turing — his model of computation is now called a <!--del_lnk--> Turing machine — begins, as did Post, with an analysis of a human computer that he whittles down to a simple set of basic motions and "states of mind". But he continues a step further and creates his machine as a model of computation of numbers (Undecidable p. 116):<dl>
<dd>"Computing is normally done by writing certain symbols on paper. We may suppose this paper is divided into squares like a child's arithmetic book....I assume then that the computation is carried out on one-dimensional paper, i.e. on a tape divided into squares. I shall also suppose that the number of symbols which may be printed is finite....</dl>
<dl>
<dd>"The behaviour of the computer at any moment is determined by the symbols which he is observing, and his "state of mind" at that moment. We may suppose that there is a bound B to the number of symbols or squares which the computer can observe at one moment. If he wishes to observe more, he must use successive observations. We will also suppose that the number of states of mind which need be taken into account is finite...</dl>
<dl>
<dd>"Let us imagine that the operations performed by the computer to be split up into 'simple operations' which are so elementary that it is not easy to imagine them further divided" (Undecidable p. 136).</dl>
<p>Turing's reduction yields the following:<dl>
<dd>"The simple operations must therefore include: <dl>
<dd>"(a) Changes of the symbol on one of the observed squares<dd>"(b) Changes of one of the squares observed to another square within L squares of one of the previously observed squares.</dl>
</dl>
<p>"It may be that some of these change necessarily invoke a change of state of mind. The most general single operation must therefore be taken to be one of the following:<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>"(A) A possible change (a) of symbol together with a possible change of state of mind.<dd>"(B) A possible change (b) of observed squares, together with a possible change of state of mind"</dl>
</dl>
<dl>
<dd>"We may now construct a machine to do the work of this computer."(Undecidable p. 137)</dl>
<p><a id="J._B._Rosser_.281939.29_and_S._C._Kleene_.281943.29" name="J._B._Rosser_.281939.29_and_S._C._Kleene_.281943.29"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">J. B. Rosser (1939) and S. C. Kleene (1943)</span></h3>
<p><b><!--del_lnk--> J. Barkley Rosser</b> boldly defined an ‘effective [mathematical] method’ in the following manner (boldface added):<dl>
<dd>"'Effective method' is used here in the rather special sense of a method each step of which is precisely determined and which is certain to produce the answer in a finite number of steps. With this special meaning, three different precise definitions have been given to date. [his footnote #5; see discussion immediately below]. The simplest of these to state (due to Post and Turing) says essentially that <b>an effective method of solving certain sets of problems exists if one can build a machine which will then solve any problem of the set with no human intervention beyond inserting the question and (later) reading the answer</b>. All three definitions are equivalent, so it doesn't matter which one is used. Moreover, the fact that all three are equivalent is a very strong argument for the correctness of any one. (<i>Undecidable</i>, p. 225–226)</dl>
<p>Rosser's footnote #5 references the work of (1) Church and Kleene and their definition of λ-definability, in particular Church's use of it in his <i>An Unsolvable Problem of Elementary Number Theory</i> (1936); (2) Herbrand and Gödel and their use of recursion in particular Gödel's use in his famous paper <i>On Formally Undecidable Propostions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems I</i> (1931); and (3) Post and Turing in their mechanism-models of computation.<p><b><!--del_lnk--> Stephen C. Kleene</b> (1943) defined as his now-famous "Thesis I" known as "the <!--del_lnk--> Church-Turing Thesis". But he did this in the following context (boldface in original):<dl>
<dd>"12. <b>Algorithmic theories</b>... In setting up a complete algorithmic theory, what we do is to describe a procedure, performable for each set of values of the independent variables, which procedure necessarily terminates and in such manner that from the outcome we can read a definite answer, "yes" or "no," to the question, "is the predicate value true?”" (<i>Undecidable</i>, p. 273)</dl>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Language_and_literature.Novels.htm">Novels</a></h3>
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<p><i><b>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</b></i> is a work of <!--del_lnk--> children's literature by the <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">English</a> mathematician and author, Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, written under the pseudonym <!--del_lnk--> Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit-hole into a <!--del_lnk--> fantasy realm populated by talking playing cards and <!--del_lnk--> anthropomorphic creatures.<p>The tale is fraught with <!--del_lnk--> satirical allusions to Dodgson's friends and to the lessons that British schoolchildren were expected to memorize. The Wonderland described in the tale plays with <a href="../../wp/l/Logic.htm" title="Logic">logic</a> in ways that has made the story of lasting popularity with children as well as adults.<p>The book is often referred to by the abbreviated title <i><b>Alice in Wonderland</b></i>. This alternate title was popularized by the numerous film and television adaptations of the story produced over the years. Some printings of this title contain both <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> and its sequel <i><!--del_lnk--> Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There</i>.<script type="text/javascript">
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<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p><i>Alice</i> was first published on <!--del_lnk--> 4 July <!--del_lnk--> 1865, exactly three years after the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and the Reverend <!--del_lnk--> Robinson Duckworth rowed in a boat up the <a href="../../wp/r/River_Thames.htm" title="River Thames">River Thames</a> with three little girls:<ul>
<li>Lorina Charlotte Liddell (aged 13) ("Prima" in the book's prefatory verse)<li><!--del_lnk--> Alice Pleasance Liddell (aged 10) ("Secunda" in the prefatory verse)<li>Edith Mary Liddell (aged 8) ("Tertia" in the prefatory verse)</ul>
<p>The journey had started at <!--del_lnk--> Folly Bridge near <a href="../../wp/o/Oxford.htm" title="Oxford">Oxford</a>, England and ended five miles away in a village of Godstow. To while away time the Reverend Dodgson told the girls a story that, not so coincidentally, featured a bored little girl named Alice who goes looking for an adventure.<p>The girls loved it, and Alice Liddell asked Dodgson to write it down for her. He eventually did so and on <!--del_lnk--> 26 November <!--del_lnk--> 1864 gave Alice the manuscript of <i>Alice's Adventures Under Ground</i>. Some, including Martin Gardner, speculate there was an earlier version that was destroyed later by Dodgson himself when he printed a more elaborate copy by hand (Gardner, 1965), but there is no real evidence to support this.<p>According to Dodgson's diaries, in the spring of 1863 he gave the unfinished manuscript of <i>Alice's Adventures Under Ground</i> to his friend and mentor <!--del_lnk--> George MacDonald, whose children loved it. On MacDonald's advice, Dodgson decided to submit <i>Alice</i> for publication. Before he had even finished the MS for Alice Liddell he was already expanding the 18,000-word original to 35,000 words, most notably adding the episodes about the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Tea-Party. In 1865, Dodgson's tale was published as <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> by "<!--del_lnk--> Lewis Carroll" with illustrations by <!--del_lnk--> John Tenniel. The first print run of 2,000 was shelved because Tenniel had objections over the print quality; a new edition, released in December of the same year but carrying an 1866 date, was quickly printed.<p>The entire print run sold out quickly. <i>Alice</i> was a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike. Among its first avid readers were young <!--del_lnk--> Oscar Wilde and <a href="../../wp/v/Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom.htm" title="Victoria of the United Kingdom">Queen Victoria</a>. The book has never been out of print since. <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> has been translated into over 50 languages, including <a href="../../wp/e/Esperanto.htm" title="Esperanto">Esperanto</a>. There have now been over a hundred editions of the book, as well as countless adaptations in other media, especially theatre and film (see below).<p><a id="Publishing_highlights" name="Publishing_highlights"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Publishing highlights</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:122px;"><!--del_lnk--> Image:ALI.jpg<div class="thumbcaption"><!--del_lnk--> Folio Society Edition (1962)</div>
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<ul>
<li>1869: <i>Alice</i> has its first American printing.<li>1871: Dodgson meets another Alice during his time in London, Alice Raikes, and talks with her about her reflection in a mirror, leading to another book <i><!--del_lnk--> Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There</i>, which sells even better.<li>1886: Carroll publishes a facsimile of the earlier <i>Alice's Adventures Under Ground</i> manuscript.<li>1890: He publishes <i><!--del_lnk--> The Nursery "Alice"</i>, a special edition "to be read by Children aged from Nought to Five."<li>1908: <i>Alice</i> has its first translation into <!--del_lnk--> Japanese.<li>1960: <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">American</a> writer <!--del_lnk--> Martin Gardner publishes a special edition, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Annotated Alice</i>, incorporating the text of both <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Through the Looking-Glass</i>. It has extensive annotations explaining the hidden allusions in the books, and includes full texts of the <!--del_lnk--> Victorian era <a href="../../wp/p/Poetry.htm" title="Poem">poems</a> parodied in them. Later editions expand on these annotations.<li>1961: The <!--del_lnk--> Folio Society publication with 42 illustrations by <!--del_lnk--> John Tenniel.<li>1998: The suppressed first edition of the book (that is, the edition nixed by Tenniel) is sold at auction for $1.5 million USD, becoming the most expensive children's book ever traded. (Only 23 copies of the 1865 first edition are known to have survived; 18 are owned by major <!--del_lnk--> archives or <a href="../../wp/l/Library.htm" title="Library">libraries</a>, such as the <!--del_lnk--> Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre, while the other five are held in private hands.)</ul>
<p><a id="Plot_summary" name="Plot_summary"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Plot summary</span></h2>
<div class="notice spoiler" id="spoiler"><b><!--del_lnk--> Spoiler warning: <i>Plot and/or ending details follow.</i></b></div>
<p>A girl named <!--del_lnk--> Alice is bored while on a picnic with her older sister. She finds interest in a passing <!--del_lnk--> white rabbit, dressed in a waistcoat and muttering "I'm late!", whom she follows down a rabbit-hole, floating down into a dream underworld. As she attempts to follow the rabbit, she has several adventures. She grows to gigantic size and shrinks to a fraction of her original height; meets a group of small animals stranded in a sea of her own previously shed tears; gets trapped in the rabbit's house when she enlarges herself again; meets a baby which changes into a pig, and a cat which disappears leaving only his smile behind; goes to a never-ending <!--del_lnk--> tea party; goes to the shore and meets a <!--del_lnk--> Gryphon and a <!--del_lnk--> Mock Turtle; and attends the trial of the Knave of Hearts, who has been accused of stealing tarts. Eventually Alice wakes up back with her sister.<p><a id="Major_themes" name="Major_themes"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Major themes</span></h3>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/186/18627.png.htm" title=""The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo""><img alt=""The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo"" class="thumbimage" height="272" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alice_par_John_Tenniel_30.png" src="../../images/186/18627.png" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/186/18627.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> "The chief difficulty <!--del_lnk--> Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo"</div>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/186/18634.jpg.htm" title="The Caterpillar using a hookah; an illustration by John Tenniel"><img alt="The Caterpillar using a hookah; an illustration by John Tenniel" class="thumbimage" height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alice_05a-1116x1492.jpg" src="../../images/186/18634.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/186/18634.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> The Caterpillar using a <!--del_lnk--> hookah; an illustration by <!--del_lnk--> John Tenniel</div>
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<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Puns<li><!--del_lnk--> Parody and <!--del_lnk--> satire<li><a href="../../wp/g/Game.htm" title="Games">Games</a> and <!--del_lnk--> riddles<li><!--del_lnk--> Nonsense<li><!--del_lnk--> Dreams and <!--del_lnk--> nightmares<li><!--del_lnk--> In-jokes about the Liddell family and the <a href="../../wp/o/Oxford.htm" title="Oxford">Oxford</a> community<li><!--del_lnk--> Parable<li>asymmetrical logic</ul>
<p><a id="Characters_in_order_of_appearance" name="Characters_in_order_of_appearance"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Characters in order of appearance</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Alice<li>Alice's Sister<li><!--del_lnk--> The White Rabbit<li>Alice's Cat, Dinah<li>The Mouse<li>The Duck<li><!--del_lnk--> The Dodo<li><!--del_lnk--> The Lory<li><!--del_lnk--> The Eaglet<li><!--del_lnk--> Bill the Lizard<li><!--del_lnk--> The Caterpillar<li>The Fish-Footman<li>The Frog-Footman<li><!--del_lnk--> The Duchess<li>The Baby<li>The Cook<li><!--del_lnk--> The Cheshire Cat<li><!--del_lnk--> The March Hare<li><!--del_lnk--> The Hatter<li>The Dormouse<li>Two, Five & Seven (cards)<li><!--del_lnk--> The King of Hearts<li><!--del_lnk--> The Queen of Hearts<li><!--del_lnk--> The Knave of Hearts<li><!--del_lnk--> The Gryphon<li><!--del_lnk--> The Mock Turtle<li>The Jurymen</ul>
<p><a id="Character_allusions" name="Character_allusions"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Character allusions</span></h3>
<p>The members of the boating party that first heard Carroll's tale all show up in Chapter 3 ("A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale") in one form or another. There is, of course, Alice herself, while Carroll, or Charles Dodgson, is caricatured as the Dodo. The Duck refers to Rev. Robinson Duckworth, the Lory to Lorina Liddell, and the Eaglet to Edith Liddell.<p>Bill the Lizard may be a play on the name of <a href="../../wp/b/Benjamin_Disraeli%252C_1st_Earl_of_Beaconsfield.htm" title="Benjamin Disraeli">Benjamin Disraeli</a>. One of Tenniel's illustrations in <i>Through the Looking Glass</i> depicts a caricature of Disraeli, wearing a paper hat, as a passenger on a train. The illustrations of the Lion and the Unicorn also bear a striking resemblance to Tenniel's <i><!--del_lnk--> Punch</i> illustrations of <a href="../../wp/w/William_Ewart_Gladstone.htm" title="William Ewart Gladstone">Gladstone</a> and Disraeli.<p>The Hatter is most likely a reference to Theophilus Carter, a furniture dealer known in <a href="../../wp/o/Oxford.htm" title="Oxford">Oxford</a> for his unorthodox inventions. Tenniel apparently drew the Hatter to resemble Carter, on a suggestion of Carroll's.<p>The Dormouse tells a story about three little sisters named Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie. These are the Liddell sisters: Elsie is L.C. (Lorina Charlotte), Tillie is Edith (her family nickname is Matilda), and Lacie is an <!--del_lnk--> anagram of Alice.<p>The Mock Turtle speaks of a Drawling-master, "an old conger eel," that used to come once a week to teach "Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils." This is a reference to the art critic <!--del_lnk--> John Ruskin, who came once a week to the Liddell house to teach the children <i>drawing</i>, <i>sketching</i>, and <i>painting in oils</i>. (The children did, in fact, learn well; Alice Liddell, for one, produced a number of skilled watercolours.)<p>The Mock Turtle also sings "Turtle Soup." This is a parody of a song called "Star of the Evening, Beautiful Star," which was performed as a trio by Lorina, Alice and Edith Liddell for Lewis Carroll in the Liddell home during the same summer in which he first told the story of Alice's Adventures Under Ground (source: the diary of Lewis Carroll, August 1, 1862 entry).<p>
<br />
<p><a id="Contents" name="Contents"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Contents</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:122px;"><!--del_lnk--> Image:AliceOnMushroom.jpg<div class="thumbcaption">Alice in Wonderland sculpture in <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> Central Park</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Chapter 1 -- Down the Rabbit-Hole<li>Chapter 2 -- The Pool of Tears<li>Chapter 3 -- A Caucus-race and a Long Tale<li>Chapter 4 -- The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill<li>Chapter 5 -- Advice from a Caterpillar<li>Chapter 6 -- Pig and Pepper<li>Chapter 7 -- A Mad Tea-party<li>Chapter 8 -- The Queen's Croquet Ground<li>Chapter 9 -- The Mock Turtle's Story<li>Chapter 10 -- The Lobster Quadrille<li>Chapter 11 -- Who Stole the Tarts?<li>Chapter 12 -- Alice's Evidence</ul>
<p><a id="Poems_and_songs" name="Poems_and_songs"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Poems and songs</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>"All in the golden afternoon..." (the prefatory verse, an original poem by Carroll that recalls the rowing expedition on which he first told the story of Alice's adventures underground)<li>"How doth the little crocodile..." (a parody of <!--del_lnk--> Isaac Watts' nursery rhyme, "How doth the little busy bee")<li><!--del_lnk--> The Mouse's Tale (an example of <!--del_lnk--> concrete poetry)<li>"<!--del_lnk--> You Are Old, Father William" (a parody of <!--del_lnk--> Robert Southey's "The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them")<li>The Duchess' lullaby: "Speak roughly to your little boy..."(a parody of David Bates "Speak Gently")<li>"Twinkle, twinkle little bat..." (a parody of <!--del_lnk--> Twinkle twinkle little star)<li>The Lobster Quadrille (a parody of <!--del_lnk--> Mary Botham Howitt's "The Spider and the Fly")<li>"’Tis the voice of the lobster, I heard him declare..." (a parody of "Tis the voice of the Sluggard")<li>Turtle Soup (a parody of <!--del_lnk--> James M. Sayles' "Star of the Evening, Beautiful Star")<li>"The Queen of Hearts..." (an actual nursery rhyme)<li>"They told me you had been to her..." (the White Rabbit's evidence)</ul>
<p><a id="Tenniel.27s_illustrations" name="Tenniel.27s_illustrations"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Tenniel's illustrations</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> John Tenniel's illustrations of Alice do not portray the real Alice Liddell, who had dark hair and a short fringe. Carroll sent Tenniel a photograph of Mary Hilton Badcock, another child-friend, but whether Tenniel actually used Badcock as his model is open to dispute.<p><a id="Famous_lines_and_expressions" name="Famous_lines_and_expressions"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Famous lines and expressions</span></h3>
<p>The term "<!--del_lnk--> Wonderland," from the title, has entered the language and refers to a marvellous imaginary place, or else a real-world place that one sees as "like a dream come true!" It is widely referenced in popular culture— books and film (see below) and pop music. To note just one example, there is a book by the <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japanese</a> novelist <!--del_lnk--> Haruki Murakami entitled <i><!--del_lnk--> Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World</i>.<p>"Down the Rabbit-Hole," the Chapter 1 title, has become a popular term for going into an adventure to the unknown. In the film <i><!--del_lnk--> The Matrix</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Morpheus says to <!--del_lnk--> Neo: "I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?" He also says, "You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." In <!--del_lnk--> computer gaming, a "rabbit hole" may refer to the initiating element that drives the player to enter the game.<p>In an <!--del_lnk--> Alternate Reality Game, the rabbit hole is the first puzzle, or first event signaling the beginning.<p>A "<!--del_lnk--> white rabbit" has similar connotations, as a signal to the start of an adventure. In <i>The Matrix</i>, Neo's adventure begins after a message on his computer urges him to "Follow the white rabbit."<p>In Chapter 6, the Cheshire Cat's disappearance prompts Alice to say one of her most memorable lines: "...a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!" There is a <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> film called <i><!--del_lnk--> A Grin Without a Cat</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1977), directed by <!--del_lnk--> Chris Marker.<p>In Chapter 7, the Hatter gives his famous <!--del_lnk--> riddle without an answer: "Why is a <a href="../../wp/r/Raven.htm" title="Raven">raven</a> like a writing desk?" Although Carroll intended the riddle to have no solution, in a new preface to the 1896 edition of <i>Alice</i>, he proposes several answers: "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!" Note the spelling of "never" as "nevar"—turning it into "raven" when inverted. This spelling, however, was "corrected" in later editions to "never" and Carroll's pun was lost. Puzzle maven <!--del_lnk--> Sam Loyd offered these solutions: because the notes for which they are noted are not noted for being musical notes; <a href="../../wp/e/Edgar_Allan_Poe.htm" title="Edgar Allan Poe">Poe</a> wrote on both; bills and tales are among their characteristics; because they both stand on their legs, conceal their steels (steals), and ought to be made to shut up. Many other answers are listed in <i><!--del_lnk--> The Annotated Alice</i>.<p>Arguably the most famous quote is used when the Queen of Hearts screams "Off with her head!" at Alice (and everyone else she feels slightly annoyed with). Possibly Carroll here was echoing a scene in <a href="../../wp/w/William_Shakespeare.htm" title="Shakespeare">Shakespeare</a>'s <i><a href="../../wp/r/Richard_III_%2528play%2529.htm" title="Richard III (play)">Richard III</a></i> (III, iv, 76) where Richard demands the execution of <!--del_lnk--> Lord Hastings, crying "Off with his head!"<p><a id="Cinematic_adaptations" name="Cinematic_adaptations"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Cinematic adaptations</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice in Wonderland (1903 film)</i> - the first Alice movie by Cecil M. Hepworth. Parts of the movie are lost but what remains is available as a bonus feature on the 1966 BBC DVD<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice in Wonderland (1966 film)</i></ul>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:122px;"><!--del_lnk--> Image:Movie alice in wonderland flowers.jpg<div class="thumbcaption">Alice in <!--del_lnk--> Disney's animated version</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Disney's <i><!--del_lnk--> Alice in Wonderland</i> animated feature, released in 1951, remains the most popular cinematic adaptation of the Alice books. It popularized the iconic image of Alice as a pretty blonde little girl in a white <!--del_lnk--> pinafore and blue dress. Other characters made icons by the film include the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and the Caterpillar. The character designs owe much to the original Tenniel illustrations. The Disney feature combines story elements from both Alice books. It is notable for its distinctly psychedelic visual feel.</ul>
<p>Other cinematic adaptations of <i>Alice</i> include:<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice in Wonderland (1933 film)</i> - motion picture<li>Alice in Wonderland (1951 film) - motion picture produced by <!--del_lnk--> Lou Bunin, blending live actors with <!--del_lnk--> stop-motion animated puppets, nicknamed "the lost Alice." Suppressed by Disney to avoid competition with their release the same year<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice of Wonderland in Paris</i> - 1966 animated movie<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film)</i> - motion picture<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice in Wonderland (1976 film)</i> - X-Rated musical comedy<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice in Wonderland (1985 film)</i> - motion picture<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland</i> - 1987 animated adaptation from <!--del_lnk--> Nelvana Limited<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice (1988 film)</i> - animated motion picture by <!--del_lnk--> Jan Švankmajer<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice in Wonderland (1999 film)</i> - made for television movie<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Resident Evil</i> - An action/sci-fi based on a video game series of the same name. The film centres on a girl named Alice who travels underground to face a supercomputer known as "The Red Queen".<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll</i> - 2006 yet-unrated short-film series by <!--del_lnk--> Marilyn Manson<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Alice (2007 film)</i> - based on the horror video game <i><!--del_lnk--> American McGee's Alice</i>, in which Alice (<!--del_lnk--> Sarah Michelle Gellar) appears in a nightmare world</ul>
<p><!--del_lnk--> This webpage has a considerable list of cinematic adaptations with appropriate reviews. <!--del_lnk--> This webpage has short reviews of various movies and books that the Alice books have spawned.<p><a id="Criticism" name="Criticism"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Criticism</span></h2>
<p>The book, although broadly and continually received in a positive light, has also caught a large amount of derision for its strange and random tone (which is also the reason so many others like it). One of the best-known critics is fantasy writer <!--del_lnk--> Terry Pratchett, who has openly stated that he dislikes the book <!--del_lnk--> .<p>The book was <!--del_lnk--> banned in China in 1931 because the talking animals were considered blasphemous to Chinese beliefs.<p><a id="Genre:_fantasy_or_horror.3F" name="Genre:_fantasy_or_horror.3F"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Genre: fantasy or horror?</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>"Children are put off by Alice’s underground adventures not because they cannot understand them; in fact, they frequently understand them too well. Indeed they often find the book a terrifying experience, rarely relieved by the comic spirit they can clearly perceive."<br /> — <!--del_lnk--> Donald Rackin, <i>Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass Nonsense, Sense, and Meaning</i></dl>
<p>The most common perspective on <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> is that it is a whimsical <!--del_lnk--> fantasy. However, there is disagreement with this perspective. To a number of people, the book does not characterize whim and fantasy, but rather <!--del_lnk--> horror and self-sustaining <!--del_lnk--> Kafkaesque <!--del_lnk--> insanity. The <!--del_lnk--> comedy of the book, while clearly visible, does not mitigate the fact, but rather causes it to stand out by perverse contrast.<p>Taken from this perspective, the novel (as well as <i><!--del_lnk--> Through the Looking-Glass</i>) is a sinister, pernicious world characterized by persons who exist fully by a self-sustaining logic that exists without reference to outside influence, including the influence of a sane, rational, and moral mind. By this perspective, at its essence, <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> is not a dream but a surreal nightmare involving loss of control, inability to communicate or <!--del_lnk--> reason, rampant uncontrolled change of one's self and everything around, and a total inability to gain any foundation in the world. Some scholars have pointed out, however, that many of these 'nightmarish' incidents and feelings notably resemble the confusion and lack of control a young child experiences at the hands of adults (well-meaning or not).<p>It is noteworthy that in both novels, people suffer for no reason. The White Rabbit has an air of deposed aristocracy, the <!--del_lnk--> Queen of Hearts orders executions for no reason other than her own irritation and enjoyment, the <!--del_lnk--> Hatter exists in a never ending tea party because he got in a fight with Time and it imprisoned him in six o'clock, etc. Many of these are parables for the society of the time. For instance, from <i>Through the Looking-Glass</i>, the parable of <i><!--del_lnk--> The Walrus and the Carpenter</i> appears to be a parable about the treatment of children and child-labor.<p>Thus, the very thing that produces appeal and wonder in the book for many people terrifies others. It is a world that exists in different cells, each with internally consistent rules that don't conform to any of the others, each continuing on its way with anything running from apathy to malice, and each able to persist in its state indefinitely. From a child's perspective, if one were to fall down a rabbit hole today one could easily encounter the very same terrifying Wonderland Alice did, changed in only the most vestigial of ways.<p><!--del_lnk--> American McGee, a video and computer <!--del_lnk--> game designer, released in the year 2000 a horror game entitled <!--del_lnk--> American McGee's Alice. In an interview, American McGee defended his dark interpretation of the novels, claiming that <i>Alice in Wonderland</i> is a very dark tale to begin with.<p><a id="Works_influenced" name="Works_influenced"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Works influenced</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>Alice and the rest of Wonderland continue to inspire or influence many other works of art to this day—sometimes indirectly; via the <!--del_lnk--> Disney movie, for example. The character of the plucky yet proper Alice has proven immensely popular and inspired similar heroines in literature and pop culture, many also named Alice in homage. it has also influenced many Japanese manga comics, most notable Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland, by CLAMP.<p><a id="Culture_and_collecting" name="Culture_and_collecting"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Culture and collecting</span></h2>
<p><i>Alice</i> continues to be a cultural phenomenon today, spawning hundreds of collectors' items, websites, and works of art.<p>There is a vast <i>Alice</i>-collecting cottage industry, which has recently burgeoned due to the <a href="../../wp/i/Internet.htm" title="Internet">Internet</a>. There are often more than 2500 items up for auction via <!--del_lnk--> eBay at any given time, from rare books to more recent commissioned art. Just about every kind of Alice merchandise imaginable is available, from clocks to earrings to pillow cases. They are not always easy to locate, but can often be found in so-called "Alice shops". In <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>, such shops include <i>The Rabbit Hole</i> in <a href="../../wp/l/Llandudno.htm" title="Llandudno">Llandudno</a> and <i>Alice's Shop</i> in <a href="../../wp/o/Oxford.htm" title="Oxford">Oxford</a>. Smaller ones can be found in Halton <!--del_lnk--> Cheshire and in <!--del_lnk--> Bournemouth where there is an Alice Theme Park. In the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> they include <i>The White Rabbit</i> in <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>. In fact, there is Alice merchandise in America that is not available elsewhere. One of these is a book called <i>Sherlock Holmes and the Alice In Wonderland Murders</i>.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">All Blacks</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Everyday_life.Sports_teams.htm">Sports teams</a></h3>
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<td align="center" colspan="4" style="font-size:1.3em; "><b>New Zealand</b></td>
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<td align="center" colspan="4" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:solid 1px #ccd2d9; border-bottom:solid 1px #ccd2d9;"><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="" height="94" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Allblacks.gif" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="125" /></td>
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<td colspan="1"><b>Union</b></td>
<td colspan="3"><small><!--del_lnk--> New Zealand Rugby Football Union</small></td>
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<td colspan="1" width="33%"><b>Nickname(s)</b></td>
<td colspan="3">All Blacks</td>
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<td colspan="1"><b>Coach</b></td>
<td colspan="3"><a class="image" href="../../images/29/2940.png.htm" title="Flag of New Zealand"><img alt="Flag of New Zealand" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg" src="../../images/29/2940.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Graham Henry</td>
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<td colspan="1"><b>Captain</b></td>
<td colspan="3"><!--del_lnk--> Richie McCaw</td>
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<td colspan="1"><b><!--del_lnk--> <font color="#000000">Most caps</font></b></td>
<td colspan="3"><!--del_lnk--> Sean Fitzpatrick (92)</td>
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<td colspan="1"><b>Top scorer</b></td>
<td colspan="3"><!--del_lnk--> Andrew Mehrtens (967)</td>
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<td colspan="1"><b>Most tries</b></td>
<td colspan="3"><!--del_lnk--> Christian Cullen (46)</td>
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<td bgcolor="#000000"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/527.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="59" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_left_arm.png" src="../../images/5/527.png" width="31" /></a></td>
<td bgcolor="#000000"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/528.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="59" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_body.png" src="../../images/5/528.png" width="38" /></a></td>
<td bgcolor="#000000"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/529.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="59" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_right_arm.png" src="../../images/5/529.png" width="31" /></a></td>
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<td bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3" height="36px"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/530.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="36" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_shorts.png" src="../../images/5/530.png" width="100" /></a></td>
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<td bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/531.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="25" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_socks.png" src="../../images/5/531.png" width="100" /></a></td>
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<td colspan="3">　</td>
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<td colspan="3"><b>Team colours</b></td>
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<td bgcolor="#C0C0C0"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/527.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="59" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_left_arm.png" src="../../images/5/527.png" width="31" /></a></td>
<td bgcolor="#C0C0C0"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/528.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="59" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_body.png" src="../../images/5/528.png" width="38" /></a></td>
<td bgcolor="#C0C0C0"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/529.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="59" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_right_arm.png" src="../../images/5/529.png" width="31" /></a></td>
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<td bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3" height="36px"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/530.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="36" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_shorts.png" src="../../images/5/530.png" width="100" /></a></td>
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<td bgcolor="#C0C0C0" colspan="3"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/531.png.htm" title="Team colours"><img alt="Team colours" height="25" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Kit_socks.png" src="../../images/5/531.png" width="100" /></a></td>
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<td colspan="3">　</td>
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<td colspan="3"><b>Change colours</b></td>
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<td align="center" colspan="4" style="border-top:solid 1px #ccd2d9;"><b>First international</b></td>
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<td align="center" colspan="4"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/785.png.htm" title="Flag of Australia"><img alt="Flag of Australia" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Australia.svg" src="../../images/7/785.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Australia 3 - 22 <strong class="selflink">New Zealand</strong> <a class="image" href="../../images/29/2940.png.htm" title="Flag of New Zealand"><img alt="Flag of New Zealand" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg" src="../../images/29/2940.png" width="22" /></a><br /> (<!--del_lnk--> 15 August <!--del_lnk--> 1903)</td>
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<td align="center" colspan="4"><b>Largest win</b></td>
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<td align="center" colspan="4"><a class="image" href="../../images/29/2940.png.htm" title="Flag of New Zealand"><img alt="Flag of New Zealand" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg" src="../../images/29/2940.png" width="22" /></a> <strong class="selflink">New Zealand</strong> 145 - 17 <!--del_lnk--> Japan <a class="image" href="../../images/5/586.png.htm" title="Flag of Japan"><img alt="Flag of Japan" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Japan_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/5/586.png" width="22" /></a><br /> (<!--del_lnk--> 4 June <!--del_lnk--> 1995)</td>
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<td align="center" colspan="4"><b>Worst defeat</b></td>
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<td align="center" colspan="4"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/785.png.htm" title="Flag of Australia"><img alt="Flag of Australia" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Australia.svg" src="../../images/7/785.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Australia 28 - 7 <strong class="selflink">New Zealand</strong> <a class="image" href="../../images/29/2940.png.htm" title="Flag of New Zealand"><img alt="Flag of New Zealand" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg" src="../../images/29/2940.png" width="22" /></a><br /> (<!--del_lnk--> 28 August <!--del_lnk--> 1999)</td>
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<th bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="4"><a href="../../wp/r/Rugby_World_Cup.htm" title="Rugby World Cup"><font color="#000000">World Cup</font></a></th>
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<td colspan="1"><b>Appearances</b></td>
<td colspan="3">5 (<i>First in <!--del_lnk--> 1987</i>)</td>
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<td colspan="1"><b>Best result</b></td>
<td colspan="3">Champions, <!--del_lnk--> 1987</td>
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<p>The <b>All Blacks</b> are <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>'s national <!--del_lnk--> rugby union team. Rugby union is New Zealand's national sport, with the All Blacks a formidable power in international rugby, possessing a winning record against all nations.<p>The All Blacks compete annually with <!--del_lnk--> Australia and <!--del_lnk--> South Africa in the <!--del_lnk--> Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the <!--del_lnk--> Bledisloe Cup with Australia. They have been Tri-Nations champions seven times in the tournament's eleven-year history, have twice completed a <!--del_lnk--> Grand Slam (in 1978 and in 2005), and currently hold the <!--del_lnk--> Bledisloe Cup. They are the <!--del_lnk--> top ranked team in the world, and the 2006 <!--del_lnk--> International Rugby Board (IRB) Team of the Year. Twelve former All Blacks have been inducted into the <!--del_lnk--> International Rugby Hall of Fame.<p>The team first competed internationally in 1893 against <!--del_lnk--> New South Wales, and played their first <!--del_lnk--> Test match in 1903, a victory against <!--del_lnk--> Australia. This was soon followed by a tour of the northern hemisphere in 1905, during which the team's only defeat was against <!--del_lnk--> Wales in <a href="../../wp/c/Cardiff.htm" title="Cardiff">Cardiff</a>.<p>The All Blacks completed their first series win over arch-rivals South Africa ("The Springboks") in New Zealand in 1956. A decade later, they achieved their longest winning streak by winning seventeen Tests between 1965 and 1970. The <!--del_lnk--> British and Irish Lions achieved their only series victory over the All Blacks in 1971, but seven years later the All Blacks completed their first Grand Slam (wins over <!--del_lnk--> England, <!--del_lnk--> Ireland, <!--del_lnk--> Scotland, and Wales on the same tour).<p>The <!--del_lnk--> 1981 Springbok tour to New Zealand caused large scale civil unrest due to protests over South Africa's <!--del_lnk--> apartheid policy. In 1987 New Zealand hosted and won the inaugural <a href="../../wp/r/Rugby_World_Cup.htm" title="Rugby World Cup">Rugby World Cup</a>. New Zealand toured post-apartheid South Africa in 1996, and achieved their first series win on South African soil.<p>Early New Zealand national rugby uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By their 1905 tour the All Blacks were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, and their All Black name dates from this time. The All Blacks traditionally perform a <!--del_lnk--> haka (<!--del_lnk--> Māori war dance) before each match. Traditionally, the haka performed is <!--del_lnk--> Te Rauparaha's <!--del_lnk--> Ka Mate, though since 2005, a new haka, <!--del_lnk--> Kapa o Pango, has occasionally been performed.<script type="text/javascript">
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<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p><a id="Introduction_of_rugby_to_New_Zealand" name="Introduction_of_rugby_to_New_Zealand"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Introduction of rugby to New Zealand</span></h3>
<p>Rugby was introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in the late 1860s; Monro discovered the sport while completing his studies at <!--del_lnk--> Christ's College Finchley, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>. The first game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 and the first union, <!--del_lnk--> Canterbury, was formed in 1879. In 1882, New Zealand's first internationals were played when the Southern Rugby Union (later the <!--del_lnk--> New South Wales Rugby Union) toured the country. The tourists played Auckland provincial clubs twice, Wellington twice and once each against Canterbury, Otago and West Coast, North Island, winning four games and losing three. Two years later the first New Zealand team to go overseas toured New South Wales; New Zealand played and won eight games.<p>The first tour by a British team took place in 1888 when a <!--del_lnk--> British Isles team toured Australia and New Zealand, although no Test matches were played. The players were drawn mainly from England and the Scottish borders, although there were representatives from all four home unions.<p><a id="International_competition_begins" name="International_competition_begins"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">International competition begins</span></h3>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="width:322px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/38/3878.jpg.htm" title="The 1905 Original All Blacks."><img alt="The 1905 Original All Blacks." class="thumbimage" height="141" longdesc="/wiki/Image:1905_All_Blacks.jpg" src="../../images/38/3878.jpg" width="320" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/38/3878.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> 1905 Original All Blacks.</div>
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<p>The year 1892 saw the formation of the <!--del_lnk--> New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) representing seven unions not including Canterbury, <!--del_lnk--> Otago and <!--del_lnk--> Southland. The first sanctioned New Zealand side toured New South Wales in 1894 and the following year New Zealand played its first home "international" game, losing 8-6 to New South Wales. The team's first true international match was against Australia on <!--del_lnk--> 15 August, 1903 at the <!--del_lnk--> Sydney Cricket Ground, resulting in a 22-3 win.<p>A representative New Zealand team first toured Britain in 1905 (since referred to as <!--del_lnk--> the Originals). Reference to the team by the name "All Blacks" first appeared during this tour when, according to team member <!--del_lnk--> Billy Wallace, a London newspaper reported that the New Zealanders played as if they were "all <i>backs</i>". Wallace claimed that due to a typographical error, subsequent references were to "All Blacks". This is likely myth however, as the name also describes their playing uniform of black shirts, shorts and socks.<p>The Originals' only loss on tour was 3-0 to Wales at <a href="../../wp/c/Cardiff.htm" title="Cardiff">Cardiff</a>. The match has entered into the folklore of both countries because of controversy over whether All Black Bob Deans scored a disallowed try (which would have earned the team a 3-3 draw). A team representing the British Isles — known as the Anglo-Welsh since they consisted only of English and Welsh players — undertook a return tour to New Zealand in 1908 and were defeated in the test series 2-0 by the All Blacks.<p><a id="Development_of_a_legacy" name="Development_of_a_legacy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Development of a legacy</span></h3>
<p>New Zealand's rivalry with <!--del_lnk--> South Africa began in 1921, when the Springboks (as the South African team is known) toured New Zealand for a Test series that finished <!--del_lnk--> all square. The All Blacks went on to later tour South Africa for the first time in 1928; this series also ended in a draw.<p>The 1924 All Black tourists to the United Kingdom (UK) were eventually dubbed <i><!--del_lnk--> the Invincibles</i> because they had won every game. However, the team were deprived of the chance to complete a grand slam when Scotland refused to play them because of an argument over expenses. The first truly representative British Isles (now known as British and Irish Lions) side toured New Zealand in 1930. Although the Lions won the first Test, the home side regrouped and went on to win the series 3-1. New Zealand toured the UK again in 1935-36, losing only three games (including two Tests) during a 30-match tour. In one of these losses, <!--del_lnk--> Prince Obolensky famously scored two tries to help England to a 13-0 win, their first over the All Blacks.<p>In 1937, South Africa won a series against the All Blacks when they toured New Zealand, and this <!--del_lnk--> 1937 South African team has subsequently been described as the best team ever to leave New Zealand. It wasn't until after the end of the Second World War when the All Blacks next played the Springboks when they visited South Africa in 1949. The tour witnessed an infamous All Blacks record — the loss of two Test matches on the same day. This was made possible because Australia were touring New Zealand at the same time. On the afternoon of <!--del_lnk--> September 3 (New Zealand time), the All Black team captained by J. B. (Johnny) Smith was beaten 11-6 by Australia in Wellington. That same afternoon in South Africa (South Africa time), the All Blacks captained by Ron Elvidge (Allen was injured) lost 9-3 to the Springboks in <!--del_lnk--> Durban. The All Blacks in New Zealand also lost their second Test, 16-9, which gave Australia the Bledisloe Cup for the first time. <!--del_lnk--> Fred Allen was selected as captain for the 1949 tour to South Africa. Although each Test was very close, the All Blacks lost the series 4-0.<p>The two series losses to South Africa made their 1956 tour of New Zealand highly anticipated. The All Blacks were captained by Bob Duff and coached by <!--del_lnk--> Bob Stuart, and their 3-1 series win was their first ever over the Springboks as well as being the the Springboks' first ever series loss against any opponent. During the series, the All Blacks had introduced <!--del_lnk--> Don Clarke and Kevin Skinner in the last two Tests to help secure the win. Skinner was introduced to "sort out" the South African <!--del_lnk--> props whilst Don Clark would subsequently become known as "The Boot" for his goal kicking.<p>The All Blacks' 3-1 series win over the Lions in 1959 proved to be the start of a dominant period in All Blacks rugby. This was followed by 1963-64 tour to the UK, led by Wilson Whineray, which came very close to achieving a Grand Slam but were deprived by a scoreless draw with Scotland. Later, the 1967 side won three Tests, but was unable to play Ireland because of a <!--del_lnk--> foot-and-mouth scare. This tour formed part of The All Blacks longest ever winning streak between 1965 and 1970, during which they recorded 17 Test victories. Although the 1966 Lions were defeated 0-4 in their New Zealand tour, there was a reversal of fortune five years later when the <!--del_lnk--> 1971 Lions, under the captaincy of Welshman <!--del_lnk--> John Dawes, beat the All Blacks in a Test series which remains the Lions' only series victory in New Zealand to date.<p>The 1972-3 tourists narrowly missed a Grand Slam with a draw against Ireland. The tour was also notable for the sending home of prop Keith Murdoch, who was alleged to have been involved in a brawl in a <a href="../../wp/c/Cardiff.htm" title="Cardiff">Cardiff</a> hotel while celebrating the defeat of Wales.<p>In 1978, <!--del_lnk--> Graham Mourie captained the All Blacks to their first Grand Slam which was completed with a 13-12 victory over Wales. That game generated great controversy after the All Blacks won as the result of a late penalty. Lock <!--del_lnk--> Andy Haden had dived out of a <!--del_lnk--> line-out in an attempt to earn a penalty; however the penalty awarded by referee Roger Quittenton was actually against Welsh lock Geoff Wheel for jumping off the shoulder of <!--del_lnk--> Frank Oliver. The All Blacks' only loss on the tour was the famous 12-0 defeat by Irish province <!--del_lnk--> Munster at <!--del_lnk--> Thomond Park. made famous by the <!--del_lnk--> John Breen play <!--del_lnk--> Alone it Stands.<p><a id="Controversial_tours" name="Controversial_tours"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Controversial tours</span></h3>
<p>The 1976 All Blacks tour of South Africa generated much controversy and led to the boycott of the <!--del_lnk--> 1976 Summer Olympics in <a href="../../wp/m/Montreal.htm" title="Montreal">Montreal</a> by thirty-three African nations. The All Blacks again failed to win the Test series in South Africa (they would not do so until 1996, after the fall of apartheid). The 1976 Tour contributed to the <!--del_lnk--> Gleneagles Agreement being adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of State in 1977.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> 1981 South African tour to New Zealand is now referred to as "The Tour" in New Zealand and sparked protests against South Africa's <a href="../../wp/h/History_of_South_Africa_in_the_apartheid_era.htm" title="History of South Africa in the apartheid era">apartheid</a> policy the likes of which had not been seen in New Zealand since the <!--del_lnk--> 1951 waterfront dispute. The NZRU had invited the Springboks to tour as the <!--del_lnk--> Muldoon government refused to involve politics in sport. Although the All Blacks won the Test series, two of the tour's provincial games were cancelled and the whole tour was marred by violence and protest. During the tour the country experienced unrest, and the tour had a significant impact on New Zealand society.<p>The 1985 All Blacks tour to South Africa was cancelled after legal action argued it would breach the NZRU's constitution. In 1986, a rebel tour to South Africa took place which had not been authorised by the NZRU and the team, named the <!--del_lnk--> Cavaliers, featured many All Blacks of the time. Those that participated in the tour received a ban from the NZRU when they returned to New Zealand.<p><a id="Early_World_Cups" name="Early_World_Cups"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Early World Cups</span></h3>
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<p>The inaugural <!--del_lnk--> World Cup in 1987 was co-hosted and won by New Zealand, who beat <!--del_lnk--> France 29-9 in the final at <!--del_lnk--> Eden Park, <a href="../../wp/a/Auckland.htm" title="Auckland">Auckland</a>. New Zealand conceded only 52 points and scored 43 tries in six games en route to the title, having swept aside the challenges of <!--del_lnk--> Italy, <!--del_lnk--> Fiji, <!--del_lnk--> Argentina, Scotland, Wales and France.<p>By the <!--del_lnk--> 1991 World Cup, the All Blacks were an ageing side, co-coached by <!--del_lnk--> Alex Wyllie and <!--del_lnk--> John Hart. They struggled during pool matches against the <!--del_lnk--> United States and Italy, but won their quarter-final against <!--del_lnk--> Canada. They were then knocked out by eventual winners Australia 16-6 in their semi-final at <!--del_lnk--> Lansdowne Road. In the wake of the tournament, there were many retirements, including coach Wyllie, who had enjoyed an 86% win rate during 29 Tests in charge.<p><!--del_lnk--> Laurie Mains replaced Wyllie in 1992, and was given the job of preparing the side for the <!--del_lnk--> 1995 event in South Africa. The All Blacks were again favourites to take the championship. Their favouritism was confirmed when a young <a href="../../wp/j/Jonah_Lomu.htm" title="Jonah Lomu">Jonah Lomu</a> scored four tries against England in the All Blacks' 45-29 semi-final win. However, the New Zealand team suffered an outbreak of food poisoning before the final. Despite this, they took hosts South Africa to extra time, before losing to <!--del_lnk--> Joel Stransky's <!--del_lnk--> drop goal.<p><a id="Professional_era" name="Professional_era"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Professional era</span></h3>
<p>The year 1995 saw the beginning of the professional era in rugby union and this was marked by the formation of the <!--del_lnk--> SANZAR group (a combination of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) which was formed with the purpose of selling TV rights for two new competitions; the domestic <a href="../../wp/s/Super_14.htm" title="Super 14">Super 12</a> competition and the Tri-Nations. The first Tri-Nations was contested in 1996, with the All Blacks winning all four of their Tests to take the trophy.<p>The 1996 Tri-Nations match in South Africa between the All Blacks and Springboks was also the first in a historic series. Under new coach <!--del_lnk--> John Hart and the captaincy of <!--del_lnk--> Sean Fitzpatrick, the All Blacks won a Test series in South Africa for the first time. Fitzpatrick even rated the series win higher than the 1987 World Cup victory in which he had participated.<p>The next two seasons saw mixed results for the All Blacks, who won the 1997 Tri-Nations before losing it for the first time in 1998. The All Blacks won all their Tri-Nations Tests in 1997. However, in 1998, the All Blacks lost all four of their Tests, the first time they had lost four in succession since 1949. The following year, they suffered their worst ever Test loss, a 28-7 loss to Australia in Sydney.<p>The All Blacks rebounded in the <!--del_lnk--> 1999 World Cup and dominated their pool, handing England a 30-16 defeat at <!--del_lnk--> Twickenham. They advanced past Scotland 30-18 in the quarter-finals to play France at Twickenham. The All Blacks finished the first half ahead 17-10. France then produced a famous half of rugby to which the All Blacks had no answer, eventually winning 43-31. Hart subsequently resigned as coach and was replaced by co-coaches <!--del_lnk--> Wayne Smith and Tony Gilbert.<p>Under Smith and Gilbert, the All Blacks came second in the 2000 and 2001 Tri-Nations. Both coaches were replaced by <!--del_lnk--> John Mitchell on 3rd October 2001 who went on to coach the All Blacks to victory in both the 2002 and 2003 Tri-Nations, as well as regaining the Bledisloe Cup (which had been held by Australia since 1998) in 2003. After winning the 2003 Tri-Nations, they entered the <!--del_lnk--> 2003 World Cup as one of the favourites and dominated their pool, running up wins against Italy, Canada and <!--del_lnk--> Tonga before winning one of the most competitive matches of the tournament against Wales. They defeated South Africa, a team they had never beaten at the World Cup, 29-9, but lost again to Australia 22-10 in the semi-final in Sydney. Afterwards, Mitchell was fired by the NZRU and replaced by <!--del_lnk--> Graham Henry.<div class="thumb tright">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/38/3881.jpg.htm" title="The All Blacks playing England at Twickenham in 2006."><img alt="The All Blacks playing England at Twickenham in 2006." class="thumbimage" height="270" longdesc="/wiki/Image:All_Blacks_England.jpg" src="../../images/38/3881.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/38/3881.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The All Blacks playing England at <!--del_lnk--> Twickenham in 2006.</div>
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<p>Henry's tenure began with a double victory over reigning World Champions England in 2004. The two games had an aggregate score of 72-15, with the All Blacks keeping England try-less. Despite the winning start to Henry's tenure, the Tri-Nations was a mixed success with two wins and two losses. The competition was the closest ever, bonus points decided the outcome and the All Blacks finished last. The 2004 season finished on a high however, with the All Blacks winning in Europe, including a record 45-6 victory over France.<p>In 2005, the All Blacks whitewashed the touring British and Irish Lions 3-0 in the Test series, won the Tri-Nations, and achieved a second Grand Slam over the Home Nations. They went on to sweep the major International Rugby Board year-end awards in which the All Blacks were named Team of the Year, Henry was named Coach of the Year, and fly-half (first five) <!--del_lnk--> Daniel Carter was Player of the Year. The All Blacks were nominated for the <!--del_lnk--> Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year in 2006 for their 2005 performance.<p>In 2006, they again took the Tri Nations Series by winning their first five matches, (three against Australia and two against South Africa). However, they lost their final match of the series against South Africa. They completed their end of year tour unbeaten, with record away wins over France and England. The All Blacks were named 2006 IRB Team of the Year and were nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for the second time, while flanker <!--del_lnk--> Richie McCaw was named IRB Player of the Year.<p><a id="Jersey" name="Jersey"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Jersey</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div class="thumbinner" style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/39/3939.png.htm" title="The current All Blacks jersey."><img alt="The current All Blacks jersey." class="thumbimage" height="157" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Allblack-whitewashed.PNG" src="../../images/39/3939.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/39/3939.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The current All Blacks jersey.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The current All Black jersey is entirely black, with the <!--del_lnk--> Adidas logo and the NZRU silver fern on the front. The 1884 New Zealand tour to Australia was the first overseas New Zealand rugby tour, and featured clothing far different from today's jersey. Back then, the team donned a dark blue jersey, with gold fern on the left of the jumper. In 1893 the NZRU stipulated at its annual general meeting that the uniform would be black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. However historic photographs suggest white shorts may have been used instead during these early years. Sometime between 1897 and 1901 there was a change; by 1901 the team met NSW in a black jersey, a canvas top with no collar, and a silver fern.<p>The All Blacks jersey is today considered the most recognisable rugby jersey. Recently it has become traditional for the All Blacks to wear an embroidered poppy on their jersey sleeve when playing France during the end of year tours. The poppy honours the soldiers who died in the battlefields of Europe. Captain Richie McCaw said "We want to honour the overseas service of New Zealanders. It is an important part of our history as a country and a team.".<p>Adidas currently pays the NZRFU $200 Million over 9 years, expecting the All Blacks to win around 75% of their matches. <!--del_lnk--> Nike also looked at sponsoring the All Blacks in 1996, but went with the then teenage <a href="../../wp/t/Tiger_Woods.htm" title="Tiger Woods">Tiger Woods</a> instead.<p><a id="Haka" name="Haka"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Haka</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<div class="thumb tright">
</div>
<p>The All Blacks perform a <!--del_lnk--> haka (<!--del_lnk--> Māori dance) before each international match. The haka has been closely associated with New Zealand ever since the <i>New Zealand Natives</i> tour of 1888. Until 2005, the haka performed by the All Blacks had usually been "<!--del_lnk--> Ka Matè" which was written in the 19th century by <!--del_lnk--> Ngāti Toa leader <!--del_lnk--> Te Rauparaha. In the August 2005 Tri-Nations Test match between New Zealand and South Africa at <!--del_lnk--> Carisbrook stadium in <!--del_lnk--> Dunedin, New Zealand, the All Blacks first performed the haka "<!--del_lnk--> Kapa o Pango" which was designed to reflect the multi-cultural make-up of contemporary New Zealand — in particular the influence of <!--del_lnk--> Polynesian cultures. This new haka is to be performed on "special occasions" and is not intended to replace "Ka Matè".<p>The "Kapa o Pango" concludes with a "throat slitting" action that has been a source of <!--del_lnk--> controversy and has led to accusations that "Kapa o Pango" encourages violence, and sends the wrong message to All Blacks fans. However, according to Kapo o Pango composer Derek Lardelli, the gesture represents "drawing vital energy into the heart and lungs."<p>In November 2006, at the <!--del_lnk--> Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, the All Blacks performed the haka in the dressing rooms prior to the match instead of immediately before kickoff because the <!--del_lnk--> Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) wanted Wales to sing their National Anthem after the All Blacks had performed the haka. The All Blacks disagreed with this request and hence performed the haka in their dressing room instead.<p><a id="Record" name="Record"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Record</span></h2>
<p><a id="Tri-Nations" name="Tri-Nations"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Tri-Nations</span></h3>
<p>The All Blacks' only annual tournament is the Tri-Nations played against Australia and South Africa. The All Blacks' record of seven tournament wins (the most recent in <!--del_lnk--> 2006) and 32 match wins is well ahead of the other teams' records. The <!--del_lnk--> Bledisloe Cup is also contested between New Zealand and Australia as part of the Tri-Nations.<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Nation</th>
<th colspan="4">Games</th>
<th colspan="3">Points</th>
<th rowspan="2">Bonus<br /> points</th>
<th rowspan="2">Table<br /> points</th>
<th rowspan="2">Championships</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>played</th>
<th>won</th>
<th>drawn</th>
<th>lost</th>
<th>for</th>
<th>against</th>
<th>difference</th>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<td align="left"><a class="image" href="../../images/29/2940.png.htm" title="Flag of New Zealand"><img alt="Flag of New Zealand" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg" src="../../images/29/2940.png" width="22" /></a> <strong class="selflink">New Zealand</strong></td>
<td>46</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>1264</td>
<td>924</td>
<td>+340</td>
<td>22</td>
<td><b>150</b></td>
<td><b>7</b></td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<td align="left"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/785.png.htm" title="Flag of Australia"><img alt="Flag of Australia" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Australia.svg" src="../../images/7/785.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Australia</td>
<td>46</td>
<td>18</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>27</td>
<td>979</td>
<td>1060</td>
<td>-91</td>
<td>24</td>
<td><b>98</b></td>
<td><b>2</b></td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<td align="left"><a class="image" href="../../images/14/1448.png.htm" title="Flag of South Africa"><img alt="Flag of South Africa" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_South_Africa.svg" src="../../images/14/1448.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> South Africa</td>
<td>46</td>
<td>18</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>27</td>
<td>940</td>
<td>1189</td>
<td>-249</td>
<td>16</td>
<td><b>90</b></td>
<td><b>2</b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><small>Updated <!--del_lnk--> 11 September <!--del_lnk--> 2006</small><p><a id="World_Cup" name="World_Cup"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">World Cup</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>The All Blacks have won the World Cup once in the 1987 inaugural competition held in New Zealand and Australia. In 1991, they lost their semi-final to Australia before winning the playoff for third. In 1995, they improved by reaching the final, before losing in extra time to hosts South Africa, however controversy surrounds the final with many suspecting the All Blacks were poisoned<!--del_lnk--> . Their worst World Cup was their fourth place in 1999, after losing their semi-final and then the third-place playoff game. In 2003 the All Blacks were knocked out by hosts Australia in their semi-final, before finishing third. Despite only one World Cup title they are the only team to have reached the semifinals in every tournament.<p>The All Blacks hold several World Cup records: most points in one match (145 versus <!--del_lnk--> Japan in 1995), most cumulative points over all World Cups (1384), most tries overall (184), and most conversions (137). Several individual players also hold World Cup records; Jonah Lomu for most World Cup tries (15 over two World Cups), most appearances held by Sean Fitzpatrick (17 from 1987 to 1995), <!--del_lnk--> Marc Ellis with most tries in a match (6 versus Japan in 1995), and <!--del_lnk--> Grant Fox with most points in one tournament (126 in 1987).<p><a id="Overall" name="Overall"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Overall</span></h3>
<p>The All Blacks have a positive win record against every nation they have played. They have won 308 of the 417 matches played, a win percentage of 73.86% (see table). By this measure, the All Blacks are the most successful international rugby union team in history. When <!--del_lnk--> World Rankings were introduced by the IRB in October 2003, the All Blacks were ranked second. In November 2003 they briefly occupied first and then third before moving back into second by December that year. Since June 2004 the All Blacks have been ranked number one in the world.<p>Their Test match record against all nations (listed in order of total matches), updated to <!--del_lnk--> 26 November <!--del_lnk--> 2006, is as follows:<table class="wikitable sortable">
<tr>
<th width="200">Against</th>
<th width="70">Played</th>
<th width="70">Won</th>
<th width="70">Lost</th>
<th width="70">Drawn</th>
<th width="70">% Won</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Australia</td>
<td align="center">126</td>
<td align="center">84</td>
<td align="center">37</td>
<td align="center">5</td>
<td align="center">66.67</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> South Africa</td>
<td align="center">70</td>
<td align="center">38</td>
<td align="center">29</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">54.29</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> France</td>
<td align="center">43</td>
<td align="center">32</td>
<td align="center">10</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">74.42</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> British & Irish Lions</td>
<td align="center">34</td>
<td align="center">26</td>
<td align="center">6</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">76.47</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> England</td>
<td align="center">29</td>
<td align="center">22</td>
<td align="center">6</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">75.86</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Scotland</td>
<td align="center">25</td>
<td align="center">23</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">92.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wales</td>
<td align="center">23</td>
<td align="center">20</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">86.96</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ireland</td>
<td align="center">20</td>
<td align="center">19</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">95.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Argentina</td>
<td align="center">13</td>
<td align="center">12</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">92.31</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a></td>
<td align="center">8</td>
<td align="center">8</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Samoa</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Fiji</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Tonga</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Canada</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Anglo-Welsh</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">66.67</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> World XV</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">66.67</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> USA</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Great Britain</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Japan</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Pacific Islanders</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Romania</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">0</td>
<td align="center">100.00</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Total</b></td>
<td align="center"><b>417</b></td>
<td align="center"><b>308</b></td>
<td align="center"><b>92</b></td>
<td align="center"><b>17</b></td>
<td align="center"><b>73.86</b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="Players" name="Players"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Players</span></h2>
<p><a id="Current_squad" name="Current_squad"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Current squad</span></h3>
<p>The squad used in the <!--del_lnk--> 2006 November Tests:<table width="100%">
<tr>
<td valign="top">
<table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center">
<caption>Backs</caption>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="black" style="width:150px">
<center><b><font color="white">Player</font></b></center>
</td>
<td bgcolor="black" style="width:150px"><b><font color="white">Position</font></b></td>
<td bgcolor="black" style="width:150px"><b><font color="white">Province</font></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Daniel Carter</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> First Five-Eighth</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Canterbury</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Andrew Ellis</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Scrum-half</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Canterbury</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Nick Evans</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> First Five-Eighth, <!--del_lnk--> Fullback</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Otago</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Rico Gear</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wing</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Tasman</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Byron Kelleher</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Scrum-half</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Waikato</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Leon MacDonald</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Fullback</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Canterbury</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Luke McAlister</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Second Five-Eighth, <!--del_lnk--> First Five-Eighth</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> North Harbour</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Aaron Mauger</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Second Five-Eighth</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Canterbury</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Malili Muliaina</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Centre, <!--del_lnk--> Fullback, <!--del_lnk--> Wing</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Waikato</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ma'a Nonu</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wing, <!--del_lnk--> Centre</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wellington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Joe Rokocoko</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wing</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Auckland</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sitiveni Sivivatu</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wing</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Waikato</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Conrad Smith</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Centre</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wellington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Piri Weepu</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Scrum-half</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wellington</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
<td valign="top">
<table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center">
<caption>Forwards</caption>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="black" style="width:150px">
<center><b><font color="white">Player</font></b></center>
</td>
<td bgcolor="black" style="width:150px"><b><font color="white">Position</font></b></td>
<td bgcolor="black" style="width:150px"><b><font color="white">Province</font></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> John Afoa</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Prop</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Auckland</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Jerry Collins</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Flanker</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wellington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Clarke Dermody</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Prop</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Southland</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Jason Eaton</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Lock</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Taranaki</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Carl Hayman</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Prop</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Otago</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Andrew Hore</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Hooker</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Taranaki</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Chris Jack</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Lock</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Tasman</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Chris Masoe</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Flanker</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wellington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Richie McCaw (Captain)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Flanker</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Canterbury</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Keven Mealamu</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Hooker</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Auckland</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Anton Oliver</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Hooker</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Otago</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Keith Robinson</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Lock</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Waikato</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> James Ryan</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Lock</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Otago</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Rodney So'oialo</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Number 8</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wellington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Reuben Thorne</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Flanker</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Canterbury</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Neemia Tialata</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Prop</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wellington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ali Williams</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Lock</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Auckland</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Tony Woodcock</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Prop</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> North Harbour</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="Notable_players" name="Notable_players"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Notable players</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>Twelve former All Blacks have been inducted into the <!--del_lnk--> International Rugby Hall of Fame; <!--del_lnk--> Fred Allen, <!--del_lnk--> Don Clarke, <!--del_lnk--> Sean Fitzpatrick, <!--del_lnk--> Grant Fox, <!--del_lnk--> Dave Gallaher, <!--del_lnk--> Michael Jones, <!--del_lnk--> Ian Kirkpatrick, <!--del_lnk--> John Kirwan, <!--del_lnk--> Sir Brian Lochore, <!--del_lnk--> Colin Meads, <!--del_lnk--> George Nepia and <!--del_lnk--> Wilson Whineray.<p>Dave Gallaher played in the All Blacks' first ever Test match in 1903 and also captained the 1905 Originals. Along with <!--del_lnk--> Billy Stead, Gallaher authored the famous rugby book <i>The Complete Rugby Footballer</i>. At the age of only 19, George Nepia played in all 30 matches on the Invincibles tour of 1924-25. Nepia played 37 All Blacks games; his last was against the British Isles in 1930.<p>Fred Allen captained all of his 21 matches for the All Blacks, including six Tests, between 1946 and 1949. He eventually moved onto coaching the All Blacks between 1966 and 1968. The All Blacks won all 14 of their Test matches with Allen as coach.<p>Five Hall of Fame inductees played during the 1960s. Don Clarke was an All Black between 1956 and 1964 and during this period he broke the record at the time for All Black Test points. Clarke famously scored six penalties in one match — a record at the time — to give the All Blacks an 18-17 victory over the British Isles. Sir Wilson Whineray played 32 Tests, captaining the All Blacks in 30 of them. He played prop and also <!--del_lnk--> number 8 between 1957 and 1965. The All Blacks lost only four of their 30 Tests with Whineray as captain. In Colin Meads' New Zealand Rugby Museum profile, he is described as "New Zealand's equivalent of Australia's Sir <a href="../../wp/d/Donald_Bradman.htm" title="Donald Bradman">Donald Bradman</a> or the United States of America's <a href="../../wp/b/Babe_Ruth.htm" title="Babe Ruth">Babe Ruth</a>." Meads, nicknamed <i>Pinetree</i>, played 133 games for the All Blacks, including 55 Tests. In 1999 the New Zealand Rugby Monthly magazine named Meads the New Zealand player of the century. Ian Kirkpatrick played 39 Tests, including 9 as captain, between 1967 and 1977. He scored 16 tries in his Test career, a record at the time.<p>The 1987 World Cup champions were coached by Sir Brian Lochore who had represented the All Blacks in 25 Tests between 1964 and 1971, including 17 as captain. Lochore was <!--del_lnk--> knighted in 1999 for his lifetime services to rugby. Four of the 1987 World Cup squad that he had coached are also inductees in the Hall of Fame. John Kirwan played a total of 63 Tests between 1984 and 1994, scoring 35 tries, an All Blacks record at the time. In the 1987 World Cup opener against Italy, Kirwan raced 90 meters to score one of the tries of the tournament. An All Black from 1984 to 1993, Grant Fox was one of the All Blacks' greatest point-scorers with 1067 points, including 645 Test points. Fox played 46 Tests, including the 1987 World Cup final against France. Known as The Iceman, Michael Jones was one the greatest open side flankers of all time. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Jones first played international rugby for <!--del_lnk--> Samoa, then for the All Blacks, playing 55 Tests between 1987 and 1998. Due to his Christian faith Jones never played rugby on Sundays, resulting in him not playing in the 1991 World Cup semi-final against Australia, and also in him not being picked for the 1995 World Cup squad.<p>The most capped Test All Black is Sean Fitzpatrick with 92 appearances. Fitzpatrick played in the 1987 World Cup after an injury to incumbent Andy Dalton and was appointed All Blacks captain in 1992, continuing in the role until his retirement in 1997. He played a total of 346 first class rugby matches, including 92 Tests.<p><a id="Individual_records" name="Individual_records"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Individual records</span></h3>
<p>The record for most All Black Test points is held by <!--del_lnk--> Andrew Mehrtens with 967 points from 70 Tests. The All Black's greatest Test try scorer is <!--del_lnk--> Christian Cullen with 46 tries from 58 Tests. The world record for tries in a calender year is held by <!--del_lnk--> Joe Rokocoko, with 17 tries in 2003; he also became the first All Black to score ten tries in his first five Tests. In Test matches, the most capped All Black is Sean Fitzpatrick with 92 appearances, with a record 51 of which were as captain. The youngest All Black in a Test match was Jonah Lomu, capped at age 19 years, 45 days, whilst the oldest Test player was <!--del_lnk--> Ned Hughes at 40 years, 123 days.<p><a id="Coaches" name="Coaches"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Coaches</span></h2>
<p>Due to the definition and role of All Blacks coach varying so much prior to the 1949 All Blacks tour of South Africa, the following table only includes coaches appointed since.<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Years</th>
<th>Tests</th>
<th>Won</th>
<th>Drew</th>
<th>Lost</th>
<th>Win percentage</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Alex McDonald</td>
<td>1949</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tom Morrison</td>
<td>1950, 5, 55 - 56</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>66.7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Len Clode</td>
<td>1951</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Arthur Marslin</td>
<td>1953 - 1954</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>60</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dick Everest</td>
<td>1957</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jack Sullivan</td>
<td>1958 - 1960</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>54.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Neil McPhail</td>
<td>1961 - 1965</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>16</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>80</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ron Bush</td>
<td>1962</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Fred Allen</td>
<td>1966 - 1968</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ivan Vodanovich</td>
<td>1969 - 1971</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>40</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bob Duff</td>
<td>1972 - 1973</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>75</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>John Stewart</td>
<td>1974 - 1976</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>54.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jack Gleeson</td>
<td>1977 - 1978</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>76.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eric Watson</td>
<td>1979 - 1980</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>55.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Peter Burke</td>
<td>1981 - 1982</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>81.8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bryce Rope</td>
<td>1983 - 1984</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>75</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sir Brian Lochore</td>
<td>1985 - 1987</td>
<td>18</td>
<td>14</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>77.7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Alex Wyllie</td>
<td>1988 - 1991</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>86.2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Laurie Mains</td>
<td>1992 - 1995</td>
<td>34</td>
<td>23</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>67.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> John Hart</td>
<td>1996 - 1999</td>
<td>41</td>
<td>31</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>75.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wayne Smith</td>
<td>2000 - 2001</td>
<td>17</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>70.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> John Mitchell</td>
<td>2002 - 2003</td>
<td>28</td>
<td>23</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>82.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Graham Henry</td>
<td>2004 - present</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>32</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>88.8</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="Home_grounds" name="Home_grounds"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Home grounds</span></h2>
<div style="float: right; clear: right;">
<div style="position: relative;">
<p><a class="image" href="../../images/41/4129.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="291" longdesc="/wiki/Image:New_Zealand_provinces.png" src="../../images/41/4129.png" width="200" /></a><div style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: 10px;">
<div style="position: absolute; left:88px; top: 204.6px;">⊗ <!--del_lnk--> Jade Stadium</div>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: 10px;">
<div style="position: absolute; left:120px; top: 157px;">⊗ <!--del_lnk--> Westpac Stadium</div>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: 10px;">
<div style="position: absolute; left:131.2px; top: 77px;">⊗ <!--del_lnk--> Waikato Stadium</div>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: 10px;">
<div style="position: absolute; left:74px; top: 57px;"><!--del_lnk--> Eden Park ⊗ <!--del_lnk--> North Harbour Stadium</div>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: 10px;">
<div style="position: absolute; left:62px; top: 246px;">⊗ <!--del_lnk--> Carisbrook</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Unlike many other major rugby nations, New Zealand does not have an official stadium for its national team. Instead, the All Blacks play their Test matches at a variety of venues throughout New Zealand. In 2005 and 2006 the All Blacks played matches at: <!--del_lnk--> Eden Park, <a href="../../wp/a/Auckland.htm" title="Auckland">Auckland</a>; <!--del_lnk--> North Harbour Stadium, <!--del_lnk--> Albany; <!--del_lnk--> Westpac Stadium, <a href="../../wp/w/Wellington.htm" title="Wellington">Wellington</a>; <!--del_lnk--> Jade Stadium (formerly called Lancaster Park), <!--del_lnk--> Christchurch; <!--del_lnk--> Waikato Stadium, <!--del_lnk--> Hamilton; and <!--del_lnk--> Carisbrook, <!--del_lnk--> Dunedin.<p>Prior to the construction of Westpac Stadium in 1999, Wellington's Test venue was <!--del_lnk--> Athletic Park. Athletic Park was the venue for the first All Blacks Test match in New Zealand against Great Britain in 1904. The first home Test match played outside the main centres of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin or Wellington was in 1996 at <!--del_lnk--> McLean Park in <!--del_lnk--> Napier. The 1987 Rugby World Cup final was played at Eden Park.<p>Eden Park and Jade Stadium are being upgraded in preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 2006, the <!--del_lnk--> New Zealand Government proposed the construction of a waterfront <!--del_lnk--> National Stadium in Auckland as an alternative to Eden Park's upgrade; this proposal was rejected by the <!--del_lnk--> Auckland Regional Council. The NZRU no longer considers Carisbrook as a suitable Test venue; a covered sports stadium has been proposed as a replacement.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Blacks"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">All You Need Is Love (The JAMs song)</h1>
<div id="bodyContent">
<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Music.Musical_Recordings_and_compositions.htm">Musical Recordings and compositions</a></h3>
<!-- start content -->
<table class="infobox" style="width: 20em;">
<tr>
<th colspan="3" style="background: khaki; text-align: center;">"All You Need Is Love"</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> <img alt=""All You Need Is Love" cover" height="200" longdesc="/wiki/Image:The_Justified_Ancients_of_Mu_Mu-_All_You_Need_Is_Love.jpg" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="200" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="3" style="background: khaki; text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Single by <!--del_lnk--> The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="3" style="text-align: center;">from the album <i><!--del_lnk--> 1987 </i></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Released</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> 9 March <!--del_lnk--> 1987<small>(original white-label version)</small><br /><!--del_lnk--> 18 May <!--del_lnk--> 1987 <small>("106bpm" version)</small></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Format</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> White label, <!--del_lnk--> 7", <!--del_lnk--> 12"</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Genre</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Electronic</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Length</b></td>
<td colspan="2">5:02 <small>(original white-label version)</small><br /> 4:56 <small>("106bpm" version)</small></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding-right: 1em;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Label</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> The Sound Of Mu(sic) <small>(UK)</small></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Producer(s)</b></td>
<td colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Drummond, <!--del_lnk--> Cauty</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="3" style="background: khaki;"><!--del_lnk--> Drummond & <!--del_lnk--> Cauty singles chronology</th>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em;">
<td style="width: 33%;" valign="top">-</td>
<td style="width: 33%;" valign="center">"<b>All You Need Is Love</b>"<br /> (1987)</td>
<td style="width: 33%;" valign="top">"<a href="../../wp/w/Whitney_Joins_The_JAMs.htm" title="Whitney Joins The JAMs">Whitney Joins The JAMs</a>"<br /> (1987)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>"<b>All You Need Is Love</b>" is a song by <!--del_lnk--> The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, <!--del_lnk--> independently released as their debut single on <!--del_lnk--> 9 March <!--del_lnk--> 1987. A politically topical song concerning the UK media's <a href="../../wp/a/AIDS.htm" title="AIDS">AIDS</a> furore, the track was initially given a <!--del_lnk--> 12" white label release because of its plagiaristic <!--del_lnk--> sampling of other records.<p>The artistic attitude of "All You Need Is Love" epitomised that of The JAMs' subsequent recordings: plagiarising popular music by taking extensive samples of other artists' work, and juxtaposing these with each other, adding <!--del_lnk--> beatbox rhythms and <!--del_lnk--> Bill Drummond's <!--del_lnk--> Scottish-accented raps, poems and narrations. The JAMs' promotional tactics were similarly unconventional, including the use of promotional graffiti, a <!--del_lnk--> guerrilla communication method which would be employed regularly by Drummond and Cauty throughout their career.<p>
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</script><a id="Context" name="Context"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Context</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Bill Drummond and <!--del_lnk--> Jimmy Cauty started working together early in 1987. They assumed alter egos - Kingboy D and Rockman Rock respectively - and adopted the name "The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu" (The JAMs), after the fictional conspiratorial group "The Justified Ancients of Mummu" from <i><a href="../../wp/t/The_Illuminatus%2521_Trilogy.htm" title="The Illuminatus! Trilogy">The Illuminatus! Trilogy</a></i>. "All You Need Is Love" was their debut single.<p>Initially, the song was released as a limited edition one-sided <!--del_lnk--> white label <!--del_lnk--> promotional <!--del_lnk--> 12", on <!--del_lnk--> 9 March <!--del_lnk--> 1987, by The JAMs' own label <!--del_lnk--> The Sound Of Mu(sic). This version included a 15-second sample of <a href="../../wp/t/The_Beatles.htm" title="The Beatles">The Beatles'</a> "<!--del_lnk--> All You Need Is Love", as well as samples of the <!--del_lnk--> MC5's "<!--del_lnk--> Kick Out the Jams" and <!--del_lnk--> Samantha Fox's "<!--del_lnk--> Touch Me (I Want Your Body)". The song had been declined by distributors fearful of prosecution, but copies of the white label were sent to <!--del_lnk--> DJs and the <!--del_lnk--> music press. The identities of Drummond and Cauty were not made known to these recipients (<!--del_lnk--> Drummond was actually something of a music business veteran, and <!--del_lnk--> Cauty a former member of the much-hyped but unsuccessful band <!--del_lnk--> Brilliant). <i>Underground</i> Magazine speculated on this in March 1987: "The whole affair is mysterious, a telephone number only and a threat that the group will soon be releasing more material... 'No, we've not been in bands before, and yes, I suppose we were originally influenced by <!--del_lnk--> The Beastie Boys to actually get up and do something...' Too true, but these colonials seem a touch wiser, world weary a bit, but not angry...". In the <!--del_lnk--> 28 March <!--del_lnk--> 1987 edition, <i><!--del_lnk--> NME</i> revealed King Boy D's identity as Bill Drummond.<p>The JAMs re-edited the single in such a way that—they hoped—"brought [them] inside the "law" but still got up peoples noses", removing all but a snatch of The Beatles, replacing or doctoring the MC5 sample, and rerecording the Samantha Fox vocal. This new version—named "All You Need Is Love (106bpm)"—was released on <!--del_lnk--> 18 May <!--del_lnk--> 1987 as JAMS 23T, and was included on The JAMs debut album <i><!--del_lnk--> 1987 </i>. Indeed, according to Drummond, the recording of <i>1987</i> was funded by the sales of "All You Need Is Love (106bpm)".<p><a id="Composition" name="Composition"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Composition</span></h2>
<p>The central theme of "All You Need Is Love" was the media coverage given to the <a href="../../wp/a/AIDS.htm" title="AIDS">AIDS</a> crisis. The original version opens with a 15-second sample of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", followed by <!--del_lnk--> Rob Tyner's cry of "Kick out the Jams, motherfuckers!" from the MC5's album <i><!--del_lnk--> Kick Out the Jams</i>. A simple beatbox rhythm begins, along with samples of <!--del_lnk--> John Hurt from a British <!--del_lnk--> public information film—entitled <i>Don't Die of Ignorance</i>—about the dangers of AIDS. The samples misquote the film: "sexual intercourse—no known cure". Bill Drummond performs a heavily-accented <!--del_lnk--> Clydeside <a href="../../wp/r/Rapping.htm" title="Rapping">rap</a>, beginning "We're back again, they never kicked us out, twenty thousand years of 'shout shout shout'", a reference to the fictional JAMs of <i>The Illuminatus! Trilogy</i>. Later, he raps: "With this killer virus who needs war? Immanentize the eschaton, I said shag shag shag some more!". "<!--del_lnk--> Immanentize the eschaton" is a reference to the opening line of <i>Illuminatus!</i>, referring to the end of the material world, and "shag" is a <!--del_lnk--> British slang word meaning <!--del_lnk--> sexual intercourse.<p>Between verses, the rhythm is punctuated by samples of former <!--del_lnk--> glamour model Samantha Fox ("Touch me, touch me, I want to feel your body"), as well as a sample "Ancients of Mu Mu" (by The JAMs' associate rapper Chike) which recurred throughout the next ten years' work of Drummond and Cauty. Also heard is a rendition by children of "<!--del_lnk--> Ring a Ring O'Roses", rhythmic panting, and an original female vocal line concerning infant mortality. <i><!--del_lnk--> Sounds</i> magazine stated that the deliberate placement of Fox's sexually provocative "Touch Me" alongside "Ring a Ring O'Roses" ("the nursery rhyme about the <!--del_lnk--> Plague") "highlights explicitly the depth of contradiction embedded in society's attitude towards death through sex". More succinctly, <i>NME</i> said: "'All You Need...' is by <i>everyone</i>" (so many samples) "and about <i>everything</i>" (and a variety of thematic nuances).<p>Drummond has said he was inspired by the <a href="../../wp/h/Hip_hop_music.htm" title="Hip hop music">hip-hop</a> and scratch he was hearing regularly on <!--del_lnk--> John Peel's <!--del_lnk--> BBC Radio 1 show, but looking back in 1991 he said "If you listen to it now, it sounds nothing like a hip hop record, you know, it sounds a lot more like British <!--del_lnk--> punk... [a] punk version of a hip hop record, I suppose."<p><a id="Reviews" name="Reviews"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Reviews</span></h2>
<p>The original white label release of "All You Need Is Love" was made "single of the week" in <i>Sounds</i> magazine, who announced that The JAMs had "produced the first single to capture realistically the musical and social climate of 1987". Calling the result "a seething terror ridden pulp", <i>Sounds</i> elaborated: "How have [The JAMs] produced a record more powerful than <!--del_lnk--> Lydon/Bambaataa's "<!--del_lnk--> World Destruction" without laying a finger on a synthesiser or guitar? THEFT! By stealing all the various beats, noises and sounds they've wanted, and building it into their own stunning audio collage, [The JAMs] are making a direct assault on the way records are put together."<p><i>Underground</i> magazine were also enthusiastic: "This month I'm pleased to say, what's really moving is entirely British. The best groove so far this year is from <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a> and it shows <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a> and <!--del_lnk--> New York exactly how it <i>should</i> be done, a one-sided, one-track 12 inch (it doesn't need any dub or instrumentals). 'All You Need Is Love' by The Jamms is more than rife with a bit of The Beatles (with a dash of MC5 and Samantha Fox). It seems to be anti-AIDS, but as I know nothing about the band it could easily be a <!--del_lnk--> piss take. Either way this is a superb jam, if you can find it, buy it (it's so dodgily constructed in legal terms that no distributor info is given)."<p>In a July 1987 review of <i>1987 </i>, <!--del_lnk--> <i>Q</i> Magazine recalled that the original release of "All You Need Is Love" "seemed an inspired moment of pure wildness. Here were <!--del_lnk--> Red <!--del_lnk--> Clydeside beatbox rappers pointing a finger at society, putting their record together from samples pirated directly from other people's recordings, while at the same time crossing almost all contemporary music tribal boundaries by including everyone from Samantha Fox to The MC5 among their victims." This was contrasted with <i>1987</i> which the reviewer felt was a "disappointment" with "too few ideas being spread too thin".<p>The re-release of "All You Need Is Love" rewarded The JAMs with further praise, including <i>NME</i> "single of the week", in which <!--del_lnk--> Danny Kelly thought that "its maverick requisition of the hip-hop <!--del_lnk--> idiom, its fanatical confrontation of copyright laws overrun by music's new technologies, its central subject matters and its termination with the year's most incisively searching question—'1987: what the f**k's going on?'—combine to make 'All You Need Is Love' a triumph of nowness over mere newness" [censorship preserved]. Reviewing <i>1987</i> later in the year, the same writer described "All You Need Is Love" as "mighty" but he was unable to hide his disappointment in the album as a whole: "is it the runaway juggernaut hyperbrill monster crack that the outriding 45 threatened? No."<p>A retrospective piece in <i><!--del_lnk--> The Guardian</i> called "All You Need Is Love" a "jagged slice of agit-prop" and "shockingly effective", adding that "[the original] was a club hit (i.e. everybody danced to it though nobody bought it), and after being re-edited to avoid copyright restrictions, it reached number three in the Indie chart".<p><a id="Promotion_and_themes" name="Promotion_and_themes"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Promotion and themes</span></h2>
<p>The artistic attitude of "All You Need Is Love" epitomised that of The JAMs' subsequent recordings: plagiarising popular music by taking extensive samples of other artists' work, and juxtaposing these with each other, adding <!--del_lnk--> beatbox rhythms and Drummond's <!--del_lnk--> Scottish-accented raps, poems and narrations. The albums <i>1987</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Who Killed The JAMs?</i>, and the singles "All You Need Is Love", "<a href="../../wp/w/Whitney_Joins_The_JAMs.htm" title="Whitney Joins The JAMs">Whitney Joins The JAMs</a>" and "<!--del_lnk--> Down Town" all had small-scale production budgets and little mainstream popularity, yet their novel construction and The JAMs' provocative disregard for copyright gained the duo enduring media attention.<p>The JAMs' promotional tactics were similarly unconventional, including the use of promotional graffiti, a <!--del_lnk--> guerrilla communication method employed repeatedly by Drummond and Cauty, beginning around the time of their first releases. Some copies of the re-released single were supplied in a picture sleeve which showed The JAMs' "Shag Shag Shag" <!--del_lnk--> graffiti defacing a <!--del_lnk--> billboard (advertising the <i><!--del_lnk--> Today</i> newspaper) that depicted police chief <!--del_lnk--> James Anderton. Anderton, a self-declared <!--del_lnk--> Christian, had courted controversy when he said "I see increasing evidence of people swirling about in a human cesspit of their own making… We must ask why <!--del_lnk--> homosexuals freely engage in <!--del_lnk--> sodomy and other obnoxious practices, knowing the dangers involved". As with much of The JAMs' graffiti, the potency of "Shag Shag Shag" was derived from the context it in which it was placed. Further graffiti followed, "JAMs" and "Shag Shag Shag" slogans defacing billboards and Government-funded AIDS warnings in London. The JAMs also made available "Shag Shag Shag" T-shirts which King Boy D told the <i><!--del_lnk--> NME</i> were "selling like hot cakes". The JAMs later revisited the word "shag" when they named their early career retrospective compilation album <i><!--del_lnk--> Shag Times</i>.<p><!--del_lnk--> Drummond and Cauty's output as The JAMs and later <!--del_lnk--> The KLF extensively referenced <i>The Illuminatus! Trilogy</i>, and their debut recordings were no exception. The lyrical references in "All You Need Is Love" are complemented by the first of many iconographic and numerical allusions that soon came to characterise the duo's work. Their "pyramid blaster" logo—a <a href="../../wp/p/Pyramid.htm" title="Pyramid">pyramid</a> with a <!--del_lnk--> ghetto blaster suspended in front—appeared for the first time on the re-released "All You Need Is Love". The "pyramid blaster" references the "<!--del_lnk--> All Seeing I" icon—an eye suspended before a pyramid—associated with <i>The Illuminatus! Trilogy</i>. The catalogue numbers of the single (JAMS 23, JAMS 23S, JAMS 23T) also reference <i>Illuminatus!</i>, in which the <!--del_lnk--> number 23 is a recurring element. The JAMs actively enshrouded themselves with the mythology of the conspiritorial <i>Illuminatus!</i>, and by adopting the subversive attitude of the fictional JAMs they quickly developed their own mythology.<p><a id="Formats_and_track_listings" name="Formats_and_track_listings"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Formats and track listings</span></h2>
<p>"All You Need Is Love" was originally released in the UK as a limited edition one-side promotional <!--del_lnk--> 12" on <!--del_lnk--> 9 March 1987. The UK re-release of <!--del_lnk--> 18 May 1987 consisted of a 7" and a 12" that were also limited editions, along with a widely-available 12". The re-release included the tracks "Ivum Naya (Ibo Version)" (a version of "All You Need Is Love" with Chike on lead vocals), and "Rap, Rhyme and Scratch Yourself" (an instrumental version of the song, "a stripped down beatbox track for anybody to feel free to do what they want with" according to King Boy D). The 7" A-side was "All You Need Is Love (Me Ru Con Mix)", a traditional <a href="../../wp/v/Vietnam.htm" title="Vietnam">Vietnamese</a> song "Me Ru Con" sung by Duy Khiem, in which The JAMs "[took] remixing as far as we could". "Me Ru Con" featured on The JAMs' <i>1987 </i>. The formats and track listings of "All You Need Is Love" are tabulated below:<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th align="center" rowspan="2">Format (and countries)</th>
<th colspan="3">Track number</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>1</th>
<th>2</th>
<th>3</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">One-sided 12" white-label promo (UK) (limited edition of 500)</td>
<td>O</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">7" single (UK) (limited edition of 1000)</td>
<td>M</td>
<td>I</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">12" single (UK) (limited edition of 5000 in picture sleeve)</td>
<td>A</td>
<td>I</td>
<td>R</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">12" single (UK) (without picture sleeve)</td>
<td>A</td>
<td>I</td>
<td>R</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Key</b><ul>
<li>O - "All You Need Is Love" (original mix) (5:02)<li>A - "All You Need Is Love (106 bpm)" (4:56)<li>M - "All You Need Is Love (Me Ru Con Mix)" (2:22)<li>I - "Ivum Naya (Ibo Version)" (3:39)<li>R - "Rap, Rhyme and Scratch Yourself" (4:46)</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Love_%28The_JAMs_song%29"</div>
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| ['Whitney Joins The JAMs', 'AIDS', 'The Illuminatus! Trilogy', 'The Beatles', 'AIDS', 'Rapping', 'Hip hop music', 'Scotland', 'London', 'Whitney Joins The JAMs', 'Pyramid', 'Vietnam'] |
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">All your base are belong to us</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.IT.Websites_and_the_Internet.htm">Websites and the Internet</a></h3>
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<p>"<b>All your base are belong to us</b>" (often shortened to <b>"All Your Base"</b> or simply <b>AYB</b>) is an "<!--del_lnk--> Engrish" phrase that sparked an <!--del_lnk--> Internet phenomenon in 2001 and 2002. The text is taken from the opening <!--del_lnk--> cut scene of the English version of the 1989 <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japanese</a> <!--del_lnk--> video game <i><!--del_lnk--> Zero Wing</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Toaplan. Its brief but intense popularity derived in part from its poor translation into English and partly from its near-accidental adoption by a core group of Internet humorists. While the wildfire has died down, "All Your Base" is still a well-known reference among gamers and programmers.<p>
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</script><a id="Notable_references_in_popular_culture" name="Notable_references_in_popular_culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Transcripts and translations</span></h2>
<p><a id="Transcript" name="Transcript"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Transcript</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
</div>
<p>The cut scene transcript goes as follows:<dl>
<dd>Narrator: In A.D. 2101, war was beginning.</dl>
<dl>
<dd>Captain: What happen ?<dd>Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb. <dl>
<dd><i>(spoken in the Flash animation as</i> Someone set up us the bomb<i>)</i></dl>
<dd>Operator: We get signal.<dd>Captain: What <i>!</i><dd>Operator: Main screen turn on.<dd>Captain: It's you <i>!!</i><dd>CATS: How are you gentlemen <i>!!</i><dd>CATS: <b>All your base are belong to us.</b><dd>CATS: You are on the way to destruction.<dd>Captain: What you say <i>!!</i><dd>CATS: You have no chance to survive make your time.<dd>CATS: Ha Ha Ha Ha .... <dl>
<dd><i>(spoken in the Flash animation as</i> Ha Ha Ha<i>)</i></dl>
<dd>Operator: Captain <i>!!</i> *<dd>Captain: Take off every 'Zig' <i>!!</i><dd>Captain: You know what you doing.<dd>Captain: Move 'Zig'.<dd>Captain: For great justice.</dl>
<dl>
<dd>* <i>This line and those following it are not in some animated GIF/Flash versions seen on the Internet. They may also be included within the song lyrics of the animated Flash movie.</i></dl>
<p><a id="Original_Japanese_text" name="Original_Japanese_text"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Original Japanese text</span></h3>
<p>The bluntness of the famous mistranslation is in stark contrast to CATS's cool, caustic irony in the original text. The difference is especially vivid in the line corresponding to "All your base are belong to us." In the original line, CATS uses a form of Japanese grammar that is rude to the listeners but respectful towards the Federation army. Since the Federation army was presumably an ally of the Captain, this usage is particularly offensive but might be sarcastic. It suggests that the Federation army was treacherously co-opted into betraying the bases.<p>It also appears from the original text that CATS may be the name of an organization, not just of the particular cyborg villain appearing on the screen (as is the popular interpretation among English speakers.)<p><b>Please note: You may need to have Japanese character sets installed on your computer for proper display.</b><dl>
<dd>西暦２１０１年<dd>戦いは始まった。</dl>
<dl>
<dd>艦長：一体どうしたと言うんだ！<dd>機関士：何者かによって、爆発物が仕掛けられたようです。<dd>通信士：艦長！通信が入りました！<dd>艦長：なにっ！<dd>通信士：メインスクリーンにビジョンが来ます。<dd>艦長：おっお前は！<dd>ＣＡＴＳ：おいそがしそうだね、諸君。<dd>ＣＡＴＳ：連邦政府軍のご協力により、<b>君達の基地は、全てＣＡＴＳがいただいた。</b><dd>ＣＡＴＳ：君達の艦も、そろそろ終わりだろう。<dd>艦長：ばっばかなっ・・・！<dd>ＣＡＴＳ：君達のご協力には感謝する。<dd>ＣＡＴＳ：せいぜい残り少ない命を、大切にしたまえ・・・・。<dd>ＣＡＴＳ：ハッハッハッハッハッ・・・<dd>通信士：艦長・・・。<dd>艦長：ＺＩＧ全機に発進命令！！<dd>艦長：もう彼らに託すしかない・・。<dd>艦長：我々の未来に希望を・・・<dd>艦長：たのむぞ。ＺＩＧ！！</dl>
<p><a id="Literal_translation" name="Literal_translation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Literal translation</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>AD 2101<dd>War began.</dl>
<dl>
<dd>(Explosion goes off)<dd>Captain: What on earth is wrong, you say?!<dd>Engineer: It seems that someone has laid down explosives.<dd>Communication operator: Captain! A signal has come in!<dd>Captain: What!?<dd>Communication operator: A vision comes on the main screen.<dd>Captain: Y-You!<dd>CATS: You seem busy, gentlemen.<dd>CATS: In cooperation with the Federal Government forces, <b>CATS has taken over every last one of your bases.</b><dd>CATS: I guess it will soon be the end of your ship as well, huh.<dd>Captain: Y-You fool! ["How could you..."]...!<dd>CATS: Thank you for your cooperation.<dd>CATS: Take care in these few remaining moments of your life.<dd>CATS: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...<dd>Communication operator: Captain....<dd>Captain: All ZIG aircraft, take off!!<dd>Captain: We cannot but trust in them...<dd>Captain: Hope for our future...<dd>Captain: is in your hands. ZIG!!</dl>
<p><a id="Alternative_.22free_text.22_translation" name="Alternative_.22free_text.22_translation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alternative "free text" translation</span></h3>
<p>The following is a "free text" translation of the original Japanese. It is not intended to translate the exact wording of the original, but rather an attempt to capture the spirit and tone which the author intended.<dl>
<dd>A.D. 2101—The war has begun.</dl>
<dl>
<dd>Captain: What was that?!<dd>Chief Engineer: Somebody set off a bomb!<dd>Operator: Captain! We have an incoming transmission!<dd>Captain: What? Who?<dd>Operator: Activating Holoviewer...<dd>Captain: You! You're...<dd>CATS <i>(with sarcasm)</i>: You seem to be preoccupied, gentlemen.<dd>CATS: With the kind cooperation of the Federation forces, <b>we [CATS] are now in control of Earth!</b> (some suggest the intent was that the entire empire was taken over)<dd>CATS: Your ship, too, will soon meet its end.<dd>Captain: What do you mean?<dd>CATS: We thank you for your kind cooperation.<dd>CATS: Make the most of these last moments of your lives.<dd>CATS: Ha ha ha ha ha...<dd>Operator: Captain...<dd>Captain: Give the launch order to all ZIG fighters!<dd>Operator: Captain! Do you know what you are doing?<dd>Captain: Yes, we can only depend on them now.<dd>Captain: Our hope for the future...<dd>Captain: It's in your hands, ZIG fighters!</dl>
<p><a id="Arcade_ending" name="Arcade_ending"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Arcade ending</span></h2>
<p>Though the arcade version of <i>Zero Wing</i> did not have the famous "Engrish" introduction, it did provide more unintentional comedy upon completion of the game:<dl>
<dd>Congratulation <i>!!</i><dd>A.D.2111<dd>All bases of CATS were<dd>destroyed.<dd>It seems to be peaceful.<dd>but it is incorrect.<dd>CATS is still alive.<dd>ZIG-01 must fight<dd>against CATS again.<dd>and down with them<dd>completely <i>!</i> Good luck.</dl>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us"</div>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Religion.Divinities.htm">Divinities</a></h3>
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<td style="background: rgb(200,230,200)"><b><a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a></b></td>
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<td style="font-size:120%"><span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">اﷲ</span></td>
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<td style="background: rgb(200,230,200)"><b><!--del_lnk--> Transliteration</b></td>
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<td style="padding:3pt"><b><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn">Allāh</span></b></td>
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<td><i>"The God"</i></td>
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<p><i><b>Allah</b></i> is the <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic language</a> word referring to "<a href="../../wp/g/God.htm" title="God">God</a>", "the Lord" and, literally according to the <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a>, to the "God of <!--del_lnk--> Abraham, <a href="../../wp/i/Isaac.htm" title="Isaac">Isaac</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Jacob" in the <!--del_lnk--> Abrahamic religions. It does not mean "a <a href="../../wp/d/Deity.htm" title="Deity">god</a>", but rather "the Only God", the Supreme Creator of the universe, and it is the main term for the deity in <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islam</a>. However, "Allah" is not restricted to just Islam, but is used by Christians and Jews in some regions.<p>Most Arabic-speaking Muslims, Middle-Eastern Christians and Arabic-speaking Jewish Communities (including the <!--del_lnk--> Yemenite Jews, several <span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn"><span class="Arabic Unicode" style="white-space: nowrap; text-decoration: none" title="DIN 31635 Arabic transliteration"><!--del_lnk--> Mizraḥi</span></span> communities and some <!--del_lnk--> Sephardim) use "Allāh" as the proper noun for "God". Etymologically, the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilah, “the God.” The name's origin can be traced back to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for god was Il or El, the latter being an Old Testament synonym for Yahweh. Allah is the standard Arabic word for “God” and is used by Arab Christians as well . Allāh is found in the <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a> and in Arabic translations of both the <!--del_lnk--> Tanakh and the <!--del_lnk--> Gospels and even in the <!--del_lnk--> Indonesian translations of the <a href="../../wp/b/Bible.htm" title="Bible">Bible</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Christians believe that Allāh is ath-Thalouth al-Muqaddas - The Holy Trinity, thus whole Allāh is consisted from Abu-Father, Bin-Son, and Ruh-Spirit.<p>Outside the Arabic World, the use of "Allāh" is generally associated exclusively with <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islam</a>, and is used to refer specifically to the <!--del_lnk--> Islamic concept of God. It is nearly the same as the Jewish conception of a single God, but differs from the <a href="../../wp/t/Trinity.htm" title="Trinity">Trinitarian</a> <!--del_lnk--> Christian conception of God. In Islam, the concept of one God is strictly observed. The <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qu'ran">Qu'ran</a> refers to a Jewish belief in <!--del_lnk--> Ezra as the Son of God, although historical Judaism is also strictly monotheistic.<p><!--del_lnk--> Islamic scholars often translate "Allāh" directly into English as "God", especially <!--del_lnk--> Qur'an alone Muslims. Other scholars feel that "Allāh" should not be translated arguing that "Allāh" is the term for <i>"the Only God"</i> in a glorified pronunciation. This is a significant issue when <!--del_lnk--> translating the Qur'an.<p>According to the tradition of Islam there are <!--del_lnk--> 99 Names of God. They are the names of God revealed in the <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a>.<p>
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<p>The word <i>Allāh</i> (<span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">ألله</span>) is derived from a contraction of the Arabic words <i><!--del_lnk--> al-</i> (the) and <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn"><span class="Arabic Unicode" style="white-space: nowrap; text-decoration: none" title="DIN 31635 Arabic transliteration"><!--del_lnk--> ʾilāh</span></span></i> (deity, masculine form) — <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn"><span class="Arabic Unicode" style="white-space: nowrap; text-decoration: none" title="DIN 31635 Arabic transliteration">al-ilāh</span></span></i> meaning "the god". <!--del_lnk--> Cognates of the name "Allāh" exist in other <!--del_lnk--> Semitic languages, including <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrew_language.htm" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Aramaic.<p>Muslim and non-Muslim scholars often translate "Allāh" directly into <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> as "God"; and Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians refer to Allāh as God. Also, it is believed that in Islam, "Allāh" means the same God that the people of Christianity and Judaism faith believe in; in other words, the three prominent religions believe in the same God. However, some Muslim scholars feel that "Allāh" should not be translated, because they perceive the Arabic word to express the uniqueness of "Allāh" more accurately than the word "god", which can take a plural "gods", whereas the word "Allāh" has no plural form. This is a significant issue in <!--del_lnk--> translation of the Qur'an.<p>The word "Allāh" had been used in the Arabic tongue in the <!--del_lnk--> Jāhilīyah (pre-Islamic) period; it occurs in Arabic classical poetry and was also used by Jews in certain regions (for cognate Hebrew <!--del_lnk--> Elōah), as well as by the pagan tribes in the Arabian peninsula to signify a chief deity.<p>Along with Allāh, the pre-Islamic Arabs believed in a host of other terms to signify gods, such as <!--del_lnk--> Hubal and <!--del_lnk--> al-Lāt, <!--del_lnk--> al-`Uzzah, and <!--del_lnk--> Manah. Pre-Islamic Jews referred to their supreme creator as <!--del_lnk--> Yahweh or <!--del_lnk--> Elohim. This view of Allāh by the pre-Islamic pagans is viewed by Muslims as a later development having arisen as a result of moving away from Abrahamic <!--del_lnk--> monotheism over time since the building of the <!--del_lnk--> Kaaba. In the <a href="../../wp/q/Qur%2527an.htm" title="Qur'an">Qur'an</a>, Muhammad orally transmits a rebuttal to this common belief at the time in the verse <i>"17:40 Has then your Lord (O Pagans!) preferred for you sons, and taken for Himself daughters among the angels? Truly ye utter a most dreadful saying!"</i>. Secular historians, meanwhile, have postulated that monotheism is the result of an evolution from <!--del_lnk--> henotheism, the belief in a supreme deity as well as various lesser divinities. (See <!--del_lnk--> Judaism.) The pagan Arabians also used the word "Allāh" in the names of their children; Muhammad's father, who was born into pagan society, was named "`Abdullāh", which translates "servant of Allāh". "`Abdullāh" is still used for names of Muslim and non-Muslims (e.g. Christians also used the word, as testified by the <!--del_lnk--> Zabad inscription). "Abdullāh" was also the name of the father of Maimon, whose son Moses is the Jewish principal Rabbi commonly known in English as <!--del_lnk--> Maimonides. Maimonides himself wrote his works mostly in Arabic on which his name appear as "Mussa bin Maimun ibn Abdullah al-Kurtubi" ( <span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">موسى بن ميمون بن عبد الله القرطبي</span> ).<p>The <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrew_language.htm" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a> word for deity, <!--del_lnk--> El (<span lang="he" xml:lang="he">אל</span>) or <!--del_lnk--> Elōah (<span lang="he" xml:lang="he">אלוה</span>, rarely <span lang="he" xml:lang="he">אלה</span>), was used as an <!--del_lnk--> Old Testament synonym for <!--del_lnk--> Yahweh (<span lang="he" xml:lang="he">יהוה</span>), which is the proper name for God according to the <!--del_lnk--> Tanakh. The <!--del_lnk--> Aramaic word for God is <span lang="arc" xml:lang="arc">אלהא</span> <i>Elāhā</i> (<!--del_lnk--> Biblical Aramaic) and <span lang="syr" xml:lang="syr">ܐܠܗܐ</span> <i>Alāhā</i> (<!--del_lnk--> Syriac), which comes from the same Proto-<!--del_lnk--> Semitic word (<i>*<span class="Semitic Unicode" style="white-space: nowrap; text-decoration: none" title="Semitic transliteration"><!--del_lnk--> ʾil-</span></i>) as the Arabic and Hebrew terms; <a href="../../wp/j/Jesus.htm" title="Jesus">Jesus</a> is described in <!--del_lnk--> Mark 15:34 as having used the word on the cross, with the ending meaning "my", when saying, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (transliterated in Greek as ἐλωι <i>elō-i</i>). One of the earliest surviving translations of the word into a foreign language is in a <!--del_lnk--> Greek translation of the <!--del_lnk--> Shahada, from 86-96 AH (<!--del_lnk--> 705-<!--del_lnk--> 715 AD), which translates it as <span class="polytonic" lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ὁ θεος μονος</span> (<i>ho theos monos</i>) , literally "the lone god".<p><a id="Typography" name="Typography"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Typography</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/645.png.htm" title="An example of allāh written in simple Arabic calligraphy."><img alt="An example of allāh written in simple Arabic calligraphy." height="212" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Allah.svg" src="../../images/6/645.png" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/645.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An example of <i><span lang="ar-Latn" xml:lang="ar-Latn"><span class="Arabic Unicode" style="white-space: nowrap; text-decoration: none" title="DIN 31635 Arabic transliteration">allāh</span></span></i> written in simple <!--del_lnk--> Arabic calligraphy.</div>
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<p>The word <i>Allāh</i> is always written without an <!--del_lnk--> alif to spell the <i>ā</i> vowel. This is because the spelling was settled before Arabic spelling started habitually using <!--del_lnk--> alif to spell <i>ā</i>. However, in vocalized spelling, a small diacritic <i>alif</i> is added on top of the <i><!--del_lnk--> shaddah</i> to indicate the pronunciation.<p>One exception may be in the pre-Islamic <!--del_lnk--> Zabad inscription, where it ends with an ambiguous sign that may be a lone-standing <i>h</i> with a lengthened start, or may be a non-standard conjoined <i>l-h</i>:-<ul>
<li>as الاه : This reading would be <i>Allāh</i> spelled phonetically with <i>alif</i> for the <i>ā</i>.<li>as الاله : This reading would be <i>Al-'ilāh</i> = "the god", uncontracted, by older spelling practice without <i>alif</i> for <i>ā</i>.</ul>
<p>The form in the inscription is shown at .<p><!--del_lnk--> Unicode has a <!--del_lnk--> glyph reserved for <i>Allāh</i>, <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" style="white-space: nowrap;" xml:lang="ar">ﷲ</span>‎ = U+FDF2, which can be combined with an alif to yield the post-consonantal form, <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" style="white-space: nowrap;" xml:lang="ar">اﷲ</span>‎, as opposed to the full spelling <i>alif-lām-lām-hā</i> <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" style="white-space: nowrap;" xml:lang="ar">الله</span>‎ which may be rendered slightly differently, in particular featuring a diacritic <i>alif</i> on top of the <i>shadda</i>. In this, Unicode imitates traditional Arabic typesetting, which also frequently featured special <i>llāh</i> types.<p>In <i><!--del_lnk--> Abjad numerals</i>, <!--del_lnk--> The Name Of Allah (الله) numeric value is <!--del_lnk--> 66.<p>The calligraphic variant of the word used as the <!--del_lnk--> Coat of arms of Iran is encoded in <!--del_lnk--> Unicode, in the <!--del_lnk--> Miscellaneous Symbols range, at codepoint U+262B (<span class="Unicode">☫</span>).<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/648.jpg.htm" title="Allah script outside Edirne Eski Camii and woman"><img alt="Allah script outside Edirne Eski Camii and woman" height="227" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Dcp7323-Edirne-Eski_Camii_Allah.jpg" src="../../images/6/648.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/648.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Allah script outside Edirne Eski Camii and woman</div>
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<p>This view of Allāh by the pre-Islamic pagans is viewed by Muslims as a later development having arisen as a result of moving away from Abrahamic monotheism over time. Some of the names of these pagan gods are said to be derived from the descendants of Noah, whom later generations first revered as saints, and then transformed into gods. The pagan Arabians also <!--del_lnk--> used the word "Allāh" in the names of their children; <a href="../../wp/m/Muhammad.htm" title="Muhammad">Muhammad</a>'s father, who was born into pagan society, was named "<!--del_lnk--> Abdullah", which means "servant of Allāh". Abdullah is still used for names of Muslim and non-Muslim Arabs.<p>The <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrew_language.htm" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a> word for deity, <!--del_lnk--> El (אל) or <!--del_lnk--> Elōah (אלוה), was used as an <!--del_lnk--> Old Testament synonym for the <!--del_lnk--> Tetragrammaton (יהוה), which is the proper name of God according to the <!--del_lnk--> Hebrew Bible. The <!--del_lnk--> Aramaic word for God is <i>alôh-ô</i> (<!--del_lnk--> Syriac dialect) or elâhâ (Biblical dialect), which comes from the same Proto-<!--del_lnk--> Semitic word (<i>*ʾilâh-</i>) as the Arabic and Hebrew terms; <a href="../../wp/j/Jesus.htm" title="Jesus">Jesus</a> is described in <!--del_lnk--> Mark 15:34 as having used the word on the cross, with the ending meaning "my", when saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (transliterated in Greek as <i>elō-i</i>).<p>One of the earliest surviving translations of the word <i>Allāh</i> into a foreign language is in a <!--del_lnk--> Greek translation of the <!--del_lnk--> Shahada, from 86-96 AH (<!--del_lnk--> 705-<!--del_lnk--> 715 AD), which translates it as <i>ho theos monos</i>, literally "the one god". Also the cognate <!--del_lnk--> Aramaic term appears in the Aramaic version of the <i>New Testament</i>, called the <!--del_lnk--> Pshitta (or Peshitta) as one of the words Jesus used to refer to God, e.g., in the sixth <!--del_lnk--> Beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see <!--del_lnk--> Alaha." And in the Arabic Bible the same words: "طُوبَى لأَنْقِيَاءِ الْقَلْبِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ سَيَرَوْنَ الله"<h2><span class="mw-headline">Other beliefs</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Jews for Allah</i> is a group of Muslim former Jews who convert Jews to Islam.</ul>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> The Nation of Gods and Earths, one of the many sects created as the result of black separatist movements in the United States, holds that the word Allāh is the name of the original black man and stands for "Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head".,, which is an English abbreviation. As the word Allāh is universally understood to be an Arabic term, those familiar with the origins and history of <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> and <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> would consider this a <!--del_lnk--> false etymology. This concept also differs dramatically from mainstream Islam thought which strictly opposes any attempt to portray Allāh as a human or in any other way.</ul>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="../../wp/b/Bah%25C3%25A1%2527%25C3%25AD_Faith.htm" title="Bahá'í Faith">Bahá'í Faith</a>, whose <!--del_lnk--> scriptures are primarily written in <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Persian, also uses Allāh to mean God, though typical practice is to use the customary word for God in the language being spoken. In certain specific uses Allāh is not translated, rather the whole Arabic phrase is used. The chief example of this would be the customary Bahá'í greeting <i>Alláh'u'abhá</i>, which is commonly translated as <i>God is the All Glorious</i>. They also believe that Allāh should not have any pictures drawn of him.</ul>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah"</div>
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<p><b>Allegory in the Middle Ages</b> was a vital element in the <!--del_lnk--> synthesis of Biblical and Classical traditions into what would become recognizable as Medieval culture. People of the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> consciously drew from the cultural legacies of the ancient world in shaping their institutions and ideas, and so <!--del_lnk--> allegory in <a href="../../wp/m/Medieval_literature.htm" title="Medieval literature">Medieval literature</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Medieval art was a prime mover for the synthesis and transformational continuity between the ancient world and the "new" Christian world. People of the Middle Ages did not see the same break between themselves and their classical forbears that modern observers see; rather, they saw continuity with themselves and the ancient world, using allegory as a synthesizing agent, bringing together a whole image.<p>
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</script><a id="Four_types_of_allegory" name="Four_types_of_allegory"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Four types of allegory</span></h2>
<p>There were four categories of allegory used in the Middle Ages, which had originated with the Bible commentators of the early Christian era. The first is simply the <i><!--del_lnk--> literal</i> interpretation of the events of the story for historical purposes with no underlying meaning. The second is called <i><!--del_lnk--> typological</i>, which is connecting the events of the <!--del_lnk--> Old Testament with the <!--del_lnk--> New Testament; in particular drawing allegorical connections between the events of Christ's life with the stories of the Old Testament. The third is <i><!--del_lnk--> moral</i> (or <i><!--del_lnk--> tropological</i>), which is how one should act in the present, the "moral of the story". The fourth type of allegory is <i><!--del_lnk--> anagogical</i>, dealing with the future events of Christian history, heaven, hell, the last judgment; it deals with prophecies.<p>Thus the four types of allegory deal with past events (literal), the connection of past events with the present (typology), present events (moral), and the future (anagogical).<p><a href="../../wp/d/Dante_Alighieri.htm" title="Dante">Dante</a> describes the four meanings, or senses, of allegory in his <!--del_lnk--> epistle to <!--del_lnk--> Can Grande della Scala. He says the allegories of his work are not simple, but:<table align="center" cellpadding="10" class="cquote" style="border-collapse:collapse; background-color:transparent; border-style:none;">
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<td>Rather, it may be called "<!--del_lnk--> polysemous", that is, of many senses [allegories]. A first sense derives from the letters themselves, and a second from the things signified by the letters. We call the first sense "literal" sense, the second the "allegorical", or "moral" or "anagogical". To clarify this method of treatment, consider this verse: <i>When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people: Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion</i> (Psalm 113). Now if we examine the letters alone, the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt in the time of Moses is signified; in the allegory, our redemption accomplished through Christ; in the moral sense, the conversion of the soul from the grief and misery of sin to the state of grace; in the anagogical sense, the exodus of the holy soul from slavery of this corruption to the freedom of eternal glory.. they can all be called allegorical.</td>
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Allegory in the Middle Ages"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/148.png.htm" title="Allegory in the Middle Ages"><img alt="Allegory in the Middle Ages" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote2.png" src="../../images/1/148.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<p>Medieval allegory began as a Christian method for synthesizing the discrepancies between the Old Testament and the New Testament. While both testaments were studied and seen as equally divinely inspired by <a href="../../wp/g/God.htm" title="God">God</a>, the Old Testament contained discontinuities for Christians -- for example the Jewish <!--del_lnk--> kosher laws. The Old Testament was therefore seen in relation to how it would predict the events of the New Testament, in particular how the events of the Old Testament related to the events of Christs life. The events of the Old Testament were seen as part of the story, with the events of Christ's life bringing these stories to a full conclusion. The technical name for seeing the New Testament in the Old is called <i><!--del_lnk--> typology</i>.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16460.jpg.htm" title="Christ rises from the tomb, alongside Jonah spit onto the beach, a typological allegory."><img alt="Christ rises from the tomb, alongside Jonah spit onto the beach, a typological allegory." height="119" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Biblia.pauperum.jpg" src="../../images/164/16460.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16460.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Christ rises from the tomb, alongside Jonah spit onto the beach, a typological allegory.</div>
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<p>One example of typology is the story of <!--del_lnk--> Jonah and the whale from the Old Testament. Medieval allegorical interpretation of this story is that it prefigures Christ's burial, with the stomach of the whale as Christ's tomb. Jonah was eventually freed from the whale after three days, so did Christ rise from his tomb after three days. Thus, whenever one finds an allusion to Jonah in Medieval art or literature, it is usually an allegory for the burial and resurrection of Christ. Another common typological allegory is with the four major Old testament prophets <!--del_lnk--> Isaiah, <!--del_lnk--> Jeremiah, <!--del_lnk--> Ezekiel, and <!--del_lnk--> Daniel. These four prophets prefigure the four Apostles <!--del_lnk--> Matthew, <!--del_lnk--> Mark, <!--del_lnk--> Luke, <!--del_lnk--> John. There was no end to the number of analogies that commentators could find between stories of the Old Testament and the New.<p>There also existed a tradition in the Middle Ages of <i><!--del_lnk--> mythography</i> -- the allegorical interpretation of pagan myths. <a href="../../wp/v/Virgil.htm" title="Virgil">Virgil</a>'s <i><!--del_lnk--> Aeneid</i> and <!--del_lnk--> Ovid's <i><!--del_lnk--> Metamorphoses</i> were standard textbooks throughout the Middle Ages, and each had a long tradition of allegorical interpretation. An illustrative example can be found in <!--del_lnk--> Sienna in a painting of a Christs crucifix (<i>Sano di Pietro's Crucifix</i>, 15th c). At the top of the cross can be seen a bird pecking its own breast, blood pouring forth from the wound and feeding its waiting chicks below. This is the <!--del_lnk--> pelican whose "story" was told by Roman naturalist <!--del_lnk--> Pliny the Elder. Thus by analogy to a "<!--del_lnk--> pagan" source, Christ feeds his own children with his own blood.<p>Allegory was even seen in the natural world, as animals, plants, and even non-living things were interpreted in books called <!--del_lnk--> bestiaries as symbols of Biblical figures and morals. For example, in one bestiary <!--del_lnk--> stags are compared to people devoted to the Church, because (according to medieval zoology) they leave their pastures for other (heavenly) pastures, and when they come to broad rivers (sin) they form in line and each rests its head on the haunches of the next (supporting each other by example and good works), speeding across the waters together.<p><a id="History_of_allegory" name="History_of_allegory"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History of allegory</span></h2>
<p><a id="Late_Antiquity" name="Late_Antiquity"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Late Antiquity</span></h3>
<p>Before the 5th century the traditions of allegorical interpretations were created in a time when rhetorical training was common, when the classics of mythology were still standard teaching texts, when the Greek and Roman pantheon of Gods were still visible forms (if not always fully recognized by the more learned populace), and when the new religions such as Christianity adopted or rejected pagan elements by way of allegoresis (the study and interpretation of allegory).<p>It was in this period that the first pure, freestanding allegorical work was written in about 400 AD by <!--del_lnk--> Prudentius called <i><!--del_lnk--> Psychomachia</i> ("Soul-War"). The plot consists of the personified "good" virtues of Hope, Sobriety, Chastity, Humility, etc. fighting the personified "evil" vices of Pride, Wrath, Paganism, Avarice, etc. The personifications are women, because in Latin words for abstract concepts are in the feminine gender; an uninformed reader of the work might take the story literally as a tale of many angry women fighting one another, because as the first "pure" allegory Prudentius provides no context or explanation of the allegory.<p>In this same period of the early 5th century three other authors of importance to the history of allegory emerged: <!--del_lnk--> Claudian, <!--del_lnk--> Macrobius and <!--del_lnk--> Martianus Capella. Little is known of these authors, even if they were truly Christian or not, but we do know they handed down the inclination to express learned material in allegorical form, mainly through personification, which later became a standard part of medieval schooling methods.<p>Claudian's first work <i>In Rufinum</i> was an attack against the ruthless <!--del_lnk--> Rufinus and would become a model for the 12th century <i><!--del_lnk--> Anticlaudianus</i>, a well known allegory for how to be an upstanding man. As well his <i>Rape of Prosperpine</i> was a litany of mythological allegories, personifications, and cosmological allegories. Macrobius wrote <i>Commentary of the Dream of Scipio</i> providing the Middle Ages with the tradition of a favorite topic, the allegorical treatment of dreams. Lastly Martianus wrote <i>Marriage of Philology and Mercury</i>, the title referring to the allegorical union of intelligent learning with the love of letters. It contained short treatises on the "seven liberal arts" (grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music) and thus became a standard textbook, greatly influencing educators and students throughout the Middle Ages.<p>Lastly, perhaps the most influential author of <!--del_lnk--> Late Antiquity was <!--del_lnk--> Boethius, in whose work <i><a href="../../wp/c/Consolation_of_Philosophy.htm" title="Consolation of Philosophy">Consolation of Philosophy</a></i> we are first introduced to the personified Lady Philosophy, the source of innumerable later such personified figures (Lady Luck, etc..)<p><a id="Early_Middle_Ages" name="Early_Middle_Ages"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Early Middle Ages</span></h3>
<p>After Boethius there exists no known work of allegory literature until the 12th century, and although allegorical thinking and elements and artwork abound during this period, not until the rise of the Medieval university in the High Middle Ages does sustained allegorical literature appear again.<p><a id="High_and_Late_Middle_Ages" name="High_and_Late_Middle_Ages"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">High and Late Middle Ages</span></h3>
<p>The earliest works were by <!--del_lnk--> Bernard Silvestris (<i>Cosmographia</i>, 1147), and <!--del_lnk--> Alanus ab Insulis (<i>Plaint of Nature</i>, 1170, and <i>Anticlaudianus</i>) who pioneered the use of allegory (mainly personification) for the use of abstract speculation on metaphysics and scientific questions.<p>The High and Late Middle Ages saw many allegorical works and techniques. There were four "great" works from this period.<ul>
<li><b>The Four Great Medieval Allegories</b><ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Le Roman de la Rose</i>. A major allegorical work, it had many lasting influences on western literature, creating entire new genres and development of vernacular languages.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Divine Comedy</i>. Probably the greatest medieval work of literature, and the greatest work of allegory ever written.<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Piers Plowman</i>. An encyclopedic array of allegorical devices. Dream-vision; pilgrimage; personification; satire; typological story structure (the dreamer's progress mirrors the progress of biblical history from the Fall of Adam to Apocalypse).<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Pearl</i>. A plot based on an <!--del_lnk--> anagogical allegory; a dreamer is introduced to heavenly Jerusalem. Focus on the meaning of death. A religious response to <i>Consolation of Philosophy</i>.</ul>
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<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_in_the_Middle_Ages"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alligator</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Insects_Reptiles_and_Fish.htm">Insects, Reptiles and Fish</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><b>Alligators</b></th>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/150/15064.jpg.htm" title="An American Alligator in captivity at the Columbus Zoo"><img alt="An American Alligator in captivity at the Columbus Zoo" height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:American_Alligator.jpg" src="../../images/150/15064.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align:center"><small>An <!--del_lnk--> American Alligator in captivity at the <!--del_lnk--> Columbus Zoo</small></div>
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Chordate.htm" title="Chordate">Chordata</a><br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Reptile">Sauropsida</a><br />
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<td>Order:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Crocodilia<br />
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<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Alligatoridae<br />
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<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><b>Alligator</b></i><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Daudin, 1809</small></td>
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<center>Species</center>
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<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Alligator mississippiensis</i><br /><i><!--del_lnk--> Alligator sinensis</i></td>
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<p>An <b>alligator</b> is a <!--del_lnk--> crocodilian in the <!--del_lnk--> genus <i><b>Alligator</b></i> of the <a href="../../wp/f/Family.htm" title="Family">family</a> <!--del_lnk--> Alligatoridae. The name <i>alligator</i> is an <!--del_lnk--> anglicized form of the <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a> <i>el lagarto</i> ("the lizard"), the name by which early <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spanish</a> explorers and settlers in <a href="../../wp/f/Florida.htm" title="Florida">Florida</a> called the alligator. There are two living alligator <!--del_lnk--> species: the <!--del_lnk--> American Alligator (<i>Alligator mississippiensis</i>) and the <!--del_lnk--> Chinese Alligator (<i>Alligator sinensis</i>).<p>
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</script><a id="Description" name="Description"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Description</span></h2>
<p>Alligators are characterized by a broader <!--del_lnk--> snout and eyes more <!--del_lnk--> dorsally located than their crocodile cousins. Both living species also tend to be darker in color, often nearly black but colour is very dependent on the water. Algae laden waters produce greener gators. Waters with a lot of tannic acid from overhanging trees are often darker. (although the Chinese alligator has some light patterning.) Also, in alligators only the upper teeth can be seen with the jaws closed (in contrast to true crocodiles, in which upper and lower teeth can be seen), though many individuals bear jaw deformities which complicate this means of identification.<p>The eyes of a large alligator will glow red and those of a smaller will glow green when a light is shined on them. This fact can be used to find alligators in the dark.<p>According to the <!--del_lnk--> Everglades National Park website, the largest alligator ever recorded in <a href="../../wp/f/Florida.htm" title="Florida">Florida</a> was 17 feet 5 inches long (5.3 meters). The largest alligator ever recorded measured 19 feet 2 inches (5.8 meters) and was found on <!--del_lnk--> Marsh Island, <!--del_lnk--> Louisiana. Few of the giant specimens were weighed, but the larger ones could have exceeded a ton in weight.<p><a id="Habitat" name="Habitat"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Habitat</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15065.jpg.htm" title="American Alligator"><img alt="American Alligator" height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Gatrhole.jpg" src="../../images/150/15065.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15065.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> American Alligator</div>
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<p>There are only two countries on earth that have alligators: the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>. The Chinese alligator is endangered and lives only in the <a href="../../wp/y/Yangtze_River.htm" title="Yangtze River">Yangtze River</a> valley though currently Rockefeller Wildlife refuge in southern Louisiana has several in captivity in an attempt to preserve the species. The American Alligator is found in the United States from the Carolinas to Florida and along the Gulf Coast. The majority of American Alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana. In Florida alone there are an estimated more than 1 million alligators. The United States is the only nation on earth where both alligators and crocodiles live side by side. American Alligators live in <!--del_lnk--> freshwater environments, such as <a href="../../wp/p/Pond.htm" title="Pond">ponds</a>, <!--del_lnk--> marshes, <!--del_lnk--> wetlands, <a href="../../wp/r/River.htm" title="River">rivers</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> swamps. In China, they live only along the fresh water of the Yangtze River.<p><a id="Behavior" name="Behavior"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Behaviour</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15066.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="240" longdesc="/wiki/Image:American_Alligator_in_Florida.jpg" src="../../images/150/15066.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Large male alligators are <!--del_lnk--> solitary, <!--del_lnk--> territorial animals. Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers in close proximity to each other. The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory; smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class.<p>Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow <!--del_lnk--> metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed that can exceed 30 miles per hour though this could more properly be classified as a short fast lunge rather than a dash. Alligators' main prey are smaller animals that they can kill and eat with a single bite. Alligators may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it in the water to drown. Alligators consume food that cannot be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot or by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite size pieces are torn off. This is referred to as the "death roll."<p><a id="Diet" name="Diet"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Diet</span></h2>
<p>Alligators are opportunistic feeders, eating almost anything they can catch. When they are young they eat fish, insects, snails, and crustaceans. As they grow they take progressively larger prey items, including: larger fish such as <!--del_lnk--> gar, turtles, various mammals, birds, and other reptiles. Their stomachs also often contain <!--del_lnk--> gastroliths. They will even consume <!--del_lnk--> carrion if they are sufficiently hungry. Adult alligators can take razorbacks and deer and are well known to kill and eat smaller alligators. In some cases, larger alligators have been known to hunt the Florida panther and bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution. As humans encroach onto to their habitat, attacks on humans are few but not unknown. Alligators, unlike the large crocodiles, do not immediately regard a human upon encounter as prey.<p>Unfortunately, human deaths caused by alligators have increased. While there were only 9 fatal attacks in the U.S.A. from the 1970s to the 1990s, 11 people were killed by alligators from 2001 to 2006. More deaths occurred in this 5-year period than did in the previous 30. For a long time people have been taught that alligators fear humans, which is true, but this has led some people to be foolhardy and enter the animal's habitat in ways that provoke aggression.<p><a id="Reproduction" name="Reproduction"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Reproduction</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15067.jpg.htm" title="Alligator eggs and young"><img alt="Alligator eggs and young" height="138" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alligator_eggs_and_young_alligators.jpg" src="../../images/150/15067.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>The sexual maturity of the alligator is dependent more upon the size of the animal than its age. An alligator is generally considered sexually mature when it reaches a length of six feet or more. Alligators are seasonal breeders. The <!--del_lnk--> mating season is in <a href="../../wp/s/Spring_%2528season%2529.htm" title="Spring (season)">spring</a> when the water warms. The female builds a nest of vegetation that rots, incubating the <!--del_lnk--> eggs. The mother will defend the nest from <!--del_lnk--> predators and will assist the babies to water once they hatch. She will provide protection to the young for about a year if they remain in the area.<p><a id="Farming" name="Farming"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Farming</span></h2>
<p>Alligator farming is a big and growing industry in Florida, Texas and Louisiana. These states produce a combined annual total of some 45,000 alligator hides. Alligator hides bring good prices and hides in the 6-7 foot range have sold for $300 each though the price can fluctuate considerably from year to year. The market for alligator meat is growing and approximately 300,000 pounds of meat is produced annually.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alliterative verse</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Language_and_literature.Poetry_and_Opera.htm">Poetry & Opera</a></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/270/27046.jpg.htm" title="The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse."><img alt="The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse." height="286" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg" src="../../images/45/4550.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>In <!--del_lnk--> prosody, <b>alliterative verse</b> is a form of <!--del_lnk--> verse that uses <!--del_lnk--> alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry, as opposed to other devices such as <!--del_lnk--> rhyme.<p>The most intensively studied traditions of alliterative verse are those found in the oldest literature of many <!--del_lnk--> Germanic languages. Alliterative verse, in various forms, is found widely in the literary traditions of the early Germanic languages. The <a href="../../wp/o/Old_English_language.htm" title="Old English language">Old English</a> <!--del_lnk--> epic <i><!--del_lnk--> Beowulf</i>, as well as most other <!--del_lnk--> Old English poetry, the <!--del_lnk--> Old High German <i><!--del_lnk--> Muspilli</i>, the <!--del_lnk--> Old Saxon <i><!--del_lnk--> Heliand</i>, and the <!--del_lnk--> Old Norse <i><!--del_lnk--> Poetic Edda</i> all use alliterative verse.<p>Alliterative verse can be found in many other languages as well, although rarely with the systematic rigor of Germanic forms. The <a href="../../wp/f/Finland.htm" title="Finland">Finnish</a> <!--del_lnk--> Kalevala and the <!--del_lnk--> Estonian <!--del_lnk--> Kalevipoeg both use alliterative forms derived from folk tradition. Traditional <!--del_lnk--> Turkic verse, for example that of the <!--del_lnk--> Uyghur, is also alliterative.<p>
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</script><a id="Common_Germanic_origins_and_features" name="Common_Germanic_origins_and_features"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Common Germanic origins and features</span></h2>
<p>The poetic forms found in the various Germanic languages are not identical, but there is sufficient similarity to make it clear that they are closely related traditions, stemming from a common Germanic source. Our knowledge about that common tradition, however, is based almost entirely on inference from surviving poetry.<p>One statement we have about the nature of alliterative verse from a practicing alliterative poet is that of <!--del_lnk--> Snorri Sturluson in the <!--del_lnk--> Prose Edda. He describes metrical patterns and poetic devices used by <!--del_lnk--> skaldic poets around the year 1200. Snorri's description has served as the starting point for scholars to reconstruct alliterative meters beyond those of Old Norse. There have been many different metrical theories proposed, all of them attended with controversy. Looked at broadly, however, certain basic features are common from the earliest to the latest poetry.<p>Alliterative verse has been found in some of the earliest monuments of Germanic literature. The <!--del_lnk--> Golden horns of Gallehus, discovered in <a href="../../wp/d/Denmark.htm" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> and likely dating to the <a href="../../wp/4/4th_century.htm" title="4th century">fourth century</a>, bears this <!--del_lnk--> Runic inscription in <!--del_lnk--> Proto-Norse:<pre>
x / x x x / x x / x / x x
ek hlewagasti<span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">r</span> holtija<span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">r</span> || horna tawidô
</pre> <pre>
(I, Hlewagastir son of Holti, made the horn.)
</pre><p>This inscription contains four strongly stressed syllables, the first three of which alliterate on /h/, essentially the same pattern found in much latter verse.<p>Originally all alliterative poetry was composed and transmitted orally, and much has been lost through time since it went unrecorded. The degree to which writing may have altered this oral artform remains much in dispute. Nevertheless, there is a broad consensus among scholars that the written verse retains many (and some would argue almost all) of the features of the spoken language.<p>Alliteration fits naturally with the <!--del_lnk--> prosodic patterns of Germanic languages. Alliteration essentially involves matching the left edges of stressed syllables. Early Germanic languages share a left-prominent prosodic pattern. In other words, stress falls on the root syllable of a word. This is normally the initial syllable, except where the root is preceded by an unstressed prefix (as in past participles, for example).<p>The core metrical features of traditional Germanic alliterative verse are as follows:<ul>
<li>A long-line is divided into two half-lines. Half-lines are also known as verses or <!--del_lnk--> hemistichs; the first is called the a-verse (or on-verse), the second the b-verse (or off-verse).<li>A heavy pause, or <!--del_lnk--> cæsura, separates the verses.<li>Each verse usually has two strongly stressed syllables, or "lifts".<li>The first lift in the b-verse must <!--del_lnk--> alliterate with either or both lifts in the a-verse.<li>The second lift in the b-verse does not alliterate with the first lifts.</ul>
<p>The patterns of unstressed syllables vary significantly in the alliterative traditions of different Germanic languages. The rules for these patterns remain controversial and imperfectly understood.<p>The need to find an appropriate alliterating word gave certain other distinctive features to alliterative verse as well. Alliterative poets drew on a specialized vocabulary of poetic synonyms rarely used in prose texts and used standard images and <!--del_lnk--> metaphors called <i><!--del_lnk--> kennings</i>.<p><a id="Old_English_poetic_forms" name="Old_English_poetic_forms"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Old English poetic forms</span></h2>
<p>Old English poetry appears to be based upon one system of verse construction, a system which remained remarkably consistent for centuries, although some patterns of classical Old English verse begin to break down at the end of the Old English period.<p>The most widely used system of classification is based on that developed by <!--del_lnk--> Eduard Sievers. It should be emphasized that <!--del_lnk--> Sievers' system is fundamentally a method of categorization rather than a full theory of meter. It does not, in other words, purport to describe the system the scops actually used to compose their verse, nor does it explain why certain patterns are favored or avoided. Sievers divided verses into five basic types, labeled A-E. The system is founded upon accent, alliteration, the quantity of vowels, and patterns of syllabic accentuation.<p><a id="Accent" name="Accent"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Accent</span></h3>
<p>A line of poetry in Old English consists of two half-lines or verses, <i>distichs</i>, with a pause or <i>caesura</i> in the middle of the line. Each half-line has two accented syllables. The following example from the poem <i><!--del_lnk--> Battle of Maldon</i>, spoken by the warrior <!--del_lnk--> Byrhtnoth, shows this:<dl>
<dd><i>Hige sceal þe heardra,</i> || <i>heorte þe cenre,</i><dd><i>mod sceal þe mare,</i> || <i>þe ure mægen lytlað</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>("Courage must be the greater, heart the bolder, spirit the greater, the more our strength is diminished.")</dl>
<p><a id="Alliteration" name="Alliteration"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Alliteration</span></h3>
<p>Alliteration is the principal binding agent of Old English poetry. Two syllables alliterate when they begin with the same sound; all vowels alliterate together, but the consonant clusters <i>st-</i>, <i>sp-</i> and <i>sc-</i> are treated as separate sounds (so <i>st-</i> does not alliterate with <i>s-</i> or <i>sp-</i>). On the other hand, in Old English unpalatized <i>c</i> (pronounced /k/) alliterated with palatized <i>c</i> (pronounced /ch/), and unpalatized <i>g</i> (pronounced /g/) likewise alliterated with palatized <i>g</i> (pronounced /y/). (This is because the poetic form was inherited from a time before /k/ and /g/ had split into palatized and unpalatized variants.)<p>The first stressed syllable of the off-verse, or second half-line, usually alliterates with one or both of the stressed syllables of the on-verse, or first half-line. The second stressed syllable of the off-verse does not usually alliterate with the others.<p><a id="Survivals" name="Survivals"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Survivals</span></h3>
<p>Just as rhyme was seen in some Anglo-Saxon poems (e.g. <i><!--del_lnk--> The Rhyming Poem</i>, and, to some degree, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Proverbs of Alfred</i>), the use of alliterative verse continued into <!--del_lnk--> Middle English. <!--del_lnk--> Layamon's <i>Brut</i>, written in about 1215, uses a loose alliterative scheme. The <!--del_lnk--> Pearl Poet uses one of the most sophisticated alliterative schemes extant in <i><!--del_lnk--> Pearl,</i> <i><!--del_lnk--> Cleanness,</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i>. Even later, <!--del_lnk--> William Langland's <i><!--del_lnk--> Piers Plowman</i> is a major work in <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> that is written in alliterative verse; it was written between 1360 and 1399. Though a thousand years have passed between this work and the Golden Horn of Gallehus, the poetic form remains much the same:<dl>
<dd><i>A feir feld full of folk</i> || <i>fond I þer bitwene,</i><dd><i>Of alle maner of men,</i> || <i>þe mene and þe riche,</i><dd><i>Worchinge and wandringe</i> || <i>as þe world askeþ.</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>Among them I found a fair field full of people<dd>All manner of men, the poor and the rich<dd>Working and wandering as the world requires.</dl>
<p>Alliteration was sometimes used together with rhyme in Middle English work, as in <i>Pearl</i>. In general, Middle English poets were somewhat loose about the number of stresses; in <i>Sir Gawain</i>, for instance, there are many lines with additional alliterating stresses (e.g. l.2, "the borgh brittened and brent to brondez and askez"), and the medial pause is not always strictly maintained.<p>After the fifteenth century, alliterative verse became fairly uncommon, although some alliterative poems, such as <!--del_lnk--> Pierce the Ploughman's Crede (ca. 1400) and <!--del_lnk--> William Dunbar's superb <i><!--del_lnk--> Tretis of the Tua Marriit Women and the Wedo</i> (ca. 1500) were written in the form in the 15th century. However, by 1600, the four-beat alliterative line had completely vanished, at least from the written tradition.<p>Alliterative verse is occasionally written by modern authors. <a href="../../wp/j/J._R._R._Tolkien.htm" title="J. R. R. Tolkien">J. R. R. Tolkien</a> composed several poems about <!--del_lnk--> Middle-earth in Old English alliterative verse; these poems were found among his papers and published posthumously. <!--del_lnk--> W. H. Auden also wrote a number of his poems, including <i><!--del_lnk--> The Age of Anxiety</i>, in alliterative verse, modified only slightly to fit the phonetic patterns of modern English. The noun-laden style of the headlines makes the style of alliterative verse particularly apt for Auden's poem:<dl>
<dd><i>Now the news. Night raids on</i><dd><i>Five cities. Fires started.</i><dd><i>Pressure applied by pincer movement</i><dd><i>In threatening thrust. Third Division</i><dd><i>Enlarges beachhead. Lucky charm</i><dd><i>Saves sniper. Sabotage hinted</i><dd><i>In steel-mill stoppage. . . .</i></dl>
<p>Other poets who have experimented with modern alliterative English verse include <a href="../../wp/e/Ezra_Pound.htm" title="Ezra Pound">Ezra Pound</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> Richard Wilbur, whose <i>Junk</i> opens with the lines:<dl>
<dd><i>An axe angles</i><dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd><i>from my neighbour's ashcan;</i></dl>
</dl>
</dl>
<dd><i>It is hell's handiwork,</i><dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd><i>the wood not hickory.</i></dl>
</dl>
</dl>
<dd><i>The flow of the grain</i><dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd><i>not faithfully followed.</i></dl>
</dl>
</dl>
<dd><i>The shivered shaft</i><dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd><i>rises from a shellheap</i></dl>
</dl>
</dl>
<dd><i>Of plastic playthings,</i><dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd><i>paper plates.</i></dl>
</dl>
</dl>
</dl>
<p>Many translations of Beowulf use alliterative techniques. Among recent ones that of <!--del_lnk--> Seamus Heaney loosely follows the rules of modern alliterative verse while the translation of <!--del_lnk--> Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy follows those rules more closely.<p><a id="Old_Norse_poetic_forms" name="Old_Norse_poetic_forms"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Old Norse poetic forms</span></h2>
<p>The inherited form of alliterative verse was modified somewhat in <!--del_lnk--> Old Norse poetry. In Old Norse, as a result of phonetic changes from the original common Germanic language, many unstressed <!--del_lnk--> syllables were lost. This lent Old Norse verse a characteristic terseness; the lifts tended to be crowded together at the expense of the weak syllables. In some lines, the weak syllables have been entirely suppressed. From the <i><!--del_lnk--> Hávamál</i>:<dl>
<dd><i>Deyr fé</i> || <i>deyja frændr</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>("Cattle die; friends die. . .")</dl>
<p>The various names of the Old Norse verse forms are given in the <!--del_lnk--> Prose Edda by <!--del_lnk--> Snorri Sturluson. The <i><!--del_lnk--> Háttatal</i>, or "list of verse forms", contains the names and characteristics of each of the fixed forms of Norse poetry.<p><a id="Fornyr.C3.B0islag" name="Fornyr.C3.B0islag"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Fornyrðislag</span></h3>
<p>A verse form close to that of <i>Beowulf</i> existed in <!--del_lnk--> runestones and in the Old Norse <!--del_lnk--> Eddas; in Norse, it was called <i>fornyrðislag</i>, which means "past-words-made" or "way of ancient words". The Norse poets tended to break up their verses into <!--del_lnk--> stanzas of from two to eight lines (or more), rather than writing continuous verse after the Old English model. The loss of unstressed syllables made these verses seem denser and more emphatic. The Norse poets, unlike the Old English poets, tended to make each line a complete syntactic unit, avoiding <!--del_lnk--> enjambment where a thought begun on one line continues through the following lines; only seldom do they begin a new sentence in the second half-line. This example is from the <i><!--del_lnk--> Waking of Angantyr</i>:<dl>
<dd><i><span class="Unicode">Vaki, Angantýr!</span></i> || <span class="Unicode"><i>vekr þik Hervǫr,</i></span><dd><i><span class="Unicode">eingadóttir</span></i> || <i><span class="Unicode">ykkr Tófu!</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">Selðu ór haugi</span></i> || <i><span class="Unicode">hvassan mæki</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">þann's Svafrlama</span></i> || <i><span class="Unicode">slógu dvergar.</span></i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>(Awaken, <!--del_lnk--> Angantyr! It is <!--del_lnk--> Hervor who awakens you, your only daughter by Tófa! Yield up from your grave the mighty sword that the dwarves forged for <!--del_lnk--> Svafrlami.")</dl>
<p><i>Fornyrðislag</i> has two lifts per half line, with two or three (sometimes one) unstressed syllables. At least two lifts, usually three, alliterate, always including the main stave (the first lift of the second half-line).<p><i>Fornyrðislag</i> had a variant form called <i>málaháttr</i> ("speech meter"), which adds an unstressed syllable to each half-line, making six to eight (sometimes up to ten) unstressed syllables per line.<p><a id="Lj.C3.B3.C3.B0ah.C3.A1ttr" name="Lj.C3.B3.C3.B0ah.C3.A1ttr"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ljóðaháttr</span></h3>
<p>Change in form came with the development of <i>ljóðaháttr</i>, which means "song" or "<!--del_lnk--> ballad metre", a <!--del_lnk--> stanzaic verse form that created four line stanzas. The odd numbered lines were almost standard lines of alliterative verse with four lifts and two or three alliterations, with cæsura; the even numbered lines had three lifts and two alliterations, and no cæsura. This example is from <!--del_lnk--> Freyr's lament in <i><!--del_lnk--> Skírnismál</i>:<dl>
<dd><i><span class="Unicode">Lǫng es nótt,</span></i> || <i><span class="Unicode">lǫng es ǫnnur,</span></i><dl>
<dd><i><span class="Unicode">hvé mega ek þreyja þrjár?</span></i></dl>
<dd><i><span class="Unicode">Opt mér mánaðr</span></i> || <i><span class="Unicode">minni þótti</span></i><dl>
<dd><i><span class="Unicode">en sjá halfa hýnótt.</span></i></dl>
</dl>
<dl>
<dd>(Long is one night, long is the next; how can I bear three? A month has often seemed less to me than this half "hýnótt" (word of unclear meaning)).</dl>
<p>A number of variants occurred in <i>ljóðaháttr</i>, including <i>galdraháttr</i> or <i>kviðuháttr</i> ("incantation meter"), which adds a fifth short (three-lift) line to the end of the stanza; in this form, usually the fifth line echoes the fourth one.<p><a id="Dr.C3.B3ttkv.C3.A6tt" name="Dr.C3.B3ttkv.C3.A6tt"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Dróttkvætt</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23202.png.htm" title="Box of copper from Sigtuna with a dróttkvætt verse written with the runic alphabet"><img alt="Box of copper from Sigtuna with a dróttkvætt verse written with the runic alphabet" height="134" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Koppardosa_fr%C3%A5n_Sigtuna_med_runinskrift_i_drottkv%C3%A4de_%28ur_Sveriges_Runinskrifter%29.png" src="../../images/232/23202.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>These verse forms were elaborated even more into the <!--del_lnk--> skaldic poetic form called the <i>dróttkvætt</i>, meaning "<!--del_lnk--> lordly verse", which added internal rhymes and other forms of <!--del_lnk--> assonance that go well beyond the requirements of Germanic alliterative verse. The <i>dróttkvætt</i> stanza had eight lines, each having three lifts. In addition to two or three alliterations, the odd numbered lines had partial rhyme of consonants (which was called <i>skothending</i>) with dissimilar vowels, not necessarily at the beginning of the word; the even lines contained internal <!--del_lnk--> rhyme (<i>aðalhending</i>) in the syllables, not necessarily at the end of the word. The form was subject to further restrictions: each half-line must have exactly six syllables, and each line must always end in a <!--del_lnk--> trochee.<p>The requirements of this verse form were so demanding that occasionally the text of the poems had to run parallel, with one thread of <!--del_lnk--> syntax running through the on-side of the half-lines, and another running through the off-side. According to the <i><!--del_lnk--> Fagrskinna</i> collection of <!--del_lnk--> sagas, King <!--del_lnk--> Harald III of Norway uttered these lines of <i>dróttkvætt</i> at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Stamford Bridge; the internal assonances and the alliteration are bolded:<dl>
<dd><i><span class="Unicode">Krj<b>úp</b>um <b>v</b>ér fyr <b>váp</b>na,</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">(<b>v</b>alt<b>eig</b>s), brǫkun <b>eig</b>i,</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">(svá bauð <b>Hildr</b>), at <b>hjaldr</b>i,</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">(<b>hald</b>orð), í bug skj<b>ald</b>ar.</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">(H<b>átt</b> bað <b>m</b>ik), þar's <b>mœtt</b>usk,</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">(<b>m</b>ensk<b>orð</b> bera f<b>orð</b>um),</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode"><b>h</b>lakkar í<b>ss</b> ok <b>h</b>au<b>s</b>ar,</span></i><dd><i><span class="Unicode">(<b>h</b>j<b>alm</b>stall í gný m<b>alm</b>a).</span></i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>(In battle, we do not creep behind a shield before the din of weapons [so said the goddess of hawk-land {a <!--del_lnk--> valkyrja} true of words.] She who wore the necklace bade me to bear my head high in battle, when the battle-ice [a gleaming sword] seeks to shatter skulls.)</dl>
<p>The bracketed words in the poem ("so said the goddess of hawk-land, true of words") are syntactically separate, but interspersed within the text of the rest of the verse. The elaborate <i>kennings</i> manifested here are also practically necessary in this complex and demanding form, as much to solve metrical difficulties as for the sake of vivid imagery. Intriguingly, the saga claims that Harald improvised these lines after he gave a lesser performance (in <i>fornyrðislag</i>); Harald judged that verse bad, and then offered this one in the more demanding form. While the exchange may be fictionalized, the scene illustrates the regard in which the form was held.<p>Most <i>dróttkvætt</i> poems that survive appear in one or another of the <!--del_lnk--> Norse Sagas; several of the sagas are <!--del_lnk--> biographies of skaldic poets.<p><a id="Hrynhenda" name="Hrynhenda"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Hrynhenda</span></h3>
<p>Hrynhenda is a later development of <i>dróttkvætt</i> with eight syllables per line instead of six, but with the same rules for rhyme and alliteration. It is first attested around 985 in the so-called <i>Hafgerðingadrápa</i> of which four lines survive (alliterants and rhymes bolded):<dl>
<dd><i><b>Mín</b>ar biðk at <b>m</b>unka r<b>eyn</b>i</i><dd><i><b>mein</b>alausan farar b<b>ein</b>a;</i><dd><i><b>h</b>eiðis <b>hald</b>i <b>h</b>árar f<b>old</b>ar</i><dd><i><b>hall</b>ar dróttinn of mér st<b>all</b>i.</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>I ask the tester of monks (God) for a safe journey; the lord of the palace of the high ground (God — here we have a kenning in four parts) keep the seat of the falcon (hand) over me.</dl>
<p>The author was said to be a <!--del_lnk--> Christian from the <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrides.htm" title="Hebrides">Hebrides</a>, who composed the poem asking God to keep him safe at sea. (<i>Note</i>: The third line is, in fact, over-alliterated. There should be exactly two alliterants in the odd-numbered lines.) The metre gained some popularity in courtly poetry, as the rhythm may sound more majestic than dróttkvætt.<p>Alliterative poetry is still practiced in <a href="../../wp/i/Iceland.htm" title="Iceland">Iceland</a> in an unbroken tradition since the settlement.<p><a id="German_forms" name="German_forms"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">German forms</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Old High German and <!--del_lnk--> Old Saxon alliterative verse is problematic.<p>The two Old Saxon alliterative poems, the fragmentary <i><!--del_lnk--> Heliand</i> and the even more fragmentary <i><!--del_lnk--> Genesis</i> are both Christian poems, created as written works of Biblical content based on Latin sources, and not derived from oral tradition. It is therefore impossible to say whether the characteristic features of the alliterative technique in these poems genuinely represent the unrecorded oral tradition or the style of an individual author more at home with written literature.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Old High German corpus of alliterative verse is tiny. Less than 200 lines survive, in four works: the <i><!--del_lnk--> Hildebrandslied</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Muspilli</i>, the <i><!--del_lnk--> Merseburg Charms</i> and the <i><!--del_lnk--> Wessobrunn Prayer</i>. All four are preserved in forms that are clearly to some extent corrupt, suggesting that the scribes may themselves not have been entirely familiar with the poetic tradition.<p>However, both German traditions show one common feature which much less common elsewhere: a proliferation of unaccented syllables. Generally these are <!--del_lnk--> parts of speech which would naturally be unstressed - <!--del_lnk--> pronouns, <!--del_lnk--> prepositions, <!--del_lnk--> articles, <!--del_lnk--> modal auxiliaries - but in the Old Saxon works there also <!--del_lnk--> adjectives and <!--del_lnk--> lexical verbs. The unaccented syllables typically occur before the first stress in the half-line, and most often in the b-verse.<p>The <i>Hildbrandslied</i>, lines 4-5:<dl>
<dd><i><b>G</b>arutun se iro <b>g</b>uðhamun, <b>g</b>urtun sih iro suert ana,<br /><b>h</b>elidos, ubar <b>h</b>ringa, do sie to dero <b>h</b>iltiu ritun.</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>They prepared their fighting outfits, girded their swords on,<br /> the heroes, over ringmail when they to that fight rode.</dl>
</dl>
<p>The <i>Heliand</i>, line 3062:<dl>
<dd><i><b>S</b>âlig bist thu <b>S</b>îmon, quað he, <b>s</b>unu Ionases; ni mahtes thu that <b>s</b>elbo gehuggean</i></dl>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>Blessed are you Simon, he said, son of Jonah; for you did not see that yourself (Matthew 16, 17)</dl>
</dl>
<p>This leads to a less dense style, no doubt closer to everyday language, which has been interpreted both as a sign of decadent technique from ill-tutored poets and as an artistic innovation giving scope for additional poetic effects. Either way, it signifies a break with the strict Sievers typology.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliterative_verse"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Allosaurus</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Dinosaurs.htm">Dinosaurs</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><i><b>Allosaurus</b></i></th>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/1/117.jpg.htm" title="Replica of Allosaurus skull (San Diego Natural History Museum)."><img alt="Replica of Allosaurus skull (San Diego Natural History Museum)." height="133" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Allosaurus_skull_SDNHM.jpg" src="../../images/1/117.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align:center"><small>Replica of <i>Allosaurus</i> <!--del_lnk--> skull (San Diego Natural History Museum).</small></div>
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<th>
<center><!--del_lnk--> Conservation status</center>
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<div style="text-align:center">Extinct (<a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a>)</div>
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Chordate.htm" title="Chordate">Chordata</a><br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Reptile">Sauropsida</a><br />
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<td>Superorder:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Dinosauria<br />
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<td>Order:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/s/Saurischia.htm" title="Saurischia">Saurischia</a><br />
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<td>Suborder:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/t/Theropoda.htm" title="Theropoda">Theropoda</a><br />
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<td>Infraorder:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Carnosauria<br />
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<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Allosauridae<br />
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<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><b>Allosaurus</b></i><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Marsh, 1877</small></td>
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<center>Species</center>
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<ul>
<li><i>A. fragilis</i> <small><!--del_lnk--> type</small><li><i>A. atrox</i> <small>(<!--del_lnk--> Marsh, 1878) <!--del_lnk--> Paul, 1987</small><li><i>A.</i> "jimmadseni" <small>Chure, 2000 vide Glut, 2003</small></ul>
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<center><!--del_lnk--> Synonyms</center>
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<li><i>Creosaurus</i> <small><!--del_lnk--> Marsh, 1878</small><li><i>Labrosaurus</i> <small><!--del_lnk--> Marsh, 1879</small><li><i>Camptonotus</i> <small><!--del_lnk--> Marsh, 1879</small><li> ?<i><!--del_lnk--> Antrodemus</i> <small><!--del_lnk--> Leidy, 1870</small><li> ?<i><!--del_lnk--> Epanterias</i> <small><!--del_lnk--> Cope, 1878</small><li> ?<i><!--del_lnk--> Saurophaganax</i> <small>Chure, 1995</small></ul>
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<p><i><b>Allosaurus</b></i> (<!--del_lnk--> IPA: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ˈæləˌsɔɹəs]</span>) was a large <!--del_lnk--> bipedal <a href="../../wp/c/Carnivore.htm" title="Carnivore">carnivorous</a> <a href="../../wp/d/Dinosaur.htm" title="Dinosaur">dinosaur</a> up to 12 <!--del_lnk--> m (39 <!--del_lnk--> ft) long. It was named 'different lizard' because its <!--del_lnk--> vertebrae were different from those of all other dinosaurs. The name comes from the <!--del_lnk--> Greek <i><b>allos/αλλος</b></i>, meaning 'strange' or 'different' and <i><b>saurus/σαυρος</b></i>, meaning 'lizard' or 'reptile'. It was the most common large predator in what is now <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a>, 155 to 145 <!--del_lnk--> million years ago, in the late <a href="../../wp/j/Jurassic.htm" title="Jurassic">Jurassic</a> <!--del_lnk--> period. It shared the landscape with several genera of giant <!--del_lnk--> sauropods such as <i><a href="../../wp/a/Apatosaurus.htm" title="Apatosaurus">Apatosaurus</a></i>, <i><a href="../../wp/d/Diplodocus.htm" title="Diplodocus">Diplodocus</a></i> and <i><a href="../../wp/c/Camarasaurus.htm" title="Camarasaurus">Camarasaurus</a></i> as well as other herbivores such as <i><a href="../../wp/s/Stegosaurus.htm" title="Stegosaurus">Stegosaurus</a></i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Camptosaurus</i>, all of which may have been potential prey.<p>More scant finds of a smaller species similar to <i>Allosaurus</i> and dating from the <!--del_lnk--> Early Cretaceous of <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a>, indicate that this versatile hunter might have survived the mass extinction at the end of the Jurassic, 144 MYA. <i><!--del_lnk--> Fukuiraptor</i> from the Early Cretaceous of <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a> has been shown to be an <!--del_lnk--> allosaurid and may be the same animal as the Australian <i>Allosaurus</i>.<p>
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</script><a id="Description" name="Description"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Description</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:212px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/48/4802.jpg.htm" title="A replica Allosaurus skeleton in Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. The current view is that the animal normally stood in a more horizontal position."><img alt="A replica Allosaurus skeleton in Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. The current view is that the animal normally stood in a more horizontal position." height="158" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Allosaurus1.jpg" src="../../images/1/118.jpg" width="210" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/48/4802.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A replica <i>Allosaurus</i> skeleton in <!--del_lnk--> Canterbury Museum, <!--del_lnk--> Christchurch, <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>. The current view is that the animal normally stood in a more horizontal position.</div>
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<p><i>Allosaurus</i> was a typical large <!--del_lnk--> theropod, having a massive <!--del_lnk--> skull on a short <!--del_lnk--> neck, a long <!--del_lnk--> tail and reduced forelimbs, with an average length of ~9 meters (~30 feet).<!--del_lnk--> Its most distinctive feature was a pair of blunt horns, just above and in front of the eyes. Although short in comparison to the hindlimbs, the forelimbs were massive and bore large, eagle-like <!--del_lnk--> claws. The skull showed evidence of being composed of separate modules, which could be moved in relation to one another, allowing large pieces of meat to be swallowed. The skeleton of <i>Allosaurus</i>, like other theropods, displayed <a href="../../wp/b/Bird.htm" title="Bird">bird</a>-like features, such as a <!--del_lnk--> furcula (wishbone) and neck vertebrae hollowed by <!--del_lnk--> air sacs.<p><a id="Finds" name="Finds"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Finds</span></h2>
<p><i>Allosaurus</i> is the most common theropod in the vast tract of dinosaur-bearing rock in the <!--del_lnk--> American Southwest known as the <!--del_lnk--> Morrison Formation. Remains have been recovered in <!--del_lnk--> Montana, <!--del_lnk--> Wyoming, <!--del_lnk--> South Dakota, <!--del_lnk--> Colorado, <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma, <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico and Utah, in the United States. There have also been finds in <a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portugal</a>. <i>Allosaurus</i> shared the Jurassic landscape with several other theropods, including <i><!--del_lnk--> Ceratosaurus</i> and the massive <i><!--del_lnk--> Torvosaurus</i>.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:227px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/119.jpg.htm" title="Allosaurus skull from Dinosaur National Monument, still partially encased in matrix."><img alt="Allosaurus skull from Dinosaur National Monument, still partially encased in matrix." height="148" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Allosaurus-fossilized_skull.jpg" src="../../images/1/119.jpg" width="225" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/119.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Allosaurus</i> skull from <!--del_lnk--> Dinosaur National Monument, still partially encased in matrix.</div>
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<p>A famous <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a> bed can be found in the <!--del_lnk--> Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Utah. This fossil bed contains over 10,000 bones, mostly of <i>Allosaurus</i>, intermixed with the remains of other dinosaurs, such as <i><a href="../../wp/s/Stegosaurus.htm" title="Stegosaurus">Stegosaurus</a></i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Ceratosaurus</i>. It is still a mystery how the remnants of so many animals can be found in one place. The ratio of fossils of carnivorous animals over fossils of plant eaters is normally very small. Findings like these can be explained by pack hunting, although this is difficult to prove. Another possibility is that the Cleveland Lloyd site formed a '<!--del_lnk--> predator trap', similar to the <!--del_lnk--> La Brea Tar Pits, that caused large numbers of predators to become mired in an inescapable sediment.<!--del_lnk--> <p><a name=".22Big_Al.22"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">"Big Al"</span></h3>
<p>One of the more significant finds was the 1991 discovery of "<!--del_lnk--> Big Al" (MOR 593), a 95% complete, partially articulated, juvenile specimen that measured 8 meters (26 feet) in length. Nineteen bones were broken or showed signs of <!--del_lnk--> infection, which probably contributed to Big Al's death. It was featured in "The Ballad of Big Al", a special programme in the <a href="../../wp/b/BBC.htm" title="BBC">BBC</a>'s <i><!--del_lnk--> Walking with Dinosaurs</i> series. The fossils were excavated near <!--del_lnk--> Shell, Wyoming by the <!--del_lnk--> Museum of the Rockies and the <!--del_lnk--> University of Wyoming Geological Museum. This skeleton was initially discovered by a Swiss team, led by Kirby Siber. The same team later excavated a second <i>Allosaurus</i>, "Big Al Two", which is the best preserved skeleton of its kind to date.<p><a id="Classification_and_history" name="Classification_and_history"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Classification and history</span></h2>
<p>The first <i>Allosaurus</i> <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a> to be described was a 'petrified <a href="../../wp/h/Horse.htm" title="Horse">horse</a> hoof' given to <!--del_lnk--> Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden in <!--del_lnk--> 1869, by the natives of Middle Park, near <!--del_lnk--> Granby, Colorado. It was actually a caudal <!--del_lnk--> vertebra (a tail bone), which <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Leidy tentatively assigned first to the <i><!--del_lnk--> Poekilopleuron</i> <!--del_lnk--> genus and later to a new genus, <i><!--del_lnk--> Antrodemus</i>. However, it was <!--del_lnk--> Othniel Charles Marsh who gave the formal name <i>Allosaurus fragilis</i> to the genus and <!--del_lnk--> type species in <!--del_lnk--> 1877, based on much better material, including a partial skeleton, from Garden Park, north of <!--del_lnk--> Canon City, Colorado.<p>The species epithet <i>fragilis</i> is <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> for 'fragile'. Both refer to lightening features in the vertebrae.<p>It is unclear how many species of <i>Allosaurus</i> there were. The material from the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry specimen is much smaller and more lightly-built than the huge and robust <i>Allosaurus</i> from <!--del_lnk--> Brigham Young University's <!--del_lnk--> Dry Mesa Quarry. Fossils resembling <i>Allosaurus</i> have been described from <a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portugal</a>.<p><a id="Allosaurid_relatives" name="Allosaurid_relatives"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Allosaurid relatives</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Fukuiraptor</i> is an early Cretaceous theropod from Japan thought to be an Allosaurid.</ul>
<ul>
<li>An allosaurid <!--del_lnk--> astragalus (ankle bone) was found at Cape Patterson, <!--del_lnk--> Victoria in early Cretaceous beds in Southeastern Australia. This is notable as this part of Australia lay within the <!--del_lnk--> Antarctic Circle at the time.</ul>
<p><a id="In_popular_culture" name="In_popular_culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">In popular culture</span></h2>
<p><i>Allosaurus</i> is the official <!--del_lnk--> state fossil of <!--del_lnk--> Utah, in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>.<p>Along with <i><a href="../../wp/t/Tyrannosaurus.htm" title="Tyrannosaurus">Tyrannosaurus</a></i>, <i>Allosaurus</i> has come to represent the quintissential carnivorous dinosaur in popular culture. <i>Allosaurus</i> has featured in the following films:<p><i>Allosaurus</i> is top predator in both <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, <!--del_lnk--> The Lost World, and the <!--del_lnk--> 1925 film adaptation (not to be confused with <i><a href="../../wp/t/Tyrannosaurus.htm" title="Tyrannosaurus">Tyrannosaurus</a></i>).<p><!--del_lnk--> One Million Years BC<p><!--del_lnk--> The Valley of Gwangi (Gwangi is technically meant to be an <i>Allosaurus</i> but Ray Harryhausen based his model for the creature on <i>Tyrannosaurus</i>. Harryhausen often confuses the two, stating in a DVD interview "They're both meat eaters, they're both Tyrants... one was just a bit larger than the other.")<p>The main hero of <!--del_lnk--> Dinosaucers, "Allo", is an evolved <i>Allosaurus</i>.<p>Fran Sinclair of <!--del_lnk--> Dinosaurs (TV series) is mentioned on the show and a number of merchandise packaging as being an <i>Allosaurus</i>.<p>An <i>Allosaurus</i> named Santo was the main character of an <!--del_lnk--> Age of Reptiles comic, The Hunt. He was pitted against a pack of <i><!--del_lnk--> Ceratosaurus</i>.<p>Calvin in the comic strip <i><a href="../../wp/c/Calvin_and_Hobbes.htm" title="Calvin and Hobbes">Calvin and Hobbes</a></i> often imagines himself as an <i>Allosaurus</i> in his "dinosaur" fantasies.<p>It appears in the second and fifth episodes of <i><!--del_lnk--> Walking with Dinosaurs</i>. As the main enemy of <i><a href="../../wp/d/Diplodocus.htm" title="Diplodocus">Diplodocus</a></i> in the second episode, one injures the main character, a <!--del_lnk--> female, by taking a deep bite out of her back. A dwarf species appears in the fifth episode, as the main predator of <i><!--del_lnk--> Leaellynasaura</i>, killing and eating the leading <i>Leaellynasaura</i> female.<p>The <i>Walking With Dinosaurs</i> special <i><!--del_lnk--> The Ballad of Big Al</i> chornicles the life of Big Al.<p><i>Allosaurus</i> appear in <i><!--del_lnk--> When Dinosaurs Roamed America</i>, killing a <i><!--del_lnk--> Ceratosaurus</i> and feasting on a wounded <i><a href="../../wp/a/Apatosaurus.htm" title="Apatosaurus">Apatosaurus</a></i>.<p><i>Allosaurus appears in the children's television series <!--del_lnk--> Land of the Lost (1974 TV series) 1974-1976.</i><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allosaurus"</div>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Geography_of_Asia.htm">Geography of Asia</a></h3>
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<p><b>Almaty</b> (Алматы; formerly known as <i>Alma-Ata</i>, also <i>Vernyj</i>, <i>Vyernyi</i> (Верный) in <!--del_lnk--> Imperial Russia) is the largest city in <a href="../../wp/k/Kazakhstan.htm" title="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a>, with a population of 1,185,900 (<!--del_lnk--> 2004) (8% of the population of Kazakhstan) citizens.<p>The name "Almaty" means "appled" (the place with apples), the older version of its name, Alma-Ata, literally means "father-apple". In the surrounding region, unrivalled <!--del_lnk--> genetic diversity among the <!--del_lnk--> alma, the wild apples, implies that south-east Kazakhstan is where the domesticated <a href="../../wp/a/Apple.htm" title="Apple">apple</a> is native.<p>A troop of <!--del_lnk--> Siberian <!--del_lnk--> Cossacks from <!--del_lnk--> Omsk founded the fort <i>Zailiysky</i> in <!--del_lnk--> 1854 at the foot of the <!--del_lnk--> Tian Shan mountain range, and renamed it one year later to <i>Vernyj</i>, a name that remained until 1921. In 1921, the name Alma-Ata ("father-apple") was created by the <!--del_lnk--> Bolsheviks. In a devastating earthquake in <!--del_lnk--> 1911, almost the only large building that remained standing was the Russian Orthodox cathedral. In the 1920s, after the completion of the <!--del_lnk--> Turkestan-Siberia Railway, Alma-Ata, as it was then known, became a major stopping point along the track. In <!--del_lnk--> 1929, Almaty became the capital of the <!--del_lnk--> Kazakh SSR.<p>In late <!--del_lnk--> 1991, Almaty became the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a designation it kept until <!--del_lnk--> 1998, when the capital was moved to <!--del_lnk--> Astana. Almaty, however, remains the largest city in Kazakhstan and the country's major commercial centre. In <!--del_lnk--> 2005, the city launched an Olympic application to host the XXII <!--del_lnk--> Olympic Winter Games in the year <!--del_lnk--> 2014, which failed, as the <!--del_lnk--> IOC did not select the city as a candidate. The world's largest apple is also located in Almaty.<p>A short bus ride into the <!--del_lnk--> Tian Shan Mountains brings one to <!--del_lnk--> Medeo, a popular tourist destination, with several hotels and an Olympic-size skating rink.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> 21 December <!--del_lnk--> 1991, the Charter that ended the <a href="../../wp/s/Soviet_Union.htm" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> creating the <!--del_lnk--> Commonwealth of Independent States was signed there.<p>
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<li><!--del_lnk--> Kazakh-British Technical University<li><!--del_lnk--> Kazakh State University (KazGU)<li><!--del_lnk--> Kazakh Economic University (KazEU)<li><!--del_lnk--> International Academy of Business (IAB)<li><!--del_lnk--> University of International Business(UIB)<li><!--del_lnk--> Kimep (Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research)<li><!--del_lnk--> Kazakh-American University (KAU)<li><!--del_lnk--> Kazakh Academy of Sciences</ul>
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<li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/512.png.htm" title="Turkey"><img alt="Turkey" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Turkey.svg" src="../../images/5/512.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/i/Istanbul.htm" title="Istanbul">Istanbul</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/5/526.png.htm" title="France"><img alt="France" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_France.svg" src="../../images/5/526.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Rennes, <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a><li><a class="image" href="../../images/6/695.png.htm" title="United States"><img alt="United States" height="12" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg" src="../../images/6/695.png" width="22" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Tucson, <!--del_lnk--> Arizona, <!--del_lnk--> USA</ul>
<p><a id="External_links" name="External_links"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaty"</div>
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| ['Kazakhstan', 'Apple', 'Soviet Union', 'Istanbul', 'Turkey', 'France'] |
Almond | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Everyday_life.Food_and_agriculture.htm">Food and agriculture</a>; <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Plants.htm">Plants</a></h3>
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<th style="background: lightgreen;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><b>Almond</b></th>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/1/122.jpg.htm" title="Almond flowers"><img alt="Almond flowers" height="187" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Almond_blossoms_branch.JPG" src="../../images/1/122.jpg" width="250" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align:center"><small>Almond flowers</small></div>
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<th style="background: lightgreen;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<tr style="text-align:center;">
<td>
<table cellpadding="2" style="margin:0 auto; text-align:left; background:white;">
<tr valign="top">
<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/p/Plant.htm" title="Plant">Plantae</a><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Division:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Magnoliophyta<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Class:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Magnoliopsida<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Order:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Rosales<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Rosaceae<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Subfamily:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Prunoideae<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><!--del_lnk--> Prunus</i><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Subgenus:</td>
<td><i>Amygdalus</i><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Species:</td>
<td><span style="white-space: nowrap"><i><b>P. dulcis</b></i></span><br />
</td>
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<th>
<center><a href="../../wp/b/Binomial_nomenclature.htm" title="Binomial nomenclature">Binomial name</a></center>
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<td><i><b>Prunus dulcis</b></i><br /><small>(<!--del_lnk--> Mill.) D. A. Webb</small></td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2"><b>Sweet almonds<br /> Nutritional value per 100 g</b></th>
</tr>
<tr style="background:#e0e0e0; color:black;">
<td align="center">Energy 580 kcal 2420 kJ</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<table cellpadding="0px" cellspacing="0px" style="margin:0.3em;">
<tr>
<th align="left"><!--del_lnk--> Carbohydrates </th>
<td>20 g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>- <!--del_lnk--> Dietary fibre 12 g </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="left"><a href="../../wp/f/Fatty_acid.htm" title="Fatty acid">Fat</a></th>
<td>51 g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>- saturated 4 g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>- monounsaturated 32 g </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>- polyunsaturated 12 g </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="left"><!--del_lnk--> Protein</th>
<td>21 g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.8 mg </td>
<td>53%</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background:#e0e0e0; color:black;">
<td align="center"><small>Percentages are relative to US<br /><!--del_lnk--> recommendations for adults.<br /></small></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The <b>Almond</b> (<i>Prunus dulcis</i>, <!--del_lnk--> syn. <i>Prunus amygdalus</i>, or <i>Amygdalus communis</i>) is a small <!--del_lnk--> deciduous <a href="../../wp/t/Tree.htm" title="Tree">tree</a> belonging to the subfamily <!--del_lnk--> Prunoideae of the family <!--del_lnk--> Rosaceae; an <i>almond</i> is also the <a href="../../wp/f/Fruit.htm" title="Fruit">fruit</a> of this tree. The plant is classified with the <!--del_lnk--> peach in the subgenus <i>Amygdalus</i> within <i><!--del_lnk--> Prunus</i>, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell.<p>The sweet fleshy outer covering of other members of <i>Prunus</i>, such as the <a href="../../wp/p/Plum.htm" title="Plum">plum</a> and <!--del_lnk--> cherry, is replaced by a leathery coat called the hull, which contains inside a hard shell the edible kernel, commonly called a <!--del_lnk--> nut. In botanical parlance, the reticulated hard stony shell is called an <!--del_lnk--> endocarp, and the fruit, or <!--del_lnk--> exocarp, is a <!--del_lnk--> drupe, having a downy outer coat.<p>The tree is a native of southwest <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a>. The domesticated form can ripen fruit as far north as the <a href="../../wp/b/British_Isles.htm" title="British Isles">British Isles</a>. It is a small tree, growing to 4-9 m tall. The <!--del_lnk--> leaves are lanceolate, 6-12 cm long, and serrated at the edges. The <a href="../../wp/f/Flower.htm" title="Flower">flowers</a> are white or pale pink, 3-5 cm diameter with five petals, produced before the leaves in early spring.<p>
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</script><a id="Origin_and_history" name="Origin_and_history"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Origin and history</span></h2>
<p>The wild form of domesticated almond grows in the <!--del_lnk--> Mediterranean region in parts of the <!--del_lnk--> Levant. Almonds must first have been taken into cultivation in this region. Before cultivation and domestication occurred, wild almonds were harvested as food and doubtless were processed by leaching or roasting to remove their toxicity. Domesticated almonds appear in the <!--del_lnk--> Early Bronze Age (3000–2000 BC) of the Near East, or possibly a little earlier. A well-known archaeological example of almond is the fruits found in <!--del_lnk--> Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt (c. 1325 BC), probably imported from the Levant.<p><a id="Production" name="Production"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Production</span></h2>
<p>Global production of almonds is around 1.5 million tonnes, with a low of 1 million tonnes in 1995 and a peak of 1.85 million tonnes in 2002 according to <!--del_lnk--> Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) <!--del_lnk--> figures (pdf file). Major producers include <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a>, <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a>, <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Morocco.htm" title="Morocco">Morocco</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portugal</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a>, and the world's largest producer, the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>. In Spain, numerous commercial cultivars of sweet almond are produced, most notably the Jordan almond (imported from <!--del_lnk--> Málaga) and the <!--del_lnk--> Valencia almond. In the United States, production is concentrated in <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>, with almonds being California's sixth leading agricultural product and its top agricultural export. California exported almonds valued at 1.08 billion dollars in 2003, about 70% of total California almond crop.<p><a id="Pollination" name="Pollination"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Pollination</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/123.jpg.htm" title="Unripe almond on tree"><img alt="Unripe almond on tree" height="120" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Unripe_almond_on_tree.jpg" src="../../images/1/123.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/123.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Unripe almond on tree</div>
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<p>The <!--del_lnk--> pollination of California's almonds is the largest annual <!--del_lnk--> managed pollination event in the world, with close to one million hives (nearly half of all <!--del_lnk--> beehives in the USA) being trucked in February to the almond groves. Much of the pollination is managed by pollination brokers, who contract with migratory <!--del_lnk--> beekeepers from at least 38 states for the event.<p><a id="Sweet_and_bitter_almonds" name="Sweet_and_bitter_almonds"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Sweet and bitter almonds</span></h2>
<p>There are two forms of the plant, one (often with white flowers) producing <!--del_lnk--> sweet almonds, and the other (often with pink flowers) producing <!--del_lnk--> bitter almonds. The kernel of the former contains a fixed oil and emulsion. As late as the early 20th century the oil was used internally in medicine, with the stipulation that it must not be adulterated with that of the bitter almond; it remains fairly popular in <!--del_lnk--> alternative medicine, particularly as a <!--del_lnk--> carrier oil in <!--del_lnk--> aromatherapy, but has fallen out of prescription among doctors.<p>The bitter almond is rather broader and shorter than the sweet almond, and contains about 50% of the fixed oil which also occurs in sweet almonds. It also contains the enzyme emulsin which, in the presence of water, acts on a <!--del_lnk--> soluble <!--del_lnk--> glucoside, <!--del_lnk--> amygdalin, yielding <!--del_lnk--> glucose, <!--del_lnk--> cyanide and the <a href="../../wp/e/Essential_oil.htm" title="Essential oil">essential oil</a> of bitter almonds or <!--del_lnk--> benzaldehyde. Bitter almonds may yield from 6 to 8% of prussic acid (also known as <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen cyanide). Extract of bitter almond was once used medicinally but even in small doses effects are severe and in larger doses can be deadly; the prussic acid must be removed before consumption.<p>The nut of the tree has also been used as a preventative for <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">alcohol</a> <!--del_lnk--> intoxication. Folklore claims that almonds are poisonous for <a href="../../wp/f/Fox.htm" title="Fox">foxes</a>.<p><a id="Almond_oil" name="Almond_oil"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Almond oil</span></h2>
<p>"Oleum Amygdalae", the fixed oil, is prepared from either variety of almond and is a glyceryl oleate, with a slight odour and a nutty taste. It is almost insoluble in <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">alcohol</a> but readily soluble in <!--del_lnk--> chloroform or <!--del_lnk--> ether. It may be used as a substitute for <a href="../../wp/o/Olive_oil.htm" title="Olive oil">olive oil</a>.<p>The sweet almond oil is obtained from the dried <a href="../../wp/s/Seed.htm" title="Seed">kernel</a> of the plant. This oil has been traditionally used by <!--del_lnk--> massage therapists to lubricate the skin during a massage session, being considered by many to be an effective <!--del_lnk--> emollient.<p><a id="Almond_syrup" name="Almond_syrup"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Almond syrup</span></h2>
<p>Historically, almond syrup was an <!--del_lnk--> emulsion of sweet and bitter almonds usually made with <!--del_lnk--> barley syrup (<!--del_lnk--> orgeat syrup) or in a syrup of orange-flower water and <a href="../../wp/s/Sugar.htm" title="Sugar">sugar</a>.<p>Grocer's Encyclopedia notes that <i>"Ten parts of sweet almonds are generally employed to three parts of bitter almonds"</i>, however due to the <!--del_lnk--> cyanide found in bitter almonds, modern syrups generally consist of only sweet almonds. <i>This article incorporates text from the <!--del_lnk--> public domain 1911 edition of <!--del_lnk--> The Grocer's Encyclopedia.</i><p><a id="Culinary_uses" name="Culinary_uses"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Culinary uses</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/124.jpg.htm" title="Almonds (in the shell and out of it)"><img alt="Almonds (in the shell and out of it)" height="134" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Almonds_th.jpg" src="../../images/1/124.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/124.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Almonds (in the shell and out of it)</div>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/125.jpg.htm" title="Smoked and salted almonds"><img alt="Smoked and salted almonds" height="137" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Smoked_almonds.JPG" src="../../images/1/125.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/125.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Smoked and salted almonds</div>
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<p>While the almond is most often eaten on its own, raw or toasted, it is used in some dishes. It, along with other nuts, is often sprinkled over desserts, particularly sundaes and other ice cream based dishes. It is also used in <!--del_lnk--> Baklava. There is also <!--del_lnk--> almond butter, a spread similar to <!--del_lnk--> peanut butter, popular with peanut <!--del_lnk--> allergy sufferers and for its less salty taste.<p>The sweet almond itself contains practically no <!--del_lnk--> carbohydrates and may therefore be made into flour for cakes and biscuits for low carbohydrate diets or for patients suffering from <a href="../../wp/d/Diabetes_mellitus.htm" title="Diabetes mellitus">diabetes mellitus</a> or any other form of <!--del_lnk--> glycosuria. A standard serving of almond flour, 1 cup, contains 20 grammes of carbohydrates, of which 10 g is <!--del_lnk--> dietary fibre, for a net of 10 g of carbohydrate per cup. This makes almond flour very desirable for use in cake and bread recipes by people on carbohydrate-restricted diets.<p>Almonds can be processed into a milk substitute simply called <!--del_lnk--> almond milk; the nut's soft texture, mild flavour, and light colouring (when skinned) make for an efficient analog to dairy, and a soy-free choice, for <!--del_lnk--> lactose intolerant persons, <!--del_lnk--> vegans, and so on. Raw, blanched, and lightly toasted almonds all work well for different production techniques, some of which are very similar to that of <!--del_lnk--> soymilk and some of which actually use no heat, resulting in "raw milk" (see <!--del_lnk--> raw foodism).<p>Almond extract is also a popular substitute for <a href="../../wp/v/Vanilla.htm" title="Vanilla">vanilla</a> extract among people with diabetes. Sweet almonds are used in <!--del_lnk--> marzipan, <!--del_lnk--> nougat, and <!--del_lnk--> macaroons, as well as other desserts. Almonds are a rich source of <!--del_lnk--> Vitamin E, containing 24 mg per 100 g. They are also rich in <!--del_lnk--> monounsaturated fat, one of the two "good" fats responsible for lowering <!--del_lnk--> LDL cholesterol.<p>In <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>, almonds are used in a popular dessert when they are mixed with milk and then served hot.<p><a id="Cultural_aspects" name="Cultural_aspects"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Cultural aspects</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/126.jpg.htm" title="Almond flowers"><img alt="Almond flowers" height="134" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Almond_blossoms_closeup.jpg" src="../../images/1/126.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/126.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Almond flowers</div>
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<p>The almond is highly revered in some cultures.<p>The tree grows in <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a> and <a href="../../wp/i/Israel.htm" title="Israel">Israel</a>, and is referred to in the <a href="../../wp/b/Bible.htm" title="Bible">Bible</a> under the name of "Shaked", meaning "hasten". In Israel the tree flowers in January. The application of "Shaked" or "hasten" to the almond is similar to the use of the name "May" for the hawthorn, which usually flowers in that month in Britain. Among the <!--del_lnk--> Hebrews it was a symbol of watchfulness and promise due to its early flowering, symbolizing God's sudden and rapid redemption of His people after a period when he seems to have abandoned them; in <!--del_lnk--> Jeremiah 1:11-12, for instance. In the <a href="../../wp/b/Bible.htm" title="Bible">Bible</a> the almond is mentioned ten times, beginning with <!--del_lnk--> Genesis 43:11, where it is described as "among the best of fruits". In <!--del_lnk--> Numbers 17 <!--del_lnk--> Levi is chosen from the other tribes of Israel by <!--del_lnk--> a rod that brought forth almond flowers. According to tradition, the rod of Aaron bore sweet almonds on one side and bitter on the other; if the Israelites followed the Lord, the sweet almonds would be ripe and edible, but if they were to forsake the path of the Lord, the bitter almonds would predominate. The almond blossom supplied a model for the <!--del_lnk--> menorah which stood in the <!--del_lnk--> Holy Temple, "Three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on one branch, with a knob and a flower; and three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, were on the other...on the candlestick itself were four cups, shaped like almond blossoms, with its knobs and flowers" (<!--del_lnk--> Exodus 25:33-34; 37:19-20). Similarly, Christian symbolism often uses almond branches as a symbol of the <!--del_lnk--> Virgin Birth of <a href="../../wp/j/Jesus.htm" title="Jesus">Jesus</a>; paintings often include almonds encircling the <!--del_lnk--> baby Jesus and as a symbol of <!--del_lnk--> Mary.<p>The word "Luz", which occurs in <!--del_lnk--> Genesis 30:37, and which some translations have as "<!--del_lnk--> hazel", is supposed to be another name for the almond. In India, consumption of almonds is considered to be good for the brain, while the <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">Chinese</a> consider it a symbol of enduring sadness and female beauty.<p><a id="Alleged_health_benefits" name="Alleged_health_benefits"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alleged health benefits</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Edgar Cayce, a man regarded as the father of American <!--del_lnk--> holistic medicine, also highly favored the almond. In his readings, Cayce often recommended that almonds be included in the <!--del_lnk--> diet. Sometimes the consumption of almonds was portrayed as a key therapeutic agent, used to improve the <!--del_lnk--> complexion, improve eliminations through the <!--del_lnk--> colon, and even to prevent <a href="../../wp/c/Cancer.htm" title="Cancer">cancer</a> <!--del_lnk--> . Recent research further associates almonds in lowering the blood presence of HDLs (high-density lipoproteins) and LDLs (low-density lipoproteins) equally with the statin drug line <!--del_lnk--> .<p><a id="Etymology" name="Etymology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Etymology</span></h2>
<p>The word 'almond' comes from Old French <i>almande</i> or <i>alemande</i>, late Latin <i>amandola</i>, derived through a form <i>amingdola</i> from the Greek <i>amugdale</i> (cf <!--del_lnk--> Amygdala), an almond. The al- for a- may be due to a confusion with the Arabic article <i>al</i>, the word having first dropped the a- as in the Italian form <i>mandorla</i>; the British pronunciation <i>ar-mond</i> and the modern Catalan <i>ametlla</i> and modern French <i>amande</i> show the true form of the word.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alpaca</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Mammals.htm">Mammals</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><b>Alpaca</b></th>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/1/127.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="208" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alpaca2.jpg" src="../../images/1/127.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<center><!--del_lnk--> Conservation status</center>
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<div style="text-align:center">Domesticated</div>
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Chordate.htm" title="Chordate">Chordata</a><br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/m/Mammal.htm" title="Mammal">Mammalia</a><br />
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<td>Order:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Artiodactyla<br />
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<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Camelidae<br />
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<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><!--del_lnk--> Vicugna</i><br />
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<td>Species:</td>
<td><span style="white-space: nowrap"><i><b>V. pacos</b></i></span><br />
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<center><a href="../../wp/b/Binomial_nomenclature.htm" title="Binomial nomenclature">Binomial name</a></center>
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<td><i><b>Vicugna pacos</b></i><br /><small>(<a href="../../wp/c/Carolus_Linnaeus.htm" title="Carolus Linnaeus">Linnaeus</a>, <!--del_lnk--> 1758)</small></td>
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<p>The <b>Alpaca</b> (<i>Vicugna pacos</i>) is a <!--del_lnk--> domesticated breed of <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South American</a> <a href="../../wp/c/Camel.htm" title="Camel">camel</a>-like <!--del_lnk--> ungulates, derived from the wild <!--del_lnk--> vicuña. It resembles a <!--del_lnk--> sheep in appearance, but is larger and has a long erect neck.<p>Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the <a href="../../wp/a/Andes.htm" title="Andes">Andes</a> of southern <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a>, northern <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a>, and northern <a href="../../wp/c/Chile.htm" title="Chile">Chile</a> at an altitude of 3500 to 5000 meters above sea-level, throughout the year. Alpacas are considerably smaller than <!--del_lnk--> llamas and unlike them are not used as beasts of burden but are valued only for their <!--del_lnk--> fibre (wool), used for making blankets and <!--del_lnk--> ponchos in South America, and sweaters, blankets, socks and coats in other parts of the world. The fibre comes in more than 22 natural colours.<p>In the <a href="../../wp/t/Textile.htm" title="Textile">textile</a> industry, "alpaca" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpaca, but more broadly it refers to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca hair but now often made from similar fibers, such as <!--del_lnk--> mohair, <!--del_lnk--> Icelandic sheep wool, or even high-quality English wool. In trade, distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohair and lustre. However, as far as the general purchaser is concerned, little or no distinction is made.<p>
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<p>Alpacas have been domesticated for thousands of years. There are no wild alpacas; they were bred down in domesticated form from the <!--del_lnk--> vicuña, which is also native to South America. They are closely related to llamas, which are descended from the <!--del_lnk--> guanaco. These four species of animals are collectively called <!--del_lnk--> camelids.<p>Of the four, the alpaca and the vicuña are the most valuable fiber-bearing animals: the alpaca because of the quality and quantity of its fiber, and the vicuña because of the softness, fineness and quality of its coat. Alpacas cannot carry pack loads like their llama cousins; they were bred exclusively for their fibre and meat.<p>Alpacas and llamas can (and do) successfully cross-breed. The resulting offspring are called <!--del_lnk--> huarizo, and have little "real purpose," but often have gentle temperaments and are suitable for <!--del_lnk--> pets.<p>There are two types of alpaca – Huacaya (with dense, crimpy sheep-like fiber) and Suri (with silky dreadlocks). Suri fiber is often preferred by spinners, because it is long and has a silky luster. Suris are much rarer than Huacayas, and are estimated to make up between 6 and 10% of the alpaca population. However, since its import into the United States through Bill Barnett, the Suri is growing substantially in number and colour diversity. The Suri is thought to be rarer possibly because it is less hardy in the harsh South American mountain climates, as its fleece offers less insulation against the cold. The Suri fleece parts along the spine, exposing the animal to the cold, unlike the Huacaya fleece which provides excellent cover over the backbone. Hoffman ( page 279) states that the word <i>suri</i> comes from the <!--del_lnk--> rhea, a flightless <a href="../../wp/o/Ostrich.htm" title="Ostrich">ostrich</a>-like bird from <!--del_lnk--> Patagonia. The fact that the name is shared with that of the bird supports the belief that suris developed in the lowlands and were forced to live in higher areas by the actions of the Spanish invaders. However there is little evidence of any sort on this topic, so suri origins can only be the subject of speculation.<p>Alpaca fleece is a luxurious fibre, similar to sheep’s wool in some respects, but lighter in weight, silkier to the touch, warmer, not prickly and bears no <!--del_lnk--> lanolin, making it nearly <!--del_lnk--> hypoallergenic. A big trade of alpaca fleece exists in the countries where alpacas live, from very simple and not so expensive garments made by the aboriginal communities, to sophisticated, industrially made and expensive products. In the United States, groups of smaller alpaca breeders have banded together to create "fibre <!--del_lnk--> co-ops," to make the manufacture of alpaca fibre products much cheaper.<p>White is the predominant colour of alpacas, both Suri and Huacaya. This is because South American selective breeding has favoured white — bulk white fleece is easier to market and can be dyed any colour. However, alpacas come in more than 22 natural colour shades, from a true-blue black through browns-and-fawns to white, and there are silver-greys and rose-greys as well. In South America, the preference is for white, and white animals generally have better fleece than darker-colored animals. However, in the United States, more and more people desire darker fiber, especially blacks and greys. Thus, breeders have been diligently working on breeding dark animals with exceptional fibre, and much progress has been made in these areas over the last 5-7 years.<p>Traditionally, alpaca meat has been eaten <b>fresh</b>, fried or in stews, by Andean inhabitants. There is a resurgent interest in alpaca meat in countries like Peru, where it is relatively easy to find it at upscale restaurants.<p><a id="Behavior" name="Behavior"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Behaviour</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/128.jpg.htm" title="Alpaca"><img alt="Alpaca" height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alpaca_cuzco_peru.jpg" src="../../images/1/128.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/128.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Alpaca</div>
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<p>Alpacas are social herd animals and should always be kept with others of their kind, or at the very least with other herd animals. They are gentle, elegant, inquisitive, intelligent and observant. As they are a prey animal, they are cautious and nervous if they feel threatened. They like having their own space and do not like an unfamiliar alpaca or human getting close, especially from behind. They warn the intruder away by making sharp, noisy inhalations, putting back their ears, twisting their heads and necks backwards toward the perceived threat, screaming, threatening to spit, and eventually may spit and kick. Due to the soft pads on their feet, the kicks are not as dangerous as those of hoofed animals.<p><a id="Spitting" name="Spitting"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Spitting</span></h4>
<p>Not all alpacas spit, but all are capable. "Spit" is somewhat <!--del_lnk--> euphemistic. While occasionally the projectile contains only air and a little saliva, the alpaca often bring up and project regurgitated stomach contents.<p>Spitting is mostly reserved for other alpacas, not for humans, but sometimes a human gets in the line of fire. If an alpaca is extremely displeased at a human, that person may well become covered in smelly, green goo. The smell is so foul that many people who work with alpacas would much rather come into contact with alpaca <!--del_lnk--> feces than with alpaca spit.<p>For alpacas, spitting results in what is called "sour mouth." Sour mouth is characterized by a loose-hanging lower lip and a gaping mouth. This is caused by the stomach acids and unpleasant taste of the contents as they pass out of the mouth.<p>Some alpacas will spit when looked at, others will never spit — their personalities are all so individualized that there is no hard and fast rule about them in terms of social behaviour.<p><a id="Physical_contact" name="Physical_contact"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Physical contact</span></h4>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/129.jpg.htm" title="Alpacas at a farm"><img alt="Alpacas at a farm" height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Rose_Hill_Farm_Alpaca_04.jpg" src="../../images/1/129.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/129.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Alpacas at a farm</div>
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<p>Alpacas generally do not like their heads being touched. Once they know their owners and feel confident around them, they may allow their backs and necks to be touched. They do not like being grabbed, especially by boisterous children. This is probably because when alpacas are caught up for medical or otherwise unpleasant procedures, people generally grab their necks and hold them by the neck and head. Once socialized well, most alpacas tolerate being stroked or petted anywhere on their bodies, although many do not like their feet and lower legs handled. If an owner needs to catch an alpaca, the neck offers a good handle — holding the neck firmly between the arms is the best way to restrain the animal.<p><a id="Hygiene" name="Hygiene"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Hygiene</span></h4>
<p>To help alpacas control their internal parasites they have a communal dung pile, which they do not graze. Generally, males have much tidier dung piles than females who tend to stand in a line and all go at once. One female approaches the dung pile and begins to urinate and/or defecate, and the rest of the herd often follows.<p>Because of their preference to using a dung pile, some alpacas have been successfully house-trained. Difficult though it may be to conceive of having a large animal such as a full-grown alpaca around the household, many owners so love their animals that they wish to be in their presence as much as possible. If acclimated to dogs and cats, alpacas can accept them as members of the herd, and interact with nearly all species which do not pose a threat, from birds and butterflies to horses and humans.<p><a id="Sounds" name="Sounds"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Sounds</span></h4>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/130.png.htm" title="Sketch of an alpaca"><img alt="Sketch of an alpaca" height="159" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alpaka-sketch.png" src="../../images/1/130.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/130.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Sketch of an alpaca</div>
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<p>Individuals vary, but Alpacas generally make a humming sound. Hums are often comfort noises, letting the other alpacas know they are present and content. However, humming can take on many inflections and meanings, from a high-pitched, almost desperate, squealing, "MMMM!" or frantic question, "mmMMM!" when a mother is separated from her offspring (called a "cria,") to a questioning "Mmm?" when they are curious.<p>Alpacas also make other sounds as well as humming. In danger, they make a high-pitched, shrieking whine. Some breeds are known to make a "wark" noise when excited, and they stand proud with their tails sticking out and their ears in a very alert position. Strange dogs — and even cats — can trigger this reaction. To signal friendly and/or submissive behaviour, alpacas "cluck," a sound possibly generated by suction on the soft palate, or possibly somehow in the nasal cavity. This is often accompanied by a flipping up of the tail over the back.<p>When males fight they also scream, a warbling bird-like cry, presumably intended to terrify the opponent. Fighting is to determine dominance, and therefore the right to mate the females in the herd, and it is triggered by testosterone. This is why males are often kept in separate paddocks — when two dominant males get together violent fights often occur. When males must be pastured together, it is wise to trim down the large fang-like teeth used in fights, called "fighting teeth".<p><a id="Reproduction" name="Reproduction"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Reproduction</span></h4>
<p>A male in the act of mating, or hoping for a chance to mate, "orgles." This orgling helps to put the female in the mood, and it is believed to also help her to ovulate after mating.<p>Females have no <!--del_lnk--> estrus cycle — they are "induced ovulators," which means that the act of mating and the presence of semen causes them to ovulate. Occasionally, females conceive after just one breeding (which can last anywhere from 5 minutes to well over an hour; the males are "dribble ejaculators,") but occasionally do have troubles conceiving. Artificial insemination is prohibitively expensive and there are complications with the process in camelid species.<p>A male is usually ready to mate for the first time at a year of age, but a female alpaca is not fully mature (physically and mentally) until she reaches approximately 16-18 months, and it is not advisable to breed a female earlier.<p>The male's penis is attached to the inside of his body, and generally does not detach until at least two years of age. The penis is a very long, thin, prehensile organ that is, oddly enough, perfectly designed for the task of finding the vaginal opening despite a fluffy tail, penetrating the hymen (if present,) navigating the vaginal canal and entering the cervical opening, where deposit of the semen occurs.<p>Pregnancies last 11 to 11.5 months and the young are called crias. After a female gives birth, she is generally receptive to breeding again after approximately 15 days. Crias may be weaned through human intervention at approximately 6 months and 60 pounds. However, many breeders prefer to allow the female to decide when to wean her offspring.<p>It is believed that alpacas generally live for more than 20 years. Conditions and nutrition are better in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Europe than in South America, so animals live longer and are healthier. One of the oldest alpacas in New Zealand (fondly called Vomiting Violet) died at the end of 2005 at the old age of 29.<p><a id="History_of_the_scientific_name" name="History_of_the_scientific_name"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History of the scientific name</span></h2>
<p>In the 18th and 19th centuries, the four South American camelid species were assigned scientific names. At that time, the alpaca was assumed to be descended from the <!--del_lnk--> llama, ignoring similarities in size, fleece and dentition between the alpaca and the <!--del_lnk--> vicuña. Classification was complicated by the fact that all four species of South American camelid can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. It was not until the advent of <a href="../../wp/d/DNA.htm" title="DNA">DNA</a> technology that a more accurate classification was possible.<p>In 2001, the alpaca genus classification changed from <i>Lama pacos</i> to <i>Vicugna pacos</i> following the presentation of a paper on work by <!--del_lnk--> Dr Jane Wheeler et al on alpaca DNA to the <!--del_lnk--> Royal Society showing that the alpaca is descended from the vicuña, not the guanaco.<p>The relationship between alpacas and vicuñas was disputed for many years, but Wheeler's DNA work proved it. However many academic sites have not caught up with this, so it is something well known to alpaca breeders who have read Dr Hoffman's book, and to Royal Society members who have access to the current classification data, but not more widely known.<p><a id="Fiber" name="Fiber"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Fibre</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/131.png.htm" title="Alpaca"><img alt="Alpaca" height="210" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alpaca.png" src="../../images/1/131.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/131.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Alpaca</div>
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<p>Alpaca fiber is warmer than sheep's wool and lighter in weight. It is soft and luxurious and lacks the "prickle" factor. However, as with all fleece-producing animals, quality varies from animal to animal, and some alpaca produce fiber which is less than ideal. Fiber and conformation are the two most important factors in determining an alpaca's value. Animals from the Peruvian Accoyo line often have the best fiber characteristics. The Accoyo estancia of Peru practiced "line breeding" (breeding granddaughters to their grandfathers and so forth, much like dog breeders do,) and they managed to create exceptional fibre. Most Accoyo animals (both Suri and Huacaya) are white, although with diversification, there are some darker Accoyo animals.<p>Alpaca have been bred in South America for thousands of years (vicuñas were first domesticated and bred into alpacas by the ancient Andean tribes of Peru, but also appeared in Chile and Bolivia,) but in recent years have been exported to other countries. In countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand breeders shear their animals annually, weigh the fleeces and test them for fineness. With the resulting knowledge they are able to breed heavier-fleeced animals with finer fibre. Fleece weights vary, with the top stud males reaching annual shear weights up to 6kg.<p>In physical structure, alpaca fibre is somewhat akin to (human?) hair, being very glossy, but its softness and fineness enable the <!--del_lnk--> spinner to produce satisfactory <!--del_lnk--> yarn with comparative ease. Alpaca fibre can even be spun into yarn with one's fingers.<p><a id="Alpaca_fiber_industry" name="Alpaca_fiber_industry"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alpaca fibre industry</span></h2>
<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Amerindians of <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a>, a country in South America, used this fibre in the manufacture of many styles of fabrics for thousands of years before its introduction into Europe as a commercial product. The alpaca was a crucial component of ancient life in the Andes, as it provided not only warm clothing but also meat. Many rituals revolved around the alpaca, perhaps most notably the method of killing it: An alpaca was restrained by one or more people, and a specially-trained person plunged his bare hand into the chest cavity of the animal, ripping out its heart. Today, this ritual is viewed by most as barbaric, but there are still some tribes in the Andes which practice it.<p>The first European importations of alpaca fibre were into <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>. Spain transferred the fibre to <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a> and <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>. Apparently alpaca yarn was spun in <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a> for the first time about the year <!--del_lnk--> 1808 but the fibre was condemned as an unworkable material. In <!--del_lnk--> 1830 Benjamin Outram, of <!--del_lnk--> Greetland, near Halifax, appears to have reattempted spinning it, and again it was condemned. These two attempts failed due to the style of fabric into which the yarn was woven — a species of <!--del_lnk--> camlet. It was not until the introduction of <!--del_lnk--> cotton warps into <!--del_lnk--> Bradford trade about <!--del_lnk--> 1836 that the true qualities of alpaca could be developed in the fabric. It is not known where the cotton warp and <!--del_lnk--> mohair or alpaca <!--del_lnk--> weft plain-cloth came from, but it was this simple and ingenious structure which enabled <!--del_lnk--> Titus Salt, then a young Bradford manufacturer, to use alpaca successfully. Bradford is still the great spinning and manufacturing centre for alpaca. Large quantities of yarns and cloths are exported annually to the European continent and the US, although the quantities vary with the fashions in vogue. The typical "alpaca-fabric" is a very characteristic "<!--del_lnk--> dress-fabric."<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:382px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15994.jpg.htm" title="A pair of alpacas near an Inca burial site in Peru"><img alt="A pair of alpacas near an Inca burial site in Peru" height="253" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alpacas_Sillustani_%28pixinn.net%29.jpg" src="../../images/1/132.jpg" width="380" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15994.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A pair of alpacas near an Inca burial site in Peru</div>
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<p>Due to the successful manufacture of various alpaca cloths by Sir Titus Salt and other Bradford manufacturers, a great demand for alpaca wool arose, which could not be met by the native product. Apparently, the number of alpacas available never increase appreciably. Unsuccessful attempts were made to acclimatize alpaca in England, on the European continent and in Australia, and even to cross English breeds of <!--del_lnk--> sheep with alpaca. But there is a cross between alpaca and llama — a true <!--del_lnk--> hybrid in every sense — producing a material placed upon the Liverpool market under the name "Huarizo". Crosses between the alpaca and vicuña have not proved satisfactory. Current attempts to cross these two breeds are underway at farms in the US. According to the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association, alpacas are now being bred in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and numerous other places.<p>In recent years, interest in alpaca fibre clothing has surged, perhaps partly because alpaca ranching has a reasonably low impact on the environment. Outdoor sports enthusiasts recognize that its lighter weight and better warmth provides them more comfort in colder weather, so outfitters such as <!--del_lnk--> R.E.I. and others are beginning to stock more alpaca products. Occasionally, alpaca fibre is woven together with <!--del_lnk--> merino wool to attain even more softness and durability.<p>The preparing, combing, spinning, weaving and finishing process of alpaca and mohair are similar to that of <!--del_lnk--> wool.<p>Farmers commonly quote the alpaca with the phrase 'love is in the fleece', which describes their love for the animal.<p><a id="Prices" name="Prices"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Prices</span></h3>
<p>The price for alpacas can range from US$100 to US$1,060,000, depending on breeding history, sex, and colour. It is possible to raise up to 10 alpacas on one <!--del_lnk--> acre (4,047 m²) as they have a designated area for waste products and keep their eating area away from their waste area to avoid diseases. But this ratio differs from country to country and is highly dependent on the quality of pasture available (in <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a> it is generally only possible to run one to three animals per acre). Fibre quality is the primary variant in the price achieved for alpaca wool, in Australia it is common to classify the fibre by the thickness of the individual hairs and by the amount of vegetable matter contained in the supplied shearings.<p><a id="US_speculative_bubble" name="US_speculative_bubble"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">US speculative bubble</span></h3>
<p>A research paper on this topic published by the Agricultural Issues Centre of the <!--del_lnk--> University of California in <!--del_lnk--> 2005 examined the US alpaca industry and concluded: <i>current prices for alpaca stock are not supportable by market fundamentals and that the industry represents the latest in the rich history of <!--del_lnk--> speculative bubbles</i>.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpaca"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alphabet</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Language_and_literature.Linguistics.htm">Linguistics</a></h3>
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<th style="font-weight:normal;"><!--del_lnk--> <b>History of the Alphabet</b></th>
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<td>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Middle Bronze Age 19–15th c. BC<br />
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Canaanite-<!--del_lnk--> Phoenician 14th c. BC <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Paleo-Hebrew 10th c. BC<li><!--del_lnk--> Aramaic 9th c. BC <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Brāhmī & <!--del_lnk--> Indic 6th c. BC <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Tibetan 7th c.<li><!--del_lnk--> Khmer/<!--del_lnk--> Javanese 9th c.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Hebrew 3rd c. BC<li><!--del_lnk--> Syriac 2nd c. BC <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Nabatean 2nd c. BC <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Arabic 4th c.</ul>
</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Avestan 4th to 6th c.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Greek 9th c. BC <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Etruscan 8th c. BC <ul>
<li><a href="../../wp/l/Latin_alphabet.htm" title="Latin alphabet">Latin</a> 7th c. BC<li><!--del_lnk--> Runes 2nd c.<li><!--del_lnk--> Ogham 4th c.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Gothic 4th c.<li><!--del_lnk--> Armenian 405<li><!--del_lnk--> Glagolitic 862<li><!--del_lnk--> Cyrillic 10th c.</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Samaritan 6th c. BC<li><!--del_lnk--> Iberian 6th c. BC</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Epigraphic South Arabian 9th c. BC <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Ge'ez 5–6th c. BC</ul>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Meroitic 3rd c. BC</td>
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<th style="font-weight:normal;"><!--del_lnk--> <i><b>Complete genealogy</b></i></th>
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<p>An <b>alphabet</b> is a complete standardized set of <i><!--del_lnk--> letters</i> — basic written symbols — each of which roughly represents a <!--del_lnk--> phoneme of a <!--del_lnk--> spoken language, either as it exists now or as it may have been in the past. There are other <!--del_lnk--> systems of writing such as logosyllabic writing, in which each symbol represents a <!--del_lnk--> morpheme, or word or a syllable or places the word within a category, and <!--del_lnk--> syllabaries, in which each symbol represents a <!--del_lnk--> syllable.<p>The etymology of the word "alphabet" itself comes to <!--del_lnk--> Middle English from the <!--del_lnk--> Late Latin <b>Alphabetum</b> which in turn originates from the <!--del_lnk--> Ancient Greek <b>Alphabetos</b>, from <i><!--del_lnk--> alpha</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> beta,</i> the first two letters of the <!--del_lnk--> Greek alphabet. There are dozens of alphabets in use today. Most of them are '<!--del_lnk--> linear', which means that they are made up of lines. Notable <!--del_lnk--> exceptions are <!--del_lnk--> Braille, <!--del_lnk--> manual alphabets, <!--del_lnk--> Morse code, and the <!--del_lnk--> cuneiform alphabet of the ancient civilization <a href="../../wp/s/Sumer.htm" title="Sumer">Sumer</a>.<p>
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<p>In spite of its imprecision, the term "alphabet" is commonly used to refer to any writing system whose graphemes represent both consonant and vowel sounds.<p>A <!--del_lnk--> grapheme is an abstract entity which may be physically represented by different styles of <!--del_lnk--> glyphs. There are many written entities which do not form part of the alphabet, including <!--del_lnk--> numerals, <!--del_lnk--> mathematical symbols, and <!--del_lnk--> punctuation. Some human languages are commonly written by using a combination of <!--del_lnk--> logograms (which represent <!--del_lnk--> morphemes or <!--del_lnk--> words) and <!--del_lnk--> syllabograms instead of an alphabet. <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian hieroglyphs and <!--del_lnk--> Chinese characters are two of the best-known writing systems with predominantly non-alphabetic representations.<p>Non-written languages also have alphabetic and non-alphabetic representations. For example, in <!--del_lnk--> American Sign Language one can spell words using the character set borrowed from the <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English language</a> alphabet. Experienced ASL signers express most concepts using ideomatic hand signs which either correspond to English words or are original to the signed language.<p>Most, if not all, linguistic writing systems have some means for phonetic approximation of foreign words, usually using the native character set.<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<p>The history of the alphabet starts in <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">ancient Egypt</a>. By <!--del_lnk--> 2700 <small>BCE</small> Egyptian writing had a set of some <!--del_lnk--> 22 hieroglyphs to represent syllables that begin with a single <!--del_lnk--> consonant of their language, plus a vowel (or no vowel) to be supplied by the native speaker. These glyphs were used as pronunciation guides for <!--del_lnk--> logograms, to write grammatical inflections, and, later, to transcribe loan words and foreign names.<p>However, although seemingly alphabetic in nature, the original Egyptian uniliterals were not a system and were never used by themselves to encode Egyptian speech. In the <!--del_lnk--> Middle Bronze Age an apparently "alphabetic" system is thought by some to have been developed in central <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> around 1700 <small>BCE</small> for or by <!--del_lnk--> Semitic workers, but we cannot read these early writings and their exact nature remain open to interpretation.<p>Over the next five centuries this Semitic "alphabet" (really an <!--del_lnk--> abjad like Phoenician writing) seems to have spread north. All subsequent alphabets around the world with the sole possible exception of Korean <!--del_lnk--> Hangul have either descended from it, or been inspired by one of its descendants.<p><a id="Types" name="Types"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Types</span></h2>
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<div style="width:312px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16462.png.htm" title="World distribution of alphabets ██ Latin Alphabet ██ Cyrillic alphabet ██ Arabic alphabet ██ Brahmic alphabet ██ Latin and Cyrillic ██ Latin and Arabic ██ Other alphabet ██ No alphabet ██ Other or none "><img alt="World distribution of alphabets ██ Latin Alphabet ██ Cyrillic alphabet ██ Arabic alphabet ██ Brahmic alphabet ██ Latin and Cyrillic ██ Latin and Arabic ██ Other alphabet ██ No alphabet ██ Other or none " height="143" longdesc="/wiki/Image:World_alphabet_distribution.png" src="../../images/164/16462.png" width="310" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16462.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> World distribution of alphabets <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#008000; color:#008000;">██</span> <!--del_lnk--> Latin Alphabet</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#FF0000; color:#FF0000;">██</span> <!--del_lnk--> Cyrillic alphabet</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#0000FF; color:#0000FF;">██</span> <!--del_lnk--> Arabic alphabet</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#32CD32; color:#32CD32;">██</span> <!--del_lnk--> Brahmic alphabet</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#8B4513; color:#8B4513;">██</span> Latin and Cyrillic</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#00FFFF; color:#00FFFF;">██</span> Latin and Arabic</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#000000; color:#000000;">██</span> <!--del_lnk--> Other alphabet</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#C0C0C0; color:#C0C0C0;">██</span> No alphabet</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#696969; color:#696969;">██</span> Other or none</span></div>
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<p>The term "alphabet" is used by <!--del_lnk--> linguists and <!--del_lnk--> paleographers in both a wide and narrow sense. In the wider sense, an alphabet is a script that is <i>segmental</i> on the <!--del_lnk--> phoneme level, that is, that has separate glyphs for individual sounds and not for larger units such as syllables or words. In the narrower sense, some scholars distinguish "true" alphabets from two other types of segmental script, <!--del_lnk--> abjads and <!--del_lnk--> abugidas. These three differ from each other in the way they treat vowels: Abjads have letters for consonants and leave most vowels unexpressed; abugidas are also consonant-based, but indicate vowels with <!--del_lnk--> diacritics to or a systematic graphic modification of the consonants. In alphabets in the narrow sense, on the other hand, consonants and vowels are written as independent letters. The earliest known alphabet in the wider sense is the <!--del_lnk--> Wadi el-Hol script, believed to be an <!--del_lnk--> abjad, which through its successor <!--del_lnk--> Phoenician is the ancestor of modern alphabets, including <!--del_lnk--> Arabic, <!--del_lnk--> Greek, <a href="../../wp/l/Latin_alphabet.htm" title="Latin alphabet">Latin</a> (via the <!--del_lnk--> Old Italic alphabet), <!--del_lnk--> Cyrillic (via the Greek alphabet) and <!--del_lnk--> Hebrew (via Aramaic).<p>Examples of present-day abjads are the <!--del_lnk--> Arabic and <!--del_lnk--> Hebrew scripts; true alphabets include <a href="../../wp/l/Latin_alphabet.htm" title="Latin alphabet">Latin</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Cyrillic, and Korean <!--del_lnk--> Hangul; and abugidas are used to write <!--del_lnk--> Tigrinya <!--del_lnk--> Amharic, <!--del_lnk--> Hindi, and <!--del_lnk--> Thai. The <!--del_lnk--> Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics are also an abugida rather than a syllabary as their name would imply, since each glyph stands for a consonant which is modified by rotation to represent the following vowel. (In a true syllabary, each consonant-vowel combination would be represented by a separate glyph.)<p>The boundaries between the three types of segmental scripts are not always clear-cut. For example, Iraqi <!--del_lnk--> Kurdish is written in the <!--del_lnk--> Arabic script, which is normally an abjad. However, in Kurdish, writing the vowels is mandatory, and full letters are used, so the script is a true alphabet. Other languages may use a Semitic abjad with mandatory vowel diacritics, effectively making them abugidas. On the other hand, the <!--del_lnk--> Phagspa script of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mongol_Empire.htm" title="Mongol Empire">Mongol Empire</a> was based closely on the <!--del_lnk--> Tibetan abugida, but all vowel marks were written after the preceding consonant rather than as diacritic marks. Although short <i>a</i> was not written, as in the Indic abugidas, one could argue that the linear arrangement made this a true alphabet. Conversely, the vowel marks of the <!--del_lnk--> Tigrinya abugida and the <!--del_lnk--> Amharic abugida (ironically, the original source of the term "abugida") have been so completely assimilated into their consonants that the modifications are no longer systematic and have to be learned as a <!--del_lnk--> syllabary rather than as a segmental script. Even more extreme, the Pahlavi abjad eventually became <!--del_lnk--> logographic. (See below.)<p>Thus the primary classification of alphabets reflects how they treat vowels. For <!--del_lnk--> tonal languages, further classification can be based on their treatment of tone, though there are yet no names to distinguish the various types. Some alphabets disregard tone entirely, especially when it does not carry a heavy functional load, as in <!--del_lnk--> Somali and many other languages of Africa and the Americas. Such scripts are to tone what abjads are to vowels. Most commonly, tones are indicated with diacritics, the way vowels are treated in abugidas. This is the case for <!--del_lnk--> Vietnamese (a true alphabet) and <!--del_lnk--> Thai (an abugida). In Thai, tone is determined primarily by the choice of consonant, with diacritics for disambiguation. In the <!--del_lnk--> Pollard script, an abugida, vowels are indicated by diacritics, but the placement of the diacritic relative to the consonant is modified to indicate the tone. More rarely, a script may have separate letters for tones, as is the case for <!--del_lnk--> Hmong and <!--del_lnk--> Zhuang. For most of these scripts, regardless of whether letters or diacritics are used, the most common tone is not marked, just as the most common vowel is not marked in Indic abugidas.<p>Alphabets can be quite small. The Book <!--del_lnk--> Pahlavi script, an abjad, had only twelve letters at one point, and may have had even fewer later on. Today the <!--del_lnk--> Rotokas alphabet has only twelve letters. (The <!--del_lnk--> Hawaiian alphabet is sometimes claimed to be as small, but it actually consists of 18 letters, including the <!--del_lnk--> ʻokina and five long vowels.) While Rotokas has a small alphabet because it has few phonemes to represent (just eleven), Book Pahlavi was small because many letters had been <i>conflated,</i> that is, the graphic distinctions had been lost over time, and diacritics were not developed to compensate for this as they were in <!--del_lnk--> Arabic, another script that lost many of its distinct letter shapes. For example, a comma-shaped letter represented <i>g, d, y, k,</i> or <i>j</i>. However, such apparent simplifications can perversely make a script more complicated. In later Pahlavi <!--del_lnk--> papyri, up to half of the remaining graphic distinctions of these twelve letters were lost, and the script could no longer be read as a sequence of letters at all, but instead each word had to be learned as a whole – that is, they had become <!--del_lnk--> logograms as in Egyptian <!--del_lnk--> Demotic.<p>The largest segmental script is probably an abugida, <!--del_lnk--> Devanagari. When written in Devanagari, Vedic <a href="../../wp/s/Sanskrit.htm" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> has an alphabet of 53 letters, including the <i>visarga</i> mark for final aspiration and special letters for <i>kš</i> and <i>jñ,</i> though one of the letters is theoretical and not actually used. The Hindi alphabet must represent both Sanskrit and modern vocabulary, and so has been expanded to 58 with the <i>khutma</i> letters (letters with a dot added) to represent sounds from Persian and English.<p>The largest known abjad is <!--del_lnk--> Sindhi, with 51 letters. The largest alphabets in the narrow sense include <!--del_lnk--> Kabardian and <!--del_lnk--> Abkhaz (for <!--del_lnk--> Cyrillic), with 58 and 56 letters, respectively, and <!--del_lnk--> Slovak (for the <a href="../../wp/l/Latin_alphabet.htm" title="Latin alphabet">Latin alphabet</a>), with 46. However, these scripts either count <!--del_lnk--> di- and tri-graphs as separate letters, as Spanish does with <i>ch</i> and <i>ll,</i> or uses <!--del_lnk--> diacritics like Slovak <i>č</i>. The largest true alphabet where each letter is graphically independent is probably <!--del_lnk--> Georgian, with 41 letters.<p>Syllabaries typically contain 50 to 400 glyphs (though the <!--del_lnk--> Múra-Pirahã language of <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> would require only 24 if it did not denote tone, and Rotokas would require only 30), and the glyphs of logographic systems typically number from the many hundreds into the thousands. Thus a simple count of the number of distinct symbols is an important clue to the nature of an unknown script.<p>It is not always clear what constitutes a distinct alphabet. <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a> uses the same basic alphabet as English, but many of the letters can carry additional marks, such as é, à, and ô. In French, these combinations are not considered to be additional letters. However, in <!--del_lnk--> Icelandic, the accented letters such as á, í, and ö are considered to be distinct letters of the alphabet. Some adaptations of the Latin alphabet are augmented with <!--del_lnk--> ligatures, such as <!--del_lnk--> æ in <a href="../../wp/o/Old_English_language.htm" title="Old English language">Old English</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Ȣ in <!--del_lnk--> Algonquian; by borrowings from other alphabets, such as the <!--del_lnk--> thorn þ in <a href="../../wp/o/Old_English_language.htm" title="Old English language">Old English</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Icelandic, which came from the <!--del_lnk--> Futhark runes; and by modifying existing letters, such as the <!--del_lnk--> eth ð of Old English and Icelandic, which is a modified <i>d</i>. Other alphabets only use a subset of the Latin alphabet, such as Hawaiian, or <!--del_lnk--> Italian, which only uses the letters <i>j, k, x, y</i> and <i>w</i> in foreign words.<p><a id="Spelling" name="Spelling"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Spelling</span></h2>
<p>Each language may establish certain general rules that govern the association between letters and phonemes, but, depending on the language, these rules may or may not be consistently followed. In a perfectly <!--del_lnk--> phonological alphabet, the phonemes and letters would correspond perfectly in two directions: a writer could predict the spelling of a word given its pronunciation, and a speaker could predict the pronunciation of a word given its spelling. However, languages often evolve independently of their writing systems, and writing systems have been borrowed for languages they were not designed for, so the degree to which letters of an alphabet correspond to phonemes of a language varies greatly from one language to another and even within a single language.<p>Languages may fail to achieve a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds in any of several ways:<ul>
<li>A language may represent a given phoneme with a combination of letters rather than just a single letter. Two-letter combinations are called <!--del_lnk--> digraphs and three-letter groups are called <!--del_lnk--> trigraphs. <!--del_lnk--> Kabardian uses a tesseragraph (four letters) for one of its phonemes.<li>A language may represent the same phoneme with two different letters or combinations of letters.<li>A language may spell some words with unpronounced letters that exist for historical or other reasons.<li>Pronunciation of individual words may change according to the presence of surrounding words in a sentence.<li>Different dialects of a language may use different phonemes for the same word.<li>A language may use different sets of symbols or different rules for distinct sets of vocabulary items (such as the Japanese <!--del_lnk--> hiragana and <!--del_lnk--> katakana syllabaries, or the various rules in English for spelling words from Latin and Greek, or the original <!--del_lnk--> Germanic vocabulary.</ul>
<p>National languages generally elect to address the problem of dialects by simply associating the alphabet with the national standard. However, with an international language with wide variations in its dialects, such as <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a>, it would be impossible to represent the language in all its variations with a single phonetic alphabet.<p>Some national languages like <!--del_lnk--> Finnish have a very regular spelling system with a nearly one-to-one correspondence between letters and phonemes. The <!--del_lnk--> Italian verb corresponding to 'spell', <i>compitare</i>, is unknown to many Italians because the act of spelling itself is almost never needed: each phoneme of Standard Italian is represented in only one way. However, pronunciation cannot always be predicted from spelling because certain letters are pronounced in more than one way. In standard Spanish, it is possible to tell the pronunciation of a word from its spelling, but not vice versa; this is because certain phonemes can be represented in more than one way, but a given letter is consistently pronounced. <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a>, with its <!--del_lnk--> silent letters and its heavy use of <!--del_lnk--> nasal vowels and <!--del_lnk--> elision, may seem to lack much correspondence between spelling and pronunciation, but its rules on pronunciation are actually consistent and predictable with a fair degree of accuracy. At the other extreme, however, are languages such as English and <!--del_lnk--> Irish, where the spelling of many words simply has to be memorized as they do not correspond to sounds in a consistent way. For English, this is because the <!--del_lnk--> Great Vowel Shift occurred after the orthography was established, and because English has acquired a large number of loanwords at different times retaining their original spelling at varying levels. However, even English has general rules that predict pronunciation from spelling, and these rules are successful most of the time.<p>The sounds of speech of all languages of the world can be written by a rather small universal phonetic alphabet. A standard for this is the <!--del_lnk--> International Phonetic Alphabet.<p><a id="The_Alphabet_effect" name="The_Alphabet_effect"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The Alphabet effect</span></h2>
<p>Some <!--del_lnk--> communication theorists (notably those associated with the so-called "Toronto school of communications", such as <!--del_lnk--> Marshall McLuhan, <!--del_lnk--> Harold Innis and more recently <!--del_lnk--> Robert K. Logan) have advanced the hypothesis that alphabetic scripts have promoted and encouraged the skills of <!--del_lnk--> analysis, coding, decoding, and <!--del_lnk--> classification. This is known as "the Alphabet effect", after the title of Logan's <!--del_lnk--> 1986 work.<p>The theory implies that a greater level of abstraction is needed to understand the relatively small set symbols in alphabetic systems and to interpret them as <!--del_lnk--> phonemes; this has contributed in some way to the development of the societies which use it. McLuhan and Logan (1977) postulate that, as a result of these skills, the use of the alphabet created an environment that lead the development of codified law, <!--del_lnk--> monotheism, <a href="../../wp/s/Science.htm" title="Science">science</a>, <!--del_lnk--> deductive logic, <!--del_lnk--> objective history, and <!--del_lnk--> individualism. According to Logan, "All of these innovations, including the alphabet, arose within the very narrow geographic zone between the Tigris-Euphrates river system and the Aegean Sea, and within the very narrow time frame between 2000 B.C. and 500 B.C." (Logan 2004).<p>However, many of these abstractions first occurred in societies which no sufficient data show the use of an alphabet, such as the codified law of <a href="../../wp/h/Hammurabi.htm" title="Hammurabi">Hammurabi</a> in <a href="../../wp/b/Babylonia.htm" title="Babylonia">Babylonia</a>, which predated similar laws in societies with the alphabet.<p>Nonetheless, <!--del_lnk--> Paul Levinson argues in his <!--del_lnk--> 1997 <i>The Soft Edge</i> that the alphabet facilitated the rise and dissemination of monotheism, by providing an easy way to write about a deity that is <!--del_lnk--> omnipotent, <!--del_lnk--> omnipresent, yet invisible. In contrast, monotheism did not succeed when <!--del_lnk--> Ikhnaton attempted to promulgate it via hieroglyphics in <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a>, nor did it even arise in places such as <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>, which relied on an <!--del_lnk--> ideographic writing system.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alternating current</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Design_and_Technology.Engineering.htm">Engineering</a></h3>
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<p>An <b>alternating current</b> (<b>AC</b>) is an <!--del_lnk--> electrical current whose <!--del_lnk--> magnitude and direction vary cyclically, as opposed to <!--del_lnk--> direct current, whose direction remains constant. The usual <!--del_lnk--> waveform of an <!--del_lnk--> AC power circuit is a <!--del_lnk--> sine wave, as this results in the most efficient transmission of energy. However in certain applications different waveforms are used, such as triangular or square waves.<p>Used generically, AC refers to the form in which <a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">electricity</a> is delivered to businesses and residences. However, <!--del_lnk--> audio and <a href="../../wp/r/Radio_frequency.htm" title="Radio frequency">radio</a> signals carried on electrical <!--del_lnk--> wire are also examples of alternating current. In these applications, an important goal is often the recovery of <a href="../../wp/i/Information.htm" title="Information">information</a> encoded (or <!--del_lnk--> modulated) onto the AC signal.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> William Stanley, Jr. designed one of the first practical devices to transfer AC power efficiently between isolated circuits. Using pairs of coils wound on a common iron core, his design, called an <!--del_lnk--> induction coil, was an early precursor of the modern <!--del_lnk--> transformer. The system used today was devised by many contributors including <a href="../../wp/n/Nikola_Tesla.htm" title="Nikola Tesla">Nikola Tesla</a>, <!--del_lnk--> George Westinghouse, <!--del_lnk--> Lucien Gaulard, <!--del_lnk--> John Dixon Gibbs, and <!--del_lnk--> Oliver Shallenger from <!--del_lnk--> 1881 to <!--del_lnk--> 1889. AC systems overcame the limitations of the <!--del_lnk--> direct current system used by <a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Edison.htm" title="Thomas Edison">Thomas Edison</a> to distribute electricity.<p>The first long-distance <!--del_lnk--> transmission of alternating current took place in <!--del_lnk--> 1891 near <!--del_lnk--> Telluride, Colorado, followed a few months later in <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>. Thomas Edison strongly advocated the use of <!--del_lnk--> direct current (DC), having many patents in that technology, but eventually alternating current came into general use (see <!--del_lnk--> War of Currents).<p>The first modern commercial power plant using three-phase alternating current was at the Mill Creek hydroelectric plant near <!--del_lnk--> Redlands, California in 1893. Its designer was Almirian Decker, a brilliant young engineer. Decker's innovative design incorporated 10,000 volt three phase transmission and established the standards for the complete system of generation, transmission and motors used today. And through the use of alternating current, <!--del_lnk--> Charles Proteus Steinmetz of <!--del_lnk--> General Electric was able to solve many of the problems associated with <!--del_lnk--> electricity generation and transmission.<p><a id="Transmission.2C_distribution.2C_and_domestic_power_supply" name="Transmission.2C_distribution.2C_and_domestic_power_supply"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Transmission, distribution, and domestic power supply</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>AC voltage can be stepped up or down by a <!--del_lnk--> transformer to a different <!--del_lnk--> voltage. Modern <!--del_lnk--> High-voltage, direct current electric power transmission systems contrast with the more common alternating-current systems as a means for the bulk transmission of electrical power over long distances. However, these tend to be more expensive and less efficient than transformers, and did not exist when <a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Edison.htm" title="Thomas Edison">Edison</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Westinghouse and <a href="../../wp/n/Nikola_Tesla.htm" title="Nikola Tesla">Tesla</a> were designing their power systems.<p>Use of a higher voltage leads to significantly more efficient transmission of power. The power losses in a conductor are a product of the square of the current and the <a href="../../wp/e/Electrical_resistance.htm" title="Electrical resistance">resistance</a> of the conductor, described by the formula <img alt="P=I^2 \cdot R \,\!" class="tex" src="../../images/391/39175.png" />. This means that when transmitting a fixed power on a given wire, if the current is doubled, the power loss will be four times greater. Since the power transmitted is equal to the product of the current, the voltage and the <!--del_lnk--> cosine of the phase difference φ (<span class="texhtml"><i>P</i> = <i>I</i><i>V</i>cosφ</span>), the same amount of power can be transmitted with a lower current by increasing the voltage. Therefore it is advantageous when transmitting large amounts of power to distribute the power with high voltages (often hundreds of kilovolts). However, high voltages also have disadvantages, the main ones being the increased insulation required, and generally increased difficulty in their safe handling. In a <!--del_lnk--> power plant, power is generated at a convenient voltage for the design of a <!--del_lnk--> generator, and then stepped up to a high voltage for transmission. Near the loads, the transmission voltage is stepped down to the voltages used by equipment. Consumer voltages vary depending on the country and size of load, but generally motors and lighting are built to use up to a few hundred volts between phases.<p><!--del_lnk--> Three-phase electrical generation is very common. Three separate coils in the generator <!--del_lnk--> stator are physically offset by an angle of 120° to each other. Three current waveforms are produced that are equal in magnitude and 120° <!--del_lnk--> out of phase to each other.<p>If the load on a three-phase system is balanced equally between the phases, no current flows through the <!--del_lnk--> neutral point. Even in the worst-case unbalanced (linear) load, the neutral current will not exceed the highest of the phase currents. For three-phase at low (normal mains) voltages a four-wire system is normally used. When stepping down three-phase, a transformer with a Delta primary and a Star secondary is often used so there is no need for a neutral on the supply side.<p>For smaller customers (just how small varies by country and age of the installation) only a <!--del_lnk--> single phase and the neutral or two phases and the neutral are taken to the property. For larger installations all three phases and the neutral are taken to the main distribution panel. From the three-phase main panel, both single and three-phase circuits may lead off.<p><!--del_lnk--> Three-wire single phase systems, with a single centre-tapped transformer giving two live conductors, is a common distribution scheme for residential and small commercial buildings in North America. A similar method is used for a different reason on construction sites in the UK. Small power tools and lighting are supposed to be supplied by a local centre-tapped transformer with a voltage of 55V between each power conductor and the earth. This significantly reduces the risk of <!--del_lnk--> electric shock in the event that one of the live conductors becomes exposed through an equipment fault whilst still allowing a reasonable voltage for running the tools.<p>A <!--del_lnk--> third wire is often connected between non-current carrying metal enclosures and earth ground. This conductor provides protection from electrical shock due to accidental contact of circuit conductors with the case of portable appliances and tool.<p><a id="AC_power_supply_frequencies" name="AC_power_supply_frequencies"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">AC power supply frequencies</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> frequency of the electrical system varies by country; most electric power is generated at either 50 or 60 Hz. See <!--del_lnk--> List of countries with mains power plugs, voltages and frequencies. Some countries have a mixture of 50 Hz and 60 Hz supplies, notably Japan.<p>A low frequency eases the design of low speed electric motors, particularly for hoisting, crushing and rolling applications, and commutator-type <!--del_lnk--> traction motors for applications such as <!--del_lnk--> railways, but also causes a noticeable flicker in incandescent lighting and objectionable flicker of <!--del_lnk--> fluorescent lamps. 16.7 Hz power (approx. ⅓ of the mains frequency) is still used in some European rail systems, such as in <a href="../../wp/a/Austria.htm" title="Austria">Austria</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>, <a href="../../wp/n/Norway.htm" title="Norway">Norway</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Sweden.htm" title="Sweden">Sweden</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a>.<p>Off-shore, textile industry, marine, computer <!--del_lnk--> mainframe, aircraft, and spacecraft applications sometimes use 400 Hz, for benefits of reduced weight of apparatus or higher motor speeds.<p><a id="Effects_at_high_frequencies" name="Effects_at_high_frequencies"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Effects at high frequencies</span></h2>
<p>A direct, constant, current flows uniformly throughout the cross-section of the (uniform) wire that carries it. With alternating current of any frequency, the current is forced towards the outer surface of the wire, and away from the centre. This is due to the fact that an <a href="../../wp/e/Electric_charge.htm" title="Electric charge">electric charge</a> which accelerates (as is the case of an alternating current) <a href="../../wp/e/Electromagnetic_radiation.htm" title="Electromagnetic radiation">radiates</a> <!--del_lnk--> electromagnetic waves, and materials of high <!--del_lnk--> conductivity (the metal which makes up the wire) do not allow propagation of electromagnetic waves. This phenomenon is called <!--del_lnk--> skin effect.<p>At very high frequencies the current no longer flows <i>in</i> the wire, but effectively flows <i>on</i> the surface of the wire, within a thickness of a few <!--del_lnk--> skin depths. The skin depth is the thickness at which the current density is reduced by 63%. Even at relatively low frequencies used for high power transmission (50–60 Hz), non-uniform distribution of current still occurs in sufficiently thick <!--del_lnk--> conductors. For example, the skin depth of a copper conductor is approximately 8.57 mm at 60 Hz, so high current conductors are usually hollow to reduce their mass and cost.<p>Since the current tends to flow in the periphery of conductors, the effective cross-section of the conductor is reduced. This increases the effective <i>AC</i> <a href="../../wp/e/Electrical_resistance.htm" title="Electrical resistance">resistance</a> of the conductor, since resistance is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area in which the current actually flows. The AC resistance often is many times higher than the <i>DC</i> resistance, causing a much higher energy loss due to <!--del_lnk--> ohmic heating (also called I<sup>2</sup>R loss).<p><a id="Techniques_for_reducing_AC_resistance" name="Techniques_for_reducing_AC_resistance"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Techniques for reducing AC resistance</span></h3>
<p>For low to medium frequencies, conductors can be divided into stranded wires, each insulated from one other, and the individual strands specially arranged to change their relative position within the conductor bundle. Wire constructed using this technique is called <!--del_lnk--> Litz wire. This measure helps to partially mitigate skin effect by forcing more equal current flow throughout the total cross section of the stranded conductors. Litz wire is used for making high <!--del_lnk--> Q <!--del_lnk--> inductors, reducing losses in flexible conductors carrying very high currents at power frequencies, and in the windings of devices carrying higher <a href="../../wp/r/Radio_frequency.htm" title="Radio frequency">radio frequency</a> current (up to hundreds of kilohertz), such as switch-mode <!--del_lnk--> power supplies and <a href="../../wp/r/Radio_frequency.htm" title="Radio frequency">radio frequency</a> <!--del_lnk--> transformers.<p><a id="Techniques_for_reducing_radiation_loss" name="Techniques_for_reducing_radiation_loss"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Techniques for reducing radiation loss</span></h3>
<p>As written above, an alternating current is made of <a href="../../wp/e/Electric_charge.htm" title="Electric charge">electric charge</a> under periodic <a href="../../wp/a/Acceleration.htm" title="Acceleration">acceleration</a>, which causes <a href="../../wp/e/Electromagnetic_radiation.htm" title="Electromagnetic radiation">radiation</a> of <!--del_lnk--> electromagnetic waves. Energy that is radiated represents a loss. Depending on the frequency, different techniques are used to minimize the loss due to radiation.<p><a id="Twisted_pairs" name="Twisted_pairs"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Twisted pairs</span></h4>
<p>At frequencies up to about 1 GHz, wires are paired together in cabling to form a <!--del_lnk--> twisted pair in order to reduce losses due to <a href="../../wp/e/Electromagnetic_radiation.htm" title="Electromagnetic radiation">electromagnetic radiation</a> and <!--del_lnk--> inductive coupling. A twisted pair must be used with a balanced signalling system, where the two wires carry equal but opposite currents. The result is that each wire in the twisted pair radiates a signal that is effectively cancelled by the other wire, resulting in almost no electromagnetic radiation.<p><a id="Coax_cables" name="Coax_cables"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Coax cables</span></h4>
<p>At frequencies above 1 GHz, unshielded wires of practical dimensions lose too much energy to radiation, so <!--del_lnk--> coaxial cables are used instead. A coaxial cable has a conductive wire inside a conductive tube. The current flowing on the inner conductor is equal and opposite to the current flowing on the inner surface of the outer tube. This causes the electromagnetic field to be completely contained within the tube, and (ideally) no energy is radiated or coupled outside the tube. Coaxial cables have acceptably small losses for frequencies up to about 20 GHz. For <!--del_lnk--> microwave frequencies greater than 20 GHz, the <!--del_lnk--> dielectric losses (due mainly to the <!--del_lnk--> dissipation factor of the dielectric layer which separates the inner wire from the outer tube) become too large, making <!--del_lnk--> waveguides a more efficient medium for transmitting energy.<p><a id="Waveguides" name="Waveguides"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Waveguides</span></h4>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Waveguides are similar to coax cables, as both consist of tubes, with the biggest difference being that the waveguide has no inner conductor. Waveguides can have any arbitrary cross section, but rectangular cross section are the most common. With waveguides, the energy is no longer carried by an <!--del_lnk--> electric current, but by a <i>guided</i> <!--del_lnk--> electromagnetic field. Waveguides have dimensions comparable to the wavelength of the alternating current to be transmitted, so are only feasible at microwave frequencies.<p><a id="Fiber_optics" name="Fiber_optics"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Fibre optics</span></h4>
<p>At frequencies greater than 200 GHz, waveguide dimensions become impractically too small, and the <!--del_lnk--> ohmic losses in the waveguide walls become large. Instead, <!--del_lnk--> fibre optics, which are a form of dielectric waveguides, can be used. For such frequencies, the concepts of voltages and currents are no longer used.<p><a id="Mathematics_of_AC_voltages" name="Mathematics_of_AC_voltages"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Mathematics of AC voltages</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:322px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/169.png.htm" title="A sine wave, over one cycle (360°). The dashed line represents the root mean square (RMS) value"><img alt="A sine wave, over one cycle (360°). The dashed line represents the root mean square (RMS) value" height="204" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Sine_wave.svg" src="../../images/1/169.png" width="320" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/169.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A sine wave, over one cycle (360°). The dashed line represents the <!--del_lnk--> root mean square (RMS) value</div>
</div>
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<p>Alternating currents are accompanied by alternating voltages. An AC voltage <i>v</i> can be described mathematically as a <!--del_lnk--> function of time by the following equation:<dl>
<dd><img alt="v(t)=V_\mathrm{peak}\cdot\sin(\omega t)" class="tex" src="../../images/391/39177.png" />,</dl>
<p>where<ul>
<li><i>V</i><sub>peak</sub> is the peak voltage (unit: <a href="../../wp/v/Volt.htm" title="Volt">volt</a>),<li><i>ω</i> is the <!--del_lnk--> angular frequency (unit: <!--del_lnk--> radians per second) <ul>
<li>The angular frequency is related to the physical frequency, <span class="texhtml"><i>f</i></span>, which represents the number of oscilations per second (unit = <!--del_lnk--> hertz), by the equation <i>ω</i> = <img alt="2\,\pi\, f" class="tex" src="../../images/391/39178.png" />.</ul>
<li><i>t</i> is the time (unit: <!--del_lnk--> second).</ul>
<p>The peak-to-peak value of an AC voltage is defined as the difference between its positive peak and its negative peak. Since the maximum value of sin(<i>x</i>) is +1 and the minimum value is −1, an AC voltage swings between +<i>V</i><sub>peak</sub> and −<i>V</i><sub>peak</sub>. The peak-to-peak voltage, usually written as <i>V</i><sub>pp</sub> or <i>V</i><sub>P-P</sub>, is therefore (+<i>V</i><sub>peak</sub>) − (−<i>V</i><sub>peak</sub>) = 2 × <i>V</i><sub>peak</sub>.<p>AC voltage is usually expressed as a <!--del_lnk--> root mean square (RMS) value, written <i>V</i><sub>rms</sub>. For a sinusoidal voltage:<dl>
<dd><img alt="V_\mathrm{rms}=\frac{V_\mathrm{peak}}{\sqrt{2}}" class="tex" src="../../images/391/39179.png" /></dl>
<p><i>V</i><sub>rms</sub> is useful in calculating the power consumed by a load. If a DC voltage of <i>V</i><sub>DC</sub> delivers a certain power <i>P</i> into a given load, then an AC voltage of <i>V</i><sub>peak</sub> will deliver the same average power <i>P</i> into the same load if <i>V</i><sub>rms</sub> = <i>V</i><sub>DC</sub>. Because of this fact, RMS is the normal means of measuring AC voltage.<p><a id="Example" name="Example"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Example</span></h3>
<p>To illustrate these concepts, consider a 240 V AC mains supply. It is so called because its <!--del_lnk--> RMS value is (at least nominally) 240 V. This means that it has the same heating effect as 240 V DC. To work out its peak voltage (amplitude), we can modify the above equation to:<dl>
<dd><img alt="V_\mathrm{peak}=\sqrt{2}\ V_\mathrm{rms}" class="tex" src="../../images/391/39180.png" /></dl>
<p>For our 240 V AC, the peak voltage <i>V</i><sub>peak</sub> is therefore 240 V × √2, which is about 339 V. The peak-to-peak value <i>V</i><sub>P-P</sub> of the 240 V AC mains is even higher: 2 × 240 V × √2, or about 679 V.<p>Note that non-sinusoidal waveforms have a different relationship between their peak magnitude and effective (RMS) value. This is of practical significance when working with non-linear circuit elements that produce harmonic currents, such as <!--del_lnk--> rectifiers.<p>The <a href="../../wp/e/European_Union.htm" title="European Union">European Union</a> (including the UK) has now officially harmonized on a supply of 230 V 50 Hz. However, it made the tolerance bands very wide at ±10%. Some countries actually specify stricter standards than this; for example, the UK specifies 230 V +10% −6%. Most supplies to the old standards therefore conform to the new one and do not need to be changed.<p><a id="Further_reading" name="Further_reading"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_current"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alternation of generations</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.General_Biology.htm">General Biology</a></h3>
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<div style="width:402px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16463.png.htm" title="Sporic or diplohaplontic life cycle. A diploid (2n) sporophyte undergoes meiosis to produce haploid (1n) reproductive cells, often called spores. Haploid cells undergo mitosis to produce a gametophyte. The gametophyte produces haploid gametes which fuse to form a diploid zygotic sporophyte."><img alt="Sporic or diplohaplontic life cycle. A diploid (2n) sporophyte undergoes meiosis to produce haploid (1n) reproductive cells, often called spores. Haploid cells undergo mitosis to produce a gametophyte. The gametophyte produces haploid gametes which fuse to form a diploid zygotic sporophyte." height="292" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Sporic_meiosis.png" src="../../images/164/16463.png" width="400" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16463.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Sporic or diplohaplontic life cycle. A diploid (2n) sporophyte undergoes meiosis to produce haploid (1n) reproductive cells, often called spores. Haploid cells undergo mitosis to produce a gametophyte. The gametophyte produces haploid gametes which fuse to form a diploid <!--del_lnk--> zygotic sporophyte.</div>
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<p><b>Alternation of generations</b> is a reproductive cycle of certain <!--del_lnk--> vascular plants, <!--del_lnk--> fungi, and <!--del_lnk--> protists. The term is a bit confusing for people familiar only with the life cycle of a typical animal. A more understandable name would be "alternation of phases of a single generation" because we usually consider a <!--del_lnk--> generation of a <!--del_lnk--> species to encompass one complete <!--del_lnk--> life cycle. The life cycle of organisms with "alternation of generations" is characterized by each phase consisting of one of two separate, free-living organisms: a <!--del_lnk--> gametophyte (<!--del_lnk--> thallus (tissue) or plant), which is genetically <!--del_lnk--> haploid, and a <!--del_lnk--> sporophyte (thallus or plant), which is genetically <!--del_lnk--> diploid.<p>A haploid plant of the gametophyte generation produces gametes by <!--del_lnk--> mitosis. Two gametes (originating from different organisms of the same species or from the same organism) <!--del_lnk--> combine to produce a <!--del_lnk--> zygote, which develops into a diploid plant of the sporophyte generation. This sporophyte produces spores by <!--del_lnk--> meiosis, which germinate and develop into a gametophyte of the next generation. This cycle, from gametophyte to gametophyte, is the way in which plants and many algae undergo <!--del_lnk--> sexual reproduction.<p>
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</script><a id="Distinctions" name="Distinctions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Distinctions</span></h2>
<p>The distinction of "free-living" is important, because all sexually reproducing organisms can be thought to involve alternating phases, at least at the cellular level as meiosis. However, not all biologists agree. It is often stated that alternation of generations refers to both the diploid and haploid stages being "multicellular" and this is more important than "free-living" . Such a distinction changes the concept to one separating animals and plants.<p>All <a href="../../wp/p/Plant.htm" title="Plant">plants</a> have diploid sporophyte and haploid gametophyte stages that are <!--del_lnk--> multicellular, and the differences between plant groups are in the relative sizes, forms, and trophic abilities of the gametophyte or sporophyte forms, as well as the level of differentiation in the gametophytes. An example would be comparing <!--del_lnk--> pollen and <!--del_lnk--> ovules to bisexual gametophyte thalli. Both approaches are discussed in this article.<p>Biologists recognize two categories of alternation: the first if the sporophyte and the gametophye forms are more or less identical, alternation is called <b>isomorphic</b>; and second if the forms have very different appearances, alternation is called <b>heteromorphic</b>. Other terms applied to this kind of life cycle are <b>diplobiontic</b>, <b>diplohaplontic</b>, <b>haplodiplontic</b>, or <b>dibiontic</b>.<p><b>Heterogamy</b> is a term used to describe alternation between <!--del_lnk--> parthenogenic and <!--del_lnk--> sexually reproductive phases that occurs in some animals. Although conceptually similar to "alternation of generations", the genetics of heterogamy is significantly different.<p><a id="Fungi" name="Fungi"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Fungi</span></h2>
<p>Fungal <!--del_lnk--> mycelia are typically haploid. When mycelia of different mating types meet, they produce two multinucleate ball-shaped cells, which join via a "mating bridge". Nuclei move from one mycelium into the other, forming a <i><b>heterokaryon</b></i> (meaning "different nuclei"). This process is called <i><b>plasmogamy</b></i>. Actual fusion to form diploid nuclei is called <i><b>karyogamy</b></i>, and may not occur until sporangia are formed. Karogamy produces a diploid zygote, which is a short-lived sporophyte that soon undergoes meiosis to form haploid spores. When the spores germinate, they develop into new mycelia.<p><a id="Protists" name="Protists"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Protists</span></h2>
<p>Some protists undergo an alternation of generations, including the slime molds, <!--del_lnk--> foraminifera, and many marine algae.<p>The life cycle of slime molds is very similar to that of fungi. Haploid spores germinate to form swarm cells or <i><b>myxamoebae</b></i>. These fuse in a process referred to as <i>plasmogamy</i> and <i>karyogamy</i> to form a diploid zygote. The zygote develops into a <!--del_lnk--> plasmodium, and the mature plasmodium produces, depending on the species, one to many fruiting bodies containing haploid spores.<p>Foraminifera undergo a heteromorphic alternation of generations between a haploid <i><b>gamont</b></i> and a diploid <i><b>agamont</b></i> phases. The single-celled haploid organism is typically much larger than the diploid organism.<p>Alternation of generations occurs in almost all marine <!--del_lnk--> algae. In most <!--del_lnk--> red algae, many <!--del_lnk--> green algae, and a few <!--del_lnk--> brown algae, the phases are isomorphic and free-living. Some species of red algae have a complex triphasic alternation of generations. <!--del_lnk--> Kelp are an example of a <!--del_lnk--> brown alga with a heteromorphic alternation of generations. Species from the genus <i><!--del_lnk--> Laminaria</i> have a large sporophytic thallus that produces haploid spores which germinate to produce free-living microscopic male and female gametophytes.<p><a id="Plants" name="Plants"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Plants</span></h2>
<p><a id="Non-vascular_plants" name="Non-vascular_plants"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Non-vascular plants</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16464.jpg.htm" title="Liverwort gametophyte"><img alt="Liverwort gametophyte" height="129" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Liverwort.jpg" src="../../images/164/16464.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16464.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Liverwort <!--del_lnk--> gametophyte</div>
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<p>Nontracheophyte plants including the <!--del_lnk--> liverworts, <!--del_lnk--> hornworts and <a href="../../wp/m/Moss.htm" title="Moss">mosses</a> undergo an alternation of generations; the gametophyte generation is the most common. The haploid gametophyte produces haploid gametes in multicellular <!--del_lnk--> gametangia. Female gametangia are called <!--del_lnk--> archegonium and produce eggs, while male structures called <!--del_lnk--> antheridium produce sperm. Water is required so that the sperm can swim to the archegonium, where the eggs are fertilized to form the diploid zygote. The zygote develops into a sporophyte that is dependent on the parent gametophyte. Mature sporophytes produce haploid spores by <!--del_lnk--> meiosis in <!--del_lnk--> sporangia. When a spore germinates, it grows into another gametophyte.<p><a id="Vascular_plants" name="Vascular_plants"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Vascular plants</span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16465.png.htm" title="Diagram of alternation of generations in ferns."><img alt="Diagram of alternation of generations in ferns." height="212" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alternation_of_generations_in_ferns.png" src="../../images/164/16465.png" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16465.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Diagram of alternation of generations in ferns.</div>
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<p><a href="../../wp/f/Fern.htm" title="Fern">Ferns</a> and their allies, including <!--del_lnk--> clubmoss and <!--del_lnk--> horsetails, reproduce via an alteration of generations. The conspicuous plant observed in the field is the diploid sporophyte. This plant creates by <!--del_lnk--> meiosis single-celled haploid <!--del_lnk--> spores which are shed and dispersed by the <a href="../../wp/w/Wind.htm" title="Wind">wind</a> (or in some cases, by floating on <a href="../../wp/w/Water.htm" title="Water">water</a>). If conditions are right, a spore will germinate and grow into a rather inconspicuous plant body called a <!--del_lnk--> prothallus.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:162px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16466.jpg.htm" title="The underside of a Dicksonia antarctica frond showing the sori, or spore-holding structures."><img alt="The underside of a Dicksonia antarctica frond showing the sori, or spore-holding structures." height="207" longdesc="/wiki/Image:SoriDicksonia.jpg" src="../../images/164/16466.jpg" width="160" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16466.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The underside of a <i>Dicksonia antarctica</i> frond showing the sori, or spore-holding structures.</div>
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<p>The haploid prothallus does not resemble the sporophyte, and as such ferns and their allies have a heteromorphic alternation of generations. The prothallus is short-lived, but carries out sexual reproduction, producing the diploid <!--del_lnk--> zygote that then grows out of the prothallus as the sporophyte. <a id="References" name="References"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternation_of_generations"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Alternative rock</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Music.Musical_genres_styles_eras_and_events.htm">Musical genres, styles, eras and events</a></h3>
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<th align="center" bgcolor="crimson" colspan="2"><font color="white"><strong class="selflink">Alternative rock</strong></font></th>
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<th align="left" style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top">Stylistic origins:</th>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top"><!--del_lnk--> Punk, <!--del_lnk--> Post-punk, <!--del_lnk--> Hardcore</td>
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<th align="left" style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top">Cultural origins:</th>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top">early <!--del_lnk--> 1980s <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a></td>
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<th align="left" style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top">Typical <a href="../../wp/m/Musical_instrument.htm" title="Musical instrument">instruments</a>:</th>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top"><a href="../../wp/g/Guitar.htm" title="Guitar">Guitar</a> - <!--del_lnk--> Bass - <!--del_lnk--> Drums</td>
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<th align="left" style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top">Mainstream popularity:</th>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid gray;" valign="top"><small>Limited prior to the success of grunge and Britpop in the 1990s. Widespread since then, although many artists remain underground.</small></td>
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<th align="left" valign="top">Derivative forms:</th>
<td valign="top"><small><!--del_lnk--> Indie - <!--del_lnk--> Grunge</small></td>
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<th align="center" bgcolor="crimson" colspan="2" valign="top"><!--del_lnk--> <font color="white">Subgenres</font></th>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" valign="top"><small><!--del_lnk--> Britpop - <!--del_lnk--> College rock - <!--del_lnk--> Dream pop - <!--del_lnk--> Gothic rock - <!--del_lnk--> Grunge - <!--del_lnk--> Indie pop - <!--del_lnk--> Indie rock - <!--del_lnk--> Noise pop - <!--del_lnk--> Paisley Underground - <!--del_lnk--> Post-rock - <!--del_lnk--> Shoegazing - <!--del_lnk--> Twee pop</small></td>
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<th align="center" bgcolor="crimson" colspan="2" valign="top"><font color="white">Fusion genres</font></th>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" valign="top"><small><!--del_lnk--> Alternative metal - <!--del_lnk--> Gothabilly - <!--del_lnk--> Industrial rock - <!--del_lnk--> Madchester - <!--del_lnk--> Post-punk revival - <!--del_lnk--> Riot Grrrl</small></td>
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<th align="center" bgcolor="crimson" colspan="2" valign="top"><font color="white">Regional scenes</font></th>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" valign="top"><small><!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts - <!--del_lnk--> Seattle, Washington - <!--del_lnk--> Illinois - <!--del_lnk--> Maryland - <!--del_lnk--> Manchester, England</small></td>
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<th align="center" bgcolor="crimson" colspan="2" valign="top"><font color="white">Other topics</font></th>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" valign="top"><small><!--del_lnk--> Bands - <!--del_lnk--> College radio - <!--del_lnk--> History - <!--del_lnk--> Indie (music) - <!--del_lnk--> Lollapalooza</small></td>
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<p><b>Alternative rock</b> (also called <b>alternative music</b> or simply <b>alternative</b>) is a genre of <!--del_lnk--> rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. The name "alternative" was coined in the 1980s to describe <!--del_lnk--> punk rock-inspired bands on <!--del_lnk--> independent record labels that didn't fit into the mainstream genres of the time. As a specific genre of music, alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the <!--del_lnk--> indie music scene since the 1980s, such as <!--del_lnk--> grunge, <!--del_lnk--> indie rock, <!--del_lnk--> Britpop, <!--del_lnk--> gothic rock, and <!--del_lnk--> indie pop. These genres are unified by their collective debt to the style and/or ethos of punk, which laid the groundwork for alternative music in the 1970s.<p>Though the genre is considered to be rock, some of its subgenres are influenced by <a href="../../wp/f/Folk_music.htm" title="Folk music">folk music</a>, <a href="../../wp/r/Reggae.htm" title="Reggae">reggae</a>, <!--del_lnk--> electronic music and <a href="../../wp/j/Jazz.htm" title="Jazz">jazz</a> among other genres. At times alternative rock has been used as a catch-all phrase for rock music from <!--del_lnk--> underground artists in the 1980s, all music descended from punk rock (including punk itself, <!--del_lnk--> New Wave, and <!--del_lnk--> post-punk), and, ironically, for rock music in general in the 1990s and 2000s.<p>
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</script><a id="The_term_.22alternative_rock.22" name="The_term_.22alternative_rock.22"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The term "alternative rock"</span></h2>
<p>The music now known as alternative rock was known by a variety of terms before "alternative" came into common use. "<!--del_lnk--> College rock" was used in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the <!--del_lnk--> college radio circuit and the tastes of college students. In the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> the term "indie" was preferred; by 1985 the term "indie" had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than a simple demarcation of status. "Indie rock" was also largely synonymous with the genre in the United States up until the genre's commercial breakthrough in the early 1990s due to the majority of the bands belonging to independent labels.<p>By 1990 the music was being termed "alternative rock". The term "alternative" had originated sometime around the mid-1980s; it was an extension of the phrases "new music" and "post modern", both for the freshness of the music and its tendency to recontextualize the sounds of the past, which were commonly used by music industry of the time to denote cutting edge music. Thus the original use of the term was often broader than it has come to be understood, encompassing punk rock, New Wave, post-punk, and even <!--del_lnk--> pop music, along with the occasional "college"/"indie" rock, all music found on the American "commercial alternative" radio stations of the time such as <!--del_lnk--> Los Angeles' <!--del_lnk--> KROQ-FM. The use of the term "alternative" gained popular exposure during 1991 with the implementation of alternative music categories in the <!--del_lnk--> Grammy Awards and the <!--del_lnk--> MTV Video Music Awards, as well as the success of <!--del_lnk--> Lollapalooza, where festival founder and <!--del_lnk--> Jane's Addiction frontman <!--del_lnk--> Perry Farrell coined the term "Alternative Nation".<p><a id="Overview" name="Overview"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Overview</span></h2>
<p>"Alternative rock" is essentially an <!--del_lnk--> umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of the punk rock movement since the mid 1980s. Throughout much of its history, alternative rock has been largely defined by its rejection of the commercialism of mainstream culture. Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in small clubs, recorded for indie labels, and spread their popularity through word of mouth. As such, there is no set musical style for alternative rock as a whole, although common traits among many alternative bands and subgenres include distorted or jangly guitars. Sounds range from the dirty guitars of grunge and the gloomy soundscapes of gothic rock, to the guitar pop revivalism of Britpop and the shambling innocence of <!--del_lnk--> twee pop, to name just a few examples. Lyrics in alternative rock songs typically address topics of greater social concern, such as drug use, depression, and environmentalism, an approach that developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s and early 1990s.<p>In the early 1980s a handful of <!--del_lnk--> college radio stations, like <!--del_lnk--> Danbury, Connecticut's <!--del_lnk--> WXCI, and <!--del_lnk--> WPRB in Princeton, NJ, and Brown University's <!--del_lnk--> WBRU broadcast alternative rock in the United States. Most commercial stations ignored the genre. Alternative rock became more popular and spread among other college stations in the mid-1980s, which served as one of the major outlets of exposure for the music. Alternative rock was played extensively on the radio in the UK, particularly by <!--del_lnk--> DJs such as <!--del_lnk--> John Peel (who championed alternative music on <!--del_lnk--> BBC Radio 1), Richard Skinner, and <!--del_lnk--> Annie Nightingale. Artists that had cult followings in the United States received greater exposure through British national radio and the weekly press, and many alternative bands had chart success there. Finally, in the late 1980s in North America, commercial stations such as <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston, Massachusetts</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> WFNX and Los Angeles, California's KROQ began playing alternative rock, pioneering the <!--del_lnk--> modern rock radio format. Outside of North America, Double J, a government-funded radio station in <!--del_lnk--> Sydney, Australia and the Melbourne based independent radio station 3RRR began broadcasting alternative rock throughout the 1980s. In 1990, Double J, now known as <!--del_lnk--> Triple J, began broadcasting nationally, albeit with what some perceived as a watered down format. On television, <!--del_lnk--> MTV would occasionally show alternative videos late at night during the 1980s. In 1986 MTV in the United States began airing the late night alternative music program <i><!--del_lnk--> 120 Minutes</i>, which would serve as a major outlet of exposure for the genre prior to its commercial breakthrough in the 1990s.<p>Although alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on the generation of musicians who came of age in the 80s and laid the groundwork for their success. The popular and commercial success of <a href="../../wp/n/Nirvana_%2528band%2529.htm" title="Nirvana (band)">Nirvana</a>'s 1991 album <i><!--del_lnk--> Nevermind</i> took alternative rock into the mainstream, establishing its commercial and cultural viability. As a result, alternative rock became the most popular form of rock music of the decade and many alternative bands garnered commercial and critical success. However, many of these artists rejected success, for it conflicted with the rebellious, <!--del_lnk--> DIY ethic the genre had espoused prior to mainstream exposure and their ideas of artistic authenticity. As many of the genre's key groups broke up or retreated from the limelight, alternative rock declined from mainstream prominence.<p>In the first decade of the 21st century, mainstream rock has continued to evolve beyond alternative's 80s roots and low-fidelity ethos. Today's most popular rock music acts, typified by youth-oriented modern rock groups such as <!--del_lnk--> Linkin Park, incorporate complex electronic beats and highly produced albums, but owe a heavy debt to their <!--del_lnk--> metal and grunge influences. In spite of being influenced by alternative rock, many fans of the genre do not see these bands as being alternative, but instead as part of the <!--del_lnk--> nu metal genre. However, in 2004 alternative rock received renewed mainstream attention with the popularity of indie rock and post-punk revival artists such as <!--del_lnk--> Modest Mouse and <!--del_lnk--> Franz Ferdinand, respectively.<p><a id="Alternative_rock_in_the_United_States" name="Alternative_rock_in_the_United_States"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alternative rock in the United States</span></h2>
<p>Early American alternative bands such as <!--del_lnk--> R.E.M., <!--del_lnk--> The Feelies, and <!--del_lnk--> Violent Femmes combined punk influences with <a href="../../wp/f/Folk_music.htm" title="Folk music">folk music</a> and mainstream music influences. R.E.M. was the most immediately successful; its debut album 1983's <i><!--del_lnk--> Murmur</i> entered the Top 40 and spawned a number of <!--del_lnk--> jangle pop followers. One of the many jangle pop scenes of the early 80s, <!--del_lnk--> Los Angeles' <!--del_lnk--> Paisley Underground was a revival of 60s sounds, incorporating psychedelia, rich vocal harmonies and the guitar interplay of folk rock as well as punk and underground influences such as <!--del_lnk--> The Velvet Underground.<p>American indie labels <!--del_lnk--> SST Records, <!--del_lnk--> Twin/Tone Records, <!--del_lnk--> Touch & Go Records, and <!--del_lnk--> Dischord Records presided over the shift from the <!--del_lnk--> hardcore punk that dominated the American underground scene at that point to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. <!--del_lnk--> Minneapolis bands <!--del_lnk--> Hüsker Dü and <!--del_lnk--> The Replacements were indicative of this shift. Both started out as punk rock bands, but soon they expanded their sounds and became more melodic, culminating in Hüsker Dü's <i><!--del_lnk--> Zen Arcade</i> and The Replacements' <i><!--del_lnk--> Let It Be</i>, both released in 1984. The albums, as well as the follow-up material, were critically acclaimed and drew attention to the burgeoning alternative genre. That year SST Records also released landmark alternative albums by the <!--del_lnk--> Minutemen and the <!--del_lnk--> Meat Puppets, who mixed punk with funk and country, respectively.<p>R.E.M. and Hüsker Dü set the blueprint for much of alternative rock of the 1980s, both sonically and in how they approached their careers. In the late 80s, the US underground scene and college radio were dominated by college rock bands like the <!--del_lnk--> Pixies, <!--del_lnk--> They Might Be Giants, <!--del_lnk--> Dinosaur Jr, and <!--del_lnk--> Throwing Muses as well as post-punk survivors from Britain. Another major force was the <!--del_lnk--> noise rock of <!--del_lnk--> Sonic Youth, <!--del_lnk--> Big Black, <!--del_lnk--> Butthole Surfers, and others. By the end of the decade, a number of alternative bands began to sign to major labels. While early major label signings Hüsker Dü and the Replacements had little success, late 80's major label signings R.E.M. and Jane's Addiction achieved gold and platinum records, setting the stage for alternative's later breakthrough. Some bands like the Pixies had massive success overseas while being ignored domestically. By the start of the 90s the music industry was abuzz about alternative rock's commercial possibilities and actively courted alternative bands including Dinosaur Jr, <!--del_lnk--> fIREHOSE, and Nirvana.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:227px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16467.jpg.htm" title="Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth"><img alt="Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth" height="187" longdesc="/wiki/Image:SonicYouth.JPG" src="../../images/164/16467.jpg" width="225" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16467.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Kim Gordon and <!--del_lnk--> Thurston Moore of <!--del_lnk--> Sonic Youth</div>
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<p>Grunge, an alternative subgenre created in <a href="../../wp/s/Seattle%252C_Washington.htm" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle, Washington</a> in the 80s that synthesized <!--del_lnk--> heavy metal and hardcore punk, launched a large movement in mainstream music in the early 90s. The year <!--del_lnk--> 1991 was to become a significant year for alternative rock and in particular grunge, with the release of Nirvana's second and most successful album <i>Nevermind</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Pearl Jam's breakthrough debut <i><!--del_lnk--> Ten</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Soundgarden's <i><!--del_lnk--> Badmotorfinger</i>, and <!--del_lnk--> Red Hot Chili Peppers' <i><!--del_lnk--> Blood Sugar Sex Magik</i>. Nirvana's surprise success with <i>Nevermind</i> heralded a "new openess to alternative rock" among commercial radio stations and fans of more traditional rock sounds, and opened doors for more <!--del_lnk--> hard rock-oriented alternative bands in particular. While "alternative" was simply an umbrella term for a diverse collection of underground rock bands, Nirvana and similar groups gave it a reputation for being a distinct style of guitar based rock which combined elements of punk and metal; their creation met with considerable commercial success.<p>The explosion of alternative rock was aided by MTV and Lollapalooza, a touring festival of diverse bands which helped expose and popularize alternative groups such as <!--del_lnk--> Nine Inch Nails, <!--del_lnk--> The Smashing Pumpkins, and <!--del_lnk--> Hole. By the mid-90s, alternative was synonymous with grunge in the eyes of the mass media and the general public, and a supposed "<!--del_lnk--> alternative culture" was being marketed to the mainstream in much the same way as the <!--del_lnk--> hippie <!--del_lnk--> counterculture had in the 1960s (the existence of any such culture is debatable, and is often seen by some fans of the music to have been a creation of the media). During the 1990s, many artists who did not fit the "alternative" label were nonetheless given it by mainstream record labels in the hopes of capitalizing on its popularity. Some pop musicians, such as <!--del_lnk--> Alanis Morissette and <!--del_lnk--> Hootie & the Blowfish were given the label on the basis of nuanced differences from other pop artists. Many <!--del_lnk--> pop punk bands such as <!--del_lnk--> Green Day and <!--del_lnk--> The Offspring were also labeled "alternative". The most drastic mislabeling was given to African-American artists. African-American artists whose music did not fall into the genres of R&B, hip-hop, or pop, such as folk musician <!--del_lnk--> Tracy Chapman and heavy metal band <!--del_lnk--> Living Colour, were labelled alternative by the music industry despite the fact that their music did not derive from punk or post-punk influences. Additionally, <!--del_lnk--> post-grunge bands such as <!--del_lnk--> Third Eye Blind, <!--del_lnk--> The Goo Goo Dolls and <!--del_lnk--> Matchbox Twenty took the tropes of alternative rock and commercialized them. Nevertheless, alternative bands who were leery of broad commercial success and stayed underground were termed "indie rock" and developed movements such as <!--del_lnk--> lo-fi, a genre that espoused a return to the <!--del_lnk--> original ethos of alternative music. Labels such as <!--del_lnk--> Matador Records, <!--del_lnk--> Merge Records, and Dischord, and indie rockers like <!--del_lnk--> Pavement, <!--del_lnk--> Liz Phair, <!--del_lnk--> Superchunk, <!--del_lnk--> Fugazi, and <!--del_lnk--> Sleater-Kinney dominated the American indie scene for most of the 1990s.<p>Alternative's mainstream prominence declined due to a number of events, notably the death of Nirvana's <a href="../../wp/k/Kurt_Cobain.htm" title="Kurt Cobain">Kurt Cobain</a> in 1994 and Pearl Jam's lawsuit against concert venue promoter <!--del_lnk--> Ticketmaster which in effect barred them from playing many major venues around the country. A signifier of alternative rock's declining popularity was the hiatus of the Lollapalooza festival after an unsuccessful attempt to find a headliner in 1998; the hiatus would continue until 2003. By the start of the 21st century many major alternative bands, including Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, <!--del_lnk--> Alice in Chains, <!--del_lnk--> Rage Against the Machine, and Hole had broken up or were on hiatus. Meanwhile indie rock diversified; along with the more conventional indie rock sounds of Modest Mouse, <!--del_lnk--> Bright Eyes, and <!--del_lnk--> Death Cab for Cutie, various strains of indie rock including the <!--del_lnk--> garage rock revival of <!--del_lnk--> The White Stripes and <!--del_lnk--> The Strokes as well as the neo post-punk sounds of <!--del_lnk--> Interpol and <!--del_lnk--> The Killers achieved mainstream success.<p><a id="Alternative_rock_in_the_United_Kingdom" name="Alternative_rock_in_the_United_Kingdom"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alternative rock in the United Kingdom</span></h2>
<p>Gothic rock developed out of late-70s British post-punk. Most of the first goth bands, including <!--del_lnk--> Bauhaus, <!--del_lnk--> Siouxsie & the Banshees, and <!--del_lnk--> The Cure, are labeled as both post-punk and gothic rock. Gothic rock began to develop into its own in the early 80s with the opening of <!--del_lnk--> The Batcave nightclub and the creation of the <!--del_lnk--> goth subculture. By the mid-80s, goth bands such as <!--del_lnk--> The Sisters of Mercy, <!--del_lnk--> The Mission, and <!--del_lnk--> Fields of the Nephilim achieved success on the UK pop charts. Meanwhile Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure moved away from goth stylistically and broadened their sound to become internationally successful by the start of the 1990s.<p>British indie rock and indie pop drew from the tradition of <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scottish</a> post-punk bands such as <!--del_lnk--> Orange Juice and <!--del_lnk--> Aztec Camera, utilizing jangly, shambling guitars and clever wordplay. The most popular and influential band to emerge from this lineage was <a href="../../wp/m/Manchester.htm" title="Manchester">Manchester</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England's</a> <a href="../../wp/t/The_Smiths.htm" title="The Smiths">The Smiths</a>. Led by the songwriting partnership of singer <!--del_lnk--> Morrissey and guitarist <!--del_lnk--> Johnny Marr, The Smiths managed to score a number of hits and influence a generation of bands while signed to an independent label, <!--del_lnk--> Rough Trade Records. Their embrace of the guitar in an era of synthesizers is viewed to have signaled the end of the New Wave era in Britain; the band also managed to gain a sizable cult following in the United States. Indie rock bands such as <!--del_lnk--> The Housemartins, <!--del_lnk--> James, and <!--del_lnk--> The Wedding Present emerged in the wake of The Smiths. The Wedding Present also featured on the <i><!--del_lnk--> C86</i> cassette, a premium offered by the <i><!--del_lnk--> NME</i> in 1986. Featuring an array of bands including <!--del_lnk--> Primal Scream, <!--del_lnk--> The Pastels, and the <!--del_lnk--> Soup Dragons, the cassette not only was a major influence on the development of <!--del_lnk--> twee pop but the British indie scene as a whole.<p>At the other end of the alternative rock spectrum, <!--del_lnk--> The Jesus and Mary Chain wrapped their pop melodies in walls of guitar noise, while <!--del_lnk--> New Order emerged from the demise of post-punk band <!--del_lnk--> Joy Division and experimented with <!--del_lnk--> techno and <!--del_lnk--> house music, forging the <!--del_lnk--> alternative dance style. The Mary Chain, along with the <!--del_lnk--> dream pop of <!--del_lnk--> Cocteau Twins and the <!--del_lnk--> space rock of <!--del_lnk--> Spacemen 3, were the influences for the <!--del_lnk--> shoegazing movement of the late-80s. Named for the fact that the bands often stared at their feet onstage, shoegazing bands like <!--del_lnk--> My Bloody Valentine, <!--del_lnk--> Slowdive, <!--del_lnk--> Ride, and <!--del_lnk--> Lush dominated the British music press at the end of the decade along with the drug-fueled <!--del_lnk--> Madchester scene. Based around <!--del_lnk--> The Haçienda, a nightclub in Manchester owned by New Order and <!--del_lnk--> Factory Records, Madchester bands such as <!--del_lnk--> The Stone Roses and the <!--del_lnk--> Happy Mondays mixed traditional guitar pop, dance music, and rave culture, achieving massive mainstream success.<p>With the decline of the Madchester scene and the unglamorousness of shoegazing, the tide of grunge from America dominated the British alternative scene and music press in the early 90s. In contrast, only a few British alternative bands, most notably <!--del_lnk--> Radiohead and <!--del_lnk--> Bush, were able to make any sort of impression back in the States. As a reaction, a flurry of defiantly British bands emerged that wished to "get rid of grunge" and "declare war on America", taking the public and native music press by storm. Dubbed "Britpop" by the media, this movement represented by <a href="../../wp/o/Oasis_%2528band%2529.htm" title="Oasis (band)">Oasis</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Blur, <!--del_lnk--> Suede, and <!--del_lnk--> Pulp was the British equivalent of the grunge explosion, for not only did it propel alternative rock to the top of the charts in its respective country, but it centered it on a revitalization of British youth culture celebrated as "<!--del_lnk--> Cool Britannia". In 1995 the Britpop phenomenon culminated in a rivarly between its two chief groups, Oasis and Blur, symbolized by their release of competing singles on the same day. Blur won "<!--del_lnk--> The Battle of Britpop", but Oasis' second album <i><!--del_lnk--> (What's the Story) Morning Glory?</i> went on to become the third best-selling album in Britain's history; Oasis also had major commercial success overseas and even charted hits in the United States.<p>Britpop faded as Oasis' third album <i><!--del_lnk--> Be Here Now</i> received lackluster reviews and Blur began to incorporate influence from American alternative rock. At the same time Radiohead achieved critical acclaim with its 1997 album <i><!--del_lnk--> OK Computer</i>, which was a marked contrast with the traditionalism of Britpop. Radiohead, along with post-Britpop groups like <!--del_lnk--> Travis and <!--del_lnk--> Coldplay, were major forces in British rock in the subsequent years. Recently British indie rock has experienced a resurgence, spurred in part by the success the Strokes achieved in the UK prior to their domestic breakthrough. Like modern American indie rock, many British indie bands such as <!--del_lnk--> Franz Ferdinand, <!--del_lnk--> The Libertines, <!--del_lnk--> Bloc Party, and <a href="../../wp/a/Arctic_Monkeys.htm" title="Arctic Monkeys">Arctic Monkeys</a> draw influence from post-punk groups such as Joy Division, <!--del_lnk--> Wire, and <!--del_lnk--> Gang of Four.<p><a id="Alternative_rock_in_other_countries" name="Alternative_rock_in_other_countries"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Alternative rock in other countries</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:277px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16470.jpg.htm" title="Canadian band The Arcade Fire"><img alt="Canadian band The Arcade Fire" height="183" longdesc="/wiki/Image:The_Arcade_Fire_live_20050315.jpg" src="../../images/164/16470.jpg" width="275" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16470.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canadian</a> band <!--del_lnk--> The Arcade Fire</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a> has produced a number of notable alternative bands, including <!--del_lnk--> Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, <!--del_lnk--> The Go-Betweens, <!--del_lnk--> Dead Can Dance, <!--del_lnk--> Silverchair, and <!--del_lnk--> The Vines. Much like America's Lollapalooza festival, Australia's <!--del_lnk--> Big Day Out festival serves as a touring showcase for domestic and foreign alternative artists. To the east, <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> Dunedin Sound was based around the university city of <!--del_lnk--> Dunedin and the <!--del_lnk--> Flying Nun Records label. The genre had its heyday during the mid 80s and produced bands such as <!--del_lnk--> The Bats, <!--del_lnk--> The Clean, and <!--del_lnk--> The Chills.<p>Mainstream alternative rock in <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a> ranges from the humorous pop of <!--del_lnk--> Barenaked Ladies and <!--del_lnk--> Crash Test Dummies to the post-grunge of <!--del_lnk--> Our Lady Peace, <!--del_lnk--> Matthew Good and <!--del_lnk--> I Mother Earth. In recent years cities like <a href="../../wp/m/Montreal.htm" title="Montreal">Montreal</a> and <a href="../../wp/t/Toronto.htm" title="Toronto">Toronto</a> have become important centers of Canadian indie rock, home to <!--del_lnk--> The Arcade Fire, <!--del_lnk--> Godspeed You! Black Emperor, <!--del_lnk--> Broken Social Scene, and numerous others.<p><!--del_lnk--> The Sugarcubes were one of the first internationally successful bands from <a href="../../wp/i/Iceland.htm" title="Iceland">Iceland</a>. After the band's breakup, vocalist <!--del_lnk--> Björk embarked on a solo career that incorporated influences including <!--del_lnk--> trip hop, jazz, and <!--del_lnk--> electronica in addition to alternative rock. Icelandic indie rock bands include <!--del_lnk--> Múm and <!--del_lnk--> Sigur Rós. Continental <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a> has produced numerous <!--del_lnk--> industrial rock bands like <!--del_lnk--> KMFDM.<p><a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a> has an active noise rock scene characterized by groups such as <!--del_lnk--> Boredoms and <!--del_lnk--> Melt-Banana. Indie pop band <!--del_lnk--> Shonen Knife have been frequently cited as an influence by American alternative artists including Nirvana and Sonic Youth.<p>Underground pop-influencd alternative rock went mainstream in the <a href="../../wp/p/Philippines.htm" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> during the early to late 1990s. Alternative <!--del_lnk--> Philippine rock bands include <!--del_lnk--> Eraserheads, <!--del_lnk--> Yano, <!--del_lnk--> Parokya ni Edgar, <!--del_lnk--> Rivermaya, <!--del_lnk--> Sugarfree, and the <!--del_lnk--> Itchyworms.<p><a id="Influences" name="Influences"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Influences</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Punk rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Post punk<li><!--del_lnk--> New Wave<li><!--del_lnk--> Hardcore punk</ul>
<p><a id="Styles" name="Styles"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Styles</span></h2>
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<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Alternative dance<li><!--del_lnk--> Alternative metal<li><!--del_lnk--> Baggy<li><!--del_lnk--> Britpop<li><!--del_lnk--> C86<li><!--del_lnk--> Christian alternative rock<li><!--del_lnk--> College rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Dream pop<li><!--del_lnk--> Dunedin Sound<li><!--del_lnk--> Geek rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Gothabilly<li><!--del_lnk--> Gothic rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Grebo<li><!--del_lnk--> Grunge<li><!--del_lnk--> Indie pop<li><!--del_lnk--> Indie rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Indietronica<li><!--del_lnk--> Industrial rock</ul>
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<td valign="top" width="50%">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Jam band<li><!--del_lnk--> Jangle pop<li><!--del_lnk--> Lo-fi<li><!--del_lnk--> Madchester<li><!--del_lnk--> Math rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Noise pop<li><!--del_lnk--> Noise rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Paisley Underground<li><!--del_lnk--> Post-grunge<li><!--del_lnk--> Post-rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Post-punk revival<li><!--del_lnk--> Psychobilly<li><!--del_lnk--> Riot Grrrl<li><!--del_lnk--> Sadcore<li><!--del_lnk--> Shoegazing<li><!--del_lnk--> Space rock<li><!--del_lnk--> Twee pop</ul>
</td>
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</table>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_rock"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Aluminium</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Chemistry.Chemical_elements.htm">Chemical elements</a></h3>
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<td align="center"><span style="font-size:120%; font-weight:bold">13</span></td>
<td align="center" style="padding-left:2em"><span style="font-size: 95%"><a href="../../wp/m/Magnesium.htm" title="Magnesium">magnesium</a></span> ← <span style="font-size: 120%">aluminium</span> → <span style="font-size: 95%"><a href="../../wp/s/Silicon.htm" title="Silicon">silicon</a></span></td>
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<td align="center"><span style="font-size:95%"><a href="../../wp/b/Boron.htm" title="Boron">B</a></span><br /> ↑<br /><span style="font-size:120%; font-weight:bold">Al</span><br /> ↓<br /><span style="font-size: 95%"><a href="../../wp/g/Gallium.htm" title="Gallium">Ga</a></span></td>
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<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/1/170.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="73" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Al-TableImage.png" src="../../images/1/170.png" width="250" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center"><!--del_lnk--> Periodic Table - <!--del_lnk--> Extended Periodic Table</div>
</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background:#cccccc; color:black">General</th>
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<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/l/List_of_elements_by_name.htm" title="List of elements by name">Name</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Symbol, <!--del_lnk--> Number</td>
<td>aluminium, Al, 13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Chemical series</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> poor metals</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Group, <!--del_lnk--> Period, <!--del_lnk--> Block</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 13, <!--del_lnk--> 3, <!--del_lnk--> p</td>
</tr>
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<td><a href="../../wp/c/Color.htm" title="Color">Appearance</a></td>
<td>silvery<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/1/171.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="66" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Al%2C13.jpg" src="../../images/1/171.jpg" width="125" /></a></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Atomic mass</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 26.9815386<!--del_lnk--> (8) g/mol</td>
</tr>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Electron configuration</td>
<td>[<a href="../../wp/n/Neon.htm" title="Neon">Ne</a>] 3s<sup>2</sup> 3p<sup>1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/e/Electron.htm" title="Electron">Electrons</a> per <!--del_lnk--> shell</td>
<td>2, 8, 3</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background:#cccccc; color:black">Physical properties</th>
</tr>
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<td><a href="../../wp/p/Phase_%2528matter%2529.htm" title="Phase (matter)">Phase</a></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> solid</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Density (near <!--del_lnk--> r.t.)</td>
<td>2.70 g·cm<sup>−3</sup></td>
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<td>Liquid <!--del_lnk--> density at <!--del_lnk--> m.p.</td>
<td>2.375 g·cm<sup>−3</sup></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Melting point</td>
<td>933.47 <!--del_lnk--> K<br /> (660.32 °<!--del_lnk--> C, 1220.58 °<!--del_lnk--> F)</td>
</tr>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Boiling point</td>
<td>2792 <!--del_lnk--> K<br /> (2519 °<!--del_lnk--> C, 4566 °<!--del_lnk--> F)</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Heat of fusion</td>
<td>10.71 <!--del_lnk--> kJ·mol<sup>−1</sup></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Heat of vaporization</td>
<td>294.0 <!--del_lnk--> kJ·mol<sup>−1</sup></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Heat capacity</td>
<td>(25 °C) 24.200 J·mol<sup>−1</sup>·K<sup>−1</sup></td>
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<caption><!--del_lnk--> Vapor pressure</caption>
<tr align="center">
<td><i>P</i>/Pa</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>1 k</td>
<td>10 k</td>
<td>100 k</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td>at <i>T</i>/K</td>
<td>1482</td>
<td>1632</td>
<td>1817</td>
<td>2054</td>
<td>2364</td>
<td>2790</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background:#cccccc; color:black">Atomic properties</th>
</tr>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Crystal structure</td>
<td>face centered cubic,<br /> 0.4032 nm</td>
</tr>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Oxidation states</td>
<td>3<br /> (<!--del_lnk--> amphoteric oxide)</td>
</tr>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Electronegativity</td>
<td>1.61 (Pauling scale)</td>
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<td rowspan="3" valign="top"><!--del_lnk--> Ionization energies<br /> (<!--del_lnk--> more)</td>
<td>1st: 577.5 <!--del_lnk--> kJ·mol<sup>−1</sup></td>
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<tr>
<td>2nd: 1816.7 kJ·mol<sup>−1</sup></td>
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<tr>
<td>3rd: 2744.8 kJ·mol<sup>−1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Atomic radius</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 125 <!--del_lnk--> pm</td>
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<tr>
<td>Atomic radius (calc.)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 118 pm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Covalent radius</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 118 pm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#cccccc; color:black">Miscellaneous</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/m/Magnetism.htm" title="Magnetism">Magnetic ordering</a></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> paramagnetic</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Electrical resistivity</td>
<td>(20 °C) 26.50 nΩ·m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Thermal conductivity</td>
<td>(300 K) 237 W·m<sup>−1</sup>·K<sup>−1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Thermal expansion</td>
<td>(25 °C) 23.1 µm·m<sup>−1</sup>·K<sup>−1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Speed of sound (thin rod)</td>
<td>(<!--del_lnk--> r.t.) (rolled) 5000 <!--del_lnk--> m·s<sup>−1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Young's modulus</td>
<td>70 GPa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Shear modulus</td>
<td>26 GPa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Bulk modulus</td>
<td>76 GPa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Poisson ratio</td>
<td>0.35</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/m/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness.htm" title="Mohs scale of mineral hardness">Mohs hardness</a></td>
<td>2.75</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Vickers hardness</td>
<td>167 MPa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Brinell hardness</td>
<td>245 MPa</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CAS registry number</td>
<td>7429-90-5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#cccccc; color:black">Selected isotopes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<caption>Main article: <!--del_lnk--> Isotopes of aluminium</caption>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> iso</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> NA</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> half-life</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> DM</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> DE <small>(<!--del_lnk--> MeV)</small></th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> DP</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="3"><sup>26</sup>Al</td>
<td rowspan="3"><!--del_lnk--> syn</td>
<td rowspan="3"><!--del_lnk--> 7.17×10<sup>5</sup><!--del_lnk--> y</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> β<sup>+</sup></td>
<td>1.17</td>
<td><sup>26</sup><a href="../../wp/m/Magnesium.htm" title="Magnesium">Mg</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> ε</td>
<td>-</td>
<td><sup>26</sup><a href="../../wp/m/Magnesium.htm" title="Magnesium">Mg</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> γ</td>
<td>1.8086</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><sup>27</sup>Al</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td colspan="4">Al is <!--del_lnk--> stable with 14 <a href="../../wp/n/Neutron.htm" title="Neutron">neutrons</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#cccccc; color:black"><!--del_lnk--> References</th>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Aluminium</b> (<!--del_lnk--> IPA: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ˌaljʊˈmɪniəm, -əˈmɪniəm/</span>) or <b>aluminium</b> (<!--del_lnk--> IPA: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/əˈluːmɪnəm/</span>, see the "Spelling" section below) is a silvery and <!--del_lnk--> ductile member of the <!--del_lnk--> poor metal group of <a href="../../wp/c/Chemical_element.htm" title="Chemical element">chemical elements</a>. In the <a href="../../wp/p/Periodic_table.htm" title="Periodic table">periodic table</a> it has the symbol <b>Al</b> and <!--del_lnk--> atomic number 13.<p>Aluminium is found primarily in <!--del_lnk--> bauxite <!--del_lnk--> ore and is remarkable for its resistance to <a href="../../wp/c/Corrosion.htm" title="Corrosion">corrosion</a> (due to the phenomenon of <!--del_lnk--> passivation) and its light weight. The metal is used in many industries to manufacture a large variety of products and is very important to the <!--del_lnk--> world economy. Structural components made from aluminium and its alloys are vital to the <!--del_lnk--> aerospace industry and very important in other areas of <a href="../../wp/t/Transport.htm" title="Transport">transportation</a> and building.<p>
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</script><a id="Properties" name="Properties"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Properties</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/172.jpg.htm" title="A piece of aluminium metal about 15 centimetres long, with a U.S. cent included for scale."><img alt="A piece of aluminium metal about 15 centimetres long, with a U.S. cent included for scale." height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aluminum_Metal.jpg" src="../../images/1/172.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/172.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A piece of aluminium metal about 15 centimetres long, with a <!--del_lnk--> U.S. cent included for scale.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Aluminium is a soft, lightweight <a href="../../wp/m/Metal.htm" title="Metal">metal</a> with normally a dull silvery appearance caused by a thin layer of <!--del_lnk--> oxidation that forms quickly when the metal is exposed to air. Aluminium oxide has a higher melting point than pure aluminium. Aluminium is nontoxic (as the metal), nonmagnetic, and nonsparking. It has a tensile strength of about 49 megapascals (MPa) in a pure state and 400 MPa as an alloy. Aluminium is about one-third as dense as <a href="../../wp/s/Steel.htm" title="Steel">steel</a> or <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a>; it is <!--del_lnk--> malleable, <!--del_lnk--> ductile, and easily machined and cast. It has excellent <a href="../../wp/c/Corrosion.htm" title="Corrosion">corrosion</a> resistance and durability because of the protective oxide layer. Aluminium mirror finish has the highest reflectance of any metal in the 200-400 nm (UV) and the 3000-10000 nm (far IR) regions, while in the 400-700 nm visible range it is slightly outdone by <a href="../../wp/s/Silver.htm" title="Silver">silver</a> and in the 700-3000 (near IR) by <a href="../../wp/s/Silver.htm" title="Silver">silver</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>, and <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a>. It is the second-most malleable metal (after <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>) and the sixth-most <!--del_lnk--> ductile. Aluminium is a good <!--del_lnk--> heat conductor.<div style="float:right;width:208px;">
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/173.gif.htm" title="Bohr Diagram."><img alt="Bohr Diagram." height="174" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Bohr2.gif" src="../../images/1/173.gif" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/173.gif.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/n/Niels_Bohr.htm" title="Niels Bohr">Bohr</a> Diagram.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a id="Applications" name="Applications"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Applications</span></h2>
<p>Whether measured in terms of quantity or value, the use of aluminium exceeds that of any other metal except <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a>, and it is important in virtually all segments of the world economy.<p>Pure aluminium has a low <!--del_lnk--> tensile strength, but readily forms <!--del_lnk--> alloys with many elements such as <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a>, <a href="../../wp/z/Zinc.htm" title="Zinc">zinc</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Magnesium.htm" title="Magnesium">magnesium</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Manganese.htm" title="Manganese">manganese</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Silicon.htm" title="Silicon">silicon</a> (e.g., <!--del_lnk--> duralumin). Today almost all materials that claim to be aluminium are actually an alloy thereof. Pure aluminium is encountered only when corrosion resistance is more important than strength or hardness.<p>When combined with thermo-mechanical processing aluminium <!--del_lnk--> alloys display a marked improvement in mechanical properties. Aluminium alloys form vital components of <a href="../../wp/a/Aircraft.htm" title="Aircraft">aircraft</a> and <!--del_lnk--> rockets as a result of their high strength to weight ratio.<p>Aluminium is an excellent reflector (approximately 99%) of <!--del_lnk--> visible light and a good reflector (approximately 95%) of <!--del_lnk--> infrared. A thin layer of aluminium can be deposited onto a flat surface by <!--del_lnk--> chemical vapor deposition or chemical means to form <!--del_lnk--> optical coatings and <!--del_lnk--> mirrors. These coatings form an even thinner layer of protective aluminium oxide that does not deteriorate as <a href="../../wp/s/Silver.htm" title="Silver">silver</a> coatings do. Nearly all modern <!--del_lnk--> mirrors are made using a thin coating of aluminium on the back surface of a sheet of <!--del_lnk--> float glass. <a href="../../wp/t/Telescope.htm" title="Telescope">Telescope</a> mirrors are also made with aluminium, but are front coated to avoid internal reflections, refraction, and transparency losses. These <b>first surface mirrors</b> are more susceptible to damage than household back surface mirrors.<p>Some of the many uses for aluminium are in:<ul>
<li>Transportation (<a href="../../wp/a/Automobile.htm" title="Automobile">automobiles</a>, aircraft, <!--del_lnk--> trucks, <!--del_lnk--> railroad cars, marine vessels, <a href="../../wp/b/Bicycle.htm" title="Bicycle">bicycles</a> etc.)<li>Packaging (<!--del_lnk--> cans, <!--del_lnk--> foil, etc.)<li><a href="../../wp/w/Water_purification.htm" title="Water purification">Water treatment</a><li>Treatment against fish parasites such as <i><!--del_lnk--> Gyrodactylus salaris</i>.<li>Construction (<!--del_lnk--> windows, <!--del_lnk--> doors, <!--del_lnk--> siding, building wire, etc.)<li>Consumer durable goods (appliances, <!--del_lnk--> cooking utensils, etc.)<li><a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">Electrical</a> <!--del_lnk--> transmission lines (aluminium components and wires are less dense than those made of copper and are lower in price, but also present higher electrical resistance. Many localities prohibit the use of aluminium in residential wiring practices because of its higher resistance and thermal expansion value.)<li>Machinery<li><!--del_lnk--> MKM steel and <!--del_lnk--> Alnico magnets, although non-<a href="../../wp/m/Magnet.htm" title="Magnet">magnetic</a> itself<li>Super purity aluminium (SPA, 99.980% to 99.999% Al), used in electronics and <a href="../../wp/c/Compact_Disc.htm" title="Compact disc">CDs</a>.<li><!--del_lnk--> Powdered aluminium, a commonly used <!--del_lnk--> silvering agent in <!--del_lnk--> paint. Aluminium flakes may also be included in undercoat paints, particularly wood <!--del_lnk--> primer — on drying, the flakes overlap to produce a water resistant barrier.<li><!--del_lnk--> Anodised aluminium is more stable to further oxidation, and is used in various fields of construction, as well as <!--del_lnk--> heat sinking.<li>Most electronic appliances that require cooling of their internal devices (like transistors, <a href="../../wp/c/Central_processing_unit.htm" title="Central processing unit">CPUs</a> - semiconductors in general) have <!--del_lnk--> heat sinks that are made of aluminium due to its ease of manufacture and good heat conductivity. <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">Copper</a> heat sinks are smaller although more expensive and harder to manufacture.<li>It is used in the blades of weapons (such as swords) designed for <!--del_lnk--> stage combat</ul>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium oxide, <!--del_lnk--> alumina, is found naturally as <a href="../../wp/c/Corundum.htm" title="Corundum">corundum</a> (<!--del_lnk--> rubies and <!--del_lnk--> sapphires), <!--del_lnk--> emery, and is used in <a href="../../wp/g/Glass.htm" title="Glass">glass</a> making. Synthetic <!--del_lnk--> ruby and <!--del_lnk--> sapphire are used in <!--del_lnk--> lasers for the production of <!--del_lnk--> coherent light.</ul>
<ul>
<li>Aluminium oxidises very energetically and as a result has found use in <!--del_lnk--> solid rocket fuels, <!--del_lnk--> thermite, and other <!--del_lnk--> pyrotechnic compositions.</ul>
<p>Aluminium is also a <!--del_lnk--> superconductor at low temperatures, with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.2 <!--del_lnk--> kelvins.<p><a id="Engineering_use" name="Engineering_use"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Engineering use</span></h3>
<p>Aluminium alloys with a wide range of properties are used in engineering structures. Alloy systems are classified by a number system (<!--del_lnk--> ANSI) or by names indicating their main alloying constituents (<!--del_lnk--> DIN and <!--del_lnk--> ISO). Selecting the right alloy for a given application entails considerations of strength, <!--del_lnk--> ductility, formability, <!--del_lnk--> weldability and <a href="../../wp/c/Corrosion.htm" title="Corrosion">corrosion</a> resistance to name a few. A brief historical overview of alloys and manufacturing technologies is given in Ref. Aluminium is used extensively in modern aircraft due to its light weight.<p>Improper use of aluminium can result in problems, particularly in contrast to <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a> or <a href="../../wp/s/Steel.htm" title="Steel">steel</a>, which appear "better behaved" to the intuitive designer, mechanic, or technician. The reduction by two thirds of the weight of an aluminium part compared to a similarly sized iron or steel part seems enormously attractive, but it should be noted that it is accompanied by a reduction by two thirds in the stiffness of the part. Therefore, although direct replacement of an <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a> or <a href="../../wp/s/Steel.htm" title="Steel">steel</a> part with a duplicate made from aluminium may still give acceptable strength to withstand peak loads, the increased flexibility will cause three times more deflection in the part.<p>Where failure is not an issue but excessive flex is undesirable due to requirements for precision of location or efficiency of transmission of power, simple replacement of steel tubing with similarly sized aluminium tubing will result in a degree of flex which is undesirable; for instance, the increased flex under operating loads caused by replacing steel bicycle frame tubing with aluminium tubing of identical dimensions will cause misalignment of the power-train as well as absorbing the operating force. To increase the rigidity by increasing the thickness of the walls of the tubing increases the weight proportionately, so that the advantages of lighter weight are lost as the rigidity is restored.<p>Aluminium can best be used by redesigning the part to suit its characteristics; for instance making a bicycle of aluminium tubing which has an oversize diameter rather than thicker walls. In this way, rigidity can be restored or even enhanced without increasing weight. The limit to this process is the increase in susceptibility to what is termed "<!--del_lnk--> buckling" failure, where the deviation of the force from any direction other than directly along the axis of the tubing causes folding of the walls of the tubing.<p>The latest models of the <!--del_lnk--> Corvette automobile, among others, are a good example of redesigning parts to make best use of aluminium's advantages. The aluminium chassis members and suspension parts of these cars have large overall dimensions for stiffness but are lightened by reducing cross-sectional area and removing unneeded metal; as a result, they are not only equally or more durable and stiff as the usual steel parts, but they possess an airy gracefulness which most people find attractive. Similarly, aluminium bicycle frames can be optimally designed so as to provide rigidity where required, yet have flexibility in terms of absorbing the shock of bumps from the road and not transmitting them to the rider.<p>The strength and durability of aluminium varies widely, not only as a result of the components of the specific alloy, but also as a result of the particular manufacturing process; for this reason, it has from time to time gained a bad reputation. For instance, a high frequency of failure in many early aluminium bicycle frames in the 1970s resulted in just such a poor reputation; with a moment's reflection, however, the widespread use of aluminium components in the aerospace and automotive high performance industries, where huge stresses are undergone with vanishingly small failure rates, proves that properly built aluminium bicycle components should not be unusually unreliable, and this has subsequently proved to be the case.<p>Similarly, use of aluminium in automotive applications, particularly in engine parts which must survive in difficult conditions, has benefited from development over time. An <!--del_lnk--> Audi engineer commented about the V12 engine, producing over 500 horsepower (370 kW), of an <!--del_lnk--> Auto Union race car of the 1930s which was recently restored by the Audi factory, that the aluminium alloy of which the engine was constructed would today be used only for lawn furniture and the like. Even the aluminium <!--del_lnk--> cylinder heads and <!--del_lnk--> crankcase of the <!--del_lnk--> Corvair, built as recently as the 1960s, earned a reputation for failure and stripping of <!--del_lnk--> threads in holes, even as large as <!--del_lnk--> spark plug holes, which is not seen in current aluminium cylinder heads.<p><a id="Heat_sensitivity" name="Heat_sensitivity"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Heat sensitivity</span></h4>
<p>Often, the metal's sensitivity to heat must also be considered. Even a relatively routine workshop procedure involving heating is complicated by the fact that aluminium, unlike steel, will melt without first turning red. Forming operations where a <!--del_lnk--> blow torch is used therefore requires some expertise since no visual signs reveal how close the material is to melting.<p>Aluminium also is subject to internal stresses and strains when it is overheated; the tendency of the metal to <!--del_lnk--> creep under these stresses tends to result in delayed distortions. For instance, the warping or cracking of overheated aluminium automobile cylinder heads is commonly observed, sometimes years later, as is the tendency of welded aluminium bicycle frames to gradually twist out of alignment from the stresses of the welding process. Thus, aerospace uses of aluminium avoid heat altogether by joining parts with <!--del_lnk--> adhesives or mechanical fasteners. These adhesive junctures were used for some bicycle frames in the 1970s — with unfortunate results when the aluminium tubing corroded slightly, loosening the adhesive and collapsing the frame.<p>Stresses in overheated aluminium can be relieved by heat-treating the parts in an oven and gradually cooling it — in effect <!--del_lnk--> annealing the stresses. Yet these parts can still become distorted, so that heat-treating of welded bicycle frames, for instance, can result in a significant fraction becoming misaligned. If the misalignment is not too severe, the cooled parts can be bent into alignment; of course, if the frame is properly designed for rigidity (see above), that bending will require enormous force.<p>Aluminium's intolerance to high temperatures has not precluded its use in rocketry; even for use for constructing combustion chambers where gases can reach 3500K. The <!--del_lnk--> Agena upper stage engine used a regeneratively cooled aluminium design for some parts of the nozzle, including the thermally critical throat region; in fact the extremely high thermal conductivity of aluminium prevented the throat from reaching the melting point even under massive heat flux, and good reliability and light weight resulted.<p><a id="Household_wiring" name="Household_wiring"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Household wiring</span></h3>
<p>Because of its high conductivity and relatively low price compared to <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a> in the 1960s, aluminium was introduced at that time for household electrical wiring in the United States even though many fixtures had not been designed to accept aluminium wire. But the new use brought some problems:<ul>
<li>The greater <!--del_lnk--> coefficient of thermal expansion of aluminium causes the wire to expand and contract relative to the dissimilar metal <a href="../../wp/s/Screw.htm" title="Screw">screw</a> connection, eventually loosening the connection.</ul>
<ul>
<li>Pure aluminium has a tendency to "creep" under steady sustained pressure (to a greater degree as the temperature rises), again loosening the connection.</ul>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Galvanic corrosion from the dissimilar metals increases the electrical resistance of the connection.</ul>
<p>All of this resulted in overheated connections, and fires broke out. Builders then became wary of using the wire, and many jurisdictions outlawed its use in very small sizes in new construction. Yet newer fixtures eventually were introduced with connections designed to avoid loosening and overheating. At first they were marked "Al/Cu", but they now bear a "CO/ALR" coding. Another way to forestall the heating problem is to <!--del_lnk--> crimp the aluminium wire to a short "<!--del_lnk--> pigtail" of copper wire. A properly done high-pressure crimp by the proper tool is tight enough to eliminate any thermal expansion of the aluminium and to exclude any atmospheric <a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">oxygen</a>, thus preventing corrosion between the dissimilar metals. Today, new alloys are used for aluminium wiring in combination with aluminium terminations. Connections made with these products are as safe as those made with copper.<dl>
<dd><i>See also</i>: <!--del_lnk--> Aluminium wire</dl>
<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>The <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">Chinese</a> were using aluminium to make things as early as 300 AD. The ancient <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greeks</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Romans</a> used aluminium <a href="../../wp/s/Salt.htm" title="Salt">salts</a> as dyeing <!--del_lnk--> mordants and as <!--del_lnk--> astringents for dressing wounds; <!--del_lnk--> alum is still used as a <!--del_lnk--> styptic. In 1761 <!--del_lnk--> Guyton de Morveau suggested calling the base alum <i>alumine.</i> In 1808, <a href="../../wp/h/Humphry_Davy.htm" title="Humphry Davy">Humphry Davy</a> identified the existence of a metal base of alum, which he at first named <i>alumium</i> and later <i>aluminium</i> (see Spelling section, below).<p><!--del_lnk--> Friedrich Wöhler is generally credited with isolating aluminium (<a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> <i>alumen</i>, <!--del_lnk--> alum) in 1827 by mixing anhydrous <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium_chloride.htm" title="Aluminium chloride">aluminium chloride</a> with <a href="../../wp/p/Potassium.htm" title="Potassium">potassium</a>. The metal, however, had indeed been produced for the first time two years earlier — but in an impure form — by the Danish physicist and chemist <!--del_lnk--> Hans Christian Ørsted. Therefore, Ørsted can also be listed as the discoverer of the metal. Further, <!--del_lnk--> Pierre Berthier discovered aluminium in bauxite ore and successfully extracted it. <!--del_lnk--> The Frenchman <!--del_lnk--> Henri Saint-Claire Deville improved Wöhler's method in 1846 and described his improvements in a book in 1859, chief among these being the substitution of sodium for the considerably more expensive potassium.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/174.jpg.htm" title="The statue known as Eros in Piccadilly Circus London, was made in 1893 and is one of the first statues to be cast in aluminium."><img alt="The statue known as Eros in Piccadilly Circus London, was made in 1893 and is one of the first statues to be cast in aluminium." height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Eros-piccadilly-circus.jpg" src="../../images/1/174.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/174.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The statue known as <i>Eros</i> in <a href="../../wp/p/Piccadilly_Circus.htm" title="Piccadilly Circus">Piccadilly Circus</a> London, was made in 1893 and is one of the first statues to be cast in aluminium.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Aluminium was selected as the material to be used for the apex of the <!--del_lnk--> Washington Monument, at a time when one <!--del_lnk--> ounce cost twice the daily wages of a common worker in the project; aluminium was a semiprecious metal at that time.<p>The American <!--del_lnk--> Charles Martin Hall of <!--del_lnk--> Oberlin, Ohio applied for a <!--del_lnk--> patent (400655) in 1886 for an electrolytic process to extract aluminium using the same technique that was independently being developed by the Frenchman <!--del_lnk--> Paul Héroult in Europe. The invention of the <!--del_lnk--> Hall-Héroult process in 1886 made extracting aluminium from minerals cheaper, and is now the principal method in common use throughout the world. The Hall-Heroult process cannot produce Super Purity Aluminium directly. Upon approval of his patent in 1889, Hall, with the financial backing of <!--del_lnk--> Alfred E. Hunt of <!--del_lnk--> Pittsburgh, PA, started the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, renamed to Aluminium Company of America in 1907, later shortened to <!--del_lnk--> Alcoa.<p>Germany became the world leader in aluminium production soon after <a href="../../wp/a/Adolf_Hitler.htm" title="Adolf Hitler">Adolf Hitler</a>'s rise to power. By 1942, however, new hydroelectric power projects such as the <!--del_lnk--> Grand Coulee Dam gave the United States something Nazi Germany could not hope to compete with, namely the capability of producing enough aluminium to manufacture sixty thousand warplanes in four years.<p><a id="Aluminium_separation" name="Aluminium_separation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Aluminium separation</span></h2>
<p>Although aluminium is the most abundant metallic element in Earth's crust (believed to be 7.5% to 8.1%), it is very rare in its free form, occurring in oxygen-deficient environments such as volcanic mud, and it was once considered a <!--del_lnk--> precious metal more valuable than <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Napoleon III of France had a set of aluminium plates reserved for his finest guests. Others had to make do with gold ones. Aluminium has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years. <sup>[<i><!--del_lnk--> citations needed</i>]</sup><p>Recovery of the metal via <a href="../../wp/r/Recycling.htm" title="Recycling">recycling</a> has become an important facet of the aluminium industry. Recycling involves melting the scrap, a process that uses only five percent of the energy needed to produce aluminium from ore. Recycling was a low-profile activity until the late 1960s, when the growing use of aluminium <!--del_lnk--> beverage cans brought it to the public consciousness.<p>Aluminium is a reactive metal that is difficult to extract from ore, <!--del_lnk--> aluminium oxide (Al<sub>2</sub><a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">O</a><sub>3</sub>). Direct reduction — with <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon.htm" title="Carbon">carbon</a>, for example — is not economically viable since aluminium oxide has a melting point of about 2,000 °C. Therefore, it is extracted by <!--del_lnk--> electrolysis; that is, the aluminium oxide is dissolved in molten <!--del_lnk--> cryolite and then reduced to the pure metal. By this process, the operational temperature of the reduction cells is around 950 to 980 °C. Cryolite is found as a mineral in Greenland, but in industrial use it has been replaced by a synthetic substance. Cryolite is a mixture of aluminium, <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">sodium</a>, and <a href="../../wp/c/Calcium.htm" title="Calcium">calcium</a> <!--del_lnk--> fluorides: (Na<sub>3</sub>AlF<sub>6</sub>). The aluminium oxide (a white powder) is obtained by refining <!--del_lnk--> bauxite in the <!--del_lnk--> Bayer process. (Previously, the <!--del_lnk--> Deville process was the predominant refining technology.)<p>The electrolytic process replaced the <!--del_lnk--> Wöhler process, which involved the reduction of anhydrous <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium_chloride.htm" title="Aluminium chloride">aluminium chloride</a> with <a href="../../wp/p/Potassium.htm" title="Potassium">potassium</a>. Both of the <!--del_lnk--> electrodes used in the electrolysis of aluminium oxide are <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon.htm" title="Carbon">carbon</a>. Once the ore is in the molten state, its ions are free to move around. The reaction at the <!--del_lnk--> cathode — the negative terminal — is<dl>
<dd>Al<sup>3+</sup> + 3 e<sup>-</sup> → Al</dl>
<p>Here the aluminium ion is being <!--del_lnk--> reduced (electrons are added). The aluminium metal then sinks to the bottom and is tapped off.<p>At the positive electrode (<!--del_lnk--> anode), oxygen is formed:<dl>
<dd>2 O<sup>2-</sup> → O<sub>2</sub> + 4 e<sup>-</sup></dl>
<p>This carbon <!--del_lnk--> anode is then oxidised by the oxygen, releasing carbon dioxide. The anodes in a reduction must therefore be replaced regularly, since they are consumed in the process:<dl>
<dd>O<sub>2</sub> + C → CO<sub>2</sub></dl>
<p>Unlike the anodes, the cathodes are not oxidised because there is no oxygen present at the cathode. The carbon cathode is protected by the liquid aluminium inside the cells. Nevertheless, cathodes do erode, mainly due to electrochemical processes. After five to ten years, depending on the current used in the electrolysis, a cell has to be rebuilt because of cathode wear.<p>Aluminium <!--del_lnk--> electrolysis with the <!--del_lnk--> Hall-Héroult process consumes a lot of energy, but alternative processes were always found to be less viable economically and/or ecologically. The world-wide average specific energy consumption is approximately 15±0.5 <!--del_lnk--> kilowatt-hours per kilogram of aluminium produced from alumina. (52 to 56 <!--del_lnk--> MJ/kg). The most modern smelters reach approximately 12.8 kW·h/kg (46.1 MJ/kg). Reduction line current for older technologies are typically 100 to 200 kA. State-of-the-art smelters operate with about 350 kA. Trials have been reported with 500 kA cells.<p>Electric power represents about 20% to 40% of the cost of producing aluminium, depending on the location of the smelter. Smelters tend to be situated where electric power is both plentiful and inexpensive, such as <a href="../../wp/s/South_Africa.htm" title="South Africa">South Africa</a>, the <!--del_lnk--> South Island of <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a>, the <a href="../../wp/p/People%2527s_Republic_of_China.htm" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a>, the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>, <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Quebec and <!--del_lnk--> British Columbia in <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>, and <a href="../../wp/i/Iceland.htm" title="Iceland">Iceland</a>. (Nearly all the power for aluminium smelting in Iceland comes from the heat vents upon which the island sits. )<p>In 2004, the People's Republic of China was the top world producer of aluminium.<p><a id="Isotopes" name="Isotopes"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Isotopes</span></h2>
<p>Aluminium has nine <!--del_lnk--> isotopes, whose mass numbers range from 23 to 30. Only <sup>27</sup>Al (<!--del_lnk--> stable isotope) and <sup>26</sup>Al (<!--del_lnk--> radioactive isotope, <!--del_lnk--> <i>t</i><sub>1/2</sub> = 7.2 × 10<sup>5</sup> <!--del_lnk--> y) occur naturally, however <sup>27</sup>Al has a natural abundance of 100%. <sup>26</sup>Al is produced from <a href="../../wp/a/Argon.htm" title="Argon">argon</a> in the <a href="../../wp/e/Earth%2527s_atmosphere.htm" title="Earth's atmosphere">atmosphere</a> by <!--del_lnk--> spallation caused by <!--del_lnk--> cosmic-ray <a href="../../wp/p/Proton.htm" title="Proton">protons</a>. Aluminium isotopes have found practical application in dating <a href="../../wp/o/Ocean.htm" title="Ocean">marine</a> sediments, <a href="../../wp/m/Manganese.htm" title="Manganese">manganese</a> nodules, glacial ice, <a href="../../wp/q/Quartz.htm" title="Quartz">quartz</a> in <!--del_lnk--> rock exposures, and <!--del_lnk--> meteorites. The ratio of <sup>26</sup>Al to <sup>10</sup><a href="../../wp/b/Beryllium.htm" title="Beryllium">Be</a> has been used to study the role of transport, deposition, <!--del_lnk--> sediment storage, burial times, and erosion on 10<sup>5</sup> to 10<sup>6</sup> year time scales.<p><!--del_lnk--> Cosmogenic <sup>26</sup>Al was first applied in studies of the <a href="../../wp/m/Moon.htm" title="Moon">Moon</a> and meteorites. Meteorite fragments, after departure from their parent bodies, are exposed to intense cosmic-ray bombardment during their travel through space, causing substantial <sup>26</sup>Al production. After falling to Earth, atmospheric shielding protects the meteorite fragments from further <sup>26</sup>Al production, and its decay can then be used to determine the meteorite's terrestrial age. Meteorite research has also shown that <sup>26</sup>Al was relatively abundant at the time of formation of our planetary system. Possibly, the energy released by the decay of <sup>26</sup>Al was responsible for the remelting and <!--del_lnk--> differentiation of some <!--del_lnk--> asteroids after their formation 4.6 billion years ago.<p><a id="Clusters" name="Clusters"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Clusters</span></h3>
<p>In the journal <i><!--del_lnk--> Science</i> of <!--del_lnk--> 14 January <!--del_lnk--> 2005 it was reported that clusters of 13 aluminium atoms (Al<sub>13</sub>) had been made to behave like an <a href="../../wp/i/Iodine.htm" title="Iodine">iodine</a> atom; and, 14 aluminium atoms (Al<sub>14</sub>) behaved like an <!--del_lnk--> alkaline earth atom. The researchers also bound 12 <a href="../../wp/i/Iodine.htm" title="Iodine">iodine</a> atoms to an Al<sub>13</sub> cluster to form a new class of polyiodide. This discovery is reported to give rise to the possibility of a new characterisation of the <a href="../../wp/p/Periodic_table.htm" title="Periodic table">periodic table</a>: <!--del_lnk--> superatoms. The research teams were led by Shiv N. Khanna (<!--del_lnk--> Virginia Commonwealth University) and A. Welford Castleman Jr (<!--del_lnk--> Penn State University).<p><a id="Precautions" name="Precautions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Precautions</span></h2>
<p>Aluminium is a neurotoxin that alters the function of the blood-brain barrier. It is one of the few abundant elements that appears to have no beneficial function to living cells. A small percent of people are allergic to it — they experience <!--del_lnk--> contact dermatitis from any form of it: an itchy <!--del_lnk--> rash from using <!--del_lnk--> styptic or <!--del_lnk--> antiperspirant products, <!--del_lnk--> digestive disorders and inability to absorb nutrients from eating food cooked in aluminium pans, and vomiting and other symptoms of poisoning from ingesting such products as <!--del_lnk--> Rolaids, Amphojel, and <!--del_lnk--> Maalox (<!--del_lnk--> antacids). In other people, aluminium is not considered as toxic as heavy metals, but there is evidence of some toxicity if it is consumed in excessive amounts. The use of aluminium cookware, popular because of its corrosion resistance and good <!--del_lnk--> heat conduction, has not been shown to lead to aluminium toxicity in general. Excessive consumption of <!--del_lnk--> antacids containing aluminium compounds and excessive use of aluminium-containing <!--del_lnk--> antiperspirants are more likely causes of <!--del_lnk--> toxicity. In research published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, Dr. Philippa D. Darby of the University of Reading has shown that aluminium salts increase estrogen-related gene expression in human <!--del_lnk--> breast cancer cells grown in the laboratory. These salts' estrogen-like effects have lead to their classification as a <!--del_lnk--> metalloestrogen.<p>It has been suggested that aluminium is a cause of <a href="../../wp/a/Alzheimer%2527s_disease.htm" title="Alzheimer's disease">Alzheimer's disease</a>, as some brain plaques have been found to contain the metal. Research in this area has been inconclusive; aluminium accumulation may be a consequence of the Alzheimer's damage, not the cause. In any event, if there is any toxicity of aluminium it must be via a very specific mechanism, since total human exposure to the element in the form of naturally occurring clay in soil and dust is enormously large over a lifetime.<sup>,</sup><p><a href="../../wp/m/Mercury_%2528element%2529.htm" title="Mercury (element)">Mercury</a> applied to the surface of an aluminium alloy can damage the protective oxide surface film. This may cause further corrosion and weakening of the structure. For this reason, mercury <!--del_lnk--> thermometers are not allowed on many <!--del_lnk--> airliners, as aluminium is used in many <a href="../../wp/a/Aircraft.htm" title="Aircraft">aircraft</a> structures.<p>Powdered aluminium can react with <!--del_lnk--> Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> to form <!--del_lnk--> Fe and <!--del_lnk--> Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>. This mixture is known as <!--del_lnk--> thermite, which burns with a high energy output. Thermite can be produced inadvertently during grinding operations, but the high ignition temperature makes incidents unlikely in most workshop environments.<p><a id="Aluminium_and_plants_.28Phytoremediation.29" name="Aluminium_and_plants_.28Phytoremediation.29"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Spelling</span></h2>
<p><a id="Etymology.2Fnomenclature_history" name="Etymology.2Fnomenclature_history"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Etymology/nomenclature history</span></h3>
<p>The earliest citation given in the <!--del_lnk--> Oxford English Dictionary for any word used as a name for this element is <i>alumium</i>, which <a href="../../wp/h/Humphry_Davy.htm" title="Humphry Davy">Humphry Davy</a> employed in 1808 for the metal he was trying to isolate electrolytically from the mineral <i><!--del_lnk--> alumina</i>. The citation is from his journal <i>Philosophical Transactions</i>: "Had I been so fortunate as..to have procured the metallic substances I was in search of, I should have proposed for them the names of silicium, alumium, zirconium, and glucium." <p>By 1812, Davy had settled on <i>aluminium,</i> which, as other sources note, matches its <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> root. He wrote in the journal <i>Chemical Philosophy</i>: "As yet Aluminium has not been obtained in a perfectly free state." But the same year, an anonymous contributor to the <i><!--del_lnk--> Quarterly Review,</i> a British political-literary journal, objected to <i>aluminium</i> and proposed the name <i>aluminium</i>, "for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminium, which has a less classical sound." <p>The <i>-ium</i> suffix had the advantage of conforming to the precedent set in other newly discovered elements of the period: <a href="../../wp/p/Potassium.htm" title="Potassium">potassium</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">sodium</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Magnesium.htm" title="Magnesium">magnesium</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Calcium.htm" title="Calcium">calcium</a>, and <a href="../../wp/s/Strontium.htm" title="Strontium">strontium</a> (all of which Davy had isolated himself). Nevertheless, <i>-um</i> spellings for elements were not unknown at the time, as for example <a href="../../wp/p/Platinum.htm" title="Platinum">platinum</a>, known to Europeans since the 16th century, <a href="../../wp/m/Molybdenum.htm" title="Molybdenum">molybdenum</a>, discovered in 1778, and <a href="../../wp/t/Tantalum.htm" title="Tantalum">tantalum</a>, discovered in 1802.<p>Americans adopted <i>-ium</i> for most of the 19th century, with <i>aluminium</i> appearing in <!--del_lnk--> Webster's Dictionary of 1828. In 1892, however, <!--del_lnk--> Charles Martin Hall used the <i>-um</i> spelling in an advertising handbill for his new electrolytic method of producing the metal, despite his constant use of the <i>-ium</i> spelling in all the patents he filed between 1886 and 1903. It has consequently been suggested that the spelling on the flier was a simple spelling mistake. Hall's domination of production of the metal ensured that the spelling <i>aluminium</i> became the standard in North America; the <i>Webster Unabridged Dictionary</i> of 1913, though, continued to use the <i>-ium</i> version.<p>In 1926, the <!--del_lnk--> American Chemical Society officially decided to use <i>aluminium</i> in its publications; American dictionaries typically label the spelling <i>aluminium</i> as a British variant.<p><a id="Present-day_spelling" name="Present-day_spelling"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Present-day spelling</span></h3>
<p>In the UK and other countries using <!--del_lnk--> British spelling, only <i>aluminium</i> is used. In the United States, the spelling <i>aluminium</i> is largely unknown, and the spelling <i>aluminium</i> predominates. The <!--del_lnk--> Canadian Oxford Dictionary prefers <i>aluminium</i>.<p>In other <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English-speaking</a> countries, the spellings (and associated pronunciations) <i>aluminium</i> and <i>aluminium</i> are both in common use in scientific and nonscientific contexts. The spelling in virtually all other languages is analogous to the <i>-ium</i> ending.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted <i>aluminium</i> as the standard international name for the element in <!--del_lnk--> 1990, but three years later recognized <i>aluminium</i> as an acceptable variant. Hence their periodic table includes both, but places aluminium first. IUPAC officially prefers the use of <i>aluminium</i> in its internal publications, although several IUPAC publications use the spelling <i>aluminium</i>.<p><a id="Chemistry" name="Chemistry"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Chemistry</span></h2>
<p><a id="Oxidation_state_one" name="Oxidation_state_one"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Oxidation state one</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>AlH is produced when aluminium is heated at 1500°C in an atmosphere of <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a>.<li>Al<sub>2</sub>O is made by heating the normal oxide, Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>, with <a href="../../wp/s/Silicon.htm" title="Silicon">silicon</a> at 1800°C in a <!--del_lnk--> vacuum.<li>Al<sub>2</sub>S can be made by heating Al<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub> with aluminium shavings at 1300°C in a vacuum. It quickly disproportionates to the starting materials. The selenide is made in a parallel manner.<li>AlF, AlCl and AlBr exist in the gaseous phase when the tri-halide is heated with aluminium.</ul>
<p><a id="Oxidation_state_two" name="Oxidation_state_two"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Oxidation state two</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium monoxide, AlO, is present when aluminium powder burns in <a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">oxygen</a>.</ul>
<p><a id="Oxidation_state_three" name="Oxidation_state_three"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Oxidation state three</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Fajans rules show that the simple trivalent cation Al<sup>3+</sup> is not expected to be found in anhydrous salts or binary compounds such as Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>. The hydroxide is a weak base and aluminium salts of weak acids, such as carbonate, can't be prepared. The salts of strong acids, such as nitrate, are stable and soluble in water, forming hydrates with at least six molecules of <!--del_lnk--> water of crystallization.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium hydride, (AlH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>n</sub>, can be produced from <!--del_lnk--> trimethylaluminium and an excess of hydrogen. It burns explosively in air. It can also be prepared by the action of <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium_chloride.htm" title="Aluminium chloride">aluminium chloride</a> on <!--del_lnk--> lithium hydride in <!--del_lnk--> ether solution, but cannot be isolated free from the solvent.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium carbide, Al<sub>4</sub>C<sub>3</sub> is made by heating a mixture of the elements above 1000°C. The pale yellow crystals have a complex lattice structure, and react with water or dilute acids to give <!--del_lnk--> methane. The <!--del_lnk--> acetylide, Al<sub>2</sub>(C<sub>2</sub>)<sub>3</sub>, is made by passing <!--del_lnk--> acetylene over heated aluminium.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium nitride, AlN, can be made from the elements at 800°C. It is hydrolysed by <a href="../../wp/w/Water.htm" title="Water">water</a> to form <a href="../../wp/a/Ammonia.htm" title="Ammonia">ammonia</a> and <!--del_lnk--> aluminium hydroxide.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium phosphide, AlP, is made similarly, and hydrolyses to give <!--del_lnk--> phosphine.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium oxide, Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>, occurs naturally as <a href="../../wp/c/Corundum.htm" title="Corundum">corundum</a>, and can be made by burning aluminium in oxygen or by heating the hydroxide, nitrate or sulfate. As a <!--del_lnk--> gemstone, its hardness is only exceeded by <a href="../../wp/d/Diamond.htm" title="Diamond">diamond</a>, <!--del_lnk--> boron nitride, and <!--del_lnk--> carborundum. It is almost insoluble in water.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium hydroxide may be prepared as a gelatinous precipitate by adding ammonia to an aqueous solution of an aluminium salt. It is <!--del_lnk--> amphoteric, being both a very weak acid, and forming aluminates with <!--del_lnk--> alkalis. It exists in various crystalline forms.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium sulfide, Al<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub>, may be prepared by passing <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen sulfide over aluminium powder. It is <!--del_lnk--> polymorphic.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium iodide, (AlI<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>, is a <!--del_lnk--> dimer with applications in <!--del_lnk--> organic synthesis.<li><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium fluoride, AlF<sub>3</sub>, is made by treating the hydroxide with HF, or can be made from the elements. It consists of a giant molecule which sublimes without melting at 1291°C. It is very inert. The other trihalides are dimeric, having a bridge-like structure.<li>Aluminium fluoride/water complexes: When aluminium and fluoride are together in aqueous solution, they readily form complex ions such as AlF(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>5</sub><sup>+2</sup>, AlF<sub>3</sub>(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>3</sub><sup>0</sup>, AlF<sub>6</sub><sup>-3</sup>. Of these, AlF<sub>6</sub><sup>-3</sup> is the most stable. This is explained by the fact that aluminium and fluoride, which are both very compact ions, fit together just right to form the octahedral aluminium hexafluoride complex. When aluminium and fluoride are together in water in a 1:6 molar ratio, AlF<sub>6</sub><sup>-3</sup> is the most common form, even in rather low concentrations.<li>Organo-metallic compounds of empirical formula AlR<sub>3</sub> exist and, if not also giant molecules, are at least <!--del_lnk--> dimers or trimers. They have some uses in <!--del_lnk--> organic synthesis, for instance <!--del_lnk--> trimethylaluminium.<li>Alumino-hydrides of the most electropositive elements are known, the most useful being <a href="../../wp/l/Lithium_aluminium_hydride.htm" title="Lithium aluminium hydride">lithium aluminium hydride</a>, Li[AlH<sub>4</sub>]. It decomposes into <!--del_lnk--> lithium hydride, aluminium and hydrogen when heated, and is hydrolysed by water. It has many uses in organic chemistry, particularly as a reducing agent. The aluminohalides have a similar structure.</ul>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/175.jpg.htm" title="This Heatsink is made from anodized aluminium."><img alt="This Heatsink is made from anodized aluminium." height="136" longdesc="/wiki/Image:HeatSink05.jpg" src="../../images/1/175.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/175.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> This <!--del_lnk--> Heatsink is made from anodized aluminium.</div>
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<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Aluminium chloride</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Chemistry.Chemical_compounds.htm">Chemical compounds</a></h3>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Aluminium chloride</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="2"><a class="image" href="../../images/1/176.jpg.htm" title="Aluminium chloride"><img alt="Aluminium chloride" height="129" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aluminium_chloride.jpg" src="../../images/1/176.jpg" width="150" /></a> <a class="image" href="../../images/1/177.png.htm" title="Aluminium trichloride dimer"><img alt="Aluminium trichloride dimer" height="105" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aluminium-trichloride-dimer-3D-vdW.png" src="../../images/1/177.png" width="150" /></a></td>
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<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">General</th>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Systematic name</td>
<td>Aluminium(III) chloride</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Other names</td>
<td>Aluminium trichloride</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Molecular formula</td>
<td>AlCl<sub>3</sub></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Molar mass</td>
<td>133.34 g mol<sup>−1</sup> (<i>anhydrous</i>)<br /> 241.432 g mol<sup>−1</sup> (<i>hexahydrate</i>)</td>
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<td>Appearance</td>
<td>Pale yellow solid,<br /><!--del_lnk--> hygroscopic.</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> CAS number</td>
<td>[7446-70-0] (<i>anhydrous</i>)<br /> [10124-27-3] (<i>hexahydrate</i>)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Properties</th>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Density (solid)</td>
<td>2.44 g cm<sup>−3</sup> (<i>anhydrous</i>)<br /> 2.40 g cm³ (<i>hexahydrate</i>)</td>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Solubility in <!--del_lnk--> water</td>
<td>43.9 g/100 ml (0°C)<br /> 44.9 g/100 ml (10°C)<br /> 45.8 g/100 ml (20°C)<br /> 46.6 g/100 ml (30°C)<br /> 47.3 g/100 ml (40°C)<br /> 48.1 g/100 ml (60°C)<br /> 48.6 g/100 ml (80°C)<br /> 49 g/100 ml (100°C)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>In <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">ethanol</a><br /> In <!--del_lnk--> chloroform<br /> In <!--del_lnk--> diethyl ether<br /> In <!--del_lnk--> CCl<sub>4</sub></td>
<td>100 g/100 ml (12.5°C)<br /> 0.072 g/100 ml (20°C)<br /> Soluble<br /> Soluble</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Melting point</td>
<td>190 °<!--del_lnk--> C (463 <!--del_lnk--> K)<br /> under 2.5 atm <!--del_lnk--> pressure</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Boiling point</td>
<td>178 °<!--del_lnk--> C (351 <!--del_lnk--> K) (<!--del_lnk--> <i>subl</i>)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Acidity (p<i>K</i><sub>a</sub>)</td>
<td> ?</td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Structure</th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Molecular shape</td>
<td>Trigonal planar<br /> (<!--del_lnk--> monomeric vapour)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Coordination geometry</td>
<td>Octahedral (solid)<br /> Tetrahedral (liquid)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Crystal structure</td>
<td>6-coordinate layer lattice</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Dipole moment</td>
<td> ? <!--del_lnk--> D</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Hazards</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> MSDS</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> External MSDS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> EU classification</td>
<td>Corrosive (<b>C</b>)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> NFPA 704</td>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/1/178.png.htm" title="Image:nfpa_h3.png"><img alt="Image:nfpa_h3.png" height="75" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Nfpa_h3.png" src="../../images/1/178.png" width="25" /></a><a class="image" href="../../images/1/179.png.htm" title="Image:nfpa_f0.png"><img alt="Image:nfpa_f0.png" height="75" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Nfpa_f0.png" src="../../images/1/179.png" width="25" /></a><a class="image" href="../../images/1/180.png.htm" title="Image:nfpa_r2.png"><img alt="Image:nfpa_r2.png" height="75" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Nfpa_r2.png" src="../../images/1/180.png" width="25" /></a><br /> anhydrous</td>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> R-phrases</td>
<td><span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Causes burns">R34</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> S-phrases</td>
<td><span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Keep locked up and out of the reach of children">S1/2</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Keep container tightly closed and dry">S7/8</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="After contact with skin, wash immediately with plenty of ... (to be specified by the manufacturer)">S28</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="In case of accident or if you feel unwell seek medical advice immediately (show the label where possible)">S45</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;"><!--del_lnk--> Supplementary data page</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Structure & properties</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> <i>n</i>, <!--del_lnk--> <i>ε<sub>r</sub></i>, etc.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Thermodynamic data</td>
<td>Phase behaviour<br /> Solid, liquid, gas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Spectral data</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> UV, <!--del_lnk--> IR, <!--del_lnk--> NMR, <!--del_lnk--> MS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Related compounds</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Other <!--del_lnk--> anions</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium fluoride<br /><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium bromide<br /><!--del_lnk--> Aluminium iodide</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Other <!--del_lnk--> cations</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Boron trichloride<br /><!--del_lnk--> Gallium(III) chloride<br /><!--del_lnk--> Indium(III) chloride<br /><!--del_lnk--> Thallium(III) chloride<br /><!--del_lnk--> Magnesium chloride</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Related <!--del_lnk--> Lewis acids</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/i/Iron%2528III%2529_chloride.htm" title="Iron(III) chloride">Iron(III) chloride</a><br /><!--del_lnk--> Boron trifluoride</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;"><small>Except where noted otherwise, data are given for<br /> materials in their <!--del_lnk--> standard state (at 25°C, 100 kPa)<br /><!--del_lnk--> Infobox disclaimer and references</small></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Aluminium chloride</b> (AlCl<sub>3</sub>) is a <!--del_lnk--> compound of <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium.htm" title="Aluminium">aluminium</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Chlorine.htm" title="Chlorine">chlorine</a>. The solid has a low melting and boiling point, and is <!--del_lnk--> covalently bonded. It <!--del_lnk--> sublimes at 178 °<!--del_lnk--> C. Molten AlCl<sub>3</sub> <!--del_lnk--> conducts <a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">electricity</a> poorly, unlike more <!--del_lnk--> ionic <!--del_lnk--> halides such as <!--del_lnk--> sodium chloride. It exists in the solid state as a six-coordinate layer lattice.<p>AlCl<sub>3</sub> adopts the "YCl<sub>3</sub>" structure, featuring Al<sup>3+</sup> cubic close packed layered structure. In contrast, AlBr<sub>3</sub> has a more molecular structure, with the Al<sup>3+</sup> centers occupying adjacent tetrahedral holes of the close-packed framework of Br<sup>−</sup> ions. Upon melting AlCl<sub>3</sub> gives the <!--del_lnk--> dimer Al<sub>2</sub>Cl<sub>6</sub>, which can <!--del_lnk--> vaporise. At higher <!--del_lnk--> temperatures this Al<sub>2</sub>Cl<sub>6</sub> dimer <!--del_lnk--> dissociates into trigonal planar AlCl<sub>3</sub>, which is structurally analogous to <!--del_lnk--> BF<sub>3</sub>.<div class="floatleft"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/1/181.png.htm" title="The three structures of aluminium trichloride"><img alt="The three structures of aluminium trichloride" height="130" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aluminium-trichloride-3D-structures.png" src="../../images/1/181.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<p>Aluminium chloride is highly <!--del_lnk--> deliquescent, and it can explode in contact with <!--del_lnk--> water because of the high heat of <!--del_lnk--> hydration. It partially <!--del_lnk--> hydrolyses with <!--del_lnk--> H<sub>2</sub>O, forming some <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen chloride and/or <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Aqueous <!--del_lnk--> solutions of AlCl<sub>3</sub> are fully ionized, and thus <!--del_lnk--> conduct <a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">electricity</a> well. Such solutions are found to be <!--del_lnk--> acidic, indicating that partial <!--del_lnk--> hydrolysis of the Al<sup>3+</sup> ion is occurring. This can be described (simplified) as:<p><a class="image" href="../../images/1/182.gif.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="77" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Al_ion_hydrolysis.gif" src="../../images/1/182.gif" width="200" /></a><p>AlCl<sub>3</sub> is probably the most commonly used non-Bronsted <!--del_lnk--> Lewis acid and also one of the most powerful. It finds widespread application in the <!--del_lnk--> chemical industry as a <!--del_lnk--> catalyst for <!--del_lnk--> Friedel-Crafts reactions, both acylations and alkylations. It also finds use in <!--del_lnk--> polymerization and <!--del_lnk--> isomerization reactions of <!--del_lnk--> hydrocarbons. Aluminium chloride, like similar compounds such as <!--del_lnk--> Aluminium chlorohydrate, is also commonly used as an <!--del_lnk--> antiperspirant.<p><a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium.htm" title="Aluminium">Aluminium</a> also forms a lower <!--del_lnk--> chloride, aluminium(I) chloride (AlCl), but this is very unstable and only known in the vapour phase.<p>
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</script><a id="Chemical_Properties" name="Chemical_Properties"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Chemical Properties</span></h2>
<p><b>Aluminium chloride</b> is a powerful <!--del_lnk--> Lewis acid, capable of forming stable Lewis acid-base adducts with even weak <!--del_lnk--> Lewis bases such as <!--del_lnk--> benzophenone or <!--del_lnk--> mesitylene. Not surprisingly it forms AlCl<sub>4</sub><sup>−</sup> in the presence of <!--del_lnk--> chloride ion.<p>In water, partial hydrolysis forms <!--del_lnk--> HCl gas or H<sub>3</sub>O<sup>+</sup>, as described in the overview above. <!--del_lnk--> Aqueous solutions behave similarly to other <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium.htm" title="Aluminium">aluminium</a> <a href="../../wp/s/Salt.htm" title="Salt">salts</a> containing hydrated Al<sup>3+</sup> <!--del_lnk--> ions - for example giving a gelatinous <!--del_lnk--> precipitate of <!--del_lnk--> aluminium hydroxide upon reaction with the correct quantity of aqueous <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium_hydroxide.htm" title="Sodium hydroxide">sodium hydroxide</a>:<p>AlCl<sub>3</sub>(<!--del_lnk--> aq) + 3<a href="../../wp/s/Sodium_hydroxide.htm" title="Sodium hydroxide">NaOH</a>(<!--del_lnk--> aq) → <!--del_lnk--> Al(OH)<sub>3</sub>(<!--del_lnk--> s) + 3<!--del_lnk--> NaCl(<!--del_lnk--> aq)<p><a id="Preparation" name="Preparation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Preparation</span></h2>
<p><b>Aluminium chloride</b> is manufactured by the <!--del_lnk--> exothermic reaction of the elements, <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium.htm" title="Aluminium">aluminium</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Chlorine.htm" title="Chlorine">chlorine</a>. It is commercially available in large quantities.<p><a id="Uses" name="Uses"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Uses</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Friedel-Crafts reaction is the major use for aluminium chloride, for example in the preparation of <!--del_lnk--> anthraquinone (for the <!--del_lnk--> dyestuffs industry) from <a href="../../wp/b/Benzene.htm" title="Benzene">benzene</a> and <!--del_lnk--> phosgene. In the general <!--del_lnk--> Friedel-Crafts reaction an <!--del_lnk--> acyl chloride or <!--del_lnk--> alkyl halide reacts with an <!--del_lnk--> aromatic system as shown:<p><a class="image" href="../../images/1/183.gif.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="117" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AlCl3_FriedelCrafts.gif" src="../../images/1/183.gif" width="300" /></a><p>With <a href="../../wp/b/Benzene.htm" title="Benzene">benzene</a> <!--del_lnk--> derivatives, the major product is the <!--del_lnk--> para <!--del_lnk--> isomer. The alkylation reaction has many associated problems, such as in <!--del_lnk--> Friedel-Crafts, so it is less widely used than the acylation reaction. For both reactions the aluminium chloride (and other materials and the equipment) must be moderately dry, although a trace of moisture is necessary for the reaction to proceed. A general problem with the Friedel-Crafts reaction is that the aluminium chloride "<!--del_lnk--> catalyst" needs to be present in full <!--del_lnk--> stoichiometric quantities in order for the reaction to go to completion, because it <!--del_lnk--> complexes strongly with the products (see chemical properties above). This makes it very difficult to recycle, so it must be destroyed after use, generating a large amount of corrosive waste. For this reason chemists are examining the use of more <!--del_lnk--> environmentally benign catalysts such as <a href="../../wp/y/Ytterbium.htm" title="Ytterbium">ytterbium</a>(III) <!--del_lnk--> triflate or <a href="../../wp/d/Dysprosium.htm" title="Dysprosium">dysprosium</a>(III) triflate, which can be <a href="../../wp/r/Recycling.htm" title="Recycling">recycled</a>.<p>Aluminium chloride can also be used to introduce <!--del_lnk--> aldehyde groups onto <!--del_lnk--> aromatic rings, for example via the <!--del_lnk--> Gatterman-Koch reaction which uses <!--del_lnk--> carbon monoxide, <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen chloride and a <a href="../../wp/c/Copper%2528I%2529_chloride.htm" title="Copper(I) chloride">copper(I) chloride</a> co-<!--del_lnk--> catalyst):<p><a class="image" href="../../images/1/184.gif.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="123" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AlCl3_formylation.gif" src="../../images/1/184.gif" width="300" /></a><p>Aluminium chloride finds a wide variety of other applications in <!--del_lnk--> organic chemistry. For example, it can catalyse the "<!--del_lnk--> ene reaction", such as the addition of <!--del_lnk--> 3-buten-2-one (methyl vinyl ketone) to <!--del_lnk--> carvone:<p><a class="image" href="../../images/1/185.gif.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="131" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AlCl3_ene_rxn.gif" src="../../images/1/185.gif" width="400" /></a><p>AlCl<sub>3</sub> is also widely used for <!--del_lnk--> polymerization and <!--del_lnk--> isomerization reactions of <!--del_lnk--> hydrocarbons. Important examples include the manufacture of <!--del_lnk--> ethylbenzene, which used to make <!--del_lnk--> styrene and thus <!--del_lnk--> polystyrene, and also production of <!--del_lnk--> dodecylbenzene, which is used for making <!--del_lnk--> detergents.<p>Aluminum chloride combined with aluminium in the presence of an arene can be used to synthesize bis(arene) metal complexes, e.g. <!--del_lnk--> bis(benzene)chromium, from certain metal halides via the so-called <!--del_lnk--> Fischer-Hafner synthesis.<p><a id="Precautions" name="Precautions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Precautions</span></h2>
<p>Avoid bringing anhydrous AlCl<sub>3</sub> in contact with <!--del_lnk--> water or <!--del_lnk--> bases, or an explosive reaction may result. Gloves and <!--del_lnk--> safety goggles should be worn, along with a <!--del_lnk--> face shield for larger amounts. The material should be handled in a <!--del_lnk--> fume cupboard or <!--del_lnk--> chemical hood. When handled in moist air, AlCl<sub>3</sub> rapidly absorbs moisture to become a highly <!--del_lnk--> acidic and sticky "goo", and it rapidly attacks many materials such as <!--del_lnk--> stainless steel and <!--del_lnk--> rubber.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_chloride"</div>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> ICD-<!--del_lnk--> 10</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> G<!--del_lnk--> 30., <!--del_lnk--> F<!--del_lnk--> 00.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> ICD-<!--del_lnk--> 9</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 331.0, <!--del_lnk--> 290.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> OMIM</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 104300</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> DiseasesDB</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 490</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> MedlinePlus</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 000760</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> eMedicine</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> neuro/13 </td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Alzheimer's disease</b> (<b>AD</b>) is a <!--del_lnk--> neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration together with declining activities of daily living and <!--del_lnk--> neuropsychiatric symptoms or behavioural changes. It is the most common type of <!--del_lnk--> dementia.<p>The most striking early symptom is loss of short term memory (<!--del_lnk--> amnesia), which usually manifests as minor forgetfulness that becomes steadily more pronounced with illness progression, with relative preservation of older memories. As the disorder progresses, cognitive (intellectual) impairment extends to the domains of language (<!--del_lnk--> aphasia), skilled movements (<!--del_lnk--> apraxia), recognition (<!--del_lnk--> agnosia), and those functions (such as <!--del_lnk--> decision-making and planning) closely related to the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain as they become disconnected from the <!--del_lnk--> limbic system, reflecting extension of the underlying pathological process. These changes make up the essential human qualities, and thus AD is sometimes described as a disease where the victims suffer the loss of qualities that define human existence.<p>This pathological process consists principally of <!--del_lnk--> neuronal loss or <!--del_lnk--> atrophy, principally in the temporoparietal cortex, but also in the frontal cortex, together with an inflammatory response to the deposition of <!--del_lnk--> amyloid plaques and <!--del_lnk--> neurofibrillary tangles.<p>The ultimate cause of the disease is unknown. Genetic factors are known to be important, and dominant <!--del_lnk--> mutations in three different genes have been identified that account for a much smaller number of cases of <!--del_lnk--> familial, early-onset AD. For the more common form of late onset AD (LOAD), only one susceptibility gene has so far been identified called <!--del_lnk--> ApoE4.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>In 1901, Dr. <!--del_lnk--> Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist, interviewed a patient named Mrs. Auguste D age 51. He showed her several objects and later asked her what she had been shown. She could not remember. He would initially record her behaviour as "amnestic writing disorder," but Mrs. Auguste D. would be the first patient to be identified with Alzheimer's disease.<p>Alzheimer would later work in the laboratory of the esteemed <!--del_lnk--> Emil Kraepelin in <!--del_lnk--> Munich, Germany. Kraepelin was the author of a leading textbook in psychiatry and was a strong believer that neuropathology could be linked to clinical psychiatric function. Early in April 1906, Auguste D died, and Alzheimer worked with two Italian physicians to examine her anatomy and neuropathology. On November 3, 1906, he presented Auguste D's case to the 37th Assembly of Southwest German Psychiatrists and described the neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques that would be the hallmark of the disease. Kraepelin would later write about this case and others in his <i>Textbook for Students and Doctors</i> and index them under Alzheimer's disease. By 1910, the name of the disease was well established among the specialist community. <p>For most of the twentieth century, the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease was reserved for individuals between the ages of 45-65 who developed symptoms of <i>presenile</i> <!--del_lnk--> dementia due to the histopathologic process discovered by Dr. Alzheimer (see below for description of brain tissue changes). During this time <i>senile dementia</i> itself (as a set of symptoms) was considered to be a more or less normal outcome of the aging process, and thought to be due to age-related brain arterial "hardening." In the 1970s and early 1980s, because the symptoms and brain pathology were identical for Alzheimer victims older and younger than age 65, the name "Alzheimer's disease" began to be used, within and outside the medical profession, equally for afflicted individuals of all ages, although in this period the term <i>senile dementia of the Alzheimer type</i> (SDAT) was often used to distinguish those over 65 who did not fit the classical age criterion. Eventually, the term Alzheimer's disease was adopted formally in the psychiatric and neurological nomenclature to describe individuals of all ages with the characteristic common symptom pattern, disease course, and neuropathology. The term <i>Alzheimer disease</i> (without the apostrophe and s) also continues to be used commonly in the literature.<p><a id="Clinical_features" name="Clinical_features"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Clinical features</span></h2>
<p>The usual first symptom noticed is short term memory loss which progresses from seemingly simple and often fluctuating <!--del_lnk--> forgetfulness (with which the disease should not be confused) to a more pervasive loss of <!--del_lnk--> short-term memory, then of familiar and well-known skills or objects or persons. <!--del_lnk--> Aphasia, <!--del_lnk--> disorientation and <!--del_lnk--> disinhibition often accompany the loss of memory. Alzheimer's disease may also include behavioural changes, such as outbursts of <!--del_lnk--> violence or excessive passivity in people who have no previous history of such behaviour. In the later stages, deterioration of musculature and mobility, leading to bedfastness, inability to feed oneself, and <!--del_lnk--> incontinence, will be seen if death from some external cause (e.g. <!--del_lnk--> heart attack or <a href="../../wp/p/Pneumonia.htm" title="Pneumonia">pneumonia</a>) does not intervene. Average duration of the disease is approximately 7–10 years, although cases are known where reaching the final stage occurs within 4–5 years, or in some reported cases up to 22 years.<p><a id="Stages_and_symptoms" name="Stages_and_symptoms"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Stages and symptoms</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><b>Mild</b> — At the <b>early stage</b> of the disease, patients have a tendency to become less energetic or spontaneous, though changes in their behaviour often goes unnoticed even by the patients' immediate family.<li><b>Moderate</b> — As the disease progresses to the <b>middle stage</b>, the patient might still be able to perform tasks independently, but may need assistance with more complicated activities.<li><b>Severe</b> — As the disease progresses from the middle to <b>late stage</b>, the patient will undoubtedly not be able to perform even the simplest of tasks on their own and will need constant supervision. They may even lose the ability to walk or eat without assistance.</ul>
<p><a id="Diagnosis" name="Diagnosis"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Diagnosis</span></h2>
<p>The diagnosis is made primarily on the basis of history, clinical observation and tests of memory and intellectual functioning over a series of weeks or months, with various physical tests (<!--del_lnk--> blood tests and <!--del_lnk--> neuroimaging) being performed to rule out alternative diagnoses. No medical tests are available to diagnose Alzheimer's disease conclusively pre-mortem. Expert clinicians who specialize in memory disorders can now diagnose AD with an accuracy of 85–90%, but a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease must await microscopic examination of brain tissue, generally at <!--del_lnk--> autopsy. Functional neuroimaging studies such as <!--del_lnk--> PET and <!--del_lnk--> SPECT scans can provide a supporting role where dementia is clearly present, but the type of dementia is questioned. Recent studies suggest that SPECT neuroimaging approaches clinical exam in diagnostic accuracy and may outperform exam at differentiating types of dementia (Alzheimer's disease vs. vascular dementia). However, Alzheimer's disease remains a primarily clinical diagnosis based on the presence of characteristic neurological features and the absence of alternative diagnoses, with possible neuroimaging assistance.<p>Interviews with family members and/or caregivers are extremely important in the initial assessment, as the sufferer him/herself may tend to minimize his symptomatology or may undergo evaluation at a time when his/her symptoms are less apparent, as quotidian fluctuations ("good days and bad days") are a fairly common feature. Such interviews also provide important information on the affected individual's functional abilities, which are a key indicator of the significance of the symptoms and the stage of dementia.<p>Initial suspicion of dementia may be strengthened by performing the <!--del_lnk--> mini mental state examination, after excluding <!--del_lnk--> clinical depression. Psychological testing generally focuses on memory, attention, abstract thinking, the ability to name objects, visuospatial abilities, and other cognitive functions. Results of psychological tests may not readily distinguish Alzheimer's disease from other types of dementia, but can be helpful in establishing the presence of and severity of dementia. They can also be useful in distinguishing true dementia from temporary (and more treatable) cognitive impairment due to depression or psychosis, which has sometimes been termed "pseudodementia". In addition, a 2004 study by Cervilla and colleagues showed that tests of cognitive ability provide useful predictive information up to a decade before the onset of dementia. However, when diagnosing individuals with a higher level of cognitive ability, in this study those with <!--del_lnk--> IQ's of 120 or more, patients should not be diagnosed from the standard norm but from an adjusted high-IQ norm that measured changes against the individual's higher ability level.<p><a id="Pathology" name="Pathology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Pathology</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p><a id="Biochemical_characteristics" name="Biochemical_characteristics"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Biochemical characteristics</span></h3>
<p>Alzheimer's disease has been identified as a <!--del_lnk--> protein misfolding disease due to the accumulation of abnormally folded <!--del_lnk--> amyloid beta protein in the brains of AD patients. Amyloid beta, also written Aβ, is a short <!--del_lnk--> peptide that is an abnormal <!--del_lnk--> proteolytic byproduct of the <!--del_lnk--> transmembrane protein <!--del_lnk--> amyloid precursor protein (APP), whose function is unclear but thought to be involved in neuronal development. The <!--del_lnk--> presenilins are components of proteolytic complex involved in APP processing and degradation. Although amyloid beta <!--del_lnk--> monomers are soluble and harmless, they undergo a dramatic <!--del_lnk--> conformational change at sufficiently high concentration to form a <!--del_lnk--> beta sheet-rich <!--del_lnk--> tertiary structure that aggregates to form <!--del_lnk--> amyloid fibrils that deposit outside neurons in dense formations known as <i>senile plaques</i> or <i>neuritic plaques</i>, in less dense aggregates as <i>diffuse plaques</i>, and sometimes in the walls of small blood vessels in the brain in a process called amyloid angiopathy or <!--del_lnk--> congophilic angiopathy.<p>AD is also considered a <!--del_lnk--> tauopathy due to abnormal aggregation of the <!--del_lnk--> tau protein, a <!--del_lnk--> microtubule-associated protein expressed in neurons that normally acts to stabilize <!--del_lnk--> microtubules in the cell <!--del_lnk--> cytoskeleton. Like most microtubule-associated proteins, tau is normally regulated by <!--del_lnk--> phosphorylation; however, in AD patients, hyperphosphorylated tau accumulated as paired helical filaments that in turn aggregate into masses inside nerve cell bodies known as <i>neurofibrillary tangles</i> and as dystrophic <!--del_lnk--> neurites associated with amyloid plaques.<p><a id="Neuropathology" name="Neuropathology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Neuropathology</span></h3>
<p>Both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are clearly visible by <!--del_lnk--> microscopy in AD brains. At an anatomical level, AD is characterized by gross diffuse atrophy of the brain and loss of neurons, neuronal processes and synapses in the <!--del_lnk--> cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions. This results in gross <!--del_lnk--> atrophy of the affected regions, including degeneration in the <!--del_lnk--> temporal lobe and <!--del_lnk--> parietal lobe, and parts of the <!--del_lnk--> frontal cortex and <!--del_lnk--> cingulate gyrus. Levels of the neurotransmitter <!--del_lnk--> acetylcholine are reduced. Levels of the neurotransmitters <!--del_lnk--> serotonin, <!--del_lnk--> norepinephrine, and <!--del_lnk--> somatostatin are also often reduced. <!--del_lnk--> Glutamate levels are usually elevated.<p><a id="Disease_mechanism" name="Disease_mechanism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Disease mechanism</span></h3>
<p>Three major competing hypotheses exist to explain the cause of the disease. The oldest, on which most currently available drug therapies are based, is known as the "<!--del_lnk--> cholinergic hypothesis" and suggests that AD begins as a deficiency in the production of the <!--del_lnk--> neurotransmitter <!--del_lnk--> acetylcholine. The medications that treat acetylcholine deficiency have served to only treat symptoms of the disease and have neither halted nor reversed it. The cholinergic hypothesis has not maintained widespread support in the face of this evidence, although cholingeric effects have been proposed to initiate large-scale aggregation leading to generalized neuroinflammation.<p>Research after 2000 includes hypotheses centered on the effects of the misfolded and aggregated proteins, amyloid beta and tau. The two positions are lightheartedly described as "ba-ptist" and "tau-ist" viewpoints in scientific publications by Alzheimer's disease researchers. "Tau-ists" believe that the <!--del_lnk--> tau protein abnormalities initiate the disease cascade, while "ba-ptists" believe that <!--del_lnk--> beta amyloid deposits are the causative factor in the disease. The tau hypothesis is supported by the long-standing observation that deposition of amyloid plaques do not correlate well with neuron loss; however, a majority of researchers support the alternative hypothesis that amyloid is the primary causative agent.<p>The amyloid hypothesis is initially compelling because the gene for the amyloid beta precursor APP is located on <!--del_lnk--> chromosome 21, and patients with <!--del_lnk--> trisomy 21 - better known as Down syndrome - who thus have an extra <!--del_lnk--> gene copy almost universally exhibit AD-like disorders by 40 years of age. The traditional formulation of the amyloid hypothesis points to the cytotoxicity of mature aggregated amyloid fibrils, which are believed to be the toxic form of the protein responsible for disrupting the cell's calcium ion homeostasis and thus inducing <!--del_lnk--> apoptosis. A more recent and widely supported hypothesis suggests that the cytotoxic species is an intermediate misfolded form of amyloid beta, neither a soluble monomer nor a mature aggregated polymer but an <!--del_lnk--> oligomeric species. Relevantly, much early development work on lead compounds has focused on the inhibition of fibrillization, but the toxic-oligomer theory would imply that prevention of oligomeric assembly is the more important process or that a better target lies upstream, for example in the inhibition of APP processing to amyloid beta.<p>It should be noted further that ApoE4, the major genetic risk factor for AD, leads to excess amyloid build up in the brain before AD symptoms arise. Thus, beta-amyloid deposition precedes clinical AD. Another strong support for the amyloid hypothesis, which looks at the beta-amyloid as the common initiating factor for the Alzheimer's disease, is that transgenic mice solely expressing a mutant human APP gene develop first diffuse and then fibrillar beta-amyloid plaques, associated with neuronal and microglial damage. <p>And yet another support for the amyloid hypothesis comes from the knowledge of other amyloid diseases. Humans get many amyloid diseases, generally referred to as amyloidosis. Blocking the production of the responsible amyloid protein ( e.g., beta-amyloid in AD) can successfully treat these diseases .<p><a id="Genetics" name="Genetics"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Genetics</span></h3>
<p>Rare cases of Alzheimer's are caused by dominant genes that run in families. These cases often have an early age of onset. Mutations in presenilin-1 or presenilin-2 genes have been documented in some families. Mutations of presenilin 1 (PS1) lead to the most aggressive form of <!--del_lnk--> familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD). Evidence from rodent studies suggests that the FAD mutation of PS1 results in impaired <!--del_lnk--> hippocampal-dependent learning which is correlated with reduced <!--del_lnk--> adult neurogenesis in the <!--del_lnk--> dentate gyrus. Mutations in the APP gene on <!--del_lnk--> chromosome 21 can also cause early onset disease. The presenilins have been identified as essential components of the proteolytic processing machinery that produces beta amyloid peptides through cleavage of APP.<p>Most cases identified are "sporadic" with no clear family history. Environmental factors sometimes claimed to increase risk of Alzheimer's include prior head injury, particularly repeated trauma, previous incidents of <!--del_lnk--> migraine headaches, exposure to <!--del_lnk--> defoliants, and low activity levels during adulthood.<p>Inheritance of the epsilon 4 allele of the ApoE gene is regarded as a risk factor for development of disease, but large-scale genetic association studies raise the possibility that even this does not indicate susceptibility so much as how early one is likely to develop Alzheimer's. There is speculation among genetic experts that there are other risk and protective factor genes that may influence the development of late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). Researchers are investigating the possibility that the regulatory regions of various Alzheimer's associated genes could be important in sporadic Alzheimer's, especially inflammatory activation of these genes. These hypotheses include the amyloid beta precursor protein, the beta secretase enzymes insulin-degrading enzyme endothelin-converting enzymes and inflammatory 5-lipoxygenase gene.<p><a id="Genetic_linkage" name="Genetic_linkage"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Genetic linkage</span></h3>
<p>Alzheimer's disease is definitely linked to the 1st, 14th, and 21st chromosomes, but other linkages are controversial and not, as yet, confirmed. While some genes predisposing to AD have been identified , such as ApoE4 on chromosome 19, sporadic AD also involves other risk and protective genes still awaiting confirmation.<p><a id="Epidemiology_and_prevention" name="Epidemiology_and_prevention"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Epidemiology and prevention</span></h2>
<p>Alzheimer's disease is the most frequent type of dementia in the elderly and affects almost half of all patients with dementia. Correspondingly, advancing age is the primary risk factor for Alzheimer's. Among people aged 65, 2-3% show signs of the disease, while 25 - 50% of people aged 85 have symptoms of Alzheimer's and an even greater number have some of the pathological hallmarks of the disease without the characteristic symptoms. Every five years after the age of 65, the probability of having the disease doubles. The share of Alzheimer's patients over the age of 85 is the fastest growing segment of the Alzheimer's disease population in the US, although current estimates suggest the 75-84 population has about the same number of patients as the over 85 population.<p>The evidence relating certain behaviors, dietary intakes, environmental exposures, and diseases to the likelihood of developing Alzhemier's varies in quality and its acceptance by the medical community. It is important to understand that interventions that reduce the risk of developing disease in the first place may not alter disease progression after symptoms become apparent. Due to their observational <!--del_lnk--> design, studies examining disease risk factors are often at risk from <!--del_lnk--> confounding variables. Several recent large, <!--del_lnk--> randomized controlled trials—in particular the <!--del_lnk--> Women's Health Initiative—have called into question preventive mesasures based on <!--del_lnk--> cross-sectional studies. Some proposed preventive measures are even based on studies conducted solely in animals.<p><a id="Risk_reducers" name="Risk_reducers"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Risk reducers</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>Intellectual stimulation (e.g., playing <a href="../../wp/c/Chess.htm" title="Chess">chess</a> or doing a <!--del_lnk--> crossword)<li>Regular physical exercise<li>Regular social interaction<li>A generally healthy diet low in saturated fat, supplemented in particular with: <ul>
<li><a href="../../wp/b/B_vitamins.htm" title="B vitamins">B vitamins</a><li><!--del_lnk--> Omega-3 fatty acids, especially <!--del_lnk--> Docosahexaenoic acid<li>Fruit and vegetable juice<li>High doses of the <!--del_lnk--> antioxidant <!--del_lnk--> Vitamin E (in combination with <a href="../../wp/v/Vitamin_C.htm" title="Vitamin C">vitamin C</a>) seem to reduce Alzheimer's risk in cross sectional studies but not in a randomized trial and so are not currently a recommended <!--del_lnk--> preventive measure because of observed increases in overall mortality </ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Cholesterol-lowering drugs (<!--del_lnk--> statins) reduce Alzheimer's risk in observational studies but so far not in randomized controlled trials<li><!--del_lnk--> Hormone replacement therapy is no longer thought to prevent dementia based on data from the <!--del_lnk--> Women's Health Initiative<li>Regular use of <!--del_lnk--> non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like <!--del_lnk--> ibuprofen and <!--del_lnk--> aspirin reduces the chance of dementia but the risks appear to outweigh the drugs' benefit as a method of <!--del_lnk--> primary prevention</ul>
<p><a id="Risk_factors" name="Risk_factors"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Risk factors</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>Advancing age<li>ApoE epsilon 4 genotype (in some populations)<li><!--del_lnk--> Head injury<li>Poor cardiovascular health (including <a href="../../wp/t/Tobacco_smoking.htm" title="Tobacco smoking">smoking</a>, <!--del_lnk--> diabetes, <!--del_lnk--> hypertension, <!--del_lnk--> high cholesterol)<li>Exposure to light metals is a proposed but not widely-accepted risk factor. <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium.htm" title="Aluminium">Aluminium</a>, a neurotoxin, is often present in higher quantities in brains of Alzheimers patients, but no causal relationship has yet been found. <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">Copper</a> is another candidate.</ul>
<p><a id="Treatment" name="Treatment"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Treatment</span></h2>
<p>There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease. Currently available medications offer relatively small symptomatic benefit for some patients but do not slow disease progression. The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry published a consensus statement on Alzheimer's treatment in 2006.<p><a id="Acetylcholinesterase_inhibitors" name="Acetylcholinesterase_inhibitors"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition was thought to be important because there is a reduction in activity of the <!--del_lnk--> cholinergic neurons. AChE-inhibitors reduce the rate at which acetylcholine (ACh) is broken down and hence increase the concentration of ACh in the brain (combatting the loss of ACh caused by the death of the cholinergin neurons). Acetylcholinesterase-inhibitors seemed to modestly moderate symptoms but do not alter the course of the underlying dementing process.<p>Examples include:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> tacrine - no longer clinically used<li><!--del_lnk--> donepezil - (marketed as Aricept)<li><!--del_lnk--> galantamine - (marketed as Razadyne in the U.S.A. Marketed as Reminyl or Nivalin in the rest of the world)<li><!--del_lnk--> rivastigmine - (marketed as Exelon)</ul>
<p>There is significant doubt as to the effectiveness of cholinesterase inhibitors. A number of recent articles have criticized the design of studies reporting benefit from these drugs, concluding that they have doubtful clinical utility, are costly, and confer many side effects. The pharmaceutical companies, but also some independent clinicians, dispute the conclusions of these articles. A <!--del_lnk--> transdermal patch is under development that may ease administration of rivastigmine.<p><a id="NMDA_antagonists" name="NMDA_antagonists"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">NMDA antagonists</span></h3>
<p>Recent evidence of the involvement of <!--del_lnk--> glutamatergic neuronal <!--del_lnk--> excitotoxicity in the <!--del_lnk--> aetiology of Alzheimer's disease led to the development and introduction of <!--del_lnk--> memantine. Memantine is a novel <!--del_lnk--> NMDA receptor <!--del_lnk--> antagonist, and has been shown to be moderately clinically efficacious.<p><a id="Psychosocial_interventions" name="Psychosocial_interventions"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Psychosocial interventions</span></h3>
<p>Cognitive and behavioral interventions and rehabilitation strategies may be used as an adjunct to pharmacologic treatment, especially in the early to moderately advanced stages of disease. Treatment modalities include counseling, psychotherapy (if cognitive functioning is adequate), reminiscent therapy, reality orientation therapy, and behavioural reinforcements as well as cognitive rehabilitation training.<p><a id="Treatments_in_clinical_development" name="Treatments_in_clinical_development"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Treatments in clinical development</span></h3>
<p>A large number of potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease are currently under investigation, including four compounds being studied in <!--del_lnk--> phase 3 clinical trials. Xaliproden had been shown to reduce neurodegeneration in animal studies. Tramiprosate (3APS or Alzhemed) is a GAG-mimetic molecule that is believed to act by binding to soluble amyloid beta to prevent the accumulation of the toxic plaques. <!--del_lnk--> R-flurbiprofen (MPC-7869) is a gamma secretase modulator sometimes called a selective amyloid beta 42 lowering agent. It is believed to reduce the production of the toxic amyloid beta in favour of shorter forms of the peptide. <!--del_lnk--> Leuprolide is has also been studied for Alzheimer’s. It is hypothesized to work by reducing leutenizing hormone levels which may be causing damage in the brain as one ages.<ul>
<li><b>Vaccines</b> or <!--del_lnk--> immunotherapy for Alzheimer's, unlike typical <!--del_lnk--> vaccines, would be used to treat diagnosed patients rather than for disease prevention. Ongoing efforts are based on the idea that, by training the immune system to recognize and attack beta-amyloid, the immune system might reverse deposition of amyloid and thus stop the disease. Initial results using this approach in animals were promising, and human-trials of drug AN-1792 showed results in 20% of patients; however, 6% of multi-dosed participants (18 of 300) developed <!--del_lnk--> encephalitis in 2002, and the trials were stopped. Participants in the halted trials continued to be followed, and 20% "developed high levels of antibodies to beta-amyloid" and some showed slower progression of the disease, maintaining memory-test levels while placebo-patients worsened. Work is continuing on less toxic <!--del_lnk--> Aβ vaccines, such as a <a href="../../wp/d/DNA.htm" title="DNA">DNA</a>-based therapy that recently showed promise in mice.</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>Proposed alternative treatments</b> for Alzheimer's include a range of herbal compounds and <!--del_lnk--> dietary supplements. In general, research on the efficacy of these substances is either non-existent or far too weak to support therapeutic claims of improved memory or slowed disease progression.</ul>
<p>In the AAGP review from 2006, <!--del_lnk--> Vitamin E in doses below 400 IU was mentioned as having conflicting evidence in efficacy to prevent AD. Higher doses were discouraged as these may be linked with higher mortality related to cardiac events. <!--del_lnk--> Ginkgo biloba did not show enough long-term efficacy to recommend its use, but it is being studied in a large randomized clinical study in the US.<p>Laboratory studies with cells and animals continually fuel the pipeline of potential treatments. Some currently approved drugs such as <!--del_lnk--> statins and <!--del_lnk--> thiazolidinediones have also been under investigation for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s. Recent <!--del_lnk--> clinical trials for Phase 2 and Phase 3 in this category have taken 12 to 18 months under study drug, plus additional months for patient enrollment and analysis. Compounds that are just entering into human trials or are in pre-clinical trials would be at least 4 years from being available to the public and would be available only if they can demonstrate safety and efficacy in human trials.<p><a id="Occupational_and_lifestyle_therapies" name="Occupational_and_lifestyle_therapies"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Occupational and lifestyle therapies</span></h3>
<p>Modifications to the living environment and lifestyle of the Alzheimer's patient can improve functional performance and ease caretaker burden. Assessment by an <!--del_lnk--> occupational therapist is often indicated. Adherence to simplified routines and labeling of household items to cue the patient can aid with <!--del_lnk--> activities of daily living, while placing safety locks on cabinets, doors, and gates and securing hazardous chemicals and guns can prevent accidents and wandering. Changes in routine or environment can trigger or exacerbate agitiation, whereas well-lit rooms, adquate rest, and avoidance of excess stimulation all help prevent such episodes. Appropriate social and visual stimulation, however, can improve function by increasing awareness and orientation. For instance, boldly colored tableware aids those with severe AD, helping people overcome a diminished sensitivity to visual contrast to increase food and beverage intake.<p><a id="Social_issues" name="Social_issues"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Social issues</span></h2>
<p>Alzheimer's is a major public health challenge since the median age of the industrialized world's population is increasing gradually. Indeed, much of the concern about the solvency of governmental social safety nets is founded on estimates of the costs of caring for <!--del_lnk--> baby boomers, assuming that they develop Alzheimer's in the same proportions as earlier generations. For this reason, money spent informing the public of available effective prevention methods may yield disproportionate benefits.<p>The role of family <!--del_lnk--> caregivers has also become more prominent, as care in the familiar surroundings of home may delay onset of some symptoms and delay or eliminate the need for more professional and costly levels of care. However, home-based care may entail tremendous economic, emotional, and even psychological costs as well. Family caregivers often give up time from work and foregoing pay to spend 47 hours per week on average with an affected loved one who frequently cannot be left alone. From a survey of patients with long term care insurance, direct and indirect costs of caring for an Alzheimer's patient average $77,500 per year.<p><a id="Statistics_on_Alzheimer.27s_disease" name="Statistics_on_Alzheimer.27s_disease"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Statistics on Alzheimer's disease</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>In the USA, AD was the 7th leading cause of death in 2004, with 65,829 number of deaths (and rising).<li>At over $100 billion per year, AD is the third most costly disease in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer.<li>There are an estimated 24 million people with dementia worldwide.<li>By 2040, it is projected that this figure will have increased to 81 million.<li>An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease.<li>It is projected that 14.3 million Americans will have the disease by mid-century: a 350 percent increase from 2000.<li>The federal government estimates spending approximately $647 million for Alzheimer’s disease research in fiscal year 2005. <li>The average lifetime cost of care for an individual with Alzheimer’s is $174,000.</ul>
<p><a id="Notable_cases" name="Notable_cases"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Notable cases</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Notable cases of Alzheimer's disease have included President <a href="../../wp/r/Ronald_Reagan.htm" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Charlton Heston, <!--del_lnk--> Ralph Waldo Emerson, and <!--del_lnk--> Rita Hayworth. For a more comprehensive list, see <!--del_lnk--> List of famous Alzheimer's disease sufferers.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease"</div>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/186.jpg.htm" title="A. cruentus, a source of grain amaranth"><img alt="A. cruentus, a source of grain amaranth" height="164" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amaranthus_cruentus_Foxtail_2.jpg" src="../../images/1/186.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/186.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>A. cruentus</i>, a source of grain amaranth</div>
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<p><b>Amaranth oil</b> is extracted from the seeds of two species of the <!--del_lnk--> genus <i><!--del_lnk--> Amaranthus</i> - <i><!--del_lnk--> A. cruentus</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> A. hypochondriacus</i> - that are called, collectively, <!--del_lnk--> grain amaranth. A manufacturer of this unique oil writes:<dl>
<dd><i>The oil extracted from these plants contains mainly non-polar <a href="../../wp/l/Lipid.htm" title="Lipid">lipid</a> compounds especially <!--del_lnk--> triglycerides with a high degree of unsaturation. Amaranth oil is a light to medium colored, clear liquid that is pourable at low temperatures, highly unsaturated with a delicate, agreeable aroma and taste, allowing greater usage versatility. It also provides an excellent resource for omega series <a href="../../wp/f/Fatty_acid.htm" title="Fatty acid">fatty acids</a>.</i></dl>
<p>The oil is valued for its ability to add temperature stability at both high and low temperatures. Commercial uses of amaranth oil include foods, cosmetics, shampoos and intermediates for manufacture of lubricants, pharmaceuticals, rubber chemicals, aromatics and surface active agents. As a food oil, amaranth oil has a delicate and agreeable taste. Berger <i>et al</i>, in a study of the cholesterol-lowering properties of amaranth grain and oil in hamsters, report that amaranth oil significantly reduced non-HDL <!--del_lnk--> cholesterol and raised <!--del_lnk--> HDL cholesterol, as well as lowering very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (<!--del_lnk--> VLDL cholesterol) by 21-50%.<p>Chemically, the major constituents of amaranth oil are:<dl>
<dd>
<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th><a href="../../wp/f/Fatty_acid.htm" title="Fatty acid">Fatty acid</a></th>
<th>Content</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Linoleic acid</td>
<td align="right">46-50%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Oleic acid</td>
<td align="right">22-26%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Palmitic acid</td>
<td align="right">19-20%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Squalene</td>
<td align="right">5-6%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Stearic acid</td>
<td align="right">3%</td>
</tr>
</table>
</dl>
<p>The melting point of amaranth oil is -27°C.<p>The oil content of the actual amaranth grain ranges from 4.8 to 8.1%, which is relatively low compared to other sources of seed oil.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth_oil"</div>
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| ['Lipid', 'Fatty acid', 'Fatty acid'] |
Amarillo,_Texas | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<td align="center" colspan="2" style="width:100%; font-size: 1.25em;"><b>Amarillo, Texas</b></td>
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<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 0.7em 0.8em 0.7em 0.8em;;">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/164/16473.jpg.htm" title="Skyline of Amarillo, Texas"><img alt="Skyline of Amarillo, Texas" height="187" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo_Texas_Downtown.jpg" src="../../images/164/16473.jpg" width="250" /></a></span></div>
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<td align="center" class="maptable" colspan="2" style="padding: 0.4em 0.8em 0.4em 0.8em;">
<table style="width: 100%; background: none; text-align: center;">
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: middle;">
<center><span style="display: inline;"><span style="display: table-cell; border-collapse: collapse; border: solid 1px #ddd;"><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="Official flag of Amarillo, Texas" height="83" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Us-tx-am.gif" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="125" /></span></span></center>
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: middle;"><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="Official seal of Amarillo, Texas" height="98" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo_texas_seal.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="100" /></td>
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<tr>
<td><small><b><!--del_lnk--> Flag</b></small></td>
<td><small><b><!--del_lnk--> Seal</b></small></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td align="center" colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Nickname: "<i>The Yellow Rose of Texas, Helium Capital of the World, Rotor City USA</i>"</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 0.7em 0.8em 0.7em 0.8em;">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/164/16476.png.htm" title="Location within the state of Texas"><img alt="Location within the state of Texas" height="237" longdesc="/wiki/Image:TXMap-doton-Amarillo.PNG" src="../../images/164/16476.png" width="250" /></a></span></div><small>Location within the state of <!--del_lnk--> Texas</small></td>
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<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: smaller; padding-bottom: 0.7em;">Coordinates: <span class="plainlinksneverexpand"><!--del_lnk--> <span style="white-space:nowrap">35°11′57″N,</span> <span style="white-space:nowrap">101°50′43″W</span></span></th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Country</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> State</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Texas</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> County</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Potter (and <!--del_lnk--> Randall)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Mayor</th>
<td>Debra McCartt</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Area</th>
<th> </th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th> - City</th>
<td>233.9 <!--del_lnk--> km² (90.3 <!--del_lnk--> sq mi)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th> - Land</th>
<td>232.7 km² (89.8 sq mi)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th> - Water</th>
<td>1.2 km² (0.5 sq mi)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Elevation</th>
<td>1,099 <!--del_lnk--> m (3,605 <!--del_lnk--> ft)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th>Population</th>
<th> </th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th> - City (2005)</th>
<td>183,021</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th> - <!--del_lnk--> Density</th>
<td>782.5/km² (2,026.8/sq mi)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<th> - <!--del_lnk--> Metro</th>
<td>236,113</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><a href="../../wp/t/Time_zone.htm" title="Time zone">Time zone</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CST (<!--del_lnk--> UTC-6)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<th><span style="white-space: nowrap;"> - Summer (<!--del_lnk--> DST)</span></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CDT (<!--del_lnk--> UTC-5)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="2"><b>Website:</b> <!--del_lnk--> http://www.ci.amarillo.tx.us/</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Amarillo</b> is the 14th-largest city in the <a href="../../wp/u/U.S._state.htm" title="U.S. state">U.S. state</a> of <!--del_lnk--> Texas and the <!--del_lnk--> county seat of <!--del_lnk--> Potter County. A portion of the city extends into <!--del_lnk--> Randall County. As of the 2000 <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 173,627 (though a July 1, 2005 estimate placed the city's population at 183,021). The <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo metropolitan area, however, has an estimated population of 236,113 in four counties.<p>The city was once <!--del_lnk--> self-proclaimed as the "<a href="../../wp/h/Helium.htm" title="Helium">Helium</a> Capital of the World" for having one of the country's most productive helium fields. The city is also known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and most recently "Rotor City, USA" for its <!--del_lnk--> V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant. Amarillo operates one of the largest <!--del_lnk--> meat packing areas in the United States. <!--del_lnk--> Pantex, the only <a href="../../wp/n/Nuclear_weapon.htm" title="Nuclear weapon">nuclear weapons</a> assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is also a major employer. The attractions, <!--del_lnk--> Cadillac Ranch and <!--del_lnk--> Big Texan Steak Ranch, were located on old <a href="../../wp/u/U.S._Route_66.htm" title="U.S. Route 66">U.S. Route 66</a>, which passes through the city.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>In April 1887, J. T. Berry established a site for a town after he chose a well-watered section along the way of the <!--del_lnk--> Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, which had begun building across the <!--del_lnk--> Texas Panhandle. Berry and <!--del_lnk--> Colorado City, Texas merchants wanted to make their new town site the region's main trading centre. On <!--del_lnk--> August 30, 1887, Berry's town site won the <!--del_lnk--> county seat election and was established in Potter County. Availability of the <!--del_lnk--> railroad and <!--del_lnk--> freight service after the county seat election made the town a fast growing <a href="../../wp/c/Cattle.htm" title="Cattle">cattle</a> marketing centre.<p>The settlement originally was called Oneida, it would later change its name to Amarillo. Amarillo's name probably derives from the nearby Amarillo Lake and Amarillo Creek, named in turn for the yellow soil along their banks and shores (<i>Amarillo</i> is the <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a> word for the <a href="../../wp/c/Color.htm" title="Color">colour</a> <i><!--del_lnk--> yellow</i>) or the yellow wildflowers that were plentiful during the spring and summer. Despite having a Spanish origin name, the City of Amarillo is pronounced in <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> as "Am-ah-RILL-ow" rather than "Ah-mah-REE-yoh". Early residents pronounced it according to the Spanish pronunciation, but within a year, the English pronunciation prevailed. Charles F. Rudolph, editor of the <i>Tascosa Pioneer</i>, predicted the pronunciation change after blaming Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad employees for ignoring the word's Spanish pronunciation.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:272px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16477.jpg.htm" title="An aeroplane view of the Amarillo business district in 1912."><img alt="An aeroplane view of the Amarillo business district in 1912." height="238" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo_Texas_Downtown_1912.jpg" src="../../images/164/16477.jpg" width="270" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16477.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An aeroplane view of the Amarillo business district in 1912.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>On <!--del_lnk--> June 19, <!--del_lnk--> 1888, Henry B. Sanborn, who is given credit as the "Father of Amarillo," and his business partner <!--del_lnk--> Joseph F. Glidden began buying land to the east to move Amarillo after arguing that Berry's site was on low ground and would flood during rainstorms. Sanborn also offered to trade lots in the new location to businesses in the original city’s site and help the expense of moving buildings. His incentives gradually won over people, who moved their businesses to Polk Street in the new commercial district. It rained heavily and almost flooded Berry’s part of the town in 1889, prompting more people to move to Sanborn's location. This eventually led to another county seat election making Sanborn's town the new county seat in 1893.<p>By the late 1890s, Amarillo had emerged as one of the world's busiest cattle shipping points, and its population grew significantly. The city became an elevator, milling, and feed-manufacturing centre after an increasing production of wheat and small grains during the early 1900s. Discovery of <a href="../../wp/n/Natural_gas.htm" title="Natural gas">gas</a> in 1918 and <!--del_lnk--> oil three years later brought oil and gas companies to the Amarillo area. The United States government bought the Cliffside Gas Field with high <a href="../../wp/h/Helium.htm" title="Helium">helium</a> content in 1927 and the Federal Bureau of Mines began operating the Amarillo Helium Plant two years later. The plant would be the sole producer of commercial helium in the world for a number of years. The <!--del_lnk--> U.S. National Helium Reserve is stored in the Bush Dome Reservoir at the Cliffside facility.<p>Following the lead of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad, the <!--del_lnk--> Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and <!--del_lnk--> Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad established services to and from Amarillo. Each of these three carriers maintained substantial freight and passenger depots and repair facilities in the city through most of the 20th century and were major employers within the community.<p>During the 1930s, the city was hit by the <!--del_lnk--> Dust Bowl and entered into an <!--del_lnk--> economic depression. The <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Routes 60, 87, 287, and 66 merged at Amarillo, making it a major tourist stop with numerous motels, restaurants, and <!--del_lnk--> curio shops. <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a> led the establishment of Amarillo Army Air Field in east Amarillo and the nearby Pantex Army Ordnance Plant, which produced bombs and ammunition. After the end of the war, both of the facilities were closed. The Pantex Plant was reopened in 1950 and produced <a href="../../wp/n/Nuclear_weapon.htm" title="Nuclear weapon">nuclear weapons</a> throughout the <a href="../../wp/c/Cold_War.htm" title="Cold War">Cold War</a>. The following year, the army air base was reactivated as <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Air Force Base and expanded to accommodate a <!--del_lnk--> Strategic Air Command <!--del_lnk--> B-52 Stratofortress wing. The arrival of servicemen and their families ended the city's depression. Between 1950 and 1960, Amarillo's population grew from 74,443 to 137,969. However, the closure of the Amarillo Air Force Base on <!--del_lnk--> December 31, <!--del_lnk--> 1968, contributed to a decrease in population to 127,010 by 1970. In the 1970s, <!--del_lnk--> ASARCO, <!--del_lnk--> Iowa Beef Processors, <!--del_lnk--> Owens-Corning and <!--del_lnk--> Weyerhaeuser built plants at Amarillo. The following decade, Amarillo's <!--del_lnk--> city limits encompassed 60 square miles in Potter and Randall counties. The intrastate <!--del_lnk--> interstate highway <!--del_lnk--> I-27 connecting <!--del_lnk--> Lubbock to Amarillo was built mostly during the 1980s.<p><a id="Geography_and_climate" name="Geography_and_climate"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Geography and climate</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:272px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16478.jpg.htm" title="Lighthouse hoodoo in Palo Duro Canyon. The canyon system is located south of the city."><img alt="Lighthouse hoodoo in Palo Duro Canyon. The canyon system is located south of the city." height="203" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Palodurolighthouse.jpg" src="../../images/164/16478.jpg" width="270" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16478.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Lighthouse <!--del_lnk--> hoodoo in Palo Duro Canyon. The canyon system is located south of the city.</div>
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</div>
<p>Amarillo is located near the middle of the Texas Panhandle and is part of the <!--del_lnk--> Llano Estacado or Staked Plains region which has a surface that is relatively flat and has little drainage in the soil. Due to the lack of developed drainage, much of the rainfall either evaporates, infiltrates into the ground, or accumulates in <!--del_lnk--> playa lakes. According to the <!--del_lnk--> United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 90.3 <!--del_lnk--> mi² (233.9 <!--del_lnk--> km²). 89.9 mi² (232.7 km²) of it is land and 0.4 mi² (1.2 km²) of it (0.50%) is water. The Amarillo <!--del_lnk--> metropolitan area is the <!--del_lnk--> 180th-largest in the United States with a population of 236,113 in four counties: <!--del_lnk--> Armstrong, <!--del_lnk--> Carson, Potter, and Randall.<p>About 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Amarillo is the <!--del_lnk--> Canadian River, which divides the southern part of the <!--del_lnk--> High Plains to form the Llano Estacado. The river is <a href="../../wp/d/Dam.htm" title="Dam">dammed</a> to form <!--del_lnk--> Lake Meredith, a major source of drinking water in the Texas Panhandle region. The city is situated near the Panhandle Field, in a productive gas and <a href="../../wp/p/Petroleum.htm" title="Petroleum">oil</a> area, covering 200,000 surface acres in <!--del_lnk--> Hartley, Potter, <!--del_lnk--> Moore, <!--del_lnk--> Hutchinson, Carson, <!--del_lnk--> Gray, <!--del_lnk--> Wheeler, and <!--del_lnk--> Collingsworth counties. The Potter County portion had the nation's largest <a href="../../wp/n/Natural_gas.htm" title="Natural gas">natural gas</a> reserve. Approximately 25 mi (40 km) south of Amarillo is the <!--del_lnk--> canyon system, <!--del_lnk--> Palo Duro Canyon.<p><a id="Cityscape" name="Cityscape"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Cityscape</span></h3>
<p>Most of Amarillo’s population growth and commercial development are occurring in the southern and northwestern parts of the city. Similar to many towns in the Texas Panhandle, the city’s downtown has suffered economic deterioration throughout the years. In order to try to help revitalize it, the organization Centre City of Amarillo was formed to establish partnerships with groups who have a huge presence in the city to support the downtown. Since its conception in the 1990s, Centre City created archways over two streets, sponsors public art projects such as murals, and started block parties in the downtown area.<p>The 31-story <!--del_lnk--> Chase Tower, the tallest building between <a href="../../wp/d/Dallas%252C_Texas.htm" title="Dallas, Texas">Dallas</a> and <a href="../../wp/d/Denver%252C_Colorado.htm" title="Denver, Colorado">Denver</a>, was opened in Amarillo's downtown in 1971. It is an office building and had two prior names: SPS Tower and Bank One Centre. Completed in the same year as the Chase Tower, the Amarillo National Bank Plaza One building houses the headquarters of <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo National Bank, the city's largest financial institution. The <!--del_lnk--> Santa Fe Building, completed in 1930, was the regional offices of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway company but was vacant for several years until Potter County bought the building for <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_dollar.htm" title="United States dollar">US$</a>426,000 in 1995 to gain new office spaces.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:272px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16479.jpg.htm" title="The Santa Fe Building in the downtown area."><img alt="The Santa Fe Building in the downtown area." height="203" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo_Texas_-_Santa_Fe_Railroad_Building1.jpg" src="../../images/164/16479.jpg" width="270" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16479.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Santa Fe Building in the downtown area.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Amarillo's historic homes and buildings listed on the <!--del_lnk--> National Register of Historic Places reflect the economic growth from around 1900 to the start of World War II. Polk Street contains many of the city's historic downtown buildings and homes. The large historic homes on this street were built close to downtown, and homes were located on the west side of the street as a symbol of status because they would be greeted with the <!--del_lnk--> sunrise every morning. A local newspaper article in 1914 promoted the planting of trees as a sanitary asset due to the author cited studies by the New York County Medical Society and the New York City Park Commission which claims areas with trees have less bacteria and fewer dust particles. The trees that lasted the Texas Panhandle environment line the streets in Amarillo's older neighborhoods.<p>The City of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department operates over 50 municipal parks including a <!--del_lnk--> skatepark, west of the city. Amarillo's largest parks are Medical Park, Thompson Memorial Park, and Memorial Park, near Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus. From 1978 to 2002, the <!--del_lnk--> Junior League of Amarillo and the City of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department co-sponsored Funfest, a family entertainment festival, benefiting the city parks and the league's Community Chest Trust Fund. Funfest was held in Thompson Memorial Park during <!--del_lnk--> Memorial Day weekend. Completed in 2000, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park adjoins with a shallow playa lake which located south of it was the original town site of Amarillo.<p><a id="Climate" name="Climate"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Climate</span></h3>
<p>Amarillo and along with the Texas Panhandle's climate is classified as subhumid to <!--del_lnk--> semiarid. It is characterized by a rush of cold air from the north or northwest into a warmer area and occasionally, by <!--del_lnk--> blizzards during the <a href="../../wp/w/Winter.htm" title="Winter">winter</a> season and a hot <a href="../../wp/s/Summer.htm" title="Summer">summer</a>. The normal annual rainfall for Amarillo is approximately 20 inches (508 mm). Most of the region's precipitation occurs in the late spring and summer months, and the least occurs from November through March. The January's average high in the city is 49 °F (9 °C) and average low is 22 °F (-6 °C); July's average high is 91 °F (33 °C) and average low is 65 °F (18 °C). The highest temperature ever recorded in Amarillo was 108 °F (42 °C); the lowest was -16 °F (-27 °C). Amarillo is in an area of the United States which <a href="../../wp/t/Tornado.htm" title="Tornado">tornadoes</a> are most frequent called the "<!--del_lnk--> Tornado Alley."<table class="wikitable" style="width: 80%; margin: 0 auto 0 auto;">
<caption><b>Amarillo's climate</b> </caption>
<tr>
<th>
</th>
<th>Jan</th>
<th>Feb</th>
<th>Mar</th>
<th>Apr</th>
<th>May</th>
<th>Jun</th>
<th>Jul</th>
<th>Aug</th>
<th>Sep</th>
<th>Oct</th>
<th>Nov</th>
<th>Dec</th>
<th>Year</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Average high temperature <!--del_lnk--> °F (<!--del_lnk--> °C)</th>
<td>49<br /> (9.4)</td>
<td>53<br /> (11.7)</td>
<td>61<br /> (16.1)</td>
<td>71<br /> (21.7)</td>
<td>79<br /> (26.1)</td>
<td>88<br /> (31.1)</td>
<td>91<br /> (32.8)</td>
<td>89<br /> (31.7)</td>
<td>82<br /> (27.8)</td>
<td>72<br /> (22.2)</td>
<td>59<br /> (15.0)</td>
<td>51<br /> (10.5)</td>
<td>71<br /> (21.6)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Average low temperature °F (°C)</th>
<td>22<br /> (–5.5)</td>
<td>26<br /> (–3.3)</td>
<td>32<br /> (0.0)</td>
<td>42<br /> (5.5)</td>
<td>52<br /> (11.1)</td>
<td>61<br /> (16.1)</td>
<td>66<br /> (18.9)</td>
<td>64<br /> (17.8)</td>
<td>57<br /> (13.9)</td>
<td>45<br /> (7.2)</td>
<td>32<br /> (0.0)</td>
<td>24<br /> (–4.4)</td>
<td>44<br /> (6.7)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Average precipitation <!--del_lnk--> inches (<!--del_lnk--> mm)</th>
<td>0.5<br /> (12.7)</td>
<td>0.6<br /> (15.2)</td>
<td>0.9<br /> (22.9)</td>
<td>1.1<br /> (27.9)</td>
<td>2.8<br /> (71.1)</td>
<td>3.5<br /> (88.9)</td>
<td>2.8<br /> (71.1)</td>
<td>3.0<br /> (76.2)</td>
<td>1.9<br /> (48.3)</td>
<td>1.3<br /> (33.0)</td>
<td>0.6<br /> (15.2)</td>
<td>0.5<br /> (12.7)</td>
<td>19.6<br /> (497.8)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="Demographics" name="Demographics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demographics</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:272px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16480.png.htm" title="This map shows the city's average number of inhabitants per square mile of land in 2000."><img alt="This map shows the city's average number of inhabitants per square mile of land in 2000." height="208" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo_Texas_-_Persons_Per_Square_Mils_-_Census_2000.png" src="../../images/164/16480.png" width="270" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16480.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> This map shows the city's average number of inhabitants per <!--del_lnk--> square mile of land in 2000.</div>
</div>
</div>
<table class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:15px;">
<caption><b>Amarillo</b><br /> Population by year </caption>
<tr>
<th>Year</th>
<th align="right">Pop.</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1940</td>
<td align="right">51,686</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1950</td>
<td align="right">74,246</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1960</td>
<td align="right">137,969</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1970</td>
<td align="right">127,010</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1980</td>
<td align="right">149,230</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1990</td>
<td align="right">157,615</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2000</td>
<td align="right">173,627</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2005 (est.)</td>
<td align="right">183,021</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>As of the <!--del_lnk--> census<sup id="fn_GR2_back"><!--del_lnk--> GR2</sup> of 2000, there were 173,627 people, 67,699 households, and 45,764 families residing in the city. The <!--del_lnk--> population density was 1,932.1/mi² (746.0/km²). There were 72,408 housing units at an average density of 805.8/mi² (311.1/km²). Given Amarillo's growth rate, however, the numbers have increased, and the city's population is approximately 183,021 according to a <!--del_lnk--> July 1, <!--del_lnk--> 2005 estimate.<p>The racial makeup of the city was 77.50% <!--del_lnk--> White, 5.97% <!--del_lnk--> African American, 0.78% <!--del_lnk--> Native American, 2.05% <!--del_lnk--> Asian, 0.04% <!--del_lnk--> Pacific Islander, 11.32% from <!--del_lnk--> other races, and 2.34% from two or more races. <!--del_lnk--> Hispanic or <!--del_lnk--> Latino of any race were 21.86% of the population which had a significant increase of 63.35% compare to the 1990 U.S. Census report.<p>There were 67,699 households, of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.6% were <!--del_lnk--> married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were classified as non-families by the <!--del_lnk--> United States Census Bureau. Of 67,699 households, 2,981 were unmarried partner households: 2,713 heterosexual, 82 same-sex male, and 186 same-sex female. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% have someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.10.<p>In the city the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there are 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.<p>The median income for a household in the city was $34,940, and the median income for a family was $42,536. Males had a median income of $31,321 versus $22,562 for females. The <!--del_lnk--> per capita income for the city was $18,621. About 11.1% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the <!--del_lnk--> poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over. Approximately 37.5% of African American households in 2000 had an income below $15,000, compared to 17.59% of White households and 22.08% of Hispanic households. In addition, about over 34.6% of the total African American population lived in poverty, compared to 22.8% of the Hispanic population and 10% of the White population.<p><a id="Law_and_government" name="Law_and_government"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Law and government</span></h2>
<p>In 1913, Amarillo became the first Texas city and the fifth in United States to use the <!--del_lnk--> council-manager form of municipal government, with all governmental powers resting in a <!--del_lnk--> legislative body called a commission. Amarillo's commission composed of five elected commissioners, one of whom is the mayor of the city. The mayor and each commissioner serves a two-year term. The role of the commission is to pass ordinances and resolutions, adopt regulations, and appoint city officials, including the <!--del_lnk--> city manager. While the mayor serves as a presiding officer of the commission, the city manager is the administrative head of the municipal government, and is responsible for the administration of all departments. The city commission holds its regular meetings on Tuesday of each week.<table class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;">
<caption><b>2005 Commission members</b></caption>
<tr>
<td><b>Mayor</b></td>
<td>Debra McCartt</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Commissioner Place 1</b></td>
<td>Madison Scott</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Commissioner Place 2</b></td>
<td>Paul Harpole</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Commissioner Place 3</b></td>
<td>Robert Keys</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Commissioner Place 4</b></td>
<td>Jim Simms</td>
</tr>
</table>
<table class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;">
<caption><b>City administration</b></caption>
<tr>
<td><b>City manager</b></td>
<td>Alan M. Taylor</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Assistant city manager</b></td>
<td>Jarrett Atkinson</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>Amarillo is in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_House_of_Representatives.htm" title="United States House of Representatives">U.S. House</a> 13th Congressional district, and is represented by Representative <!--del_lnk--> Mac Thornberry. In the <!--del_lnk--> Texas Legislature, the city is in the 31st District in the Texas Senate and in the 87th district in the Texas House of Representatives. As the seat of Potter County, the city is the location of the county's trial, civil, and criminal courts. The Randall County Amarillo Annex building is located within the city limits and houses its Sheriff's Office and Justice of the Peace Court, Precinct 4.<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:272px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16481.jpg.htm" title="The Potter County Courthouse contains the offices of the county judge and clerk."><img alt="The Potter County Courthouse contains the offices of the county judge and clerk." height="203" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Potter_County_Courthouse_building_-_Amarillo_Texas_USA.jpg" src="../../images/164/16481.jpg" width="270" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16481.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Potter County Courthouse contains the offices of the county judge and clerk.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Amarillo is considered the regional economical centre for the Texas Panhandle as well as <!--del_lnk--> Eastern <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico and the <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma <!--del_lnk--> Panhandle. The meat packing industry is a major employer in Amarillo; about one-quarter of the United States' beef supply is processed in the area. The city is also the location of headquarters for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. <a href="../../wp/p/Petroleum.htm" title="Petroleum">Petroleum</a> extraction is also a major industry. The helium industry has decreased in significance since the federal government privatized local operations in the late 1990s. <!--del_lnk--> Bell Helicopter Textron opened a <!--del_lnk--> helicopter assembly plant near the city's international airport in 1999. According to the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry with the largest contribution to personal <!--del_lnk--> income in the city was the services industry with 23.52% in 2000. The government industry contributed 16.37% while retail trade category contributed 10.16%.<p>The city's largest employer in 2005 is <!--del_lnk--> Tyson Foods with 3,700 employees. The <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Independent School District is next with 3,659 employees followed by <!--del_lnk--> BWXT Pantex, Baptist St. Anthony’s Health Care System, City of Amarillo, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo College, and <!--del_lnk--> United Supermarkets. Other major employers include Bell Helicopter Textron, Owens-Corning, and ASARCO.<p>Approximately 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares) of agricultural land surrounds the city with <a href="../../wp/m/Maize.htm" title="Corn">corn</a>, <a href="../../wp/w/Wheat.htm" title="Wheat">wheat</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Cotton.htm" title="Cotton">cotton</a> as the primary crops. Other crops in the area include <a href="../../wp/s/Sorghum.htm" title="Sorghum">sorghum</a>, <!--del_lnk--> silage, <!--del_lnk--> hay and <a href="../../wp/s/Soybean.htm" title="Soybean">soybeans</a>. The Texas Panhandle, particularly in <!--del_lnk--> Hereford, Texas, serves as a fast growing milk producing area as several multi-million dollar state of the art dairies were built in early 2000s.<p>The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) is funded by a city sales tax, and it provides aggressive incentive packages to existing and prospective employers. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the AEDC gained notoriety by sending mock checks to businesses across the country, placing full-page advertisements in <i><a href="../../wp/t/The_Wall_Street_Journal.htm" title="The Wall Street Journal">The Wall Street Journal</a></i>, and paying an annual $1 million subsidy to <!--del_lnk--> American Airlines to retain jet service. The AEDC is largely responsible for bringing Bell Helicopter Textron's development of the <!--del_lnk--> V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft and the future site of <!--del_lnk--> Marine One assembly in Amarillo.<p><a id="Education" name="Education"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Education</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:227px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16482.jpg.htm" title="The clock tower at the Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus."><img alt="The clock tower at the Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus." height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo-College-Washington-St-Clock-Tower-Dec2005.jpg" src="../../images/164/16482.jpg" width="225" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16482.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The clock tower at the Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>According to the 2000 United States Census, 20.5% of all adults over the age of 25 in Amarillo have obtained a <!--del_lnk--> bachelor's degree, as compared to a national average of 24.4% of adults over 25, and 79.3% of Amarillo residents over the age of 25 have earned a <!--del_lnk--> high school diploma, as compared to the national average of 80.4%.<p>The higher education institutions in the city are <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo College, a two-year <!--del_lnk--> community college with over 10,000 students; <!--del_lnk--> Wayland Baptist University, a private university based in <!--del_lnk--> Plainview, has a branch campus in Amarillo; and <!--del_lnk--> Texas Tech University at Amarillo, a branch campus of <!--del_lnk--> Texas Tech University that offers selected <!--del_lnk--> master's degree programs. <!--del_lnk--> West Texas A&M University, in nearby <!--del_lnk--> Canyon, is the regional university in the Amarillo area and the Texas Panhandle.<p>The public <!--del_lnk--> primary and <!--del_lnk--> secondary education are mostly handled by the <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Independent School District (AISD) and <!--del_lnk--> Canyon Independent School District. (CISD) The AISD has approximately 29,000 students in 2004 while CISD has over 8,000 students in 2005. The AISD operates 4 high schools, 9 <!--del_lnk--> middle schools, 36 <!--del_lnk--> elementary schools, a specialty high school, and an <!--del_lnk--> alternative school. While, the CISD has 1 high school, 2 junior high/intermediate schools, and 4 elementary schools in Amarillo. Other <!--del_lnk--> school districts in the city are <!--del_lnk--> River Road, <!--del_lnk--> Highland Park, and <!--del_lnk--> Bushland Independent School Districts. Nonreligious and Christian denomination private schools in Amarillo include St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Holy Cross Catholic Academy, Amarillo Montessori Academy, San Jacinto Christian Academy, Bible Heritage Christian School, and Arbor Christian Academy.<p><a id="Culture" name="Culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Culture</span></h2>
<p>Amarillo has a number of natural attractions near the city. The <!--del_lnk--> Palo Duro Canyon <!--del_lnk--> State Park is United States' second largest canyon system, after the <a href="../../wp/g/Grand_Canyon.htm" title="Grand Canyon">Grand Canyon</a> and is located south of Amarillo. Palo Duro has a distinct <!--del_lnk--> hoodoo that resembles a <!--del_lnk--> lighthouse. Another natural landmark near the city, the <!--del_lnk--> Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument is located 30 miles (48.2 km) north of Amarillo. It is once known as the site for prehistoric inhabitants to obtain <!--del_lnk--> flint in order to make tools and weapons. About 100 miles (161 km) southeast of Amarillo in <!--del_lnk--> Briscoe County is <!--del_lnk--> Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway, the state park is the home of the official Texas State <a href="../../wp/b/Bison.htm" title="Bison">Bison</a> Herd, who were captured and taken care of by cattle rancher <!--del_lnk--> Charles Goodnight.<p>Local millionare <!--del_lnk--> Stanley Marsh 3 has funded many public art projects in the city including the <!--del_lnk--> Cadillac Ranch, located west of Amarillo on <!--del_lnk--> I-40, a monument of painted <!--del_lnk--> Cadillac <a href="../../wp/a/Automobile.htm" title="Automobile">automobiles</a> that were dug into the ground head first. Marsh also participates an on-going art project called the Dynamite Museum, which consist of thousands of mock <!--del_lnk--> traffic signs. These signs, bearing messages such as "Road does not end" or displaying a random picture, are scattered throughout the city of Amarillo.<p>The city has events and attractions honoring the <!--del_lnk--> cowboy and Texas culture. During the third week of September, the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo brings participants mostly from Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas to Amarillo since 1921. On the Tri-State Exposition grounds, the <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo National Centre is a special events centre for events ranging from national <!--del_lnk--> equestrian competitions to <a href="../../wp/a/Auto_racing.htm" title="Auto racing">motor sports</a> and <!--del_lnk--> rodeos. The World Championship Ranch Rodeo sponsored by the <!--del_lnk--> Working Ranch Cowboys Association is held every November in the <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Civic Centre. Amarillo hosts the annual World Championship Chuckwagon Roundup the first weekend in June. Teams in competition prepare a feast of breaded beef cutlets, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and sourdough biscuits and attempt to duplicate the food served on western cattle trails of the 1860s and 1870s. The Amarillo Livestock Auction holds a free to the public cattle auction on Tuesdays. Now located on <!--del_lnk--> I-40, <!--del_lnk--> The Big Texan Steak Ranch, was made famous by offering visitors a free 72 <!--del_lnk--> ounce (2 <!--del_lnk--> kg) beef steak if they eat it and its accompanying dinner in under an hour.<p><!--del_lnk--> Globe-News Centre for the Performing Arts, opened in 2006, houses the Amarillo Opera, Amarillo Symphony, and Lone Star Ballet concerts. The facility, located just across the Amarillo Civic Center, features a 1,300-seat auditorium. The Globe-News Centre was built in hope by the city officials and others that it will spur a revitalization of the downtown area. The nonprofit <!--del_lnk--> community theatre group, Amarillo Little Theatre, has its season run from September to May. The theatre group's two facilities are located west of Amarillo's downtown. In the Palo Duro Canyon’s <!--del_lnk--> amphitheatre, an outdoor musical called <i>Texas</i> plays nightly during the summer. The musical depicts a story about the history of Texas Panhandle settlers throughout the years. In 2002, the <!--del_lnk--> producers changed its name to <i>Texas Legacies</i> after retiring the previous <!--del_lnk--> script that was used for 37-years for a more historically accurate one but they decided to revert back to the original script due to declining attendance in 2006.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:227px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16484.jpg.htm" title="The Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts building is located near the Amarillo Civic Center."><img alt="The Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts building is located near the Amarillo Civic Center." height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Globe-News_Center_in_Amarillo_Texas_USA.jpg" src="../../images/164/16484.jpg" width="225" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16484.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts building is located near the Amarillo Civic Centre.</div>
</div>
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<p>The Amarillo Public Library is affiliated with the Harrington Library Consortium. The consortium consist of public, college, and school libraries located in the Texas Panhandle that share resources and cooperate with one another. Other members include the Amarillo's public schools, Amarillo College, Canyon Area Library, Lovett Memorial Library in <!--del_lnk--> Pampa, Texas, and Hutchinson County Library in <!--del_lnk--> Borger, Texas. The Amarillo Public Library's main branch is located in downtown and operates 4 neighbourhood branches.<p>Amarillo residents are known as <!--del_lnk--> Amarilloans. Notable Amarilloans include the <!--del_lnk--> Dory Funk wrestling family, astronaut <!--del_lnk--> Rick Husband, actress <!--del_lnk--> Carolyn Jones, actress and dancer <!--del_lnk--> Cyd Charisse, politican <!--del_lnk--> John Marvin Jones, businessman <!--del_lnk--> T. Boone Pickens, Jr., and famed gambler Thomas "<!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Slim" Preston.<p><a id="Museums_and_art_collections" name="Museums_and_art_collections"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Museums and art collections</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of the <!--del_lnk--> American Quarter Horse breed. The organization is headquartered in Amarillo and has a museum. In addition, the AQHA and Centre City of Amarillo co-sponsors the project, "Hoof Prints of the American Quarter Horse" which consist of horse statues located in front of several Amarillo businesses. An area business would purchase a horse statue and a local artist paints on it.<p>Two of the Amarillo area's higher education institutions have at least one museum in their campuses. The Amarillo Art Centre, opened in 1972, is a building complex with an art museum and concert hall located on the Washington Street Campus of Amarillo College. In addition, Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus is the home of the largest natural history museum of any two-year college in the United States. Located on the campus of West Texas A&M University, the <!--del_lnk--> Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum claims to be the largest historical museum in Texas.<p><!--del_lnk--> Don Harrington Discovery Centre, located in the city's hospital district, is an interactive science center and space theatre with over 60 hands-on exhibits. Outside of the building contains a steel structure called the Helium Monument which has time capsules and designates Amarillo the "Helium Capital of the World." Near the proximity of the Discovery Centre, the Amarillo Botanical Gardens has gardens, indoor exhibits, and a library for visitation throughout the year. The Texas Pharmacy Museum claims to be the only Texas museum specialized in the research, collection, preservation, and exhibition of the history of pharmacy, is also located in the city's hospital district.<p>Other notable museums in the area are the Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum and the English Field Air & Space Museum. The Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum features a collection of <!--del_lnk--> Native American artifacts and provides dance performances. The English Field Air & Space Museum is operated by the Texas Aviation Historical Society and features aircraft and space exhibits. The museum's facility used to be city's main airport terminal.<h3> <span class="mw-headline">Sports</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> af2 indoor American football team <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Dusters and the <!--del_lnk--> CHL hockey team <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Gorillas both play in the Amarillo Civic Centre. Amarillo's minor league baseball team, <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Dillas of the <!--del_lnk--> United League Baseball, plays its home games in the <!--del_lnk--> Potter County Memorial Stadium. Before the founding of the Dillas, the city was the home of the AA Amarillo Gold Sox. Amarillo had a minor league in-door soccer team called the <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo Challengers that competed in the <!--del_lnk--> SISL and later the <!--del_lnk--> USISL.<p>West Texas A&M University features a full slate of <!--del_lnk--> NCAA <!--del_lnk--> Division II teams; however, <!--del_lnk--> Amarillo College is one of the few community colleges in Texas without an athletic program. From 1968 to 1996, Amarillo hosted the annual National Women's Invitational Tournament, a postseason women's <!--del_lnk--> college basketball tournament. During high school American football season, the Amarillo Independent School District schools' home games are in Dick Bivins Stadium which had a $5.7 million renovation in 2005. Randall High School (part of the adjacent <!--del_lnk--> Canyon Independent School District) plays its home games in <!--del_lnk--> Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon. River Road and Highland Park High Schools, also play football, as well as other sports.<p><a id="Infrastructure" name="Infrastructure"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Infrastructure</span></h2>
<p><a id="Transportation" name="Transportation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Transportation</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport is located on the east side of Amarillo, north of Interstate 40. A portion of the former Amarillo Air Force Base was converted to civilian use and became part of the airport. The airport was named after Amarillo native <!--del_lnk--> Rick Husband, a <!--del_lnk--> NASA <!--del_lnk--> space shuttle astronaut and the commander of <!--del_lnk--> STS-107 (<a href="../../wp/s/Space_Shuttle_Columbia.htm" title="Space Shuttle Columbia">Columbia</a>) who died in 2003 while returning from a mission in space. The airport is served by several major air carriers with non-stop service to <a href="../../wp/d/Dallas%252C_Texas.htm" title="Dallas, Texas">Dallas</a>, <a href="../../wp/h/Houston%252C_Texas.htm" title="Houston, Texas">Houston</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Albuquerque, <!--del_lnk--> Clovis, <a href="../../wp/d/Denver%252C_Colorado.htm" title="Denver, Colorado">Denver</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Phoenix, and <a href="../../wp/l/Las_Vegas%252C_Nevada.htm" title="Las Vegas, Nevada">Las Vegas</a>.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:227px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16487.jpg.htm" title="Several streets around Amarillo's downtown area are still paved in bricks."><img alt="Several streets around Amarillo's downtown area are still paved in bricks." height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo_Tx_-_Brick_Streets.jpg" src="../../images/164/16487.jpg" width="225" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Local transit services in the city have been available since 1925 and have been provided through the City of Amarillo's Amarillo City Transit (ACT) department since 1966; prior to that time the system was privately owned. ACT operates bus services that include fixed route transit and demand response <!--del_lnk--> paratransit which are designed for people with disabilities. The ACT transports approximately 350,000 passengers per year on the fixed route and 30,000 paratransit passengers, but it is a declining ridership. ACT has no plans to scale back any of their transit routes or services.<p>Amarillo has no passenger rail service but remains an important part of the rail freight system. The <!--del_lnk--> BNSF Railway complex in Amarillo continues to serve a heavy daily traffic load, approximately 100-110 trains per day. The <!--del_lnk--> Union Pacific Railroad also sends substantial shipments to or through Amarillo. In addition to intermodal and general goods, a big portion of rail shipments involve grains and coal.<p>The streets in Amarillo's downtown area conform to a <!--del_lnk--> grid pattern. The city's original street layout was set up by William H. Bush, beginning at the west end of the town moving to the east. Bush named the north to south streets for past <a href="../../wp/p/President_of_the_United_States.htm" title="President of the United States">United States presidents</a>, in chronological order except for <!--del_lnk--> John Quincy Adams because the surname was taken with the second president, <a href="../../wp/j/John_Adams.htm" title="John Adams">John Adams</a>. (The last president so honored was <a href="../../wp/g/Grover_Cleveland.htm" title="Grover Cleveland">Grover Cleveland</a>; though the city has expanded eastward the pattern was not continued.)<p>In 1910, the Amarillo voters approved to pay for street paving and the materials used to pave the streets were <!--del_lnk--> bricks. As of 2003, the city still has 16.2 mi (26.1 km) of brick streets in some parts of the downtown area. The city spent $200,000 in 2002 to restore one block of brick street on Ninth Avenue between Polk and Tyler streets.<p>Less than one mile of intrastate <!--del_lnk--> interstate highway <!--del_lnk--> I-27 is located in Potter County. The highway terminates at the city's main west-east highway <!--del_lnk--> I-40 near the Potter-Randall County line. The roadway continues northward into downtown Amarillo via U.S. <!--del_lnk--> 60, <!--del_lnk--> 87, and <!--del_lnk--> 287, a series of four one-way streets. North of downtown the highway becomes U.S. 87 and continues northward to <!--del_lnk--> Dumas, Texas.<p><a id="Medical_centers_and_hospitals" name="Medical_centers_and_hospitals"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Medical centers and hospitals</span></h3>
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<div style="width:452px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16488.jpg.htm" title="The Harrington Regional Medical Center has two of the city's major hospitals."><img alt="The Harrington Regional Medical Center has two of the city's major hospitals." height="83" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amarillo_Texas_USA_-_Harrington_Regional_Medical_Center.jpg" src="../../images/164/16488.jpg" width="450" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16488.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Harrington Regional Medical Centre has two of the city's major hospitals.</div>
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<p>Amarillo is home to medical facilities including Baptist St. Anthony’s and Northwest Texas Hospitals, the Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Centre, Bivins Memorial Nursing Home, <!--del_lnk--> Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centre, and Texas Tech School of Pharmacy. All are located in the Harrington Regional Medical Centre, the first specifically designated city hospital district in Texas.<p>Baptist St. Anthony's, known locally as BSA, had some of its services listed on the <i><!--del_lnk--> U.S. News & World Report's</i> "Top 50 Hospitals" from 2002 to 2005. BSA was a result of a merger between the Texas Panhandle's first hospital, St Anthony's, with High Plains Baptist Hospital in 1996. The BSA Hospice & Life Enrichment Centre provides important services to the Amarillo area. The BSA facility, opened in 1985, was the first free-standing hospice west of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mississippi_River.htm" title="Mississippi River">Mississippi River</a> that was built and opened without debt.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Thomas E. Creek Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located east of Harrington Regional Medical Centre. The facility opened in 1940 and was renamed in 2005, honoring the 18-year old Amarillo Marine who was posthumously awarded the <a href="../../wp/m/Medal_of_Honor.htm" title="Medal of Honor">Medal of Honour</a>. Construction began in 2006 for a new Texas State Veterans Home in northwest Amarillo. The United States government, through the Veterans Affairs Medical Centre, provided the funding to build the facility, while the Texas government will run it after construction is completed. The home is scheduled to open in 2007.<p><a id="Utilities" name="Utilities"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Utilities</span></h3>
<p><a href="../../wp/d/Drinking_water.htm" title="Drinking water">Drinking water</a> is provided by the City of Amarillo and its Utilities Division. Amarillo's water supply comes from <!--del_lnk--> Lake Meredith and the <!--del_lnk--> Ogallala Aquifer. The city's drinking water is a blend of both sources. Lake Meredith is located northeast of Amarillo contains at least 114 billion <!--del_lnk--> gallons (431 million <!--del_lnk--> m³) of water. The city's daily water production averages between 40-50 million gallons (151,000-189,000 m³).<p>Collection and disposal of city's <!--del_lnk--> trash or garbage are the responsibility of City of Amarillo's Solid Waste Collection and Solid Waste Disposal Departments. Amarillo's non-hazardous solid waste are collected and disposed it through burial in the city's <!--del_lnk--> landfill. The City of Amarillo also operates <a href="../../wp/r/Recycling.htm" title="Recycling">recycling</a> collection centers located one near the downtown area and at 4 fire stations in the city. Other utilities are primarily provided by private organizations. <a href="../../wp/n/Natural_gas.htm" title="Natural gas">Natural gas</a> is distributed by <!--del_lnk--> Atmos Energy. <!--del_lnk--> Electric power service is distributed by <!--del_lnk--> Xcel Energy. Wired <a href="../../wp/t/Telephone.htm" title="Telephone">telephone</a> service provider is primarily by <a href="../../wp/a/AT%2526T.htm" title="AT&T">AT&T</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Cable television is provided by <!--del_lnk--> Suddenlink Communications.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarillo%2C_Texas"</div>
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Amazon_Basin | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amazon Basin</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Central_and_South_American_Geography.htm">Central & South American Geography</a></h3>
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<p>The <b>Amazon Basin</b> is the part of <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a> drained by the <a href="../../wp/a/Amazon_River.htm" title="Amazon River">Amazon River</a> and its tributaries.<p>
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</script><a id="Geographic_Studies" name="Geographic_Studies"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Geographic Studies</span></h2>
<p>The amazon river basin is located in brazil.The South American <!--del_lnk--> rain forest of Amazonian (60% located in <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>), the largest in the world, was originally covered by more than 7,000,000 km² (2 million square miles) of dense tropical forest. For centuries, this has protected the area and the animals residing in it. Forest recession has occurred in the past 30 years due to increased industry and population growth through road projects, settlement initiatives, and industrial development. Dramatic Forest recession is visible via satalite.<p><a id="Plant_life" name="Plant_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Plant life</span></h2>
<p>Not all of the plant and animal life of Amazonia are known because of its hugely unexplored areas. No one knows how many species of fish there are in the river either. Dense plant growth because the rainfall and regrowth of leaves occur gradually throughout each year. Huge Diversity of tree species but usually have smooth, straight trunks and large leaves.<p><a id="Amazonian_Indigenous_Peoples" name="Amazonian_Indigenous_Peoples"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Amazonian Indigenous Peoples</span></h2>
<p>The Amazon Basin includes a diversity of traditional inhabitants as well as biodiversity in both flora and fauna. These peoples have lived in the rain forest for thousands of years, and their lifestyles and cultures are well-adapted to this environment. Contrary to popular belief, their subsistence living methods do not significantly harm the environment. In the past few decades, the real threat to the Amazon Basin has been deforestation and cattle ranching by large transnational corporations.<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for over 12,000 years, since the first proven arrivals of human beings in South America. Those peoples, when found by European explorers in the 16th century, were scattered in hundreds of small tribes with no writing system except for the part ruled by the Inca Empire. Perhaps as many as 90% of the inhabitants died due to European diseases within the first hundred years of contact, many tribes perished even before direct contact with Europeans, as their germs traveled faster than explorers, contaminating village after village.<p>Upon the European discovery of America, the Portuguese and the Spanish signed the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Fusillades, dividing the continent into a large Spanish western part, which encompassed all of the then unknown North America and Central America, and western South America, the Portuguese had Eastern South America, what would become modern eastern Brazil.<p>By the late 17th century Portuguese/Brazilian explorers had dominated much of the Amazon basin because the mouth of the <!--del_lnk--> Amazon river lay within the Portuguese side, as well as the Brazilian inward exploration ventures such as the <!--del_lnk--> Bandeiras, which originated in <a href="../../wp/s/S%25C3%25A3o_Paulo.htm" title="São Paulo">São Paulo</a> and conquered much of what is today central Brazil (states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás) and then proceeded to the Amazon. In 1750 the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Madrid officialized the transfer of most of the Amazon basin and the region of <!--del_lnk--> Mato Grosso to the Portuguese side, hugely contributing to the continental size of what is now Brazil.<p>Brazilian <!--del_lnk--> General Rondon is also reckoned as a major 19th century explorer of the Amazon as well as a defender of its native poeples, the Brazilian state of <!--del_lnk--> Rondônia is named after him.<p>In 1903 Brazil bought a large portion of northern <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> and made it its current state of Acre. In 2006 the new socialist Bolivian president <!--del_lnk--> Evo Morales talked about "getting it back. The Brazilians got it for the price of a horse". No action was taken and the two nations remain friendly. In the late 19th century, a US-Brazilian joint venture failed to implement the <!--del_lnk--> Madeira-Mamoré railway, in the state of <!--del_lnk--> Rondônia, with a huge cost in money and lives.<p>Intense deforestation began in the second half of the <a href="../../wp/2/20th_century.htm" title="20th century">20th century</a>, population growth and development plans such as the failed Brazilian <!--del_lnk--> Trans-Amazonian Highway. In the late 1980s the Brazilian <!--del_lnk--> Chico Mendes, who lived in <!--del_lnk--> Acre, became internationally famous for his passionate defense of the forest and its people, especially after he was shot dead by farmers whose interests he harmed.<p><a id="Demographics" name="Demographics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demographics</span></h2>
<p>The Amazon basin is inhabited by roughly 26 million people, of which 11 million on the Brazilian side. The two largest cities in the Amazon basin are <!--del_lnk--> Manaus (1.4 million, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas) and <!--del_lnk--> Belém (1 million, capital of the Brazilian state of Pará).<p><a id="Cities" name="Cities"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Cities</span></h2>
<p>Amazonia is not heavily populated. There are a few <a href="../../wp/c/City.htm" title="City">cities</a> along the Amazon's banks, such as <!--del_lnk--> Iquitos, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> and scattered settlements inland, but most of the population lives in cities, such as <!--del_lnk--> Manaus in <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>. In many regions, the forest has been cleared for <!--del_lnk--> soy bean <!--del_lnk--> plantations and <!--del_lnk--> ranching (the most extensive non-forest use of the land) and some of the inhabitants harvest wild <!--del_lnk--> rubber <!--del_lnk--> latex and <!--del_lnk--> Brazil nuts. This is a form of extractive farms, where the trees are not cut down, and thus this is a relatively sustainable human impact. Over a half of the Amazon Basin has been disturbed by human activities with over one fifth of the forest being deforested since 1960.<p><a id="Languages" name="Languages"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Languages</span></h2>
<p>The most widely spoken language in the Amazon is <a href="../../wp/p/Portuguese_language.htm" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a>, followed closely by <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>. On the <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazilian">Brazilian</a> side Portuguese is spoken by at least 98% of the population, whilst in the Spanish-speaking countries there can still be found a large amount of speakers of Native American languages, though Spanish easily predominates.<p>There are hundreds of native languages still spoken in the Amazon, most of which are spoken by only a handful of people, and thus seriously endangered. One of the most widely spoken languages in the Amazon is <!--del_lnk--> Reengage, which is actually descended from the ancient <!--del_lnk--> Tupi language, originally spoken in coastal and central regions of Brazil, and brought to its present location along the <!--del_lnk--> Negro river by Brazilian colonizers, which until the mid-18th century used Tupi more than the official Portuguese to communicate. Other than modern Reengage, other languages of the Tupi Family are spoken there, along with other language families like <!--del_lnk--> Jê (with its important subbranch <!--del_lnk--> Jayapura spoken in the <!--del_lnk--> Xingu river region and others), <!--del_lnk--> Arawak, <!--del_lnk--> Karib, <!--del_lnk--> Arawá, <!--del_lnk--> Yanomamo, <!--del_lnk--> Matsés and others.<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
<p>Most people in the Amazon region live off <a href="../../wp/f/Fishing.htm" title="Fishing">fishing</a> and basic <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agriculture</a>, and especially in the southern part of the Brazilian side, cattle herding, which is extremely destructive of the forest. One important exception is the <!--del_lnk--> Zona Franca de Manaus (Free Zone of Manaus), created by the <!--del_lnk--> Brazilian government in the 1970s to implement light industries in the region, mostly electronics and motorcycles. Contrary to what might be believed, this light industrialization is very little polutive and actually, according to some environmentalists, has helped save the rainforest around <!--del_lnk--> Manaus by creating job opportunities and education, thus driving people away from the heavily damaging subsistance and <!--del_lnk--> slash-and-burn agriculture.<p><a id="External_links" name="External_links"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Basin"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amazon Rainforest</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Central_and_South_American_Geography.htm">Central & South American Geography</a></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15902.jpg.htm" title="River in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest"><img alt="River in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest" height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazon_Rainforest.jpg" src="../../images/159/15902.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15902.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/r/River.htm" title="River">River</a> in the <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazilian</a> <i><b>Amazon Rainforest</b></i></div>
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<p>The <b>Amazon Rainforest</b> (in <a href="../../wp/p/Portuguese_language.htm" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a>, <b>Floresta Amazônica</b> or <b>Amazônia</b> — and in <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>, <b>Selva Amazónica</b>) is a <!--del_lnk--> moist broadleaf forest in the <a href="../../wp/a/Amazon_Basin.htm" title="Amazon Basin">Amazon Basin</a> of <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a>. The area known as Amazonia or Amazon Basin encompasses 7 million km² (1.2 billion acres), though the forest itself occupies some 5.5 million km², located within eight <!--del_lnk--> nations: Brazil (with 60% of the rainforest), <a href="../../wp/c/Colombia.htm" title="Colombia">Colombia</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a>, <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela.htm" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Ecuador.htm" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Guyana.htm" title="Guyana">Guyana</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Suriname.htm" title="Suriname">Suriname</a>, as well as <a href="../../wp/f/French_Guiana.htm" title="French Guiana">French Guiana</a>. States or departments in four nations bear the name <!--del_lnk--> Amazonas for the Amazon. This forest represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests. Amazonian rainforests comprise the largest and most species rich tract of tropical rainforest that exists.<p>
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</script><a id="Etymology" name="Etymology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline"><!--del_lnk--> Etymology</span></h2>
<p>The name <i>Amazon</i> arises from a battle which <!--del_lnk--> Francisco de Orellana had with a tribe of <!--del_lnk--> Tapuyas where the women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was the custom among the entire tribe. Orellana derived the name Amazonas from the ancient <!--del_lnk--> Amazons of <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a> described by <a href="../../wp/h/Herodotus.htm" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus.<p><a id="Biodiversity" name="Biodiversity"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline"><a href="../../wp/b/Biodiversity.htm" title="Biodiversity">Biodiversity</a></span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15903.jpg.htm" title="The Amazon River flowing through the rainforest"><img alt="The Amazon River flowing through the rainforest" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazon_57.53278W_2.71207S.jpg" src="../../images/159/15903.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15903.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <a href="../../wp/a/Amazon_River.htm" title="Amazon River">Amazon River</a> flowing through the rainforest</div>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/136/13633.jpg.htm" title="Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest threatens many species of tree frogs, which are very sensitive to environmental changes (pictured: Red-eyed Tree Frog)"><img alt="Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest threatens many species of tree frogs, which are very sensitive to environmental changes (pictured: Red-eyed Tree Frog)" height="199" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Agalychnis_callidryas.jpg" src="../../images/159/15904.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/136/13633.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest threatens many species of tree frogs, which are very sensitive to environmental changes (pictured: <!--del_lnk--> Red-eyed Tree Frog)</div>
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<p>Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich <!--del_lnk--> biome, and tropical forests in the <!--del_lnk--> Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a>. As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled <a href="../../wp/b/Biodiversity.htm" title="Biodiversity">biodiversity</a>.<p>The region is home to about 2.5 million <a href="../../wp/i/Insect.htm" title="Insect">insect</a> <!--del_lnk--> species, tens of thousands of <a href="../../wp/p/Plant.htm" title="Plant">plants</a>, and some 2000 <a href="../../wp/b/Bird.htm" title="Bird">birds</a> and <a href="../../wp/m/Mammal.htm" title="Mammal">mammals</a>. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 427 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region . Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone .<p>The diversity of plant species is the highest on earth with some experts estimating that one square kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants . One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tons of living plants. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. One in five of all the birds in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon . To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or catalogued .<p><a id="Deforestation" name="Deforestation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Deforestation</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas. More than one fifth of the Amazon Rainforest has already been destroyed , and the forest which remains is threatened. In a span of just ten years between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 km² - an area twice the size of <a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portugal</a>, with most of the lost forest becoming pasture for cattle . In 1996, the Amazon was reported to have shown a 34% increase in deforestation since 1992. The mean annual deforestation rate from 2000 to 2005 (22,392 km² per year) was 18% higher than in the previous five years (19,018 km² per year).<p>In Brazil the <!--del_lnk--> Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - (National Institute of Space Research, or INPE) produces deforestation figures annually. Their deforestation estimates are derived from 100 to 220 images taken during the dry season in the Amazon by the <!--del_lnk--> Landsat satellite, and only consider the loss of the Amazon rainforest biome – not the loss of natural fields or savannah within the rainforest. According to INPE, the original Amazon rainforest biome in Brazil of 4,100,000 km² was reduced to 3,403,000 km² by 2005 – representing a loss of 17.1% .<p>A new report by a Brazilian congressional committee says the Amazon is vanishing at a rate of 52,000 square kilometers per year (20,000 miles² per year), over three times the rate for which the last official figures were reported in 1994, at this rate the Amazon rainforest will be gone by <!--del_lnk--> 2050.<p><a id="Carbon_dynamics" name="Carbon_dynamics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Carbon dynamics</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15905.jpg.htm" title="Aerial roots of red mangrove on an Amazonian river"><img alt="Aerial roots of red mangrove on an Amazonian river" height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Roots_by_cesarpb.jpg" src="../../images/159/15905.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15905.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Aerial roots of red mangrove on an Amazonian river</div>
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<p>Not only are environmentalists concerned about the loss of biodiversity which will result from destruction of the <a href="../../wp/f/Forest.htm" title="Forest">forest</a>, they are also concerned about the release of the <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon.htm" title="Carbon">carbon</a> contained within the <a href="../../wp/v/Vegetation.htm" title="Vegetation">vegetation</a>, which could accelerate <a href="../../wp/g/Global_warming.htm" title="Global warming">global warming</a>.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15906.jpg.htm" title="The many plants and scenery of the Amazon Rainforest"><img alt="The many plants and scenery of the Amazon Rainforest" height="167" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazon_Plants.jpg" src="../../images/159/15906.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15906.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The many plants and scenery of the Amazon Rainforest</div>
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<p>Amazonian evergreen forests account for about 10% of the world's terrestrial primary productivity and 10% of the carbon stores in ecosystems — of the order of 1.1 x 10<sup>11</sup> metric tonnes of carbon . Amazonian forests are estimated to have accumulated 0.62 ± 0.37 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year between 1975 and 1996 . Fires related to Amazonian deforestation have made Brazil one of the top <!--del_lnk--> greenhouse gas producers. Brazil produces about 300 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year; 200 million of these are come from logging and burning in the Amazon.<p><a id="Conservation" name="Conservation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Conservation</span></h2>
<p>Some environmentalists commonly state the fact that there is not only a biological incentive to protecting the rainforest, but also an economic one. One hectare in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to have a value of $6820 if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $1000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $148 if used as cattle pasture. However, the assumptions of this study have been widely challenged.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Força Aérea Brasileira has been using <!--del_lnk--> Embraer <!--del_lnk--> R-99 surveillance aircraft, as part of the <!--del_lnk--> SIVAM program, to monitor the forest. At a conference in <!--del_lnk--> July 2004, scientists warned that the rainforest will no longer be able to absorb the millions of tons of <!--del_lnk--> greenhouse gases annually, as it usually does, because of the increased pace of rainforest destruction. 9,169 square miles of rain forest were cut down in 2003 alone.<p>In <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> alone, more than 90 <!--del_lnk--> indigenous groups have been destroyed by <!--del_lnk--> colonists since the 1900s, and with them have gone centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of rainforest species. As indigenous territories continue to be destroyed by deforestation, and <!--del_lnk--> ecocide, such as in the <!--del_lnk--> Peruvian Amazon <!--del_lnk--> indigenous peoples' rainforest communities continue to disappear, while others, like the <!--del_lnk--> Urarina continue to struggle to fight for their cultural survival and the fate of their forested territories. Meanwhile, the relationship between nonhuman primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American peoples has gained increased attention, as has ethno-biology and community-based conservation efforts.<p><a id="Response_to_climate_change" name="Response_to_climate_change"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Response to climate change</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15907.jpg.htm" title="River in the Amazon rainforest."><img alt="River in the Amazon rainforest." height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:River_in_the_Amazon_rainforest.jpg" src="../../images/159/15907.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15907.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> River in the Amazon rainforest.</div>
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<p>There is evidence that there have been significant changes in Amazon rainforest vegetation over the last 21,000 years through the <!--del_lnk--> last glaciation (LGM) and subsequent deglaciation. Analyses of sediment deposits from Amazon basin paleolakes and from the Amazon Fan indicate that rainfall in the basin during the LGM was lower than for the present, and this was almost certainly associated with reduced moist tropical vegetation cover in the basin. There is debate, however, over how extensive this reduction was. Some scientists argue that the rainforest was reduced to small, isolated refugia separated by open forest and grassland; other scientists argue that the rainforest remained largely intact but extending less far to the North, South and East than is seen today . This debate has proved difficult to resolve because the practical limitations of working in the rainforest mean that data sampling is biased away from the centre of the Amazon basin, and both explanations are reasonably well supported by the available data.<p>One <!--del_lnk--> computer model of future <a href="../../wp/c/Climate_change.htm" title="Climate change">climate change</a> due to <!--del_lnk--> greenhouse gas emissions shows that the Amazon rainforest could become unsustainable under conditions of severely reduced rainfall and increased temperatures, leading to an almost complete loss of rainforest cover in the basin by 2100. However, simulations of Amazon basin climate change across many different models are not consistent in their estimation of any rainfall response, ranging from weak increases to strong decreases . The result indicates that the rainforest could be threatened though the 21st century by climate change in addition to deforestation.<p><a id="Impact_of_Amazon_drought" name="Impact_of_Amazon_drought"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Impact of Amazon drought</span></h3>
<p>In 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in 100 years, and there are indications that 2006 could be a second successive year of drought. A 23 July 2006 article in the UK newspaper <i><!--del_lnk--> The Independent</i> reported <!--del_lnk--> Woods Hole Research Centre results showing that the forest in its present form could survive only three years of drought. Scientists at the Brazilian <!--del_lnk--> National Institute of Amazonian Research argue in the article that this drought response, coupled with the effects of deforestation on regional climate, are pushing the rainforest towards a "<!--del_lnk--> tipping point" where it would irreversibly start to die. It concludes that the forest is on the brink of being turned into savanna or desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate. According to the <!--del_lnk--> WWF, the combination of climate change and deforestation increases the drying effect of dead trees that fuels forests fires.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Video</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Documentary: About Tristes Tropiques<li><!--del_lnk--> Documentary: War of Pacification in Amazonia</ul>
<p><a id="External_links" name="External_links"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Rainforest"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amazon River</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Central_and_South_American_Geography.htm">Central & South American Geography</a></h3>
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<th colspan="2" style="font-size: larger; background-color: #CEDEFF;">River Amazon</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="line-height: 1.2; border-bottom: 1px solid #CEDEFF;">
<div style="border: 1px solid #CEDEFF;"><!--del_lnk--> Image:Amazon river basin.png.jpg.epr</div>
<center>Map showing the course of the Amazon, selected tributaries, and the approximate extent of its drainage area</center>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Origin</b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Nevado Mismi</td>
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<td><b>Mouth</b></td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a></td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Basin countries</b></td>
<td><a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> (62.4%), <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> (16.3%)<br /><a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> (12.0%), <a href="../../wp/c/Colombia.htm" title="Colombia">Colombia</a> (6.3%)<br /><a href="../../wp/e/Ecuador.htm" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a> (2.1%)</td>
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<tr>
<td><b>Length</b></td>
<td>6,387 km (3,969 mi)</td>
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<tr style="white-space: nowrap;">
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Source elevation</b></td>
<td>5,597 m (18,360 ft)</td>
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<td><b>Avg. <!--del_lnk--> discharge</b></td>
<td>219,000 m³/s (7,740,000 ft³/s)</td>
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<td><b>Basin area</b></td>
<td>6,915,000 km² (2,670,000 mi²)</td>
</tr>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15908.jpg.htm" title="A satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon River, looking south"><img alt="A satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon River, looking south" height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazon-river-delta-NASA.jpg" src="../../images/159/15908.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15908.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon River, looking south</div>
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<p>The <b>Amazon River</b> or <b>River Amazon</b> (<a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>: <span lang="es" xml:lang="es"><i>Río Amazonas</i></span>; <a href="../../wp/p/Portuguese_language.htm" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a>: <span lang="pt" xml:lang="pt"><i>Rio Amazonas</i></span>) of <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a> has a greater total flow than the next six largest rivers combined. It is sometimes known as <i>The River Sea</i>. The Amazon is also regarded by most geographic authorities as the <!--del_lnk--> second longest <a href="../../wp/r/River.htm" title="River">river</a> on Earth, the longest being the <a href="../../wp/n/Nile.htm" title="Nile">Nile</a> in Africa.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> drainage area of the Amazon in Brazil, called the <a href="../../wp/a/Amazon_Basin.htm" title="Amazon Basin">Amazon Basin</a>, is the largest on Earth. If the Basin were an independent country, it would have more than twice the area of India.<p>The quantity of fresh water released by the Amazon to the <a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a> is enormous: up to 300,000 m³ per second in the rainy season. The Amazon is responsible for a fifth of the total volume of <a href="../../wp/f/Fresh_water.htm" title="Fresh water">fresh water</a> entering the oceans worldwide. It is said that offshore of the mouth of the Amazon <!--del_lnk--> potable water can be drawn from the ocean while still out of sight of the coastline, and the salinity of the ocean is notably lower a hundred miles out to sea. This mixture of fresh and salt water is known as <!--del_lnk--> brackish water.<p>This quantity of water causes the Amazon to have no clouds above the channel near its mouth, as shown in satellite images. These are usually taken in the morning, when water is colder and land is beginning to be much warmer. Above big rivers (the <!--del_lnk--> Orinoco and <!--del_lnk--> Caura rivers in Venezuela and many more have the same characteristic), cold waters create a high pressure air mass which make rivers easy to see through clouds. On the contrary, during afternoons, clouds cover most river channels.<p>The main river (which is between approximately one and six miles wide) is navigable for large ocean steamers to <!--del_lnk--> Manaus, 1,500 km (more than 900 miles) upriver from the mouth. Smaller ocean vessels of 3,000 tons and 5.5 m (18 ft) <!--del_lnk--> draft can reach as far as <!--del_lnk--> Iquitos, 3,600 km (2,250 miles) from the sea. Smaller riverboats can reach 780 km (486 mi) higher as far as <!--del_lnk--> Achual Point. Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the <!--del_lnk--> Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point.<p>The Amazon drains an area of some <!--del_lnk--> 6,915,000km² (2,722,000 mile²), or some 40 percent of South America. It gathers its waters from 5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees south <!--del_lnk--> latitude. Its most remote sources are found on the inter-<a href="../../wp/a/Andes.htm" title="Andes">Andean</a> plateau, just a short distance from the <a href="../../wp/p/Pacific_Ocean.htm" title="Pacific Ocean">Pacific Ocean</a>; and, after a course of about 6,400 km (4,000 mi) through the interior of <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> and across <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>, it enters the <a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a> at the <!--del_lnk--> equator.<p>The Amazon has changed its drainage several times, from westward in the early <!--del_lnk--> Cenozoic to its present eastward locomotion following the uplift of the <a href="../../wp/a/Andes.htm" title="Andes">Andes</a>.<p>
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</script><a id="Source_and_Upper_Amazon" name="Source_and_Upper_Amazon"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Amazonian Rainforest</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15902.jpg.htm" title="Amazon rainforest"><img alt="Amazon rainforest" height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazon_Rainforest.jpg" src="../../images/159/15902.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15902.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amazon rainforest</div>
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<p>From the east of the <a href="../../wp/a/Andes.htm" title="Andes">Andes</a>, the Amazon <a href="../../wp/r/Rainforest.htm" title="Rainforest">Rainforest</a> begins. It is the largest rainforest in the world and is of great <!--del_lnk--> ecological significance, as its biomass is capable of absorbing enormous amounts of <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon_dioxide.htm" title="Carbon dioxide">carbon dioxide</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Conservation of the Amazon Rainforest has been a major issue in recent years.<p>The rainforest is supported by the extremely wet climate of the Amazon basin. The Amazon, and its hundreds of tributaries, flow slowly across the landscape, with an extremely shallow gradient sending them towards the sea: <!--del_lnk--> Manaus, 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from the <!--del_lnk--> Atlantic, is only 44 m (144 ft) above sea level.<p>The <a href="../../wp/b/Biodiversity.htm" title="Biodiversity">biodiversity</a> within the rainforest is extraordinary: the region is home to at least 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals. One fifth of all the world's species of birds can be found in the Amazon rainforest.<p>The diversity of plant species in the Amazon basin is the highest on Earth. Some experts estimate that one square kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants. One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,000 tons of living plants.<p><a id="Flooding" name="Flooding"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Flooding</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15910.jpg.htm" title="A NASA satellite image of a flooded portion of the river."><img alt="A NASA satellite image of a flooded portion of the river." height="250" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazon-river-NASA.jpg" src="../../images/159/15910.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15910.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A <!--del_lnk--> NASA satellite image of a flooded portion of the river.</div>
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<p>The average depth of the river in the height of the rainy season is 40 m (120 ft) and the average width can be nearly twenty-five miles. It starts to rise in November, and increases in volume until June, then falls until the end of October. The rise of the Negro branch is not synchronous; the rainy season does not commence in its valley until February or March. By June it is full, and then it begins to fall with the Amazon. The Madeira rises and falls two months earlier than the Amazon.<p><a id="Towards_the_sea" name="Towards_the_sea"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Towards the sea</span></h2>
<p>The breadth of the Amazon in some places is as much as 6 to 10 km (4 to 6 mi) from one bank to the other. At some points, for long distances, the river divides into two main streams with inland and lateral <!--del_lnk--> channels, all connected by a complicated system of natural <a href="../../wp/c/Canal.htm" title="Canal">canals</a>, cutting the low, flat igapo lands, which are never more than 5 m (15 ft) above low river, into many islands.<p>At the narrows of <!--del_lnk--> Óbidos, 600 km (400 mi) from the sea, the Amazon narrows, flowing in a single streambed, a mile (1.6 km) wide and over 200 ft (60 m). deep, through which the water rushes toward the sea at the speed of 6 to 8 km/h (4 to 5 mph).<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/113/11317.jpg.htm" title="The Amazon near Manaus"><img alt="The Amazon near Manaus" height="182" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazon_near_Manaus.jpg" src="../../images/159/15911.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/113/11317.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Amazon near Manaus</div>
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<p>From the village of <!--del_lnk--> Canaria at the great bend of the Amazon to the Negro 1,000 km (600 mi) downstream, only very low land is found, resembling that at the mouth of the river. Vast areas of land in this region are submerged at high water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the sombre forests appear. Near the mouth of the Rio Negro to Serpa, nearly opposite the river Madeira, the banks of the Amazon are low, until approaching Manaus, they rise to become rolling hills. At Óbidos, a bluff 17 m (56 ft) above the river is backed by low hills. The lower Amazon seems to have once been a <!--del_lnk--> gulf of the <a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a>, the waters of which washed the cliffs near Óbidos.<p>Only about 10% of the water discharged by the Amazon enters the mighty stream downstream of Óbidos, very little of which is from the northern slope of the valley. The drainage area of the Amazon basin above Óbidos is about 5 million km² (2 million mile²), and, below, only about 1 million km² (400,000 mile²), or around 20%, exclusive of the 1.4 million km² (600,000 mile²) of the Tocantins basin.<p>In the lower reaches of the river, the north bank consists of a series of steep, table-topped <!--del_lnk--> hills extending for about 240 km (150 mi) from opposite the mouth of the Xingu as far as <!--del_lnk--> Monte Alegre. These hills are cut down to a kind of <!--del_lnk--> terrace which lies between them and the river.<p>Monte Alegre reaches an altitude of several hundred feet. On the south bank, above the Xingu, an almost-unbroken line of low <!--del_lnk--> bluffs bordering the flood-plain extends nearly to Santarem, in a series of gentle curves before they bend to the south-west, and, abutting upon the lower Tapajos, merge into the bluffs which form the terrace margin of the Tapajos river valley.<p><a id="Mouth_of_the_river" name="Mouth_of_the_river"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Mouth of the river</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15912.png.htm" title="Mouth of the Amazon River"><img alt="Mouth of the Amazon River" height="118" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Mouths_of_amazon_geocover_1990.png" src="../../images/159/15912.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15912.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Mouth of the Amazon River</div>
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<p>The width of the mouth of the river is usually measured from <!--del_lnk--> Cabo do Norte to <!--del_lnk--> Punto Patijoca, a distance of some 330 km (207 mi); but this includes the ocean outlet, 60 km (40 mi) wide, of the Para river, which should be deducted, as this stream is only the lower reach of the Tocantins. It also includes the ocean frontage of <!--del_lnk--> Marajó, an island about the size of <a href="../../wp/d/Denmark.htm" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> lying in the mouth of the Amazon.<p><a id="Tidal_bore" name="Tidal_bore"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Tidal bore</span></h2>
<p>Following the coast, a little to the north of Cabo do Norte, and for 160 km (100 miles) along its Guiana margin up the Amazon, is a belt of half-submerged islands and shallow sandbanks. Here the tidal phenomenon called the <!--del_lnk--> bore, or <i><!--del_lnk--> pororoca</i>, occurs, where the depths are not over 4 <!--del_lnk--> fathoms (7 m). The tidal bore starts with a roar, constantly increasing, and advances at the rate of from 15 to 25 km/h (10 to 15 mph), with a breaking wall of water from 1.5 to 4 m (5 to 12 ft) high. The bore is the reason the Amazon does not have a <!--del_lnk--> delta; the ocean rapidly carries away the vast volume of <!--del_lnk--> silt carried by the Amazon, making it impossible for a delta to grow. It also has a very large tide sometimes reaching 20 feet.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15913.jpg.htm" title="Amazon River at Dawn"><img alt="Amazon River at Dawn" height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Riverguama1.jpg" src="../../images/159/15913.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15913.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amazon River at Dawn</div>
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<p><a id="Wildlife" name="Wildlife"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Wildlife</span></h2>
<p>The waters of the Amazon support a diverse range of wildlife. Along with the <!--del_lnk--> Orinoco, the river is one of the main habitats of the <!--del_lnk--> Boto, also known as the Amazon River Dolphin. The largest species of river dolphin, it can grow to lengths of up to 2.6 m.<p>Also present in large numbers are the notorious <!--del_lnk--> Piranha, carnivorous fish which congregate in large schools, and may attack livestock and even humans. Although many experts believe their reputation for ferocity is unwarranted, a school of piranha was apparently responsible for the deaths of up to 300 people when their boat capsized near <!--del_lnk--> Óbidos in 1981. However, only a few species attack humans, and many are solely fish-eaters, and do not school.<p>The <a href="../../wp/a/Anaconda.htm" title="Anaconda">Anaconda</a> snake is found in shallow waters in the Amazon basin. One of the world's largest species of snake, the Anaconda spends most of its time in the water, with just its nostrils above the surface. Anacondas have been known to occasionally attack fishermen.<p>The river also supports thousands of species of fish, as well as crabs and turtles.<p><a id="European_exploration" name="European_exploration"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">European exploration</span></h2>
<p>The first descent by a European of the Amazon from the <a href="../../wp/a/Andes.htm" title="Andes">Andes</a> to the sea was made by <!--del_lnk--> Francisco de Orellana in 1541.<p>The first ascent by a European of the river was made in 1638 by <!--del_lnk--> Pedro Teixeira, a <a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portuguese</a>, who reversed the route of Orellana and reached <a href="../../wp/q/Quito.htm" title="Quito">Quito</a> by way of the <!--del_lnk--> Napo River. He returned in 1639 with the two <!--del_lnk--> Jesuit fathers <!--del_lnk--> Acuña and <!--del_lnk--> Artieda, who had been delegated by the viceroy of <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> to accompany Texeira.<p><a id="Name" name="Name"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Name</span></h2>
<p>Before the conquest of South America, the <i>Rio Amazonas</i> had no general name; instead, indigenous peoples had names for the sections of the river they occupied, such as <!--del_lnk--> Paranaguazu, <!--del_lnk--> Guyerma, <!--del_lnk--> Solimões and others.<p>In the year 1500, <!--del_lnk--> Vicente Yañez Pinzon, in command of a <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spanish</a> expedition, became the first European to explore the river, exploring its mouth when he discovered that the ocean off the shore was fresh water. Pinzon called the river the <i>Rio Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce</i>, which soon became abbreviated to Mar Dulce, and for some years, after 1502, it was known as the Rio Grande.<p>Pinzon's companions called the river <i>El Río Marañón</i>. The word Marañón is thought by some to be of indigenous origin. This idea was first stated in a letter from <!--del_lnk--> Peter Martyr to <!--del_lnk--> Lope Hurtado de Mendoza in 1513. However, the word may also be derived from the <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a> word <i>"maraña"</i> — meaning a tangle, a snarl, which well represents the bewildering difficulties which the earlier explorers met in navigating not only the entrance to the Amazon, but the whole island-bordered, river-cut and indented coast of what is now the Brazilian state of <!--del_lnk--> Maranhão.<p>The name <i>Amazon</i> arises from a battle which <!--del_lnk--> Francisco de Orellana had with a tribe of <!--del_lnk--> Tapuyas where the women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was the custom among the entire tribe. Orellana derived the name Amazonas from the ancient <!--del_lnk--> Amazons of <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a> described by <a href="../../wp/h/Herodotus.htm" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus.<p><a id="The_Colonial_Encounter_.26_Amazonia" name="The_Colonial_Encounter_.26_Amazonia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The Colonial Encounter & Amazonia</span></h2>
<p>During what many <!--del_lnk--> archaeologists call the <i>formative period</i>, Amazonian societies were deeply implicated in the emergence of South America's highland <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agrarian</a> systems, and possibly contributed directly to the social and religious fabric constitutive of the <!--del_lnk--> Andean civilizational orders<!--del_lnk--> .<p>For 350 years after the European <i>discovery</i> of the mighty Amazon by Pinzon, the Portuguese portion of the basin remained a virtually undisturbed <i>wilderness</i>, occupied by <!--del_lnk--> Indigenous peoples. While there is ample evidence for large-scale, pre-Columbian social formations, including <!--del_lnk--> chiefdoms, in many areas of Amazonia (particularly the inter-fluvial regions) the former indigenous inhabitants probably had relatively low population densities.<p>In what is currently <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Ecuador.htm" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Colombia.htm" title="Colombia">Colombia</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a>, and <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela.htm" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a> a number of <!--del_lnk--> colonial and <!--del_lnk--> religious settlements were established along the banks of primary rivers and tributaries for the purpose of trade, slaving and evangelization among the putatively <!--del_lnk--> savage <!--del_lnk--> indigenous peoples of the vast rain forest.<p>The total population of the Brazilian portion of the Amazon basin in 1850 was perhaps 300,000, of whom about two-thirds comprised by Europeans and slaves, the slaves amounting to about 25,000. In Brazil, the principal commercial city, <!--del_lnk--> Para, had from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, including slaves. The town of Manáos, now <!--del_lnk--> Manaus, at the mouth of the Rio Negro, had from 1,000 to 1,500 population. All the remaining villages, as far up as <!--del_lnk--> Tabatinga, on the Brazilian frontier of Peru, were relatively small.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> September 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1850, the emperor, <!--del_lnk--> Dom Pedro II, sanctioned a law authorizing steam navigation on the Amazon, and gave Barão de Mauá (<!--del_lnk--> Irineu Evangilista de Sousa) the task of putting it into effect. He organized the "Compania de Navigacao e Commercio do Amazonas" at Rio de Janeiro in 1852; and in the following year it commenced operations with three small steamers, the <i>Monarch</i>, the <i>Marajó</i> and <i>Rio Negro</i>.<p>At first, navigation was principally confined to the main river; and even in 1857 a modification of the government contract only obliged the company to a monthly service between Pará and Manaus, with steamers of 200 tons cargo capacity, a second line to make six round voyages a year between Manaus and Tabatinga, and a third, two trips a month between Para and Cameta. This was the first step in opening up the vast interior.<p>The success of the venture called attention to the opportunities for economic exploitation of the Amazon, and a second company soon opened commerce on the Madeira, Purus and Negro; a third established a line between Pará and Manaus; and a fourth found it profitable to navigate some of the smaller streams. In that same period, the Amazonas Company was increasing its fleet. Meanwhile, private individuals were building and running small steam craft of their own on the main river as well as on many of its tributaries.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> July 31, 1867 the government of Brazil, constantly pressed by the maritime powers and by the countries encircling the <!--del_lnk--> upper Amazon basin, especially <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a>, decreed the opening of the Amazon to all flags; but limited this to certain defined points: Tabatinga—on the Amazon; Cameta—on the Tocantins; Santarem—on the Tapajos; Borba—on the Madeira and Manáos—on the Rio Negro. The Brazilian decree took effect on <!--del_lnk--> September 7, 1867.<p>Thanks in part to the <!--del_lnk--> mercantile development associated with <!--del_lnk--> steam boat navigation, coupled with the internationaly driven demand for natural <!--del_lnk--> rubber (1880-1920), Manáos (now Manaus), Para (<!--del_lnk--> Brasil), and <!--del_lnk--> Iquitos, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> became thriving, cosmopolitan centers of commerce and spectular--albeit illusory--<i>modern</i> "urban growth". This was particularly the case for <!--del_lnk--> Iquitos during its late 19th and early 20th century <i>Rubber Bonanza</i> zenith when this dynamic boom-town was known abroad as the <!--del_lnk--> St. Louis of the Amazon.<p>The first direct foreign trade with Manáos was commenced about 1874. Local trade along the river was carried on by the English successors to the Amazonas Company—the Amazon Steam Navigation Company—as well as numerous small <!--del_lnk--> steamboats, belonging to companies and firms engaged in the rubber trade, navigating the Negro, Madeira, Purfis and many other tributaries, such as the Marañón to ports as distant as <!--del_lnk--> Nauta, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a>.<p>By the turn of the 20th century, the principal exports of the Amazon Basin were <!--del_lnk--> india-rubber, <!--del_lnk--> cacao, <!--del_lnk--> Brazil nuts and a few other products of minor importance, such as <!--del_lnk--> pelts and <i>exotic</i> forest produce (<!--del_lnk--> resins, barks, woven <!--del_lnk--> hammocks, prized bird <!--del_lnk--> feathers, live <!--del_lnk--> animals, etc.) and extracted goods (<!--del_lnk--> lumber, <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>, etc.).<p><a name="20th_century_concerns"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">20th century concerns</span></h2>
<p>Four centuries after the European discovery of the Amazon river, the total cultivated area in its basin was probably less than 25 square miles (65 km²), excluding the limited and rudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its extreme headwaters. This situation changed dramatically during the 20th century.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15914.jpg.htm" title="Manaus, the largest city on the Amazon, as seen from a NASA satellite image, surrounded by the muddy Amazon River and the dark Negro River."><img alt="Manaus, the largest city on the Amazon, as seen from a NASA satellite image, surrounded by the muddy Amazon River and the dark Negro River." height="250" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Manaus-Amazon-NASA.jpg" src="../../images/159/15914.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15914.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Manaus, the largest city on the Amazon, as seen from a <!--del_lnk--> NASA satellite image, surrounded by the muddy Amazon River and the dark <!--del_lnk--> Negro River.</div>
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<p>Wary of foreign exploitation of the nation's resources, Brazilian governments in the 1940s set out to develop the interior, away from the seaboard where foreigners owned large tracts of land. The original architect of this expansion was President <!--del_lnk--> Getúlio Vargas, the demand for rubber from the Allied forces in <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a> providing funding for the drive.<p>The construction of the new capital <!--del_lnk--> Brasilia in the interior in 1960 also contributed to the opening up of the Amazon basin. A large scale colonization program saw families from north-eastern Brazil relocated to the forests, encouraged by promises of cheap land. Many settlements grew along the road from Brasilia to <!--del_lnk--> Belém, but rainforest soil proved difficult to cultivate.<p>Still, long-term development plans continued. Roads were cut through the forests, and in 1970, the work on Trans-Amazon highway network began. The network's three pioneering highways were completed within ten years, connecting all the major cities of the Brazilian Amazon interior.<p>Cattle farming became a major impetus in <!--del_lnk--> deforestation, with military governments in the 1960s and 1970s heavily subsidising the creation of large ranches. By the 1980s the rate of destruction of the rainforest was dizzying, and it is estimated that over a fifth of the total area of the rainforest has now been <!--del_lnk--> clearcut. The preservation of the remaining forest is becoming an ever more prominent concern.<p><a id="Major_tributaries" name="Major_tributaries"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Major tributaries</span></h2>
<p>The Amazon has over 1,000 <!--del_lnk--> tributaries in total. Some of the more notable:<table>
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<li><!--del_lnk--> Branco<li><!--del_lnk--> Casiquiare canal<li><!--del_lnk--> Huallaga<li><!--del_lnk--> Içá (or Putumayo)<li><!--del_lnk--> Javary<li><!--del_lnk--> Jurua<li><!--del_lnk--> Madeira<li><!--del_lnk--> Marañón<li><!--del_lnk--> Morona<li><!--del_lnk--> Nanay<li><!--del_lnk--> Napo</ul>
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<li><!--del_lnk--> Negro<li><!--del_lnk--> Pastaza<li><!--del_lnk--> Purus<li><!--del_lnk--> Tambo<li><!--del_lnk--> Tapajós<li><!--del_lnk--> Tigre<li><!--del_lnk--> Tocantins<li><!--del_lnk--> Trombetas<li><!--del_lnk--> Ucayali<li><!--del_lnk--> Xingu<li><!--del_lnk--> Yapura</ul>
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<p><a id="Longest_rivers_in_the_Amazon_system" name="Longest_rivers_in_the_Amazon_system"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Longest rivers in the Amazon system</span></h2>
<ol>
<li>6,387 km - <strong class="selflink">Amazon</strong>, <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a><li>3,379 km - <!--del_lnk--> Purus, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> / <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>, (2,948 km) (3,210 km)<li>3,239 km - <!--del_lnk--> Madeira, <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> / <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a><li>2,820 km - <!--del_lnk--> Yapura, <a href="../../wp/c/Colombia.htm" title="Colombia">Colombia</a> / <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a><li>2,750 km - <!--del_lnk--> Tocantins, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>, (2,416 km) (2,640 km)<li>2,575 km - <!--del_lnk--> Araguaia, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> (tributary of Tocantins)<li>2,410 km - <!--del_lnk--> Juruá, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> / <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a><li>2,250 km - <!--del_lnk--> Negro, <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a><li>2,100 km - <!--del_lnk--> Xingu, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a><li>1,900 km - <!--del_lnk--> Tapajós, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a><li>1,749 km - <!--del_lnk--> Guaporé, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> / <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> (tributary of Madeira)<li>1,575 km - <!--del_lnk--> Içá (Putumayo), <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a><li>1,415 km - <!--del_lnk--> Marañón, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a><li>1,300 km - <!--del_lnk--> Iriri, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> (tributary of Xingu)<li>1,240 km - <!--del_lnk--> Juruena, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> (tributary of Tapajós)<li>1,200 km - <!--del_lnk--> Tapajós, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a><li>1,130 km - <!--del_lnk--> Madre de Dios, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> / <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> (tributary of Madeira)<li>1,100 km - <!--del_lnk--> Huallaga, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> (tributary of <!--del_lnk--> Marañón)</ol>
<p><a id="Trivia" name="Trivia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trivia</span></h2>
<p>According to a recent study , the Amazon flowed backwards about 100 million years ago.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River"</div>
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Amazon_parrot | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amazon parrot</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Birds.htm">Birds</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><b>Amazon parrots</b></th>
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<tr style="text-align:center;">
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/1/187.jpg.htm" title="Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata)"><img alt="Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata)" height="288" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amazona_vitatta.jpg" src="../../images/1/187.jpg" width="220" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align:center"><small><!--del_lnk--> Puerto Rican Parrot (<i>Amazona vittata</i>)</small></div>
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<tr style="text-align:center;">
<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<tr style="text-align:center;">
<td>
<table cellpadding="2" style="margin:0 auto; text-align:left; background:white;">
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Chordate.htm" title="Chordate">Chordata</a><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/b/Bird.htm" title="Bird">Aves</a><br />
</td>
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<tr valign="top">
<td>Order:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Psittaciformes<br />
</td>
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<tr valign="top">
<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Psittacidae<br />
</td>
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<tr valign="top">
<td>Subfamily:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Arinae<br />
</td>
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<tr valign="top">
<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><b>Amazona</b></i><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Lesson, 1830</small></td>
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<tr bgcolor="pink">
<th>
<center>Species</center>
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<td style="padding: 0 .5em;">
<p>Many, see text.</td>
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<p>An <b>Amazon parrot</b> is a large <a href="../../wp/p/Parrot.htm" title="Parrot">parrot</a> of the <!--del_lnk--> genus <i><b>Amazona</b></i> native to the <!--del_lnk--> New World ranging from <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a> to <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> Caribbean.<p>Most amazons are predominantly green, with accenting colors that depend on the species and can be quite vivid. Amazons, like all parrots, are <!--del_lnk--> zygodactyl, having four toes on each foot—two front and two back. They feed primarily on nuts and fruits, supplemented by leafy matter.<p>Several amazon species are commonly kept as <!--del_lnk--> companion animals, including the <!--del_lnk--> Yellow-headed Parrot, <!--del_lnk--> Yellow-naped Parrot, and <!--del_lnk--> Blue-fronted Parrot.<p>Amazons are known for their exceptional vocal abilities, playfulness, and dexterity with their feet. They are very loyal, loving companions; having them is somewhat like having a two-year-old-human child in ability and temperament for 50-plus years. However, some amazons are aggressive (usually during their mating time), and they all require a lot of attention when kept as pets. Parrots require more attention and care than domesticated pets such as dogs or cats, and are not for the inexperienced bird owner. All parrots need a lot of stimulating activities to keep from being bored and terribly destructive to themselves and their surroundings. In particular, since Amazons are cavity nesters in the wild, their desire to chew wood is strong, and they need to be provided with destructible toys to satisfy this innate urge.<p>
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</script><a id="Classification" name="Classification"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Classification</span></h2>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> White-fronted Parrot, <i>A. albifrons</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Blue-fronted Parrot, <i>A. aestiva</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Black-billed Parrot, <i>A. agilis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Orange-winged Parrot, <i>A. amazonica</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Red-necked Parrot, <i>A. arausiaca</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-naped Parrot, <i>A. auropalliata</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Red-lored Parrot, <i>A. autumnalis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-shouldered Parrot, <i>A. barbadensis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Red-tailed Parrot, <i>A. brasiliensis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-billed Parrot, <i>A. collaria</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Blue-cheeked Parrot, <i>A. dufresniana</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Mealy Parrot, <i>A. farinosa</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Festive Parrot, <i>A. festiva</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Lilac-crowned Parrot, <i>A. finschi</i><li><!--del_lnk--> St. Vincent Parrot, <i>A. guildingii</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Imperial Parrot, <i>A. imperialis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Kawall's Parrot, <i>A. kawalli</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Cuban Parrot, <i>A. leucocephala</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Scaly-naped Parrot, <i>A. mercenaria</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-crowned Parrot, <i>A. ochrocephala</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-headed Parrot, <i>A. oratrix</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Red-spectacled Parrot, <i>A. pretrei</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Red-browed Parrot, <i>A. rhodocorytha</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Tucuman Parrot, <i>A. tucumana</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Hispaniolan Parrot, <i>A. ventralis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> St. Lucia Parrot, <i>A. versicolor</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Vinaceous Parrot, <i>A. vinacea</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Red-crowned Parrot, <i>A. viridigenalis</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Puerto Rican Parrot, <i>A. vittata</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-lored Parrot, <i>A. xantholora</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Martinique Parrot, <i>A. martinicana</i> (extinct)<li><!--del_lnk--> Guadeloupe Parrot, <i>A. violacea</i> (extinct)</ul>
<p>The following species was originally placed within this genus, however, recent research suggests that it belongs to its own separate genus <i>Salvatoria</i>:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-faced Parrot, <i>Salvatoria xanthops</i></ul>
<p>The <i>Amazona ochrocephala</i> species historically contained many sub-species, such as <i>auropalliata</i> and <i>oratrix</i>. However, new <!--del_lnk--> taxonomic classification puts those in their own species.<p><a id="Gallery" name="Gallery"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Gallery</span></h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="gallery">
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<div class="thumb" style="padding: 13px 0;"><a href="../../images/1/188.jpg.htm" title="Image:Buberel green parrot.jpg"><img alt="" height="120" src="../../images/1/188.jpg" width="80" /></a></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p><!--del_lnk--> Yellow-headed Parrot (<i>Amazona oratrix</i>)</div>
</div>
</td>
<td>
<div class="gallerybox">
<div class="thumb" style="padding: 13px 0;"><a href="../../images/1/189.jpg.htm" title="Image:Stavenn Amazona leucocephala 00.jpg"><img alt="" height="120" src="../../images/1/189.jpg" width="90" /></a></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p><!--del_lnk--> Cuban Parrot (<i>Amazona leucocephala</i>)</div>
</div>
</td>
<td>
<div class="gallerybox">
<div class="thumb" style="padding: 13px 0;"><a href="../../images/1/190.jpg.htm" title="Image:Stavenn Amazona albifrons 00.jpg"><img alt="" height="120" src="../../images/1/190.jpg" width="90" /></a></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p><!--del_lnk--> White-fronted Parrot (<i>Amazona albifrons</i>)</div>
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<div class="gallerybox">
<div class="gallerytext">
<p><!--del_lnk--> Blue-fronted Parrot (<i>Amazona aestiva</i>)</div>
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<div class="thumb" style="padding: 28px 0;"><a href="../../images/1/192.jpg.htm" title="Image:BxZ Amazona guildingii 00.jpg"><img alt="" height="90" src="../../images/1/192.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> St. Vincent Parrot (<i>Amazona guildingii</i>)</div>
</div>
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<div class="thumb" style="padding: 13px 0;"><a href="../../images/1/193.jpg.htm" title="Image:Charlie White-fronted Amazon Parrot Redvers.jpg"><img alt="" height="119" src="../../images/1/193.jpg" width="75" /></a></div>
<div class="gallerytext">
<p>Male <!--del_lnk--> White-fronted Parrot (<i>Amazona albifrons</i>)</div>
</div>
</td>
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<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_parrot"</div>
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| ['Scientific classification', 'Animal', 'Chordate', 'Bird', 'Parrot', 'South America', 'Mexico'] |
Amber | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Mineralogy.htm">Mineralogy</a></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/194.jpg.htm" title="Amber pendants. The oval pendant is 52 by 32 mm (2 by 1.3 inches)."><img alt="Amber pendants. The oval pendant is 52 by 32 mm (2 by 1.3 inches)." height="187" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amber.pendants.800pix.050203.jpg" src="../../images/1/194.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/194.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amber pendants. The oval pendant is 52 by 32 mm (2 by 1.3 inches).</div>
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<p><b>Amber</b> is a <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a> <!--del_lnk--> resin much used for the manufacture of ornamental objects. Although not mineralized it is sometimes considered and used as a <!--del_lnk--> gemstone. Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30–90 million years old. Semi-fossilized resin or sub-fossil amber is called <!--del_lnk--> copal.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>The English name comes from the <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> عنبر, <i>ʻanbar</i>, probably through <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a> , but this word referred originally to <!--del_lnk--> ambergris, which is an animal substance quite distinct from yellow amber. True amber has sometimes been called <i>kahroba</i>, a word of <!--del_lnk--> Persian derivation signifying "that which attracts straw", in allusion to the power which amber possesses of acquiring an electric charge by friction. This property, first recorded by <!--del_lnk--> Thales of Miletus, suggested the word "<a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">electricity</a>", from the <!--del_lnk--> Greek, <i><!--del_lnk--> elektron</i>, a name applied, however, not only to amber but also to an <!--del_lnk--> alloy of <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Silver.htm" title="Silver">silver</a>. By <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> writers amber is variously called <i><!--del_lnk--> electrum</i>, <i>sucinum</i> (<i>succinum</i>), and <i>glaesum</i> or <i>glesum</i>. The <a href="../../wp/h/Hebrew_language.htm" title="Hebrew language">Old Hebrew</a> חשמל <i>hashmal</i> seems to have meant amber, although Modern Hebrew uses Arabic-inspired ענבר <i>`inbar</i> while חשמל <i>hashmal</i> means electricity.<p>The <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a> word is <i>Bernstein</i> ("burn stone"), which comes from the <!--del_lnk--> Middle Low German <i>bernen</i> which means <i>burning</i>, this word is a cognate to Dutch <i>barnsteen</i>. This is likely related to the fact that amber can, indeed, burn. The <!--del_lnk--> Polish <i>bursztyn</i> was derived from the German word (like <!--del_lnk--> burmistrz or <!--del_lnk--> rotmistrz).<p>Amber, which has no primitive uses, has been found at <!--del_lnk--> Neolithic sites far from its source on the shores of the <!--del_lnk--> Baltic sea, mute witness, like <!--del_lnk--> obsidian, to long-distance trade routes established before the <a href="../../wp/b/Bronze_Age.htm" title="Bronze Age">Bronze Age</a>. There is strong evidence for the theory that the Baltic coasts during the advanced civilization of the <!--del_lnk--> Nordic Bronze Age was the source of most amber in Europe, for example the amber jewelry found in graves from <!--del_lnk--> Mycenaean Greece has been found to originate from the Baltic Sea, specifically from the Samland area. Amber was mentioned by <a href="../../wp/h/Homer.htm" title="Homer">Homer</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Hesiod (<i><!--del_lnk--> Theogony</i> 337f.) <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Plato.htm" title="Plato">Plato</a> and others. <!--del_lnk--> Pliny the Elder complains that a small statue of amber costs more than a healthy slave. <!--del_lnk--> Tacitus in his <i><!--del_lnk--> Germania</i> talks about the <!--del_lnk--> Aesti people as the only ones to gather amber from the <a href="../../wp/b/Baltic_Sea.htm" title="Baltic Sea">Baltic Sea</a> and who call it glaes (the -um ending is the latinised version).<p>Since the 13th century craftsmen <i>Paternostermacher</i> also called <i>Bernsteindreher</i> guilds are recorded in the <!--del_lnk--> Hanseatic cities, such as <!--del_lnk--> Lübeck, Danzig (<!--del_lnk--> Gdańsk), Elbing (<!--del_lnk--> Elbląg) and Stolp (<!--del_lnk--> Słupsk). Daniel Barholz, the city notary of Elbing, recorded in 1646, that the city council has in its employment <i>Bernsteindreher</i> (translation: amber turners).<p>During the 15th century, the <!--del_lnk--> Teutonic Knights controlled the production of amber in Europe, forbidding its unauthorised collection from beaches on the Baltic coastline under their jurisdiction, and punishing breakers of this ordinance with death. The Teutonic Order transported amber from Prussian Samland (<!--del_lnk--> Sambia) coast to the other cities, to be worked on by these special craftsmen.<p>The Paternostermacher (translation: Lord's Prayer (bead) makers) were represented in <i>Paternostermacherämter</i> (Guild Halls). These craftsmen also created the legendary <!--del_lnk--> Bernsteinzimmer (Amber Room) which was donated to Russian Tsar Peter the Great in 1716.<p>One can still go all along the Baltic Sea coastline of Germany (and since 1919 also Poland) and fish for amber with a net, the way it used to be fished for many centuries. In the <i>Deutsches Bernstein Museum</i> (German Amber Museum) at <!--del_lnk--> Ribnitz-Damgarten one can watch the <i>Bernsteindreher</i> at work, as well as try doing some of the polishing.<p><a id="Composition" name="Composition"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Composition</span></h2>
<p>Amber is <!--del_lnk--> heterogeneous in composition, but consists of several <!--del_lnk--> resinous bodies more or less soluble in <a href="../../wp/e/Ethanol.htm" title="Ethanol">alcohol</a>, <!--del_lnk--> ether and <!--del_lnk--> chloroform, associated with an insoluble <!--del_lnk--> bituminous substance. Amber is a <!--del_lnk--> macromolecule by free <!--del_lnk--> radical polymerization of several precursors in the labdane family, communic acid, cummunol and biformene . Labdanes are tetrameric <!--del_lnk--> terpenes (C<sub>20</sub>H<sub>32</sub>) and trienes which means that the organic skeleton has three <!--del_lnk--> alkene groups available for <!--del_lnk--> polymerization. As amber matures over the years, more polymerization will take place as well as <!--del_lnk--> isomerization reactions, <!--del_lnk--> crosslinking and cyclization. The average composition of amber leads to the general formula <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon.htm" title="Carbon">C</a><sub>10</sub><a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">H</a><sub>16</sub><a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">O</a>.<p>Heating amber will soften it and eventually it will burn, which is why the <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a> word for amber is <i>bernstein</i>. Heated rather below 200°C, amber suffers decomposition, yielding an "oil of amber", and leaving a black residue which is known as "amber colophony", or "amber pitch"; when dissolved in oil of <!--del_lnk--> turpentine or in <!--del_lnk--> linseed oil this forms "amber varnish" or "amber lac".<p>True amber yields on dry distillation <!--del_lnk--> succinic acid, the proportion varying from about 3 to 8%, and being greatest in the pale opaque or <i>bony</i> varieties. The aromatic and irritating fumes emitted by burning amber are mainly due to this acid. True Baltic amber is distinguished by its yield of succinic acid, for many of the other fossil resins which are often termed amber contain either none of it, or only a very small proportion; hence the name <i>succinite</i> proposed by Professor <!--del_lnk--> James Dwight Dana, and now commonly used in scientific writings as a specific term for the real Prussian amber. Succinite has a hardness between 2 and 3, which is rather greater than that of many other fossil resins. Its specific gravity varies from 1.05 to 1.10. An effective tool for Amber analysis is <!--del_lnk--> IR spectroscopy. It enables the distinction between baltic amber and non-Baltic varieties because of a specific <!--del_lnk--> carbonyl absorption and it can also detect the relative age of an amber sample.<p><a id="Amber_in_Geology" name="Amber_in_Geology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Amber in Geology</span></h2>
<p>The Baltic amber or succinite (historically documented as Prussian amber) is found as irregular nodules in a marine glauconitic sand, known as <i>blue earth,</i> occurring in the Lower <a href="../../wp/o/Oligocene.htm" title="Oligocene">Oligocene</a> strata of <!--del_lnk--> Sambia in <!--del_lnk--> Kaliningrad Oblast, where it is now systematically mined . It appears, however, to have been partly derived from yet earlier <!--del_lnk--> Tertiary deposits (<a href="../../wp/e/Eocene.htm" title="Eocene">Eocene</a>); and it occurs also as a derivative <a href="../../wp/m/Mineral.htm" title="Mineral">mineral</a> in later formations, such as the drift. Relics of an abundant flora occur as inclusions trapped within the amber while the resin was yet fresh, suggesting relations with the flora of Eastern <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a> and the southern part of <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a>. Heinrich Göppert named the common amber-yielding pine of the Baltic forests <i>Pinites succiniter</i>, but as the wood, according to some authorities, does not seem to differ from that of the existing genus it has been also called <i>Pinius succinifera</i>. It is improbable, however, that the production of amber was limited to a single species; and indeed a large number of conifers belonging to different genera are represented in the amber-flora.<p><a id="Amber_inclusions" name="Amber_inclusions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Amber inclusions</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/195.jpg.htm" title="An insect trapped in amber. The amber piece is 10 mm (0.4 inches) long. In the enlarged picture, the insect's antennae are easily seen."><img alt="An insect trapped in amber. The amber piece is 10 mm (0.4 inches) long. In the enlarged picture, the insect's antennae are easily seen." height="112" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amber.insect.800pix.050203.jpg" src="../../images/1/195.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/195.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An insect trapped in amber. The amber piece is 10 mm (0.4 inches) long. In the enlarged picture, the insect's antennae are easily seen.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The resin contains, in addition to the beautifully preserved plant-structures, numerous remains of insects, spiders, annelids, crustaceans and other small organisms which became enveloped while the exudation was fluid. In most cases the organic structure has disappeared, leaving only a cavity, with perhaps a trace of <!--del_lnk--> chitin. Even hair and feathers have occasionally been represented among the enclosures. Fragments of wood frequently occur, with the tissues well-preserved by impregnation with the resin; while leaves, flowers and fruits are occasionally found in marvelous perfection. Sometimes the amber retains the form of drops and stalactites, just as it exuded from the ducts and receptacles of the injured trees. The abnormal development of resin has been called <i>succinosis</i>. Impurities are quite often present, especially when the resin dropped on to the ground, so that the material may be useless except for varnish-making, whence the impure amber is called <i>firniss</i>. Enclosures of <!--del_lnk--> pyrites may give a bluish colour to amber. The so-called <i>black amber</i> is only a kind of <!--del_lnk--> jet. <i>Bony amber</i> owes its cloudy opacity to minute bubbles in the interior of the resin. In the <a href="../../wp/d/Dominican_Republic.htm" title="Dominican Republic">Dominican Republic</a> exists a type of amber known as the <!--del_lnk--> blue amber.<p><a id="Locations_and_utilization" name="Locations_and_utilization"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Locations and utilization</span></h2>
<p>Although amber is found along the shores of a large part of the <a href="../../wp/b/Baltic_Sea.htm" title="Baltic Sea">Baltic Sea</a> and the <a href="../../wp/n/North_Sea.htm" title="North Sea">North Sea</a>, the great amber-producing country is the promontory of <!--del_lnk--> Sambia, now part of <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a>. Pieces of amber torn from the sea-floor are cast up by the waves, and collected at ebb-tide. Sometimes the searchers wade into the sea, furnished with nets at the end of long poles, by means of which they drag in the sea-weed containing entangled masses of amber; or they dredge from boats in shallow water and rake up amber from between the boulders. Divers have been employed to collect amber from the deeper waters. Systematic dredging on a large scale was at one time carried on in the <!--del_lnk--> Curonian Lagoon by Messrs Stantien and Becker, the great amber merchants of <!--del_lnk--> Königsberg. At the present time extensive mining operations are conducted in quest of amber. The <i>pit amber</i> was formerly dug in open works, but is now also worked by underground galleries. The nodules from the <i>blue earth</i> have to be freed from matrix and divested of their opaque crust, which can be done in revolving barrels containing sand and water. The sea-worn amber has lost its crust, but has often acquired a dull rough surface by rolling in sand.<p>Amber is extensively used for beads and other ornaments, and for cigar-holders and the mouth-pieces of pipes. It is regarded by the <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turks</a> as specially valuable, inasmuch as it is said to be incapable of transmitting infection as the pipe passes from mouth to mouth. The variety most valued in the East is the pale straw-coloured, slightly cloudy amber. Some of the best qualities are sent to <a href="../../wp/v/Vienna.htm" title="Vienna">Vienna</a> for the manufacture of smoking appliances. In working amber, it is turned on the <!--del_lnk--> lathe and polished with whitening and water or with rotten stone and oil, the final lustre being given by friction with flannel. During the working much electricity is developed.<p>When gradually heated in an oil-bath, amber becomes soft and flexible. Two pieces of amber may be united by smearing the surfaces with <!--del_lnk--> linseed oil, heating them, and then pressing them together while hot. Cloudy amber may be clarified in an oil-bath, as the oil fills the numerous <!--del_lnk--> pores to which the turbidity is due. Small fragments, formerly thrown away or used only for varnish, are now utilized on a large scale in the formation of "ambroid" or "pressed amber". The pieces are carefully heated with exclusion of air and then compressed into a uniform mass by intense hydraulic pressure; the softened amber being forced through holes in a metal plate. The product is extensively used for the production of cheap jewellery and articles for smoking. This pressed amber yields brilliant interference colours in polarized light. Amber has often been imitated by other resins like <!--del_lnk--> copal and <!--del_lnk--> kauri, as well as by <!--del_lnk--> celluloid and even <a href="../../wp/g/Glass.htm" title="Glass">glass</a>. True amber is sometimes coloured artificially.<p>Amber was much valued as an ornamental material in very early times. It has been found in <!--del_lnk--> Mycenaean tombs; it is known from lake-dwellings in <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a>, and it occurs with <!--del_lnk--> neolithic remains in <a href="../../wp/d/Denmark.htm" title="Denmark">Denmark</a>, whilst in <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a> it is found with interments of the <!--del_lnk--> bronze age. A remarkably fine cup turned in amber from a bronze-age <!--del_lnk--> barrow at <!--del_lnk--> Hove is now in the <a href="../../wp/b/Brighton.htm" title="Brighton">Brighton Museum</a>. Beads of amber occur with <!--del_lnk--> Anglo-Saxon relics in the south of England; and up to a comparatively recent period the material was valued as an <!--del_lnk--> amulet. It is still believed to possess a certain medicinal virtue.<p>Rolled pieces of amber, usually small but occasionally of very large size, may be picked up on the east coast of England, having probably been washed up from deposits under the North Sea. <!--del_lnk--> Cromer is the best-known locality, but it occurs also on other parts of the <a href="../../wp/n/Norfolk.htm" title="Norfolk">Norfolk</a> coast, such as <a href="../../wp/g/Great_Yarmouth.htm" title="Great Yarmouth">Great Yarmouth</a>, as well as <!--del_lnk--> Southwold, <!--del_lnk--> Aldeburgh and <!--del_lnk--> Felixstowe in <!--del_lnk--> Suffolk, and as far south as <!--del_lnk--> Walton-on-the-Naze in <!--del_lnk--> Essex, whilst northwards it is not unknown in <!--del_lnk--> Yorkshire. On the other side of the North Sea, amber is found at various localities on the coast of the <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> and Denmark. On the shores of the Baltic it occurs not only on the German and Polish coast but in the south of <a href="../../wp/s/Sweden.htm" title="Sweden">Sweden</a>, in <!--del_lnk--> Bornholm and other islands, and in southern <a href="../../wp/f/Finland.htm" title="Finland">Finland</a>. Amber has indeed a very wide distribution, extending over a large part of northern Europe and occurring as far east as the <!--del_lnk--> Urals. Some of the amber districts of the Baltic and North Sea were known in prehistoric times, and led to early trade with the south of Europe through the <!--del_lnk--> Amber Road. Amber was carried to <!--del_lnk--> Olbia on the <a href="../../wp/b/Black_Sea.htm" title="Black Sea">Black Sea</a>, Massilia (today <a href="../../wp/m/Marseille.htm" title="Marseille">Marseille</a>) on the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean">Mediterranean</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> Adria at the head of the <!--del_lnk--> Adriatic; and from these centres it was distributed over the <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Hellenic</a> world.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Amber Room was a collection of chamber wall panels commissioned in <!--del_lnk--> 1701 for the king of <!--del_lnk--> Prussia, then given to Tsar <a href="../../wp/p/Peter_I_of_Russia.htm" title="Peter I of Russia">Peter the Great</a>. The room was hidden in place from invading <a href="../../wp/n/Nazism.htm" title="Nazism">Nazi</a> forces in 1941, who upon finding it in the Cathrine Palace, disassembled it and moved it to <!--del_lnk--> Königsberg. What happened to the room beyond this point is unclear. It is presumed lost. It was <!--del_lnk--> re-created in 2003.<p>Since the establishment of the <!--del_lnk--> Amber Road amber (which is also commonly referred to as the "Lithuanian gold") has substantially contributed to <a href="../../wp/l/Lithuania.htm" title="Lithuania">Lithuanian</a> economy and culture. Nowadays a great variety of amber jewelry and amberware is offered to foreign <!--del_lnk--> tourists in most <!--del_lnk--> souvenir shops as distinctive to Lithuania and its cultural <!--del_lnk--> heritage.<p>Amber and certain similar substances are found to a limited extent at several localities in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, as in the green-sand of <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey, but they have little or no economic value. A fluorescent amber occurs in the southern state of Chiapas in <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a>, and is used extensively to create eye-catching jewellery. Blue amber is recorded in the <a href="../../wp/d/Dominican_Republic.htm" title="Dominican Republic">Dominican Republic</a>. These Central American ambers are formed from the resins of Legume trees (Hymenea) and not conifers.<p><a id="Varieties" name="Varieties"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Varieties</span></h2>
<p>Besides succinite, which is the common variety of European amber, the following varieties also occur:<ul>
<li>Gedanite, or <i>brittle amber,</i> closely resembling succinite, but much more brittle, not quite so hard, with a lower melting point and containing no succinic acid. It is often covered with a white powder easily removed by wiping. The name comes from Gedanum, the Latin name of <!--del_lnk--> Gdańsk at the <a href="../../wp/b/Baltic_Sea.htm" title="Baltic Sea">Baltic Sea</a>.<li>Stantienite, a brittle, deep brownish-black resin, destitute of succinic acid.<li>Beckerite, a rare amber in earthy-brown nodules, almost opaque, said to be related in properties to <!--del_lnk--> gutta-percha.<li>Glessite, a nearly opaque brown dark resin, with numerous microscopic cavities and dusty enclosures, named from glesum, an old name for amber.<li>Krantzite, a soft red amber-like resin, found in the lignites of <!--del_lnk--> Saxony.<li>Allingite, a <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a> resin allied to succinite, from Switzerland.<li>Roumanite, or Romanian amber, a dark reddish resin, occurring with lignite in Tertiary deposits. The nodules are penetrated by cracks, but the material can be worked on the lathe. <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfur.htm" title="Sulfur">Sulphur</a> is present to the extent of more than 1%, whence the smell of sulphuretted hydrogen when the resin is heated. According to Gheorghe Murgoci the Romanian amber is true succinite.<li>Simetite, or Sicilian amber, takes its name from the river Simeto or Giaretta. It occurs in lower <a href="../../wp/m/Miocene.htm" title="Miocene">Miocene</a> deposits and is also found washed up by the sea near <!--del_lnk--> Catania. This beautiful material presents a great diversity of tints, but a rich hyacinth red is common. It is remarkable for its fluorescence, which in the opinion of some authorities adds to its beauty. Amber is also found in many localities in <!--del_lnk--> Emilia, especially near the sulphur-mines of <!--del_lnk--> Cesena. It has been conjectured that the ancient <!--del_lnk--> Etruscan ornaments in amber were wrought in the Italian material, but it seems that amber from the Baltic reached the Etruscans at Hatria. It has even been supposed that amber passed from <!--del_lnk--> Sicily to northern Europe in early times - a supposition said to receive some support from the fact that much of the amber dug up in Denmark is red; but it must not be forgotten that reddish amber is found also on the Baltic, though not being fashionable it is used rather for varnish-making than for ornaments. Moreover, yellow amber after long burial is apt to acquire a reddish colour. The amber of Sicily seems not to have been recognized in ancient times, for it is not mentioned by local authorities like <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus Siculus.<li>Burmite is the name under which the Burmese amber is now described. Until the British occupation of <a href="../../wp/m/Myanmar.htm" title="Myanmar">Burma</a> but little was known as to its occurrence, though it had been worked for centuries and was highly valued by the natives and by the Chinese. It is found in flat rolled pieces, irregularly distributed through a blue clay probably of Miocene age. It occurs in the Hukawng valley, in the Nangotaimaw hills, where it is irregularly worked in shallow pits. The mines were visited some years ago by Dr Fritz Noetling, and the mineral has been described by Dr Otto Helm. The Burmese amber is yellow or reddish, some being of ruby tint, and like the Sicilian amber it is fluorescent. Burmite and simetite agree also in being destitute of succinic acid. Most of the Burmese amber is worked at <!--del_lnk--> Mandalay into rosary-beads and ear-cylinders.</ul>
<p>Many other fossil resins more or less allied to amber have been described. Schraufite is a reddish resin from the <!--del_lnk--> Carpathian <!--del_lnk--> sandstone, and it occurs with <!--del_lnk--> jet in the <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> rocks of the <a href="../../wp/l/Lebanon.htm" title="Lebanon">Lebanon</a>; ambrite is a resin found in many of the <a href="../../wp/c/Coal.htm" title="Coal">coals</a> of <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>; retinite occurs in the lignite of <!--del_lnk--> Bovey Tracey in Devonshire and elsewhere; whilst <!--del_lnk--> copaline has been found in the <!--del_lnk--> London Clay of <!--del_lnk--> Highgate in North London. Chemawinite or cedarite is an amber-like resin from the <!--del_lnk--> Saskatchewan river in <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amda Seyon I of Ethiopia</h1>
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<p><b>Amda Seyon I</b> (also <b>Amde Tsiyon</b> and other variants, <!--del_lnk--> Ge'ez ዓምደ ፡ ጽዮን <i>ʿāmda ṣiyōn</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Amharic <i>āmde ṣiyōn</i>, "Pillar of Zion") was <!--del_lnk--> Emperor of Ethiopia (<!--del_lnk--> 1314 - <!--del_lnk--> 1344; throne name <b>Gebre Mesqel</b> Ge'ez ገብረ ፡ መስቀል <i>gabra masḳal</i>, Amh. <i>gebre mesḳel</i>, "slave of the cross"), and a member of the <!--del_lnk--> Solomonic dynasty. According to the British expert on Ethiopia, Edward Ullendorf, "Amde Tseyon was one of the most outstanding Ethiopian kings of any age and a singular figure dominating the <a href="../../wp/h/Horn_of_Africa.htm" title="Horn of Africa">Horn of Africa</a> in the <a href="../../wp/1/14th_century.htm" title="14th century">fourteenth century</a>." His conquests of Muslim borderlands greatly expanded Ethiopian territory and power in the region, maintained for centuries after his death. Amda Seyon asserted the strength of the newly (1270) installed Solomonic dynasty and therefore legitimized it. These expansions further provided for the spread of Christianity to frontier areas, sparking a long era of proselytization and Christianization of previously frontier areas.<p>
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</script><a id="Ancestry" name="Ancestry"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Ancestry</span></h2>
<p>It is argued that there is sufficient evidence to show that Amda Seyon was the son of <!--del_lnk--> Wedem Arad. However, when a deputation of <!--del_lnk--> monks led by <!--del_lnk--> Basalota Mikael accused him of <!--del_lnk--> incest for marrying Emperor Wedem Arad's concubine Zan Margesa and threatened to <!--del_lnk--> excommunicate him, he claimed to be the biological son of the Emperor's brother Qidm Asagid; this explanation may have had its origins in court gossip. Whatever the truth of Amda Seyon's parentage, the Imperial history known as the Paris Chronicle records that he expressed his rage at his accusers by beating one of them, Abbot <!--del_lnk--> Anorewos of Segaja, and exiling the other ecclesiastics to <!--del_lnk--> Dembiya and <!--del_lnk--> Begemder.<p>It is not known how Amda Seyon became Emperor, but there are a few pieces of information that indicate that he may have been involved in the succession struggle against <!--del_lnk--> Wedem Arad.<p><a id="Army" name="Army"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Army</span></h2>
<p>Emperor Amda Seyon's army was remarkably similar to the organization of the army during ancient <!--del_lnk--> Aksumite times. Amda Seyon's army consisted of two parts: the first, his central army, was very effective and closely attached to the royal Court; the second was a massive local militia raised in times of local crises. These local units would, as in Aksumite times, form a distinctive unit and fight together, maintaining their local character and were divided into smaller units each headed by a local ruler. Though these local units were largely out of the direct control of Amda Seyon, during his reign, the control of vassal contingents enjoyed by the Emperor increased greatly and would continue until the invasion of <!--del_lnk--> Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi in the <a href="../../wp/1/16th_century.htm" title="16th century">16th century</a>.<p>The central army was divided into independent regiments, each with its own specialized name, such as <i>Qeste-Nihb</i>, <i>Hareb Gonda</i>, and <i>Tekula</i>. The independent regiments competed for the king's favour, who "raised" and "nourished" them from childhood. The regiments were led by an intimately loyal commander directly responsible to Amda Seyon. His own son, Saf-Asegid, commanded on of these divisions, as did Amda Seyon's brother-in-law. Moreover, the commander of <i>Qeste-Nihb</i>, Simishehal, along with his colleague Inze-Aygeb, are described as the "most beloved" officers of the Emperor, who is distressed when he learns of their injury at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Hagera. The specialized regiments tied their fortune to that of the Emperor and were most likely taken from the best soldiers from around the country. Amda Seyon used them whenever quick action had to be taken, and their regiment commanders would often serve the role of governor in times of crises in certain provinces, as did Digna, the right-wing commander of the cavalry regminet <i>Korem</i> in 1332 in in <!--del_lnk--> Tigray. His central army further consisted of regional regiments similar to those of his local militias. They were drawn mainly from newly conquered provinces and shared a cultural and linguistic heritage. The soldiers were probably mainly drawn from prisoners taken in the conquests, though some were undoubtedly kept as servants to the royal court, while others were exported to slave markets or given to private citizens. Those who were to serve the Emperor were given military training, probably under a commander from the same region and loyal to the Emperor. Most of these groups were broken down into smaller sections due to their size; for instance, in Amda Seyon's 1332 (or 1329) campaigns, a division of Damot fought the <!--del_lnk--> Beta Israel in the north, while another went to fight in the campaigns in the south against <!--del_lnk--> Ifat and the Muslims.<p>The Emperor improved the imperial army, which until his reign was not as heavily armed as his <!--del_lnk--> Muslim adversaries. The 14th century <!--del_lnk--> Arab historian <!--del_lnk--> al-Umari noted regarding Ethiopian troops that<dl>
<dd>"their weapons of war are the bow with arrows resembling the <i>nussab</i>; swords, spears and lances. Some warriors fight with swords and with narrow and long shields. But their principal weapon is the spear which resembles a long lance. There are some [warriors] who fling darts which are [similar to] short arrows, with a long bow resembling a cross-bow."</dl>
<p>Despite the wide variety of weapons ascribed to the Ethiopian troops by al-Umari, swords and daggers were not often used by the Ethiopian army, which was mainly armed with bows, spears, and shields for defense, along with mounted soldiers. The Muslims, however, are described as having "swords, daggers, iron sticks [<i>dimbus</i>]" and other weapons useful in close quarters, and al-Umari notes that "the arrows of the warriors of the Muslim borderlands are bigger" than those of the Solomonic army. The Ethiopian army's strength was therefore mainly numerical but Amda Seyon did much to improve his army, increasing the use of swords and daggers (probably obtained through Muslim traders), and created a special <!--del_lnk--> regiment armed with swords. The Emperor also formed a special regiment of shield-bearers that was probably used to guard his archers, further increasing the effectiveness of his army.<p><a id="Early_military_actions" name="Early_military_actions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early military actions</span></h2>
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<div style="width:402px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/164/16489.png.htm" title="Map of medieval Ethiopian provinces, with sub-provinces in smaller lettering and neighboring tribes in italics."><img alt="Map of medieval Ethiopian provinces, with sub-provinces in smaller lettering and neighboring tribes in italics." height="399" longdesc="/wiki/Image:EthioPlaceNamesBlank.png" src="../../images/164/16489.png" width="400" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Taddesse Tamrat reports that he found a contemporary note written in a manuscript now kept in the island monastery of <!--del_lnk--> Lake Hayq, which mentions that in 1309 <!--del_lnk--> AM (AD <!--del_lnk--> 1316/<!--del_lnk--> 1317), Emperor Amda Seyon successfully campaigned against the Muslim kingdoms of <!--del_lnk--> Damot and <!--del_lnk--> Hadiya. The note describes his conquest first of Damot, many of whose people he exiles to another area, and then of Hadiya, to whose people he does likewise. Though his early control of the regions was minimal, it is evident by 1332 (or 1329) that Hadiya had been fully integrated, providing troops for his 1332 campaigns against <!--del_lnk--> Ifat. The King of Hadiya, Amano, refused to visit the Emperor and give his tribute, encouraged by, according to Amda Seyon's chronicler, a Muslim "prophet of darkness" named Bel'am. According to the Emperor's Chronicle, Bel'am told him to rebel:<dl>
<dd>Go not to the king of Seyon [i.e. Ethiopia]. Do not give him gifts: if he comes against you, be not afraid of him, for he will be delivered into your hands and you will cause him to perish with his army.</dl>
<p>The Emperor was infuriated, invading Hadiya and killed many people, taking prisoner Amano along with many of its inhabitants. Bel'am, however was able to escape the Emperor by fleeing to Ifat. These conquests represent a significant advancement of Amda Seyon's eventual goal of controlling the inland trade previously controlled by the Muslims in Ifat and farther east. Hadiya's conquest deeply affected the slave trade and consequently hurt the trade and wealth of the eastern Muslim provinces. For the first time, the Muslim presence in the region was threatened, which later resulted in alliances between the Muslim provinces (which often rebelled) when they had previously acted more independently of each other.<p>In the same year as his campaigns against the southern regions of Damot and Hadiya, the Emperor also campaigned against the more northerly province of <!--del_lnk--> Gojjam.<p><a id="Northern_campaigns" name="Northern_campaigns"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Northern campaigns</span></h2>
<p>After his 1316/7 campaigns in the south, Amda Seyon had to turn north to to strengthen his control over areas that had in the meanwhile gained more autonomy. The northern <!--del_lnk--> Tigrayan province of Inderta had increasingly been asserting its independence since the <!--del_lnk--> Solomonic restoration under <!--del_lnk--> Yekuno Amlak in <!--del_lnk--> 1270. During Yekuno Amlak's time, the governor of Inderta was Ingida Igzi' who was succeeded by his son, Tesfane Igzi. As governor of Inderta, Tesfane Igzi' had the most power among the northern provinces and held the title <i>Hasgwa</i> and <i>Aqabé Tsentsen</i> ('keeper of the fly whisks - an ancient <!--del_lnk--> Aksumite title) and threatened the <!--del_lnk--> Amhara-based lineage currently in power. As early as 1305, Tesfane Igzi' referred to Inderta as "his kingdom," his son and successor, Ya'ibika Igzi, did not even mention the Emperor in his 1318/9 land grant. Ya'ibika Igzi eventually rebelled, unsuccessfully inviting the governor of nearby <!--del_lnk--> Tembien to join him. Amda Seyon responded swiftly, killing the governor, dividing the titles, and appointing them to different individuals of lowly origin. The Emperor's appointees were unpopular, described as "men who were not born from Adam and Eve who were called <i>Halestiyotat</i>," a term literally meaning "bastard of mixed or low origins". To consolidate his control in the region, Amda Seyon established a military colony of non-<!--del_lnk--> Tigrayan troops at Amba Senayata, the centre of the rebellion, and appointed his Tigrayan wife, Queen <!--del_lnk--> Bilén Saba, as governor of Inderta, along with a new batch of officials below her. The Queen ruled rather indirectly, however, which caused some resentment in the province, inducing the Emperor to appoint one of his sons, Bahr Seged as governor, who was later in 1328 also given control of the maritime provinces under the title of <i>Ma'ikele Bahr</i> ("Between the Rivers/Seas").<p>In 1329, the Emperor campaigned in the northern provinces of <!--del_lnk--> Semien, <!--del_lnk--> Wogera, <!--del_lnk--> Tselemt, and <!--del_lnk--> Tsegedé, in which many had been converting to <a href="../../wp/j/Judaism.htm" title="Judaism">Judaism</a> and where the <!--del_lnk--> Beta Israel had been gaining prominence.<p>Amda Seyon was also wary of Muslim power along the Red Sea coast and therefore headed to the northern area of <!--del_lnk--> Tigray province bordering the <a href="../../wp/r/Red_Sea.htm" title="Red Sea">Red Sea</a>:<dl>
<dd>"I, King Amdä-ṣiyon, went to the sea of Eritrea [i.e. "Red"]. When I reached there, I mounted on an elephant and entered the sea. I took up my arrow and spears, killed my enemies, and saved my people."</dl>
<p>During his campaign, the Emperor also met the famous monk <!--del_lnk--> Ewostatewos, who was on his way to <a href="../../wp/a/Armenia.htm" title="Armenia">Armenia</a>.<p><a id="Rebellion_of_Haqq_ad-Din_I" name="Rebellion_of_Haqq_ad-Din_I"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Rebellion of Haqq ad-Din I</span></h2>
<p>Around 1320, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, <!--del_lnk--> An-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala'un began persecuting Egyptian Copts and destroying their chuches. Amda Seyon subsequently sent a mission to Cairo in 1321-2 threatening to retaliate against the Muslims in his kingdom and divert the course of the <a href="../../wp/n/Nile.htm" title="Nile">Nile</a> if the sultan did not end his persecution. Though Al-Nasir Muhammad ignored the envoys, fear of the diversion of the Nile in Egypt would continue for centuries. As a result of the dispute and threats, <!--del_lnk--> Haqq ad-Din ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali, governor of the Muslim province of Ifat, seized and imprisoned a member of the envoy sent by the Emperor named Ti`yintay on his way back from Cairo. Haqq ad-Din tried to convert Ti`yintay, killing him when this failed. According to Amda Seyon's royal chronicler, the Emperor responded by invading Ifat accompanied by, according to the chronicle, only seven horsemen, and killed many of the rebelling governor's soldiers. Part of the army then followed him and destroyed the province's capital, Ifat, and Amda Seyon took much of its wealth in the form of gold, silver, bronze, lead, and clothing. Amda Seyon continued his reprisal throughout all of his Muslim provinces, pillaging Kuelgore, Bequlzar, Gidaye, Kubet, Fedsé Qedsé, Hargaye (the latter five yet unidentified), and <!--del_lnk--> Shewa, then populated mainly by Muslims, taking livestock, killing many inhabitants, destroying towns, and taking prisoners, who were later assimilated. <p>As a result of Amda Seyon's reprisals, other Muslim provinces rebelled, seeing that his army had become weak from the long campaigns. The people of Gebel (or Werjih), reportedly "very skilled in warfare," subsequently revolted and pillaged some Christian regions. The people of Medra Zega and Manzih (<!--del_lnk--> Menz), then Muslims, also revolted, surrounding and attacking the Emperor, who defeated them and killed their commander Dedadir, a son of Haqq ad-Din.<p><a id="Later_campaigns" name="Later_campaigns"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Later campaigns</span></h2>
<p><a id="Causes" name="Causes"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Causes</span></h3>
<p>The most important primary source for his reign, <i>The Glorious Victories</i>, describes the extensive military campaigns Amda Seyon undertook in the plains drained by the <!--del_lnk--> Awash River. Beginning on 24 Yakatit (= <!--del_lnk--> 18 February), Emperor Amda Seyon led this army against a number of enemies; another document, referring to this year, states that he defeated 10 kings. Rebellion in the Muslim provinces stemed from the threat to Islam by Amda Seyon, magnified by the earlier loss of trade from his campaigns This defiance was encouraged and perhaps even instigated by religious leaders in Ifat and other Muslim provinces. The "false prophet" reported as having fled from Hadiya during the 1316/7 campaigns continued spreading propaganda against the king in Ifat, where he was one of Sabr ad-Din's advisors. The chronicle states that:<dl>
<dd>"The false prophet fled to the land of Ifat and lived there propagating his false teaching... And when Säbrädīn asked him for counsil he told him saying: 'The kingdom of the Christians has now come to an end; and it has been given to us, for you will reign on in Siyon [i.e. Ethiopia]. Go, ascend [the mountains], and fight the king of the Christians; you will defeat him, and rule him together with his peoples.'"</dl>
<p>A second religious leader is noted as having fomented trouble in the region, specifically in <!--del_lnk--> Adal and <!--del_lnk--> Mora. He is called "Salīh whose title was Qazī (which it notes is a title similar to an Archbishop), and is described as being revered and feared like God by the kings and rulers in the region. The chronicle ascribes blame to Salīh, stating that it was he "who gathered the Muslim troops, kings, and rulers" against the Emperor.<p>As a result of these instigations and conditions, <!--del_lnk--> Sabr ad-Din I, governor of Ifat as well as brother and successor to Haqq ad-Din, showed defiance to Amda Seyon by confiscated some of the Emperor's goods in transit from the coast (i.e. <!--del_lnk--> Zeila), similar to what his brother had done before him. Amda Seyon was furious with Sabr ad-Din, saying to him:<dl>
<dd>"You took away the commodities belonging to me obtained in exchange for the large quantity of gold and silver I had entrusted to the merchants... you imprisoned the traders who did business for me."</dl>
<p><a id="First_Ifat_rebellion" name="First_Ifat_rebellion"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">First Ifat rebellion</span></h3>
<p>Sabr ad-Din's rebellion was an attempt not to become independent, but to become emperor of a Muslim Ethiopia. Amda Seyon's royal chronicle states that Sabr ad-Din proclaimed:<dl>
<dd>"I wish to be King of all Ethiopia; I will rule the Christians according to their law and I will destroy their churches...I will nominate governors in all the provinces of Ethiopa, as does the King of <!--del_lnk--> Zion...I will transform the churches into mosques. I will subjugate and convert the King of the Christians to my religion, I will make him a provincial governor, and if he refuses to be converted I will hand him over to one of the shephards, called Warjeke [i.e. Werjih], that he may be made a keeper of camels. As for the Queen <!--del_lnk--> Jan Mangesha, his wife, I will employ her to grind corn. I will make my residence at Marade [i.e. <!--del_lnk--> Tegulet], the capital of his kingdom.</dl>
<p>In fact, after his first incursion, Sabr ad-Din appointed governors for nearby and neighboring provinces such as <!--del_lnk--> Fetegar and Alamalé (i.e. Aymellel, part of the "<!--del_lnk--> Guragé country"), as well as far-off provinces in the north like <!--del_lnk--> Damot, <!--del_lnk--> Amhara, <!--del_lnk--> Angot, <!--del_lnk--> Inderta, <!--del_lnk--> Begemder, and <!--del_lnk--> Gojjam. He also threatened to plant <i><!--del_lnk--> chat</i> at the capital, a stimulant used by Muslims but forbidden to <!--del_lnk--> Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.<p>Sabr ad-Din's rebellion, with its religious support and lofty goals, was threfore seen as a <i><!--del_lnk--> jihad</i>, rather than an attempt at independence, and it was consequently immediately joined by the nearby Muslim province of Dewaro (the first known mention of the province), under the governor Haydera, and the western province of <!--del_lnk--> Hadiya under the vassal local ruler Ameno. Sabr ad-Din divided his troops three ways, sending a division north-westwards to attack <!--del_lnk--> Amhara, one northwards to attack <!--del_lnk--> Angot, and another, under his personal command, westward to take <!--del_lnk--> Shewa.<p>Amda Seyon subsequently mobilized his soldiers to meet the threat, endowing them with gifts of gold, silver, and lavish clothing - so much so that the chronicler explains that "in his reign gold and silver abounded like stones and fine clothes were as common as the leaves of the trees or the grass in the fields." Despite the extravagance he bestowed on his men, many chose not to fight due to the inhospitability of Ifat's mountainous and arid terrain and the complete absence of roads. Nevertheless, they proceeded on <!--del_lnk--> 24 Yakatit, and an attachment was able to find the rebellious governor and put him to flight. Once the remainder of Amda Seyon's army arrived, they destroyed the capital and killed many soldiers, yet Sabr ad-Din once again escaped. Amda Seyon's forces then grouped together for a final attack, destroying one of his camps, killing many men, women, and children, taking the rest as prisoner, as well as looting it of its gold, silver, and its "fine clothes and jewels without number."<p>Sabr ad-Din subsequently sued for peace, appealing to Queen Jan Mengesha, who refused his peace offer and expressed Amda Seyon's determination not to return to his capital until he had searched Sabr ad-Din out. Upon hearing this, Sabr ad-Din realized that his rebellion futile and surrendered himself to Amda Seyon's camp. Amda Seyon's courtiers demanded that Sabr ad-Din be executed, but he instead granted him relative clemency and had the rebellious governor imprisoned. Amda Seyon then appointed the governor's brother, <!--del_lnk--> Jamal ad-Din I, as his successor in Ifat. Just as the Ifat rebellion had been quelled, however, the neighboring provinces of <!--del_lnk--> Adal and <!--del_lnk--> Mora just north of Ifat decided to rebel. Amda Seyon soon also put down this rebellion.<p><a id="Conquest_of_Adal_and_Second_Ifat_rebellion" name="Conquest_of_Adal_and_Second_Ifat_rebellion"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Conquest of Adal and Second Ifat rebellion</span></h3>
<p>After much campaigning, Amda Seyon's troops were exhausted and wished to return to their respective homes, pleading that the rainy season was soon approaching. Amda Seyon refused, however, saying to them:<dl>
<dd>"Do not repeat in front me what you have just said, for I will not leave so long as the ungodly Muslims make war on me, who am the King of all the Muslims of Ethiopia, and I have confidence in the help of God.</dl>
<p>The new governor of Ifat also beseeched him to return, giving him many gifts, stating that his country was ruined and begging him not to "ravage it again," so that its inhabitants may recover and work the land for the Emperor. He promised him that if he left that Ifat and its inhabitants would serve the Emperor with their trade and tribute and that the he and the Muslims of Ethiopia were the Emperor's servants. Amda Seyon rejected the governor's pleas, declaring:<dl>
<dd>"While I am attacked by wolves and dogs, by the sons of vipers and children of evil who do not believe in the Son of God, I will never return to my kingdom, and if I leave without going as far as <!--del_lnk--> Adal I am no longer the son of my mother; let me no more be called a man, but a woman."</dl>
<p>Amda Seyon continued and made camp, after which he was attacked twice in skirmishes before making camp during the night. The Muslims returned once, this time during the night, more in much greater number and attacked him with an army from the seven "great towns" (i.e. districts) of Adal, Gebela, Lebekela, Mora, Paguma, and Tiqo. During the battle, Amda Seyon was struck from the rear by an enemy's sword, cutting his girdle around his waist and his battle dress, but the Emperor was able to turn and kill the attacker with his spear before he could act. Amda Seyon emerged victorious from the battle and sent the troops that had not fought to pursue the surviving enemies. They were able to reach the survivors on the banks of a nearby river by morning and kill themm, taking with them many swords, bows, spears, and clothes.<p>Jamal ad-Din, despite being his appointee, also joined the rebellion, collaborating with the ruler of Adel to encircle the Emperor, to which the ruler of Adal responded by mobilizing his forces. The Ethiopian army was encircled by the two armies in the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Das, but Amda Seyon was able to defeat them, despite being ill. He then led his army against <!--del_lnk--> Talag, the current capital of Adal, where the brother of the governor of Adal and three of the governor's sons surrendered. The Emperor then defeated another governor-king, retraced his steps, returning to Bequlzar in Ifat, where he commanded Jamal ad-Din to deliver unto him all of the province's apostate Christians. The Emperor was first given the priests, deacons, and soldiers, who were each given 30 lashes and imprisoned as slaves. He then turned to the other traitors, whom Jamal ad-Din refused to hand over. Amda Seyon again ravaged Ifat and deposed Jamal ad-Din, appointing <!--del_lnk--> Nasir ad-Din, another brother of Sabr ad-Din, as governor.<p>Having finished campaigning in Ifat, he took his army to the town of Gu'ét, where he killed many men and captured numerous women and cattle. The Emperor then continued modern <!--del_lnk--> Somaliland, where he defeated an attack by the people of Harla. Amda Seyon then proceeded to the town of Dilhoya. The town had previously deposed his governor by immolation, along with other Christian men and women, to which the Emperor responded by taking and looting the town and their livestock, as well as killing many of its inhabitants. He continued to Degwi, killing numerous neighboring Werjih pastoralists, who had previously revolted and pillaged some Christian areas earlier in his reign. The chronicle described the people as "very wicked," as they "neither knew God nor feared men". Then, before the end of the month of December, Amda Seyon ravaged the land of <!--del_lnk--> Sharkha and imprisoned its governor Yosef. These efforts extended Ethiopian rule for the first time across the <!--del_lnk--> Awash River, gaining control of Dawaro, <!--del_lnk--> Bale, and other Muslim states.<p><a id="Dates" name="Dates"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Dates</span></h3>
<p>The year when these extensive military actions occurred is disputed. In his translation of <i>The Glorious Victories</i>, G.W.B. Huntingford notes that Amda Seyon is recorded as celebrating <!--del_lnk--> Easter on 28 <!--del_lnk--> Miyazya (= 24 April in 1329), which would best fit the year <!--del_lnk--> 1329. Taddesse Tamrat, on the other hand, points to another document which dates Amda Seyon's 18th <!--del_lnk--> regnal year to 498 <!--del_lnk--> Year of Grace, which confirms that the year 516 in <i>The Glorious Victories</i> is correct and that the campaigns took place in AD <!--del_lnk--> 1332.<p><a id="Trade_and_culture" name="Trade_and_culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trade and culture</span></h2>
<p>Trade flourished under Amda Seyon. <!--del_lnk--> Archeological investigations in the treasuries of <!--del_lnk--> Ethiopian churches and monasteries have recovered <a href="../../wp/c/Coin.htm" title="Coin">coins</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Textile.htm" title="Textile">textiles</a> and other objects that prove the existence of trade with the <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a>. Taddesse Tamrat also notes that he had a <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syrian</a> secretary from a <!--del_lnk--> Christian family of <a href="../../wp/d/Damascus.htm" title="Damascus">Damascus</a>, who helped him keep in close touch with events in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_East.htm" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>.<p>Some of the earliest works of <!--del_lnk--> Ethiopian literature were written during Amda Seyon's reign. Perhaps the best known is the <!--del_lnk--> Kebra Nagast, which was translated from <a href="../../wp/a/Arabic_language.htm" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> at the request of Yaebika Egzi'e, governor of Inderta. Other works from this period include the <i>Mashafa Mestira Samay Wamedr</i> ("The Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth") written by Yeshaq of <!--del_lnk--> Debre Gol, and the <i>Zena Eskender</i> ("History of Alexander the Great"), a romance wherein <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a> becomes a Christian saint. Also worth mentioning is that four of the <i>Soldiers Songs</i> were composed during the reign of Amda Seyon, and are the earliest existing examples of <!--del_lnk--> Amharic. Moreover, Amda Seyon is the first king recorded as having donated to the library of the Ethiopian community at <a href="../../wp/j/Jerusalem.htm" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a>.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Citations</span></h2>
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
<ol class="references">
<li id="_note-0"><b>^</b> Cited in Paul B. Henze, <i>Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia</i> (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 63<li id="_note-1"><b>^</b> Joanna Mantel-Niećko and Denis Nosnitsin, "<sup>c</sup>Amdä Ṣəyon I" in Siegbert von Uhlig, <i>Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C</i> (Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p.228.<li id="_note-2"><b>^</b> Mantel-Niećko and Nosnitsin, "<sup>c</sup>Amdä Ṣəyon I" in <i>Encylopaedia</i>, p.228<li id="_note-3"><b>^</b> G.W.B. Huntingford, <i>The Glorious Victories of Amda Seyon, King of Ethiopia</i> (Oxford: University Press, 1965), pp. 6ff.<li id="_note-4"><b>^</b> Joanna Mantel-Niećko and Denis Nosnitsin, "Amdä ṣeyon I" in Siegbert Herausgegeben von Uhlig, ed., <i>Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C</i> (Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), pp.227.<li id="_note-5"><b>^</b> Taddesse Tamrat, <i>Church and State in Ethiopia (1270-1527)</i> (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), pp.89.<li id="_note-TadTChurch90">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.90.<li id="_note-6"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Ethiopian Royal Chronicles</i>, pp.<li id="_note-TadTChurch91">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.91.<li id="_note-TadTChurch90n">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.90n.<li id="_note-TadTChurch92">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.92.<li id="_note-TadTChurch93">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.93.<li id="_note-TadTChurch94">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.94.<li id="_note-7"><b>^</b> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp. 135ff.<li id="_note-PankBord78">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Pankhurst, Richard. <i>The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century</i> (Asmara, Eritrea: The Red Sea, Inc., 1997), pp.78.<li id="_note-TadTChurch137">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.137.<li id="_note-TadTChurch73">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.73.<li id="_note-8"><b>^</b> Mantel-Niećko and Nosnitsin, "Amdä ṣeyon I" in von Uhlig, <i>Encyclopaedia</i>.<li id="_note-TadTChurch74">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup> Taddesse <i>Church and State</i>, pp.74.<li id="_note-PankBord40">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Pankhurst, <i>Borderlands</i>, pp.79.<li id="_note-TadTChurch77">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.77.<li id="_note-9"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Borderlands</i>, pp.40.<li id="_note-10"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Borderlands</i>, pp.41.<li id="_note-11"><b>^</b> J. Spencer Trimingham, <i>Islam in Ethiopia</i> (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 71.<li id="_note-12"><b>^</b> Huntingford, <i>The Glorious Victories</i>, p. 5.<li id="_note-13"><b>^</b> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.138.<li id="_note-14"><b>^</b> Pankhurst. <i>Ethiopian Borderlands</i>, pp.41<li id="_note-15"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, Richard K.P. <i>The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles. Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1967, pp.15.</i><li id="_note-16"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Borderlands</i>, pp.42.<li id="_note-17"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Borderlands</i>, pp.43.<li id="_note-18"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Ethiopian Royal Chronicles</i>, pp.16.<li id="_note-PankBord43">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> Pankhurst, <i>Borderlands</i>, pp.43.<li id="_note-19"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Borderlands</i>, pp.44.<li id="_note-PankChron18">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup> Pankhurst, <i>Ethiopian Royal Chronicles</i>, pp.18.<li id="_note-20"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Ethiopian Royal Chronicles</i>, pp.19-20.<li id="_note-21"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Ethiopian Royal Chronicles</i>, pp.20.<li id="_note-PankChron45">^ <sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup> <sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup> Pankhurst, <i>Ethiopian Royal Chronicles</i>, pp.45.<li id="_note-22"><b>^</b> Huntingford, <i>The Glorious Victories</i>, <i>passim</i>.<li id="_note-23"><b>^</b> Huntingford, <i>The Glorious Victories</i>, pp. 53.<li id="_note-24"><b>^</b> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.138 n.2. (He also states that he disagrees with Huntingford over many of the geographical identifications, p. 139 n.4.)<li id="_note-25"><b>^</b> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.89.<li id="_note-26"><b>^</b> Taddesse, <i>Church and state</i>, pp.251.<li id="_note-27"><b>^</b> Pankhurst, <i>Ethiopian Royal Chronicles</i>, pp.23.<li id="_note-28"><b>^</b> Taddesse, <i>Church and State</i>, pp.91n.</ol>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">American Civil War</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Pre_1900_Military.htm">Pre 1900 Military</a></h3>
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<dd><i>"The Civil War" is the most common term in the United States of America for this conflict. See <!--del_lnk--> Naming the American Civil War.</i></dl>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">American Civil War</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;"><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16055.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="289" longdesc="/wiki/Image:American_Civil_War_Montage_2.jpg" src="../../images/160/16055.jpg" width="300" /></a><br /> (clockwise from upper right) Confederate prisoners at <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Gettysburg.htm" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Gettysburg</a>; <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Fort Hindman, Arkansas; <!--del_lnk--> Rosecrans at <!--del_lnk--> Stones River, Tennessee</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Date</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> April 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1861 – <!--del_lnk--> April 9, <!--del_lnk--> 1865</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Location</th>
<td>Principally in the <a href="../../wp/s/Southern_United_States.htm" title="Southern United States">Southern United States</a></td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Result</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Union victory; <!--del_lnk--> Reconstruction; <!--del_lnk--> slavery abolished</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;"><i><!--del_lnk--> Casus belli</i></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Confederate attack on Fort Sumter</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Combatants</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16068.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US_flag_34_stars.svg" src="../../images/160/16056.png" width="25" /></a> <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States of America</a> (<!--del_lnk--> Union)</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16069.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="14" longdesc="/wiki/Image:CSA_FLAG_4.3.1861-21.5.1861.svg" src="../../images/160/16057.png" width="25" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States of America <!--del_lnk--> (Confederacy)</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Commanders</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%"><a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Lincoln</a>, President<br /><a href="../../wp/u/Ulysses_S._Grant.htm" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, General</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%"><!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis, President<br /><!--del_lnk--> Robert E. Lee, General</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Strength</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%">2,200,000</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%">1,064,000</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Casualties</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%">110,000 <!--del_lnk--> killed in action,<br /> 360,000 total dead,<br /> 275,200 wounded</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%">93,000 killed in action,<br /> 258,000 total dead<br /> 137,000+ wounded</td>
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<th>Theaters of the <strong class="selflink">American Civil War</strong></th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Union blockade – <!--del_lnk--> Eastern – <!--del_lnk--> Western – <!--del_lnk--> Lower Seaboard – <!--del_lnk--> Trans-Mississippi – <!--del_lnk--> Pacific Coast</td>
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<p>The <b>American Civil War</b> (1861–1865) was a war between the United States Federal government (the "<!--del_lnk--> Union") and eleven <a href="../../wp/s/Southern_United_States.htm" title="Southern United States">Southern</a> <!--del_lnk--> slave states that declared their <!--del_lnk--> secession and formed the <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States of America, led by <!--del_lnk--> President <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis. The <!--del_lnk--> Union, led by <!--del_lnk--> President <a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> Republican Party, opposed the expansion of slavery and rejected any right of secession. Fighting commenced on <!--del_lnk--> April 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a Federal military installation at <!--del_lnk--> Fort Sumter in <!--del_lnk--> South Carolina.<p>During the first year, the Union asserted control of the border states and established a <!--del_lnk--> naval blockade as both sides raised large armies. In 1862 the large, bloody battles began. In September 1862, Lincoln's <!--del_lnk--> Emancipation Proclamation made the freeing of the slaves a war goal, despite opposition from northern <!--del_lnk--> Copperheads who tolerated secession and slavery. Emancipation ensured that <!--del_lnk--> Britain and <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> would not intervene to help the Confederacy. In addition, the goal also allowed the Union to recruit African-Americans for reinforcements, a resource that the Confederacy did not dare exploit until it was too late. <!--del_lnk--> War Democrats reluctantly accepted emancipation as part of total war needed to save the Union. In the East, <!--del_lnk--> Robert Edward Lee rolled up a series of Confederate victories over the <!--del_lnk--> Army of the Potomac, but his best general, <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, was killed at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. Lee's invasion of the North was repulsed at the <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Gettysburg.htm" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Battle of Gettysburg</a> in Pennsylvania in July 1863; he barely managed to escape back to Virginia. In the West, the <!--del_lnk--> Union Navy captured the port of <!--del_lnk--> New Orleans in 1862, and <a href="../../wp/u/Ulysses_S._Grant.htm" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a> seized control of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mississippi_River.htm" title="Mississippi River">Mississippi River</a> by capturing <!--del_lnk--> Vicksburg, Mississippi in July 1863, thus splitting the Confederacy.<p>By 1864, long-term Union advantages in geography, manpower, industry, finance, political organization and transportation were overwhelming the Confederacy. Grant fought a number of bloody battles with Lee in Virginia in the summer of 1864. Lee won most of the battles in a tactical sense but on the whole lost strategically, as he could not replace his casualties and was forced to retreat into trenches around his capital, <a href="../../wp/r/Richmond%252C_Virginia.htm" title="Richmond, Virginia">Richmond, Virginia</a>. Meanwhile, <a href="../../wp/w/William_Tecumseh_Sherman.htm" title="William Tecumseh Sherman">William Tecumseh Sherman</a> captured <a href="../../wp/a/Atlanta%252C_Georgia.htm" title="Atlanta, Georgia">Atlanta, Georgia</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Sherman's March to the Sea destroyed a hundred-mile-wide swath of Georgia. In 1865, the Confederacy collapsed after Lee surrendered to Grant at <!--del_lnk--> Appomattox Court House and the slaves were freed.<p>The full restoration of the Union was the work of a highly contentious postwar era known as <!--del_lnk--> Reconstruction. The war produced about 970,000 casualties (3% of the population), including approximately 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease. The <!--del_lnk--> causes of the war, the reasons for its outcome, and even <!--del_lnk--> the name of the war itself are subjects of lingering controversy even today. The main results of the war were the restoration and strengthening of the Union, and the end of <a href="../../wp/s/Slavery.htm" title="Slavery">slavery</a> in the United States.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: .5em; float: right; padding: .5em 0 .8em 1.4em; background: none; width: auto;">
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<p><a id="Causes_of_the_War" name="Causes_of_the_War"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Causes of the War</span></h2>
<p>Secession was caused by the coexistence of a slave-owning South and an increasingly anti-slavery North. Lincoln did not propose federal laws making slavery unlawful where it already existed, but he had, in his 1858 <!--del_lnk--> House Divided Speech, envisioned it as being set on "the course of ultimate extinction". Much of the political battle in the 1850s focused on the expansion of slavery into the newly created territories. Both North and South assumed that if slavery could not expand it would wither and die.<p>Well-founded Southern fears of losing control of the Federal government to antislavery forces, and northern fears that the <!--del_lnk--> slave power already controlled the government, brought the crisis to a head in the late 1850s. Sectional disagreements over the morality of slavery, the scope of democracy and the economic merits of free labor vs. slave plantations caused the <!--del_lnk--> Whig and "<!--del_lnk--> Know-Nothing" parties to collapse, and new ones to arise (the <!--del_lnk--> Free Soil Party in 1848, the <!--del_lnk--> Republicans in 1854, <!--del_lnk--> Constitutional Union in 1860). In 1860, the last remaining national political party, the <!--del_lnk--> Democratic Party, split along sectional lines.<p>Other factors include <!--del_lnk--> states' rights, modernization, sectionalism, the nullification crisis and economic differences between the North and South.<p><a id="Note_on_causes" name="Note_on_causes"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Note on causes</span></h3>
<p>Civil rights and voting rights for blacks were not major issues before the Civil War; they became important afterward during Reconstruction. The issue of maltreatment of slaves was promoted by abolitionists (especially in the novel and play "<i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i>"), but was not one of the main causes of secession or the war itself. Slavery was at the root of economic, moral and political differences that led to control issues, states' rights and secession of seven states. The creation of an independent Confederate nation in defiance of the United States was the main reason for the war. That is, secession itself triggered the war. The secession of four more states was (from the Southern point of view) a protest against Lincoln's call to invade the South. From the North's point of view it was an attempt to defend the nation after it was attacked at Fort Sumter. Lincoln's war goals evolved, and were separate from causes of the war. He did not emphasize national unity during the 1860 campaign but brought it to the front in his March, 1861, inaugural address. At first Lincoln stressed the Union as a war goal to unite the War Democrats, border states and Republicans. In 1862 he added emancipation because it would weaken the Confederacy and permanently remove a divisive issue. In his 1863 Gettysburg Address he tied preserving democracy to emancipation and the Union as a war goal.<p><a id="State_Rights" name="State_Rights"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">State Rights</span></h3>
<p>The "<!--del_lnk--> States' Rights" debate cut across the issues. Southerners argued that the federal government was strictly limited and could not abridge the rights of states as reserved in <!--del_lnk--> Amendment X, and so had no power to prevent slaves from being carried into new territories. States' rights advocates also cited the fugitive slave clause in the Constitution to demand federal jurisdiction over slaves who escaped into the North. Anti-slavery forces took reversed stances on these issues.<p>As Jefferson Davis said,<blockquote>
<p>Resolved, That the union of these States rests on the equality of rights and privileges among its members, and that it is especially the duty of the Senate, which represents the States in their sovereign capacity, to resist all attempts to discriminate either in relation to person or property, so as, in the Territories -- which are the common possession of the United States -- to give advantages to the citizens of one State which are not equally secured to those of every other State.</blockquote>
<p><a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Jefferson.htm" title="Thomas Jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a>'s version of the states' rights theory was based on the idea of states defending free speech against the <!--del_lnk--> Alien and Sedition Acts. <!--del_lnk--> John C. Calhoun added the idea that Southern states could defend their sectional interests through nullification and secession. According to McPherson, Calhoun regarded the territories as the "common property" of sovereign states, and said that Congress was acting merely as the "joint agents" of the states. As Allan Nevins described it, "Governments, observed Calhoun, were formed to protect minorities, for majorities could take care of themselves."<p>Like Calhoun, Davis believed that the states' rights theory protected the rights of the minority against a tyranical majority of Northerners. Jefferson Davis said that a "disparaging discrimination" and a fight for "liberty" against "the tyranny of an unbridled majority" gave the Confederate states a right to secede.<p>In 1860, Congressman <!--del_lnk--> Laurence M. Keitt of South Carolina said, "The anti-slavery party contend that slavery is wrong in itself, and the Government is a consolidated national democracy. We of the South contend that slavery is right, and that this is a confederate Republic of sovereign States."<p>The South defined equality in terms of the equal rights of states, and opposed the declaration that all men are created equal. When arguing for the equality of states, Jefferson Davis said, "Who has been in advance of him in the fiery charge on the rights of the States, and in assuming to the Federal Government the power to crush and to coerce them? Even to-day he has repeated his doctrines. He tells us this is a Government which we will learn is not merely a Government of the States, but a Government of each individual of the people of the United States." When arguing against equality of individuals, Davis said, "We recognize the fact of the inferiority stamped upon that race of men by the Creator, and from the cradle to the grave, our Government, as a civil institution, marks that inferiority."<p>South Carolina's "Declaration of the Immediate Causes for Secession" started with an argument for states' rights for slaveowners in the South, followed by a complaint about states' rights in the North, claiming that Northern states were not fulfilling their federal obligations. South Carolina's argument for secession was as follows:<blockquote>
<p>We maintain that in every compact between two or more parties, the obligation is mutual; that the failure of one of the contracting parties to perform a material part of the agreement, entirely releases the obligation of the other; and that where no arbiter is provided, each party is remitted to his own judgment to determine the fact of failure, with all its consequences. In the present case, that fact is established with certainty. We assert that fourteen of the States have deliberately refused, for years past, to fulfill their constitutional obligations, and we refer to their own Statutes for the proof.</blockquote>
<p>The Constitutional obligations in question were as follows:<ul>
<li>Refusal of Northern states to enforce the fugitive slave code by passing personal liberty laws.<li>Agitation against slavery, which "denied the rights of property" established in the Constitution.<li>Assisting "thousands of slaves to leave their homes" through the Underground Railroad.<li>The election of Lincoln "because he has declared that that 'Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free,' and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction."<li>"...elevating to citizenship, persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are incapable of becoming citizens."</ul>
<p>It was an exageration to claim that the North granted blacks the rights of citizens, but most Northerners disagreed with the Dred Scott decision.<p><a id="Slavery_in_the_territories" name="Slavery_in_the_territories"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Slavery in the territories</span></h3>
<p>The specific political crisis that led to secession stemmed from a dispute over the expansion of slavery into new territories. The Republicans, while maintaining that Congress had no power over slavery in the states, asserted that it did have power to ban slavery in the territories. The <!--del_lnk--> Missouri Compromise of 1820 maintained the balance of power in Congress by adding Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. It prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase Territory north of 36°30'N lat. (the southern boundary of Missouri). The acquisition of vast new lands after the <!--del_lnk--> Mexican-American War (1846–1848), however, reopened the debate—now focused on the proposed <!--del_lnk--> Wilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery in territories annexed from Mexico. Though it never passed, the Wilmot Proviso aroused angry debate. Northerners argued that slavery would provide unfair competition for free migrants to the territories; slaveholders claimed Congress had no right to discriminate against them by preventing them from bringing their legal property there.<p>The dispute led to open warfare in the <!--del_lnk--> Kansas Territory after it was organized by the <!--del_lnk--> Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This act repealed the prohibition on slavery there under the Missouri Compromise, and put the fate of slavery in the hands of the territory's settlers, a process known as "<!--del_lnk--> popular sovereignty". Fighting erupted between proslavery "border ruffians" from neighboring Missouri and antislavery immigrants from the North (including <!--del_lnk--> John Brown, among other abolitionists). Tensions between North and South now were violent.<p><a id="Slavery_and_antislavery" name="Slavery_and_antislavery"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Slavery and antislavery</span></h3>
<p>The institution of slavery, introduced into colonial North America in 1619, had become a contentious issue between the North and the South early in the 1800s. The <!--del_lnk--> Compromise of 1850 included a new, stronger <!--del_lnk--> fugitive slave law that required federal agents to capture and return slaves that escaped into northern free states.<p>The Supreme Court decision of 1857 in <!--del_lnk--> <i>Dred Scott v. Sandford</i> added to the controversy. <!--del_lnk--> Chief Justice Roger B. Taney's decision said that slaves "have no rights which any white man is bound to respect", and that slaves could be taken to free states and territories. Lincoln warned that "the next <i>Dred Scott</i> decision" could threaten northern states with slavery.<p>Since fewer than 800 of the almost 4 million slaves escaped in 1860, the fugitive slave controversy was not a practical reason for secession. (More had escaped in previous years; see <!--del_lnk--> Underground Railroad.) The number that escaped was offset by free Northern blacks who were kidnapped as slaves. And secession only did away with enforcement of the fugitive slave law altogether. Kansas had only two slaves in 1860 because the territories had the wrong soil and climate for labor-intensive forms of agriculture. Allan Nevins summarizes this argument by concluding that "Both sides were equally guilty of hysteria." <p>There was a strong correlation between the number of plantations in a region and the degree of support for secession. The states of the deep south had the greatest concentration of plantations and were the first to secede. The upper South slave states of <!--del_lnk--> Virginia, <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina, <!--del_lnk--> Arkansas, and <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee had fewer plantations and rejected secession until the <!--del_lnk--> Fort Sumter crisis forced them to choose sides. Border states had fewer plantations still and never seceded.<p><a id="Rejection_of_compromise" name="Rejection_of_compromise"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Rejection of compromise</span></h3>
<p>Until <!--del_lnk--> December 20, <!--del_lnk--> 1860, the political system had always successfully handled inter-regional crises. All but one crisis involved slavery, starting with debates on the three-fifths clause in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Congress had solved the crisis over the admission of Missouri as a slave state in 1819-21, the controversy over South Carolina's nullification of the tariff in 1832, the acquisition of <!--del_lnk--> Texas in 1845, and the status of slavery in the territory acquired from <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a> in 1850.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16058.jpg.htm" title="J.L. Magee's famous political cartoon of the attack on Charles Sumner"><img alt="J.L. Magee's famous political cartoon of the attack on Charles Sumner" height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Preston_Brooks_cartoon.jpg" src="../../images/160/16058.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16058.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> J.L. Magee's famous political cartoon of the attack on <a href="../../wp/c/Charles_Sumner.htm" title="Charles Sumner">Charles Sumner</a></div>
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<p>However, in 1854, the old <!--del_lnk--> Second Party System broke down after passage of the <!--del_lnk--> Kansas-Nebraska Act. The <!--del_lnk--> Whig Party disappeared, and the new <!--del_lnk--> Republican Party arose in its place. It was the nation's first major party with only sectional appeal and a commitment to stop the expansion of slavery.<p>One Republican leader, <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_Senate.htm" title="United States Senate">Senator</a> <a href="../../wp/c/Charles_Sumner.htm" title="Charles Sumner">Charles Sumner</a>, was violently attacked and nearly killed at his desk in the Senate by <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_House_of_Representatives.htm" title="United States House of Representatives">Congressman</a> <!--del_lnk--> Preston Brooks of South Carolina. Brooks attacked Sumner with a gold-knobbed <!--del_lnk--> gutta-percha cane, which his Southern admirers replaced with similar canes with inscriptions like "Hit him again."<p>Open warfare in the <!--del_lnk--> Kansas Territory ("<!--del_lnk--> Bleeding Kansas"), the <!--del_lnk--> <i>Dred Scott</i> decision of 1857, <!--del_lnk--> John Brown's raid in 1859 and the split in the <!--del_lnk--> Democratic Party in 1860 polarized the nation between North and South. The <!--del_lnk--> election of Lincoln in 1860 was the final trigger for secession. During the secession crisis, many sought compromise—of these attempts, the best known was the "<!--del_lnk--> Crittenden Compromise"—but all failed.<p>A deeper reason for the rejection of compromise was the fear that conspiracies threatened to destroy the republic. By the 1850s, two loomed most threatening: the South feared the supposedly abolitionist Republican Party (the "Black Republicans"); Republicans in the North feared what they called the <!--del_lnk--> Slave Power.<p><a id="Abolitionism" name="Abolitionism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Abolitionism</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Second Great Awakening of the 1820s and 1830s in religion inspired reform movements, one of the most notable of which was the abolitionists; these were later supported by <!--del_lnk--> Transcendentalism. Unfortunately, "abolitionist" had several meanings at the time, and still retains some ambiguity. The followers of <!--del_lnk--> William Lloyd Garrison, including <!--del_lnk--> Wendell Phillips and <a href="../../wp/f/Frederick_Douglass.htm" title="Frederick Douglass">Frederick Douglass</a>, demanded the "immediate abolition of slavery", hence the name. Others, like <!--del_lnk--> Theodore Weld and <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Tappan, wanted immediate action, but that action might well be a program of gradual emancipation, with a long intermediate stage. "Antislavery men", like <!--del_lnk--> John Quincy Adams, did what they could to limit slavery and end it where possible. In the last years before the war, "antislavery" could mean the Northern majority, like <a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a>, who opposed <i>expansion</i> of slavery or its influence, as by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, or the Fugitive Slave Act. Many Southerners called all these abolitionists, without distinguishing them from the Garrisonians.<p><!--del_lnk--> James McPherson explains the abolitionists' deep beliefs: "All people were equal in God's sight; the souls of black folks were as valuable as those of whites; for one of God's children to enslave another was a violation of the Higher Law, even if it was sanctioned by the Constitution."<p>Slaveowners were angry over the attacks on their "peculiar institution" of slavery. Starting in the 1830s, there was a vehement and growing ideological defense of slavery. Slaveowners claimed that slavery was a positive good for masters and slaves alike, and that it was explicitly sanctioned by God. Biblical arguments were made in defense of slavery by religious leaders such as the Rev. Fred A. Ross and political leaders such as <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis.<p>Beginning in the 1830s, the U.S. <!--del_lnk--> Postmaster General refused to allow the mails to carry abolition pamphlets to the South. Northern teachers suspected of any tinge of abolitionism were expelled from the South, and abolitionist literature was banned. Southerners rejected the denials of Republicans that they were abolitionists, and pointed to <!--del_lnk--> John Brown's attempt in 1859 to start a slave uprising as proof that multiple Northern conspiracies were afoot to ignite bloody slave rebellions. Although some abolitionists did call for slave revolts, no evidence of any other actual Brown-like conspiracy has been discovered. The North felt threatened as well, for as Eric Foner concludes, "Northerners came to view slavery as the very antithesis of the good society, as well as a threat to their own fundamental values and interests".<p><a id="Uncle_Tom.E2.80.99s_Cabin" name="Uncle_Tom.E2.80.99s_Cabin"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><i>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i></span></h3>
<p>The most famous antislavery novel was <!--del_lnk--> <i>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i> (<!--del_lnk--> 1852) by <!--del_lnk--> Harriet Beecher Stowe. Inspired by the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 which made the escape narrative part of everyday news, Stowe emphasized the horrors that abolitionists had long claimed about slavery. Her depiction of the evil slaveowner Simon Legree, a transplanted Yankee who kills the <a href="../../wp/j/Jesus.htm" title="Jesus Christ">Christ</a>-like Uncle Tom, outraged slaveowners. Stowe made Simon Legree a transplanted Yankee to show that she was attacking not the southern people but slavery as an institution. She published a Key to <i>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i> to prove that, even though the book was fiction, many events in the book were based on fact. According to Stowe's son, when President Lincoln met her in 1862, he commented, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!" In response to Stowe's book, novelist <!--del_lnk--> Caroline Lee Hentz published a widely-read, but largely now forgotten, work entitled <i>The Planter's Northern Bride</i> in 1854, countering many of Stowe's depictions of the slavery institution.<p><a id="John_Brown" name="John_Brown"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">John Brown</span></h3>
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<div style="width:164px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16059.jpg.htm" title="John Brown"><img alt="John Brown" height="231" longdesc="/wiki/Image:John_brown_1859.jpg" src="../../images/160/16059.jpg" width="162" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><!--del_lnk--> John Brown has been called "the most controversial of all nineteenth-century Americans." His attempt to start a slave rebellion in 1859 electrified the nation. Uniquely among the Garrisonians, he resorted to violence. Most historians depict Brown as a bloodthirsty zealot and madman who briefly stepped into history but did little to influence it. Some scholars, however, glorify Brown, giving him credit for starting the Civil War and arguing "it is misleading to identify Brown with modern terrorists."<p>John Brown started his fight against slavery in Kansas in 1856, during the <!--del_lnk--> Bleeding Kansas crisis. <!--del_lnk--> Border Ruffians used bowie knives and vote fraud to establish a pro-slavery government at <!--del_lnk--> Lecompton. There was Border Ruffian violence in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1855 and 1856 (see <!--del_lnk--> Sacking of Lawrence). And Border Ruffians kidnapped and killed six Free-State men. In response, Brown and his band killed five pro-slavery people at <!--del_lnk--> Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.<p>His famous raid in October 1859, involved a band of 22 men who seized the federal arsenal at <!--del_lnk--> Harper's Ferry, Virginia, knowing it contained tens of thousands of weapons. Brown, like his Boston supporters, believed that the South was on the verge of a gigantic slave uprising and that one spark would set it off. Brown's raid, says historian David Potter, "was meant to be of vast magnitude and to produce a revolutionary slave uprising throughout the South." The raid was a fiasco. Not a single slave revolted. Instead, Brown was quickly captured, tried for treason (against the state of Virginia) and hanged. At his trial, Brown exuded a remarkable strength of character that impressed Southerners, even as they feared he might be right about an impending slave revolt. Shortly before his execution, Brown prophesied, "the crimes of this guilty land : will never be purged away; but with Blood."<p><a id="Arguments_for_and_against_slavery" name="Arguments_for_and_against_slavery"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Arguments for and against slavery</span></h3>
<p>William Lloyd Garrison, the leading abolitionist, was motivated by a belief in the growth of democracy. Because the Constitution had a three-fifths clause, a fugitive slave clause and a 20-year extension of the Atlantic slave trade, Garrison once publicly burned a copy of the <!--del_lnk--> U. S. Constitution and called it "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell."<p>In 1854, he said<blockquote>
<p>I am a believer in that portion of the Declaration of American Independence in which it is set forth, as among self-evident truths, "that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Hence, I am an abolitionist. Hence, I cannot but regard oppression in every form—and most of all, that which turns a man into a thing—with indignation and abhorrence.</blockquote>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Wendell Phillips, one of the most ardent abolitionists, attacked the <!--del_lnk--> Slave Power and presaged disunion as early as 1845:<blockquote>
<p>The experience of the fifty years… shows us the slaves trebling in numbers—slaveholders monopolizing the offices and dictating the policy of the Government—prostituting the strength and influence of the Nation to the support of slavery here and elsewhere—trampling on the rights of the free States, and making the courts of the country their tools. To continue this disastrous alliance longer is madness.… Why prolong the experiment?</blockquote>
<p>Confederate <!--del_lnk--> Vice President <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Stephens said that the cornerstone of the South was "That the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition."<p>Jefferson Davis said slavery "…was established by decree of Almighty God… it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation… it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts."<p>Robert E. Lee said, "There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil."<p><a id="Economics" name="Economics"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Economics</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15142.jpg.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln16th President (1861–1865)"><img alt="Abraham Lincoln16th President (1861–1865)" height="202" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Abraham_Lincoln_seated%2C_Feb_9%2C_1864.jpg" src="../../images/151/15142.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/151/15142.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><b><a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a></b><br /> 16th President (1861–1865)</div>
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<p><a id="Regional_economic_differences" name="Regional_economic_differences"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Regional economic differences</span></h4>
<p>The South, Midwest, and Northeast had quite different economic structures. <!--del_lnk--> Charles Beard in the 1920s made a highly influential argument to the effect that these differences caused the war (rather than slavery or constitutional debates). He saw the industrial Northeast forming a coalition with the agrarian Midwest against the Plantation South. Critics pointed out that his image of a unified Northeast was incorrect because the region was highly diverse with many different competing economic interests. In 1860-61, most business interests in the Northeast opposed war. After 1950, only a few historians accepted the Beard interpretation, though it was picked up by libertarian economists. As Historian Kenneth Stampp—who abandoned Beardianism after 1950, sums up the scholarly consensus:<blockquote>
<p>Most historians of the sectional conflict, whatever differences they may have on other matters, now see no compelling reason why the divergent economies of the North and South should have led to disunion and <!--del_lnk--> civil war; rather, they find stronger practical reasons why the sections, whose economies neatly complemented one another, should have found it advantageous to remain united. Beard oversimplified the controversies relating to federal economic policy, for neither section unanimously supported or opposed measures such as the protective tariff, appropriations for internal improvements, or the creation of a national banking system. Except for the nullification crisis of 1832-33, economic issues, though sometimes present, were not crucial in the various sectional confrontations. During the 1850s, Federal economic policy gave no substantial cause for southern disaffection, for policy was largely determined by pro-Southern Congresses and administrations. Finally, the characteristic posture of the conservative northeastern business community was far from anti-Southern. Most merchants, bankers, and manufacturers were outspoken in their hostility to antislavery agitation and eager for sectional compromise in order to maintain their profitable business connections with the South. The conclusion seems inescapable that if economic differences, real though they were, had been all that troubled relations between North and South, there would be no substantial basis for the idea of an irrepressible conflict.</blockquote>
<p>The South, in addition to much subsistence agriculture, depended upon large-scale production of export crops, primarily cotton and (to a lesser extent) tobacco, raised by slaves. The slaveowning plantations—which comprised less than a third of the white population—were export-dependent. Plantation owners typically accepted the theory that protective tariffs on iron and textiles hurt them, though they bought very little iron and only the cheapest cloth for the slaves. They believed cotton was in such heavy demand that Britain and France had no choice but to buy expensive southern cotton. James M. McPherson suggests that what South Carolina nullifiers really feared was not so much high tariffs but centralization of Federal government power, which might eventually threaten slavery itself.<p>Tariffs were low and did not protect northern industry before 1861. The Tariff of 1857 was the lowest since 1816 and a great victory for the South. However the <!--del_lnk--> Panic of 1857 energized the iron protectionists to fight back. The <!--del_lnk--> Morrill Tariff passed the House of Representatives on a strictly sectional vote on <!--del_lnk--> May 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1860. Pressures to pass the bill in the Senate quickly became a campaign issue for the Republican Party in the Northeast, while Southerners delayed voting on the tariff in the Senate until the following year. A heated battle of rhetoric from both sides compounded the tariff issue. Economist <!--del_lnk--> Henry C. Carey led the protectionist charge in Northern newspapers by blaming free trade for the economic recession and accompanying budget shortfalls. Southerners circulated copies of <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Prentiss Kettell's 1857 book <i>Southern Wealth and Northern Profits</i>, which argued that protective tariffs unduly burdened the slave states to the benefit of the north. The Morrill Tariff did not pass until after the deep South seceded—it was signed by <!--del_lnk--> President Buchanan (a Democrat) in March 1861 and took effect in April, the same month the fighting started. The tariff was rarely mentioned in the heated debates of 1860-61 over secession, although <!--del_lnk--> Robert Toombs of Georgia did denounce "the infamous Morrill bill" as where "the robber and the incendiary struck hands, and united in joint raid against the South."<!--del_lnk--> The tariff also appeared in two secession documents of the states. South Carolina's secession convention published a declaration by <!--del_lnk--> Robert Barnwell Rhett that listed as its reason for secession "the consolidation of the North to rule the South, by the tariff and Slavery issues."<!--del_lnk--> Georgia also published a declaration listing economic grievances such as the tariff <!--del_lnk--> , though it emphasized the future of slavery as the main cause.<p>Alexander Stephens, for example, mentioned tariffs in his "Cornerstone Speech", but said the main cause was slavery. Stephens had been previously sympathetic to tariffs though, and had argued against Toombs's critique of the Morrill bill (as well as secession itself) a few months prior.<p>The many compromises proposed to resolve the crisis in 1860-61 never included the tariff, but instead always focused on the slavery issue. Economic historian Lee A. Craig points out, "In fact, numerous studies by economic historians over the past several decades reveal that economic conflict was not an inherent condition of North-South relations during the antebellum era and did not cause the Civil War."<p><a id="Free_labor_vs._pro-slavery_arguments" name="Free_labor_vs._pro-slavery_arguments"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Free labor vs. pro-slavery arguments</span></h4>
<p>Historian <!--del_lnk--> Eric Foner (1970) has argued that a free-labor ideology dominated thinking in the North, which emphasized economic opportunity. By contrast, Southerners described free labor as "greasy mechanics, filthy operators, small-fisted farmers, and moonstruck theorists." They strongly opposed the homestead laws that were proposed to give free farms in the west, fearing the small farmers would oppose plantation slavery. Indeed, opposition to homestead laws was far more common in <!--del_lnk--> secessionist rhetoric than opposition to tariffs. They argued that only a slave-owning society allowed the leisure for education and cultural refinement. They depicted slavery as a positive good for the slaves themselves, especially the Christianizing that had rescued them from the paganism of Africa.<p><a id="Southern_fears_of_modernization" name="Southern_fears_of_modernization"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Southern fears of modernization</span></h3>
<p>In a broader sense, the North was rapidly modernizing in a manner deeply threatening to the South, for the North was not only becoming more economically powerful; it was developing new modernizing, urban values while the South was clinging more and more to the old rural traditional values of the Jeffersonian yeoman. As James McPherson argues:<dl>
<dd>The ascension to power of the Republican Party, with its ideology of competitive, egalitarian free-labor capitalism, was a signal to the South that the Northern majority had turned irrevocably towards this frightening, revolutionary future.</dl>
<p><a id="Southern_fears_of_Republican_control" name="Southern_fears_of_Republican_control"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Southern fears of Republican control</span></h3>
<p>Southern secession was triggered by the election of Republican <a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a> because regional leaders feared that he would make good on his promise to stop the expansion of slavery and would thus put it on a course toward extinction. Many Southerners thought that even if Lincoln did not abolish slavery, sooner or later another Northerner would do so, and that it was thus time to quit the Union. The slave states, which had already become a minority in the House of Representatives, were now facing a future as a perpetual minority in the Senate and Electoral College against an increasingly powerful North.<p><a id="A_house_divided_against_itself" name="A_house_divided_against_itself"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">A house divided against itself</span></h2>
<p><a id="Secession_winter" name="Secession_winter"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Secession winter</span></h3>
<p>Before Lincoln took office, seven states declared their secession from the Union, and established a Southern government, the <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States of America on <!--del_lnk--> February 9, <!--del_lnk--> 1861. They took control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries, with little resistance from President Buchanan, whose term ended on <!--del_lnk--> March 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1861. Buchanan asserted, "The South has no right to secede, but I have no power to prevent them." One quarter of the U.S. Army—the entire garrison in Texas—was surrendered to state forces by its commanding general, <!--del_lnk--> David E. Twiggs, who then joined the Confederacy. By seceding, the rebel states would reduce the strength of their claim to the Western territories that were in dispute, cancel any obligation for the North to return fugitive slaves to the Confederacy, and assure easy passage in Congress of many bills and amendments they had long opposed.<p><a id="The_Confederacy" name="The_Confederacy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The Confederacy</span></h3>
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<p>Seven <!--del_lnk--> Deep South cotton states seceded by February 1861, starting with <!--del_lnk--> South Carolina, <!--del_lnk--> Mississippi, <a href="../../wp/f/Florida.htm" title="Florida">Florida</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Alabama, <!--del_lnk--> Georgia, <!--del_lnk--> Louisiana, and <!--del_lnk--> Texas. These seven states formed the <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States of America (<!--del_lnk--> February 4, <!--del_lnk--> 1861), with <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis as president, and a <!--del_lnk--> governmental structure closely modeled on the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Constitution. In April and May 1861, four more slave states seceded and joined the Confederacy: <!--del_lnk--> Arkansas, <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee, <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina and <!--del_lnk--> Virginia. Virginia was split in two, with the eastern portion of that state seceding to the Confederacy and the northwestern part joining the Union as the new state of <a href="../../wp/w/West_Virginia.htm" title="West Virginia">West Virginia</a> on June 20, 1863.<p><a id="The_Union_states" name="The_Union_states"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The Union states</span></h3>
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<p>There were 23 states that remained loyal to the Union during the war: <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Connecticut, <!--del_lnk--> Delaware, <!--del_lnk--> Illinois, <!--del_lnk--> Indiana, <!--del_lnk--> Iowa, <!--del_lnk--> Kansas, <!--del_lnk--> Kentucky, <!--del_lnk--> Maine, <!--del_lnk--> Maryland, <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts, <!--del_lnk--> Michigan, <a href="../../wp/m/Minnesota.htm" title="Minnesota">Minnesota</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Missouri, <!--del_lnk--> New Hampshire, <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey, <!--del_lnk--> New York, <!--del_lnk--> Ohio, <a href="../../wp/o/Oregon.htm" title="Oregon">Oregon</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania, <a href="../../wp/r/Rhode_Island.htm" title="Rhode Island">Rhode Island</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Vermont, and <!--del_lnk--> Wisconsin. During the war, <!--del_lnk--> Nevada and <a href="../../wp/w/West_Virginia.htm" title="West Virginia">West Virginia</a> joined as new states of the Union. <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee and <!--del_lnk--> Louisiana were returned to Union control early in the war.<p>The territories of <!--del_lnk--> Colorado, <!--del_lnk--> Dakota, <!--del_lnk--> Nebraska, <!--del_lnk--> Nevada, <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico, <!--del_lnk--> Utah, and <!--del_lnk--> Washington fought on the Union side. Several slave-holding <!--del_lnk--> Native American tribes supported the Confederacy, giving the Indian territory (now <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma) a small bloody civil war.<p><a id="Border_states" name="Border_states"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Border states</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Border states in the Union comprised <a href="../../wp/w/West_Virginia.htm" title="West Virginia">West Virginia</a> (which broke away from Virginia and became a separate state), and four of the five northernmost slave states (<!--del_lnk--> Maryland, <!--del_lnk--> Delaware, <!--del_lnk--> Missouri, and <!--del_lnk--> Kentucky).<p><!--del_lnk--> Maryland had numerous pro-Confederate officials who tolerated anti-Union <!--del_lnk--> rioting in Baltimore and the burning of bridges. Lincoln responded with <!--del_lnk--> martial law and called for troops. Militia units that had been drilling in the North rushed toward Washington and Baltimore. Before the Confederate government realized what was happening, Lincoln had seized firm control of Maryland (and the separate <!--del_lnk--> District of Columbia), by arresting the entire Maryland statehouse and holding them without trial.<p>In Missouri, an elected convention on secession voted decisively to remain within the Union. When pro-Confederate Governor <!--del_lnk--> Claiborne F. Jackson called out the state militia, it was attacked by federal forces under General <!--del_lnk--> Nathaniel Lyon, who chased the governor and the rest of the State Guard to the southwestern corner of the state. (<i>See also: <!--del_lnk--> Missouri secession</i>). In the resulting vacuum the convention on secession reconvened and took power as the Unionist provisional government of Missouri.<p>Kentucky did not secede; for a time, it declared itself neutral. However, the Confederates broke the neutrality by seizing <!--del_lnk--> Columbus, Kentucky in September 1861. That turned opinion against the Confederacy, and the state reaffirmed its loyal status, while trying to maintain slavery. During a brief invasion by Confederate forces, Confederate sympathizers organized a secession convention, inaugurated a governor, and gained recognition from the Confederacy. The rebel government soon went into exile and never controlled the state.<p>Counties in the northwestern portion of Virginia opposed secession and formed a pro-Union government shortly after Richmond's secession in 1861. Unlike the remainder of Virginia, residents in this mountainous region were poor subsistence farmers. These counties were admitted to the Union in 1863 as <a href="../../wp/w/West_Virginia.htm" title="West Virginia">West Virginia</a>. Similar secessions appeared in <!--del_lnk--> East Tennessee, but were suppressed by the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis arrested over 3,000 men suspected of being loyal to the Union and held them without trial.<p><a id="Overview" name="Overview"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Overview</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16062.jpg.htm" title="A Roman Catholic Union army chaplain celebrating a Mass."><img alt="A Roman Catholic Union army chaplain celebrating a Mass." height="148" longdesc="/wiki/Image:American_Civil_War_Chaplain.JPG" src="../../images/160/16062.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16062.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A <!--del_lnk--> Roman Catholic Union army chaplain celebrating a Mass.</div>
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<p>Some 10,000 military engagements took place during the war, 40% of them in Virginia and Tennessee. Separate articles deal with every major battle and some minor ones. This article only gives the broad outline. For more information see <!--del_lnk--> Battles of the American Civil War.<p><a id="The_war_begins" name="The_war_begins"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The war begins</span></h3>
<p>Lincoln's victory in the <!--del_lnk--> presidential election of 1860 triggered South Carolina's declaration of secession from the Union. By February 1861, six more Southern states made similar declarations. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States of America and established their temporary capital at <!--del_lnk--> Montgomery, Alabama. A pre-war February <!--del_lnk--> peace conference of 1861 met in Washington in a failed attempt at resolving the crisis. The remaining eight slave states rejected pleas to join the Confederacy. Confederate forces seized all but three Federal forts within their boundaries (they did not take Fort Sumter); President Buchanan protested but made no military response aside from a failed attempt to resupply Fort Sumter via the ship <!--del_lnk--> <i>Star of the West</i>, and no serious military preparations. However, governors in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania began buying weapons and training militia units to ready them for immediate action.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> March 4, <!--del_lnk--> 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President. In his <!--del_lnk--> inaugural address, he argued that the Constitution was a <i><!--del_lnk--> more perfect union</i> than the earlier <!--del_lnk--> Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, that it was a binding contract, and called any secession "legally void". He stated he had no intent to invade Southern states, nor did he intend to end slavery where it existed, but that he would use force to maintain possession of federal property. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union.<p>The South sent delegations to Washington and offered to pay for the federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with Confederate agents on the grounds that the Confederacy was not a legitimate government, and that making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government.<p><!--del_lnk--> Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, was one of the three remaining Union-held forts in the Confederacy, and Lincoln was determined to hold it. Under orders from Confederate President <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis, Confederates under <!--del_lnk--> General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard bombarded the fort with artillery on <!--del_lnk--> April 12, forcing <!--del_lnk--> the fort's capitulation. Northerners reacted quickly to this attack on the flag, and rallied behind Lincoln, who called for all of the states to send troops to recapture the forts and to preserve the Union. With the scale of the rebellion apparently small so far, Lincoln called for 74,000 volunteers for 90 days. For months before that, several Northern governors had discreetly readied their state militias<!--del_lnk--> ; they began to move forces the next day.<p>Four states in the upper South (Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Virginia) which had repeatedly rejected Confederate overtures, now refused to send forces against their neighbors, declared their secession, and joined the Confederacy. To reward Virginia, the Confederate capital was moved to <a href="../../wp/r/Richmond%252C_Virginia.htm" title="Richmond, Virginia">Richmond</a>. The city was the symbol of the Confederacy; if it fell, the new nation would lose legitimacy. Richmond was in a highly vulnerable location at the end of a tortuous supply line.<p><a id="Anaconda_Plan_and_blockade.2C_1861" name="Anaconda_Plan_and_blockade.2C_1861"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Anaconda Plan and blockade, 1861</span></h3>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16063.jpg.htm" title="1861 cartoon of Scott's "Anaconda Plan""><img alt="1861 cartoon of Scott's "Anaconda Plan"" height="232" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Scott-anaconda.jpg" src="../../images/160/16063.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16063.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> 1861 cartoon of Scott's "<!--del_lnk--> Anaconda Plan"</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Winfield Scott, the commanding general of the U.S. Army, devised the <!--del_lnk--> Anaconda Plan to win the war with as little bloodshed as possible. His idea was that a <!--del_lnk--> Union blockade of the main ports would strangle the rebel economy; then the capture of the Mississippi River would split the South. Lincoln adopted the plan, but overruled Scott's warnings against an immediate attack on Richmond.<p>In May 1861, Lincoln proclaimed the <!--del_lnk--> Union blockade of all southern ports, which immediately shut down almost all international shipping to the Confederate ports. Violators risked seizure of the ship and cargo, and insurance probably would not cover the losses. Almost no large ships were owned by Confederate interests. By late 1861, the blockade shut down most local port-to-port traffic as well. Although few naval battles were fought and few men were killed, the blockade shut down <!--del_lnk--> King Cotton and ruined the southern economy. Some British investors built small, very fast "blockade runners" that brought in military supplies (and civilian luxuries) from Cuba and the Bahamas and took out some cotton and tobacco. When the U.S. Navy did capture blockade runners, the ships and cargo were sold and the proceeds given to the Union sailors. The British crews were released. The ironclad <!--del_lnk--> CSS <i>Virginia</i>’s maiden voyage sank the blockade ship <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Cumberland</i> and burned the <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Congress</i> on her "trial run." The second day, the <!--del_lnk--> Battle at Hampton Roads took place between the ironclads <!--del_lnk--> USS <i>Monitor</i> and the CSS <i>Virginia</i> in March 1862, ending in a tactical draw; it was a strategic Union victory, for the blockade was sustained. Other naval battles included <!--del_lnk--> Island No. 10, <!--del_lnk--> Memphis, <!--del_lnk--> Drewry's Bluff, <!--del_lnk--> Arkansas Post, and <!--del_lnk--> Mobile Bay. The <!--del_lnk--> Second Battle of Fort Fisher virtually ended blockade running.<p><a id="Eastern_Theater_1861.E2.80.931863" name="Eastern_Theater_1861.E2.80.931863"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Eastern Theatre 1861–1863</span></h3>
<p>Because of the fierce resistance of a few initial Confederate forces at <!--del_lnk--> Manassas, Virginia, in July 1861, a march by Union troops under the command of <!--del_lnk--> Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> Irvin McDowell on the Confederate forces there was halted in the <!--del_lnk--> First Battle of Bull Run, or <i>First Manassas</i>, whereupon they were forced back to <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a>, by Confederate troops under the command of Generals <!--del_lnk--> Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. It was in this battle that Confederate General <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Jackson received the <!--del_lnk--> nickname of "Stonewall" because he stood like a stone wall against Union troops. Alarmed at the loss, and in an attempt to prevent more slave states from leaving the Union, the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Congress passed the <!--del_lnk--> Crittenden-Johnson Resolution on <!--del_lnk--> July 25 of that year, which stated that the war was being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.<p>Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> George B. McClellan took command of the Union <!--del_lnk--> Army of the Potomac on <!--del_lnk--> July 26 (he was briefly general-in-chief of all the Union armies, but was subsequently relieved of that post in favour of Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> Henry W. Halleck), and the war began in earnest in 1862.<p>Upon the strong urging of President Lincoln to begin offensive operations, McClellan attacked Virginia in the spring of 1862 by way of the <!--del_lnk--> peninsula between the <!--del_lnk--> York River and <!--del_lnk--> James River, southeast of Richmond. Although McClellan's army reached the gates of Richmond in the <!--del_lnk--> Peninsula Campaign, Confederate General <!--del_lnk--> Joseph E. Johnston halted his advance at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Seven Pines, then General <!--del_lnk--> Robert E. Lee defeated him in the <!--del_lnk--> Seven Days Battles and forced his retreat. McClellan was stripped of many of his troops to reinforce General <!--del_lnk--> John Pope's Union <!--del_lnk--> Army of Virginia. Pope was beaten spectacularly by Lee in the <!--del_lnk--> Northern Virginia Campaign and the <!--del_lnk--> Second Battle of Bull Run in August.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16064.jpg.htm" title="Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Virginia, killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 1863."><img alt="Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Virginia, killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 1863." height="221" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Conf_dead_chancellorsville_2.jpg" src="../../images/160/16064.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16064.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Confederate dead behind the stone wall of Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, Virginia, killed during the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 1863.</div>
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<p>Emboldened by Second Bull Run, the Confederacy made its first invasion of the North, when General Lee led 45,000 men of the <!--del_lnk--> Army of Northern Virginia across the <!--del_lnk--> Potomac River into Maryland on <!--del_lnk--> September 5. Lincoln then restored Pope's troops to McClellan. McClellan and Lee fought at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Antietam near <!--del_lnk--> Sharpsburg, Maryland, on <!--del_lnk--> September 17, <!--del_lnk--> 1862, the bloodiest single day in United States military history. Lee's army, checked at last, returned to Virginia before McClellan could destroy it. Antietam is considered a Union victory because it halted Lee's invasion of the North and provided an opportunity for Lincoln to announce his <!--del_lnk--> Emancipation Proclamation.<p>When the cautious McClellan failed to follow up on Antietam, he was replaced by Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> Ambrose Burnside. Burnside was soon defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Fredericksburg on <!--del_lnk--> December 13, <!--del_lnk--> 1862, when over twelve thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded. After the battle, Burnside was replaced by Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker. Hooker, too, proved unable to defeat Lee's army; despite outnumbering the Confederates by more than two to one, he was humiliated in the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> George Meade during Lee's second invasion of the North, in June. Meade defeated Lee at the <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Gettysburg.htm" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Battle of Gettysburg</a> (<!--del_lnk--> July 1 to <!--del_lnk--> July 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1863), the bloodiest battle in United States history, which is sometimes considered the war's <!--del_lnk--> turning point. <!--del_lnk--> Pickett's Charge on <!--del_lnk--> July 3 is often recalled as the high-water mark of the Confederacy, not just because it signaled the end of Lee's plan to pressure Washington from the north, but also because Vicksburg, Mississippi, the key stronghold to control of the Mississippi fell the following day. Lee's army suffered some 28,000 casualties (versus Meade's 23,000). However, Lincoln was angry that Meade failed to intercept Lee's retreat, and after Meade's inconclusive fall campaign, Lincoln decided to turn to the Western Theatre for new leadership.<p><a id="Western_Theater_1861.E2.80.931863" name="Western_Theater_1861.E2.80.931863"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Western Theatre 1861–1863</span></h3>
<p>While the Confederate forces had numerous successes in the Eastern theatre, they crucially failed in the West. They were driven from Missouri early in the war as a result of the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Pea Ridge. <!--del_lnk--> Leonidas Polk's invasion of <!--del_lnk--> Kentucky enraged the citizens there who previously had declared neutrality in the war, turning that state against the Confederacy.<p><a href="../../wp/n/Nashville%252C_Tennessee.htm" title="Nashville, Tennessee">Nashville, Tennessee</a>, fell to the Union early in 1862. Most of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mississippi_River.htm" title="Mississippi River">Mississippi</a> was opened with the taking of <!--del_lnk--> Island No. 10 and <!--del_lnk--> New Madrid, Missouri, and then <!--del_lnk--> Memphis, Tennessee. The <!--del_lnk--> Union Navy captured <!--del_lnk--> New Orléans without a major fight in May 1862, allowing the Union forces to begin moving up the Mississippi as well. Only the fortress city of <!--del_lnk--> Vicksburg, Mississippi, prevented unchallenged Union control of the entire river.<p>General <!--del_lnk--> Braxton Bragg's second Confederate invasion of Kentucky was repulsed by Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> Don Carlos Buell at the confused and bloody <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Perryville, and he was narrowly defeated by Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> William Rosecrans at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Stones River in <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee.<p>The one clear Confederate victory in the West was the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Chickamauga. Bragg, reinforced by Lt. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> James Longstreet's corps (from Lee's army in the east), defeated Rosecrans, despite the heroic defensive stand of Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> George Henry Thomas. Rosecrans retreated to <!--del_lnk--> Chattanooga, which Bragg then besieged.<p>The Union's key strategist and tactician in the West was Maj. Gen. <a href="../../wp/u/Ulysses_S._Grant.htm" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, who won victories at Forts <!--del_lnk--> Henry and <!--del_lnk--> Donelson, by which the Union seized control of the <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee and <!--del_lnk--> Cumberland Rivers; <!--del_lnk--> the Battle of Shiloh; the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Vicksburg, cementing Union control of the Mississippi River and considered one of the <!--del_lnk--> turning points of the war. Grant marched to the relief of Rosecrans and defeated Bragg at the <!--del_lnk--> Third Battle of Chattanooga, driving Confederate forces out of Tennessee and opening a route to Atlanta and the heart of the Confederacy.<p><a id="Trans-Mississippi_Theater_1861.E2.80.931865" name="Trans-Mississippi_Theater_1861.E2.80.931865"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Trans-Mississippi Theatre 1861–1865</span></h3>
<p>Though geographically isolated from the battles to the east, a few small-scale military actions took place west of the Mississippi River. Confederate incursions into Arizona and New Mexico were repulsed in 1862. <!--del_lnk--> Guerrilla activity turned much of Missouri and Indian Territory (Oklahoma) into a battleground. Late in the war, the Union <!--del_lnk--> Red River Campaign was a failure. Texas remained in Confederate hands throughout the war, but was cut off from the rest of the Confederacy after the capture of Vicksburg in 1863 gave the Union control of the Mississippi River.<p><a id="End_of_the_war_1864.E2.80.931865" name="End_of_the_war_1864.E2.80.931865"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">End of the war 1864–1865</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16065.jpg.htm" title="Jefferson Davis, first and only President of the Confederate States of America"><img alt="Jefferson Davis, first and only President of the Confederate States of America" height="228" longdesc="/wiki/Image:President-Jefferson-Davis.jpg" src="../../images/160/16065.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16065.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis, first and only President of the <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States of America</div>
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<p>At the beginning of 1864, Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies. Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, and put Maj. Gen. <a href="../../wp/w/William_Tecumseh_Sherman.htm" title="William Tecumseh Sherman">William Tecumseh Sherman</a> in command of most of the western armies. Grant understood the concept of <!--del_lnk--> total war and believed, along with Lincoln and Sherman, that only the utter defeat of Confederate forces and their economic base would bring an end to the war. Grant devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple directions: Generals George Meade and <!--del_lnk--> Benjamin Butler were ordered to move against Lee near Richmond; General <!--del_lnk--> Franz Sigel (and later <!--del_lnk--> Philip Sheridan) were to <!--del_lnk--> attack the Shenandoah Valley; General Sherman was to capture <a href="../../wp/a/Atlanta%252C_Georgia.htm" title="Atlanta, Georgia">Atlanta</a> and march to the sea (Atlantic ocean); Generals <!--del_lnk--> George Crook and <!--del_lnk--> William W. Averell were to operate against railroad supply lines in <a href="../../wp/w/West_Virginia.htm" title="West Virginia">West Virginia</a>; and Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> Nathaniel P. Banks was to capture <!--del_lnk--> Mobile, Alabama.<p>Union forces in the East attempted to maneuver past Lee and fought several battles during that phase ("Grant's <!--del_lnk--> Overland Campaign") of the Eastern campaign. Grant's battles of attrition at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbour resulted in heavy Union losses, but forced Lee's Confederates to fall back again and again. An attempt to outflank Lee from the south failed under Butler, who was trapped inside the <!--del_lnk--> Bermuda Hundred river bend. Grant was tenacious and, despite astonishing losses (over 66,000 casualties in six weeks), kept pressing Lee's Army of Northern Virginia back to Richmond. He pinned down the Confederate army in the <!--del_lnk--> Siege of Petersburg, where the two armies engaged in <a href="../../wp/t/Trench_warfare.htm" title="Trench warfare">trench warfare</a> for over nine months.<p>Grant finally found a commander, General <!--del_lnk--> Philip Sheridan, aggressive enough to prevail in the <!--del_lnk--> Valley Campaigns of 1864. Sheridan proved to be more than a match for Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> Jubal A. Early, and defeated him in a series of battles, including a final decisive defeat at <!--del_lnk--> the Battle of Cedar Creek. Sheridan then proceeded to destroy the agricultural base of the <!--del_lnk--> Shenandoah Valley, a strategy similar to the tactics Sherman later employed in Georgia.<p>Meanwhile, Sherman marched from Chattanooga to Atlanta, defeating Confederate Generals <!--del_lnk--> Joseph E. Johnston and <!--del_lnk--> John Bell Hood along the way. <!--del_lnk--> The fall of Atlanta, on <!--del_lnk--> September 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1864, was a significant factor in the reelection of Lincoln as president. Hood left the Atlanta area to menace Sherman's supply lines and invade Tennessee in the <!--del_lnk--> Franklin-Nashville Campaign. Union Maj. Gen. <!--del_lnk--> John M. Schofield defeated Hood at <!--del_lnk--> the Battle of Franklin, and George H. "Pap" Thomas dealt Hood a massive defeat at <!--del_lnk--> the Battle of Nashville, effectively destroying Hood's army.<p>Leaving Atlanta, and his base of supplies, Sherman's army marched with an unknown destination, laying waste to about 20% of the farms in Georgia in his celebrated "<!--del_lnk--> March to the Sea". He reached the Atlantic Ocean at <!--del_lnk--> Savannah, Georgia in December 1864. Sherman's army was followed by thousands of freed slaves; there were no major battles along the March. When Sherman turned north through South Carolina and North Carolina to approach the Confederate Virginia lines from the south, it was the end for Lee and his men.<p>Lee's army, thinned by desertion and casualties, was now much smaller than Grant's. Union forces won a decisive victory at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Five Forks on April 1, forcing Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond. The Confederate capital fell to the <!--del_lnk--> Union XXV Corps, comprised of black troops. The remaining Confederate units fled west and after a defeat at <!--del_lnk--> Sayler's Creek, it became clear to Robert E. Lee that continued fighting against the United States was both tactically and logistically impossible.<p>Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on <!--del_lnk--> April 9, <!--del_lnk--> 1865, at <!--del_lnk--> Appomattox Court House. In an untraditional gesture and as a sign of Grant's respect and anticipation of folding the Confederacy back into the Union with dignity and peace, Lee was permitted to keep his officer's saber and his near-legendary horse, <!--del_lnk--> Traveller. Johnston surrendered his troops to Sherman on <!--del_lnk--> April 26, <!--del_lnk--> 1865, in <!--del_lnk--> Durham, North Carolina. On <!--del_lnk--> June 23, <!--del_lnk--> 1865, at <!--del_lnk--> Fort Towson in the Choctaw Nations' area of the <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma Territory, <!--del_lnk--> Stand Watie signed a cease-fire agreement with Union representatives, becoming the last Confederate general in the field to stand down. The last Confederate naval force to surrender was the <!--del_lnk--> CSS <i>Shenandoah</i> on <!--del_lnk--> November 4, <!--del_lnk--> 1865, in <a href="../../wp/l/Liverpool.htm" title="Liverpool">Liverpool</a>, <!--del_lnk--> England.<p><a id="Slavery_during_the_war" name="Slavery_during_the_war"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Slavery during the war</span></h2>
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<p>Lincoln initially declared his official purpose to be the preservation of the Union, not emancipation. He had no wish to alienate the thousands of slaveholders in the Union border states.<p>The issue of what to do with Southern slaves, however, would not go away: As early as May 1861, some slaves working on Confederate fortifications escaped to the Union lines, and their owner, a Confederate colonel, demanded their return under the Fugitive Slave Act. The response was to declare them "contraband of war"—effectively freeing them. Congress eventually approved this for slaves used by the Confederate military.<p>By 1862, when it became clear that this would be a long war, the question became more general. The Southern economy and military effort depended on slave labor; was it reasonable to protect slavery while blockading Southern commerce and destroying Southern production? As one Congressman put it, the slaves "…cannot be neutral. As laborers, if not as soldiers, they will be allies of the rebels, or of the Union."<p>There was a range of positions on the final settlement of slavery; the same Congressman—and his fellow radicals—felt the victory would be profitless if the Slave Power continued. Conservative Republicans still hoped that the states could end slavery and send the freedmen abroad. Lincoln, and many others, agreed with both the aversion to slavery and to colonization; but all factions came rapidly to agree that the slaves of Confederates must be freed.<p>At first, Lincoln reversed attempts at emancipation by Secretary of War Cameron and Generals Fremont and Hunter in order to keep the loyalty of the border states and the War Democrats. Lincoln then tried to persuade the border states to accept his plan of gradual, compensated emancipation and voluntary colonization, while warning them that stronger measures would be needed if the moderate approach was rejected. Only the District of Columbia accepted Lincoln's gradual plan, and Lincoln issued his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 of 1863. In his letter to Hodges, Lincoln explained his belief that "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong … And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling ... I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me."<p>The Emancipation Proclamation, announced in September 1862 and put into effect four months later, ended the Confederacy's hope of getting aid from Britain or France. Lincoln's moderate approach succeeded in getting border states, War Democrats and emancipated slaves fighting on the same side for the Union.<p>The Union-controlled border states (Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia) were not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation. All abolished slavery on their own, except Kentucky. The great majority of the 4 million slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, as Union armies moved South. The <!--del_lnk--> 13th amendment, ratified <!--del_lnk--> December 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1865, finally freed the remaining 40,000 slaves in Kentucky, as well as 1,000 or so in Delaware.<p><a id="Threat_of_international_intervention" name="Threat_of_international_intervention"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Threat of international intervention</span></h2>
<p>The best chance for Confederate victory was entry into the war by Britain and France. The Union, under Lincoln and Secretary of State <!--del_lnk--> William Henry Seward worked to block this, and threatened war if any country officially recognized the existence of the Confederate States of America. (None ever did.) In 1861, Southerners voluntarily embargoed cotton shipments, hoping to start an economic depression in Europe that would force Britain to enter the war in order to get cotton. <!--del_lnk--> Cotton diplomacy proved a failure as Europe had a surplus of cotton, while the 1860-62 crop failures in Europe made the North's grain exports of critical importance. It was said that "King Corn was more powerful than King Cotton", as US grain went from a quarter of the British import trade to almost half.<p>When the UK did face a cotton shortage, it was temporary; being replaced by increased cultivation in Egypt and India. The war created employment for arms makers, iron workers, and British ships to transport weapons.<p>Lincoln's announcement of a <!--del_lnk--> naval blockade of the Confederacy, a clear act of war, enabled Britain—followed by other European powers—to announce their neutrality in the dispute. This in turn enabled the Confederacy to begin to attempt to gain support and funds in Europe. President Jefferson Davis replaced his first two secretaries of state (<!--del_lnk--> Robert Toombs and <!--del_lnk--> Robert M. T. Hunter) with <!--del_lnk--> Judah P. Benjamin in early 1862. Although Benjamin had more international knowledge and legal experience, he failed to create a dynamic foreign policy for the Confederacy.<p>The first attempts to achieve European recognition of the Confederacy were dispatched on <!--del_lnk--> February 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1861, and led by <!--del_lnk--> William Lowndes Yancey, <!--del_lnk--> Pierre A. Rost, and <!--del_lnk--> Ambrose Dudley Mann. The British foreign minister <!--del_lnk--> Lord John Russell met with them, and the French foreign minister <!--del_lnk--> Edouard Thouvenel received the group unofficially. Neither Britain nor France ever promised formal recognition, for that meant war with the Union.<p><!--del_lnk--> Charles Francis Adams proved particularly adept as <!--del_lnk--> minister to Britain for the Union, and Britain was reluctant to boldly challenge the Union's blockade. Independent British maritime interests spent hundreds of millions of pounds to build and operate highly profitable <!--del_lnk--> blockade runners — commercial ships flying the British flag and carrying supplies to the Confederacy by slipping through the blockade. The officers and crews were British and when captured they were released. The Confederacy purchased several warships from commercial ship builders in Britain; the most famous, the <!--del_lnk--> CSS <i>Alabama</i>, did considerable damage and led to serious <!--del_lnk--> postwar disputes. The Confederacy sent journalists <!--del_lnk--> Henry Hotze and <!--del_lnk--> Edwin De Leon to open propaganda stations to feed news media in Paris and London. However, public opinion against slavery created a political liability for European politicians, especially in Britain. War loomed in late 1861 between the U.S. and Britain over the <!--del_lnk--> Trent Affair, involving the Union boarding of a British mail steamer to seize two Confederate diplomats. However, London and Washington were able to smooth over the problem after Lincoln released the two diplomats.<p>In 1862, the British considered mediation—though even such an offer would have risked war with the U.S. <!--del_lnk--> Lord Palmerston read <i><!--del_lnk--> Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i> three times when deciding on this. The Union victory in the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Antietam caused them to delay this decision. The <!--del_lnk--> Emancipation Proclamation further reinforced the political liability of supporting the Confederacy. As the war continued, the Confederacy's chances with Britain grew hopeless, and they focused increasingly on France. <!--del_lnk--> Napoléon III proposed to offer mediation in January 1863, but this was dismissed by Seward. Despite some sympathy for the Confederacy, France's own <!--del_lnk--> seizure of Mexico ultimately deterred them from war with the Union. Confederate offers late in the war to end slavery in return for diplomatic recognition were not seriously considered by London or Paris.<p><a id="Analysis_of_the_Outcome" name="Analysis_of_the_Outcome"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Analysis of the Outcome</span></h2>
<p>Could the South have won? A significant number of scholars believe that the Union held an insurmountable advantage over the Confederacy in terms of industrial strength, population, and the determination to win. Confederate actions, they argue, could only delay defeat. Southern historian <!--del_lnk--> Shelby Foote expressed this view succinctly in Ken Burns's television series on the Civil War: "I think that the North fought that war with one hand behind its back.… If there had been more Southern victories, and a lot more, the North simply would have brought that other hand out from behind its back. I don't think the South ever had a chance to win that War." After Lincoln defeated McClellan in the election of 1864, the threat of a political victory for the South was ended. At this point, Lincoln had succeeded in getting the support of the border states, War Democrats, Republicans, emancipated slaves and Britain and France. By defeating the Democrats and McClellan, he also defeated the <!--del_lnk--> Copperheads and their secessionist party platform. And he found military leaders like Grant and Sherman that were a match for Lee. From the end of 1864 on, there was no hope for the South.<p>The goals were not symmetric. To win independence, the South had to convince the North it could not win, but did <i>not</i> have to invade the North. To restore the Union, the North had to conquer vast stretches of territory. In the short run (a matter of months), the two sides were evenly matched. But in the long run (a matter of years), the North had advantages that increasingly came into play, while it prevented the South from gaining diplomatic recognition in Europe.<p><a id="Long-term_economic_factors" name="Long-term_economic_factors"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Long-term economic factors</span></h3>
<p>Both sides had long-term advantages but the Union had more. To win the Union had to use its long-term resources to accomplish multiple goals, including control of the entire coastline, control of most of the population centers, control of the main rivers (especially the Mississippi and Tennessee), defeat of all the main Confederate armies, and finally seizure of Richmond. As the occupying force they had to station hundreds of thousands of soldiers to control railroads, supply lines, and major towns and cities. The long-term advantages widely credited by historians to have contributed to the Union's success include:<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:377px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16066.png.htm" title="USA economic advantages; graph shows USA value with CSA = 100"><img alt="USA economic advantages; graph shows USA value with CSA = 100" height="283" longdesc="/wiki/Image:USA_Advantages.png" src="../../images/160/16066.png" width="375" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16066.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> USA economic advantages; graph shows USA value with CSA = 100</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>The more industrialized economy of the North aided in the production of arms, munitions and supplies, as well as finances, and transportation. The graph shows the relative advantage of the USA over the Confederate States of America (CSA) at the start of the war. The advantages widened rapidly during the war, as the Northern economy grew, and Confederate territory shrank and its economy weakened.<li>The Union population was 22 million and the South 9 million in 1861; the Southern population included more than 3.5 million slaves thus leaving the South's white population outnumbered by a ratio of more than four to one. The disparity grew as the Union controlled more and more southern territory with garrisons, and cut off the trans-Mississippi part of the Confederacy.<li>The Union at the start controlled over 80% of the shipyards, steamships, river boats, and the Navy. It augmented these by a massive shipbuilding program. This enabled the Union to control the river systems and to blockade the entire southern coastline.<li>Excellent railroad links between Union cities allowed for the quick and cheap movement of troops and supplies. Transportation was much slower and more difficult in the South which was unable to augment its much smaller rail system, repair damage, or even perform routine maintenance.</ul>
<p><a id="Political_and_diplomatic_factors" name="Political_and_diplomatic_factors"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Political and diplomatic factors</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>The Union's more established government, particularly a mature executive branch which accumulated even greater power during wartime, gave a more streamlined conduct of the war, with minimal bickering between Lincoln and the governors. The failure of Davis to maintain positive and productive relationships with state governors damaged his ability to draw on regional resources.<li>A strong <!--del_lnk--> party system enabled the Republicans to mobilize soldiers and support at the grass roots, even when the war became unpopular. The Confederacy deliberately did not use parties.<li>The failure to win diplomatic or military support from any foreign powers cut the Confederacy from access to markets and to most imports. Its "<!--del_lnk--> King Cotton" misperception of the world economy led to bad diplomacy, such as the refusal to ship cotton before the blockade started.</ul>
<p><a id="Military_factors" name="Military_factors"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Military factors</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>Strategically, the location of the capital Richmond tied Lee to a highly exposed position at the end of supply lines. Loss of its national capital was unthinkable for the Confederacy, for it would lose legitimacy as an independent nation. Washington was equally vulnerable, but if it had been captured, the Union would not have collapsed. <li>The Confederacy's tactic of invading the North (Antietam 1862, Gettysburg 1863, Nashville 1864) drained manpower strength, when it could not replace its losses.<li>The Union devoted much more of its resources to medical needs, thereby overcoming the unhealthy disease environment that sickened (and killed) more soldiers than combat did.<li>Despite the Union's many tactical blunders (like the <!--del_lnk--> Seven Days Battles), those committed by Confederate generals (such as Lee's miscalculations at the Battles of <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Gettysburg.htm" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Gettysburg</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Antietam) were far more serious—if for no other reason than that the Confederates could so little afford the losses.<li>Lincoln proved more adept than Davis in replacing unsuccessful generals with better ones.<li>Lincoln grew as a grand strategist, in contrast to Davis. The Confederacy never developed an overall strategy. It never had a plan to deal with the blockade. Davis failed to respond in a coordinated fashion to serious threats (such as Grant's campaign against Vicksburg in 1863; in the face of which, he allowed Lee to invade Pennsylvania).<li>The Emancipation Proclamation enabled African-Americans, both free blacks and escaped slaves, to join the Union Army. About 190,000 volunteered, further enhancing the numerical advantage the Union armies enjoyed over the Confederates. They fought in several key battles in the last two years of the war. <li>Finally, the Confederacy may have lacked the total commitment needed to win the war. Lincoln and his team never wavered in their commitment to victory.</ul>
<p><a id="Civil_War_leaders_and_soldiers" name="Civil_War_leaders_and_soldiers"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Civil War leaders and soldiers</span></h2>
<p>Most of the important generals on both sides had formerly served in the <!--del_lnk--> United States Army—some, including <a href="../../wp/u/Ulysses_S._Grant.htm" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Robert E. Lee, during the <!--del_lnk--> Mexican-American War between 1846 and 1848. Most were graduates of the <!--del_lnk--> United States Military Academy at West Point.<p>The senior Southern military commanders and strategists included <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis, <!--del_lnk--> Robert E. Lee, <!--del_lnk--> Joseph E. Johnston, <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, <!--del_lnk--> James Longstreet, <!--del_lnk--> Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, <!--del_lnk--> John Singleton Mosby, <!--del_lnk--> Braxton Bragg, <!--del_lnk--> John Bell Hood, <!--del_lnk--> James Ewell Brown "J.E.B." Stuart, and <!--del_lnk--> Jubal Early.<p>The senior Northern military commanders and strategists included <a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Edwin M. Stanton, <!--del_lnk--> Winfield Scott, <!--del_lnk--> George B. McClellan, <!--del_lnk--> Henry W. Halleck, <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Hooker, <!--del_lnk--> Ambrose Burnside, <a href="../../wp/u/Ulysses_S._Grant.htm" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, <a href="../../wp/w/William_Tecumseh_Sherman.htm" title="William Tecumseh Sherman">William Tecumseh Sherman</a>, <!--del_lnk--> George Henry Thomas, <a href="../../wp/w/Winfield_Scott_Hancock.htm" title="Winfield Scott Hancock">Winfield Scott Hancock</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> George Gordon Meade.<p>After 1980, scholarly attention turned to ordinary soldiers, women, and African Americans involved with the War. As James McPherson observed "The profound irony of the Civil War was that Confederate and Union soldiers… interpreted the heritage of 1776 in opposite ways. Confederates fought for liberty and independence from what they regarded as a tyrannical government; Unionists fought to preserve the nation created by the founders from dismemberment and destruction."<p><a id="Nature_of_the_war" name="Nature_of_the_war"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Nature of the war</span></h2>
<p>The traditional definition of a <!--del_lnk--> Civil War is a war in which two governments fight for control over the same state. The Government of <a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a> viewed the conflict as a Civil War, with both sides fighting to govern the <a href="../../wp/s/Southern_United_States.htm" title="Southern United States">South</a>. The other side, the Government of <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Davis, viewed it as a war in which one sovereign nation (the United States) invaded another (the <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States).<p><a id="Aftermath" name="Aftermath"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Aftermath</span></h2>
<p>The fighting ended with the surrender of the conventional Confederate forces. There was no significant guerrilla warfare. Many senior Confederate leaders escaped to <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>, to <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a>, or even to <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>; Davis was captured and imprisoned for two years, but never brought to trial. Indeed, there were no <!--del_lnk--> treason trials for anyone.<p><a id="Reconstruction" name="Reconstruction"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Reconstruction</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>Northern leaders agreed that victory would require more than the end of fighting. It had to encompass the two war goals: Southern nationalism had to be totally repudiated, and all forms of slavery had to be eliminated. They disagreed sharply on the criteria for these goals. They also disagreed on the degree of federal control that should be imposed on the South, and the process by which Southern states should be reintegrated into the Union.<p>Reconstruction, which began early in the war and ended in 1877, involved a complex and rapidly changing series of federal and state policies. The long-term result came in the three "Civil War" amendments to the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_Constitution.htm" title="United States Constitution">Constitution</a> (the XIII, which abolished slavery, the XIV, which extended federal legal protections to citizens regardless of race, and the XV, which abolished racial restrictions on voting). Reconstruction ended in the different states at different times, the last three by the <!--del_lnk--> Compromise of 1877. For details on why the <a href="../../wp/f/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.htm" title="Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution">Fourteenth Amendment</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Fifteenth Amendment were largely ineffective until the <!--del_lnk--> American Civil Rights movement, see <!--del_lnk--> Jim Crow laws, <a href="../../wp/k/Ku_Klux_Klan.htm" title="Ku Klux Klan">Ku Klux Klan</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Plessy v. Ferguson, <!--del_lnk--> United States v. Cruikshank, <!--del_lnk--> Civil Rights Cases and <!--del_lnk--> Reconstruction.<p><a id="Memories_of_the_war" name="Memories_of_the_war"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Memories of the war</span></h3>
<p>The war had a lasting impact on United States culture. Lincoln and Lee became iconic heroes. Every town and city built memorials to its heroic soldiers, battlefields became sacred places, and stories of the war became part of national folklore. By the 1890s, the veterans of the North and South had reconciled and were holding joint reunions. The South's strong support for the <!--del_lnk--> war against Spain in 1898 convinced the remaining doubters that the South was patriotic.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16067.jpg.htm" title="The Peace Monument at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee depicts a Union and Confederate soldier shaking hands."><img alt="The Peace Monument at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee depicts a Union and Confederate soldier shaking hands." height="229" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Peace_Monument_Chattanooga.jpg" src="../../images/160/16067.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16067.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <i>Peace Monument</i> at <!--del_lnk--> Lookout Mountain, <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee depicts a Union and Confederate soldier shaking hands.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>However, for decades after the war, some Republican politicians "waved the <!--del_lnk--> bloody shirt," bringing up wartime casualties as an electoral tactic. Memories of the war and Reconstruction held the segregated South together as a Democratic block—the "<!--del_lnk--> Solid South"—in national politics for another century. A few debates surrounding the legacy of the war continue into the 21st century, especially regarding memorials and celebrations of Confederate heroes and <!--del_lnk--> battle flags.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Cinema and television</span></h2>
<p><a id="Films_about_the_war" name="Films_about_the_war"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Films about the war</span></h3>
<div class="references-small">
<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Birth of a Nation</i> (1915)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Gone With the Wind</i> (1939)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Friendly Persuasion</i> (1956)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Good, the Bad and the Ugly</i> (1966)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Blue and the Gray</i> (1982)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Glory</i> (1989)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Gettysburg</i> (1993)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Ride with the Devil</i> (1999)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Gods and Generals</i> (2003)<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Cold Mountain</i> (2003)</ul>
</div>
<p><a id="Documentaries_about_the_war" name="Documentaries_about_the_war"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Documentaries about the war</span></h3>
<div class="references-small">
<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Civil War</i>, directed by <!--del_lnk--> Ken Burns<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Great Battles of the Civil War</i>, directed by <!--del_lnk--> Jay Wertz</ul>
</div>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Wynn Ward's The Civil War : Missouri" <i>, featuring Civil War expert Wynn Ward, produced by Tom Pieper and J. L. Palermo</i></ul>
<table class="wikitable" style="font-size:92%;">
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="2"><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16068.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="26" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US_flag_34_stars.svg" src="../../images/160/16068.png" width="50" /></a> <b><strong class="selflink">American Civil War</strong></b> – <i>Navigate through History:</i> <a class="image" href="../../images/160/16069.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="28" longdesc="/wiki/Image:CSA_FLAG_4.3.1861-21.5.1861.svg" src="../../images/160/16069.png" width="50" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" style="background:#99CCFF" width="7%"><b>Issues & Combatants</b></td>
<td style="background:#cedff2">
<p><i><b>Prelude:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Origins • <!--del_lnk--> Timeline • <!--del_lnk--> Antebellum • <!--del_lnk--> Bleeding Kansas • <!--del_lnk--> Secession • <!--del_lnk--> Border states • <!--del_lnk--> Anaconda Plan<br /><i><b>Slavery:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> African-Americans • <!--del_lnk--> Emancipation Proclamation • <!--del_lnk--> Fugitive slave laws • <!--del_lnk--> Slavery • <!--del_lnk--> Slave power • <!--del_lnk--> Uncle Tom's Cabin<br /><i><b>Abolition:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Abolitionism • <!--del_lnk--> John Brown • <a href="../../wp/f/Frederick_Douglass.htm" title="Frederick Douglass">Frederick Douglass</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Harriet Tubman • <!--del_lnk--> Underground Railroad<br /><i><b>Combatants:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Union (USA) • <!--del_lnk--> Union Army • <!--del_lnk--> Union Navy • <!--del_lnk--> Confederacy (CSA) • <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States Army • <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States Navy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" style="background:#C0C0C0" width="7%"><b>Theaters & Campaigns</b></td>
<td style="background:#DCDCDC">
<p><i><b>Theaters:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Union naval blockade • <!--del_lnk--> Eastern • <!--del_lnk--> Western • <!--del_lnk--> Lower Seaboard • <!--del_lnk--> Trans-Mississippi • <!--del_lnk--> Pacific Coast<br /><i><b>1862:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> New Mexico • <!--del_lnk--> Jackson's Valley • <!--del_lnk--> Peninsula • <!--del_lnk--> Northern Virginia • <!--del_lnk--> Maryland • <!--del_lnk--> Stones River<br /><i><b>1863:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Vicksburg • <!--del_lnk--> Tullahoma • <!--del_lnk--> Gettysburg • <!--del_lnk--> Morgan's Raid • <!--del_lnk--> Chickamauga • <!--del_lnk--> Bristoe<br /><i><b>1864:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Red River • <!--del_lnk--> Overland • <!--del_lnk--> Atlanta • <!--del_lnk--> Valley 1864 • <!--del_lnk--> Bermuda Hundred • <!--del_lnk--> Richmond-Petersburg • <!--del_lnk--> Franklin-Nashville • <!--del_lnk--> Price's Raid • <!--del_lnk--> Sherman's March<br /><i><b>1865:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Carolinas • <!--del_lnk--> Appomattox</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" style="background:#99CCFF" width="7%"><b>Major Battles</b></td>
<td style="background:#cedff2">
<p><!--del_lnk--> List by state • <!--del_lnk--> List by date • <!--del_lnk--> Naval battles • <!--del_lnk--> Antietam • <!--del_lnk--> Atlanta • <!--del_lnk--> 1st Bull Run • <!--del_lnk--> 2nd Bull Run • <!--del_lnk--> Chancellorsville • <!--del_lnk--> Chattanooga • <!--del_lnk--> Chickamauga • <!--del_lnk--> Cold Harbour • <!--del_lnk--> Five Forks • <!--del_lnk--> Fort Donelson • <!--del_lnk--> Fort Sumter • <!--del_lnk--> Franklin • <!--del_lnk--> Fredericksburg • <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Gettysburg.htm" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Gettysburg</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Hampton Roads • <!--del_lnk--> Mobile Bay • <!--del_lnk--> New Orleans • <!--del_lnk--> Nashville • <!--del_lnk--> Pea Ridge • <!--del_lnk--> Perryville • <!--del_lnk--> Petersburg • <!--del_lnk--> Pickett's Charge • <!--del_lnk--> Seven Days • <!--del_lnk--> Seven Pines • <!--del_lnk--> Shiloh • <!--del_lnk--> Spotsylvania • <!--del_lnk--> Stones River • <!--del_lnk--> Vicksburg • <!--del_lnk--> Wilderness • <!--del_lnk--> Wilson's Creek</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" style="background:#C0C0C0" width="7%"><b>Key CSA<br /> Leaders</b></td>
<td style="background:#DCDCDC">
<p><i><b>Military:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Anderson • <!--del_lnk--> Beauregard • <!--del_lnk--> Bragg • <!--del_lnk--> Cooper • <!--del_lnk--> Early • <!--del_lnk--> Ewell • <!--del_lnk--> Forrest • <!--del_lnk--> Gorgas • <!--del_lnk--> A.P. Hill • <!--del_lnk--> Hood • <!--del_lnk--> Jackson • <!--del_lnk--> A.S. Johnston • <!--del_lnk--> J.E. Johnston • <!--del_lnk--> Lee • <!--del_lnk--> Longstreet • <!--del_lnk--> Morgan • <!--del_lnk--> Mosby • <!--del_lnk--> Price • <!--del_lnk--> Quantrill • <!--del_lnk--> Semmes • <!--del_lnk--> E. K. Smith • <!--del_lnk--> Stuart • <!--del_lnk--> Taylor • <!--del_lnk--> Wheeler<br /><i><b>Civilian:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Benjamin • <!--del_lnk--> Davis • <!--del_lnk--> Mallory • <!--del_lnk--> Seddon • <!--del_lnk--> Stephens</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" style="background:#99CCFF" width="7%"><b>Key USA<br /> Leaders</b></td>
<td style="background:#cedff2">
<p><i><b>Military:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Anderson • <!--del_lnk--> Buell • <!--del_lnk--> Butler • <!--del_lnk--> Burnside • <!--del_lnk--> du Pont • <!--del_lnk--> Farragut • <!--del_lnk--> Foote • <a href="../../wp/u/Ulysses_S._Grant.htm" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Grant</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Halleck • <!--del_lnk--> Hooker • <!--del_lnk--> Hunt • <!--del_lnk--> McClellan • <!--del_lnk--> McDowell • <!--del_lnk--> Meade • <!--del_lnk--> Meigs • <!--del_lnk--> Pope • <!--del_lnk--> Porter • <!--del_lnk--> Rosecrans • <!--del_lnk--> Scott • <!--del_lnk--> Sheridan • <a href="../../wp/w/William_Tecumseh_Sherman.htm" title="William Tecumseh Sherman">Sherman</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Thomas<br /><i><b>Civilian:</b></i> <!--del_lnk--> Adams • <!--del_lnk--> Chase • <!--del_lnk--> Ericsson • <a href="../../wp/a/Abraham_Lincoln.htm" title="Abraham Lincoln">Lincoln</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Pinkerton • <!--del_lnk--> Seward • <!--del_lnk--> Stanton • <!--del_lnk--> Stevens • <!--del_lnk--> Wade • <!--del_lnk--> Welles</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" style="background:#C0C0C0" width="7%"><b>Aftermath</b></td>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> 13th Amendment • <a href="../../wp/f/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.htm" title="Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution">14th Amendment</a> • <!--del_lnk--> 15th Amendment • <!--del_lnk--> Alabama Claims • <!--del_lnk--> Carpetbaggers • <!--del_lnk--> Freedmen's Bureau • <!--del_lnk--> Jim Crow laws • <a href="../../wp/k/Ku_Klux_Klan.htm" title="Ku Klux Klan">Ku Klux Klan</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Reconstruction • <!--del_lnk--> Redeemers</td>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> American Civil War • <!--del_lnk--> American Civil War people • <!--del_lnk--> Battles • <!--del_lnk--> Union Army generals • <!--del_lnk--> Union armies • <!--del_lnk--> Union Army corps • <!--del_lnk--> Confederate States of America (CSA) • <!--del_lnk--> Confederate Army generals • <!--del_lnk--> Confederate armies • <!--del_lnk--> National Battlefields • <!--del_lnk--> Veterans' Organizations</td>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> <img alt=" " height="22" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wiktionary-logo-en.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="20" /> <!--del_lnk--> American Civil War from Wiktionary • <!--del_lnk--> <img alt=" " height="20" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wikibooks-logo.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="20" /> <!--del_lnk--> ACW Textbooks from Wikibooks • <!--del_lnk--> <img alt=" " height="23" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wikiquote-logo.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="20" /> <!--del_lnk--> ACW Quotations from Wikiquote<p><!--del_lnk--> <img alt=" " height="21" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wikisource-logo.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="20" /> <!--del_lnk--> ACW Source texts from Wikisource • <!--del_lnk--> <img alt=" " height="27" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Commons-logo.svg" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="20" /> <!--del_lnk--> ACW Images and media from Commons • <!--del_lnk--> <img alt=" " height="10" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wikinews-logo.png" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="20" /> <!--del_lnk--> ACW News stories from Wikinews</td>
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<p><a id="External_links" name="External_links"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">American English</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Language_and_literature.Languages.htm">Languages</a></h3>
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<p><b>American English</b> (<b>AmE</b>) is the <!--del_lnk--> dialect of the <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English language</a> used mostly in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States of America</a>. It is estimated that approximately two thirds of <!--del_lnk--> native speakers of English live in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>. American English is also sometimes called <b>United States English</b> or <b>U.S. English</b>.<p>The use of English in the United States has been inherited from <!--del_lnk--> British colonization. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America in the 17th century. In that century, there were also speakers in North America of <a href="../../wp/d/Dutch_language.htm" title="Dutch language">Dutch</a>, <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Swedish, <a href="../../wp/s/Scots_language.htm" title="Scots language">Scots</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Welsh, <!--del_lnk--> Irish, <a href="../../wp/s/Scottish_Gaelic_language.htm" title="Scottish Gaelic language">Scottish Gaelic</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Finnish, and a myriad of <!--del_lnk--> Native American languages.<p>
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</script><a id="Phonology" name="Phonology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Phonology</span></h2>
<p>In many ways, compared to <a href="../../wp/b/British_English.htm" title="British English">British English</a>, American English is conservative in its <!--del_lnk--> phonology. Dialects in North America are most distinctive on the <!--del_lnk--> East Coast of the continent partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of British English at a time when those varieties were undergoing changes, and partly merely because many speech communities on the East Coast have existed in their present locations longer than others. The interior of the country was settled by people who were not closely connected to England, as they had no access to the ocean during a time when journeys to Britain were always by sea. As such, the inland speech is much more homogeneous than the East Coast speech and did not imitate the changes in speech from England.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16077.png.htm" title="The red areas are those where non-rhotic pronunciations are found among some white people in the United States. AAVE-influenced non-rhotic pronunciations may be found among black people throughout the country."><img alt="The red areas are those where non-rhotic pronunciations are found among some white people in the United States. AAVE-influenced non-rhotic pronunciations may be found among black people throughout the country." height="211" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Non_rhotic-whites-usa.png" src="../../images/160/16077.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Most North American speech is <!--del_lnk--> rhotic, as English was in most places in the 17th century. Rhoticity was further supported by <!--del_lnk--> Hiberno-English, <!--del_lnk--> Scottish English, and <!--del_lnk--> West Country English. In most varieties of <!--del_lnk--> North American English, the sound corresponding to the letter "R" is a <!--del_lnk--> retroflex or <!--del_lnk--> alveolar <!--del_lnk--> approximant rather than a trill or a tap. The loss of syllable-final <i>r</i> in North America is confined mostly to the accents of <!--del_lnk--> eastern New England, <!--del_lnk--> New York City and surrounding areas, <!--del_lnk--> South Philadelphia, and the coastal portions of the <!--del_lnk--> South. Dropping of syllable-final <i>r</i> sometimes happens in natively rhotic dialects if <i>r</i> is located in unaccented syllables or words and the next syllable or word begins in a consonant. In England, lost 'r' was often changed into <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ə]</span> (<!--del_lnk--> schwa), giving rise to a new class of falling <!--del_lnk--> diphthongs. Furthermore, the 'er' sound of (stressed) <i>fur</i> or (unstressed) <i>butter</i>, which is represented in <!--del_lnk--> IPA as stressed <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɝ]</span> or unstressed <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɚ]</span> is realized in American English as a <!--del_lnk--> monophthongal <!--del_lnk--> r-colored vowel. This does not happen in the non-rhotic varieties of North American speech.<p>Some other British English changes in which most North American dialects do not participate:<ul>
<li>The shift of <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[æ]</span> to <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɑ]</span> (the so-called "<!--del_lnk--> broad A") before <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[f], [s], [θ], [ð], [z], [v]</span> alone or preceded by <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[n]</span>. This is the difference between the British <!--del_lnk--> Received Pronunciation and American pronunciation of <i>bath</i> and <i>dance</i>. In the United States, only linguistically conservative eastern New England speakers took up this innovation, which is becoming increasingly rare even there.<li>The shift of intervocalic <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[t]</span> to glottal stop <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ʔ]</span>, as in <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/bɒʔəl/</span> for <i>bottle</i>. This change is not universal for British English (and in fact is not considered to be part of <!--del_lnk--> Received Pronunciation), but it does not occur in most North American dialects. <!--del_lnk--> Newfoundland English and the dialect of <!--del_lnk--> New Britain, Connecticut are notable exceptions.</ul>
<p>On the other hand, North American English has undergone some sound changes not found in Britain, at least not in standard varieties. Many of these are instances of <!--del_lnk--> phonemic differentiation and include:<ul>
<li>The <!--del_lnk--> merger of <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɑ]</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɒ]</span>, making <i>father</i> and <i>bother</i> rhyme. This change is nearly universal in North American English, occurring almost everywhere except for parts of eastern New England, like the <!--del_lnk--> Boston accent.<li>The replacement of the <i>lot</i> vowel with the <i>strut</i> vowel in most utterances of the words <i>was</i>, <i>of</i>, <i>from</i>, <i>what</i>, <i>everybody</i>, <i>nobody</i>, <i>somebody</i>, <i>anybody</i>, <i>because</i>, and in some dialects <i>want</i>.<li>The merger of <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɒ]</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɔ]</span>. This is the so-called <!--del_lnk--> cot-caught merger, where <i>cot</i> and <i>caught</i> are <!--del_lnk--> homophones. This change has occurred in eastern New England, in <!--del_lnk--> Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, and from the <!--del_lnk--> Great Plains westward.<li><!--del_lnk--> Vowel merger before intervocalic <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/r/</span>. Which (if any) vowels are affected varies between dialects.<li>The merger of <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ʊɹ]</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɝ]</span> after <!--del_lnk--> palatals in some words, so that <i>cure</i>, <i>pure</i>, <i>mature</i> and <i>sure</i> rhyme with <i>fir</i> in some speech registers for some speakers.<li><!--del_lnk--> Dropping of <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[j]</span> after <!--del_lnk--> alveolar consonants so that <i>new</i>, <i>duke</i>, <i>Tuesday</i>, <i>suit</i>, <i>resume</i>, <i>lute</i> are pronounced <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/nuː/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/duːk/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/tuːzdeɪ/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/suːt/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɹɪzuːm/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/luːt/</span>.<li><!--del_lnk--> æ-tensing in environments that vary widely from accent to accent. In some accents, particularly those from <a href="../../wp/p/Philadelphia.htm" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a> to <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[æ]</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[eə]</span> can even contrast sometimes, as in <i>Yes, I <b>can</b></i> <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[kæn]</span> vs. <i>tin <b>can</b></i> <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[keən]</span>.<li>Laxing of <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/e/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/i/</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/u/</span> to <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɛ/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɪ/</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ʊ/</span> before <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɹ/</span>, causing pronunciations like <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[pɛɹ]</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[pɪɹ]</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[pjʊɹ]</span> for <i>pair</i>, <i>peer</i> and <i>pure</i>.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> flapping of intervocalic <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/t/</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/d/</span> to <!--del_lnk--> alveolar tap <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɾ]</span> before reduced vowels. The words <i>ladder</i> and <i>latter</i> are mostly or entirely homophonous, though distinguished by some speakers by a lengthened vowel preceding an underlying 'd'. For some speakers, the merger is incomplete and 't' before a reduced vowel is sometimes not tapped following <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[eɪ]</span> or <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɪ]</span> when it represents underlying 't'; thus <i>greater</i> and <i>grader</i> are distinguished. Even among those words where <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/t/</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/d/</span> are flapped, words that would otherwise be homophonous are, for some speakers, distinguished if the flapping is immediately preceded by the diphthongs <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɑɪ/</span> or <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɑʊ/</span>; these speakers tend to pronounce <i>writer</i> with <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[əɪ]</span> and <i>rider</i> with <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɑɪ]</span>. This is called <!--del_lnk--> Canadian raising; it is general in <a href="../../wp/c/Canadian_English.htm" title="Canadian English">Canadian English</a>, and occurs in some northerly versions of American English as well (often just applying to the diphthong <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɑɪ/</span>, but not to <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ɑʊ/</span>).<li>Both intervocalic <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/nt/</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/n/</span> may be realized as <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[n]</span> or <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɾ̃]</span>, making <i>winter</i> and <i>winner</i> homophones. This does not occur when the second syllable is stressed, as in <i>entail</i>.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> pin-pen merger, by which <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɛ]</span> is raised to <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɪ]</span> before <!--del_lnk--> nasal consonants, making pairs like <i>pen</i>/<i>pin</i> homophonous. This merger originated in <!--del_lnk--> Southern American English but is now found in parts of the Midwest and West as well.</ul>
<p>Some mergers found in most varieties of both American and British English include:<ul>
<li>The <!--del_lnk--> horse-hoarse merger of the vowels <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[ɔ]</span> and <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">[oʊ]</span> before 'r', making pairs like <i>horse/hoarse</i>, <i>corps/core</i>, <i>for/four</i>, <i>morning/mourning</i> etc. <!--del_lnk--> homophones.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> wine-whine merger making pairs like <i>wine/whine</i>, <i>wet/whet</i>, <i>Wales/whales</i>, <i>wear/where</i> etc. <!--del_lnk--> homophones, in most cases eliminating <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ʍ/</span>, the <!--del_lnk--> voiceless labiovelar fricative. Many older varieties of southern and western American English still keep these distinct, but the merger appears to be spreading.</ul>
<p><a id="Differences_between_British_English_and_American_English" name="Differences_between_British_English_and_American_English"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Differences between British English and American English</span></h2>
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<p>American English has many spelling differences from English as used elsewhere (especially <a href="../../wp/b/British_English.htm" title="British English">British English</a>), some of which were made as part of an attempt to make more rational the spelling used in Britain at the time. Unlike many 20th century <!--del_lnk--> language reforms (for example, <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a>'s alphabet shift, <a href="../../wp/n/Norway.htm" title="Norway">Norway</a>'s spelling reform) the American <!--del_lnk--> spelling changes were not driven by government, but by textbook writers and dictionary makers. Spelling tendencies in Britain from the 17th century until the present day (e.g. <i>-ise</i> for <i>-ize</i>, <i>programme</i> for <i>program</i>, <i>kerb</i> for <i>curb</i> (noun), <i>skilful</i> for <i>skillful</i>, <i>chequered</i> for <i>checkered</i>, etc.), in some cases favored by the francophile tastes of 19th century Victorian England, had little effect on American English.<p>The first American dictionary was written by <!--del_lnk--> Noah Webster in <!--del_lnk--> 1828. At the time the United States was a relatively new country and Webster's particular contribution was to show that the region spoke a different dialect from Britain, and so he wrote a dictionary with many spellings differing from the standard. Many of these changes were initiated unilaterally by Webster.<p>Webster also argued for many "simplifications" to the idiomatic spelling of the period. Many, although not all, of his simplifications fell into common usage alongside the original versions with simple spelling modifications.<p>Some words with simplified spellings in American English are words such as <i>centre</i>, <i>colour</i>, and <i>maneuver</i>, which are spelled <i>centre</i>, <i>colour</i>, and <i>manoeuvre</i> in other forms of English.<p>American English also has many lexical differences from British English (BrE). American English sometimes favors words that are <!--del_lnk--> morphologically more complex, whereas British English uses clipped forms, such as AmE <i>transportation</i> and BrE <i>transport</i> or where the British form is a <!--del_lnk--> back-formation, such as AmE <i>burglarize</i> and BrE <i>burgle</i> (from <i>burglar</i>).<p><a id="Vocabulary" name="Vocabulary"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Vocabulary</span></h2>
<p>North America has given the English <!--del_lnk--> lexicon many thousands of words, meanings, and phrases. Several thousand are now used in English as spoken internationally; several however died within a few years of their creation.<p><a id="Creation_of_an_American_lexicon" name="Creation_of_an_American_lexicon"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Creation of an American lexicon</span></h3>
<p>The process of coining new lexical items started as soon as the colonists began borrowing names for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from the <!--del_lnk--> Native American languages. Examples of such names are <i><!--del_lnk--> opossum</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> raccoon</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> squash</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> moose</i> (from <!--del_lnk--> Algonquian). Other Native American loanwords, such as <i><!--del_lnk--> wigwam</i> or <i><!--del_lnk--> moccasin</i>, describe artificial objects in common use among Native Americans. The languages of the other colonizing nations also added to the American vocabulary; for instance, <i><!--del_lnk--> cookie</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> cruller</i>, and <i>pit</i> (of a fruit) from <!--del_lnk--> Dutch; <i><!--del_lnk--> levee</i>, <i>portage</i> "carrying of boats or goods," and (probably) <i><!--del_lnk--> gopher</i> from <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a>; <i><!--del_lnk--> barbecue</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> stevedore</i> from <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>.<p>Among the earliest and most notable regular "English" additions to the American vocabulary, dating from the early days of colonization through the early 19th century, are terms describing the features of the North American landscape; for instance, <i>run</i>, <i>branch</i>, <i>fork</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> snag</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> bluff</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> gulch</i>, <i>neck</i> (of the woods), <i>barrens</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> bottomland</i>, <i>intervale</i>, <i>notch</i>, <i>knob</i>, <i>riffle</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> rapids</i>, <i>watergap</i>, <i>cutoff</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> trail</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> timberline</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> divide</i>. Already existing words such as <i><!--del_lnk--> creek</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> slough</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> sleet</i>, and (in later use) <i><!--del_lnk--> watershed</i>, received new meanings that were unknown in England. Other noteworthy American toponyms are found among loanwords; for example, <i><!--del_lnk--> prairie</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> butte</i> (French); <i><!--del_lnk--> bayou</i> (Louisiana French); <i><!--del_lnk--> coulee</i> (Canadian French, but used also in Louisiana with a different meaning); <i><!--del_lnk--> canyon</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> mesa</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> arroyo</i> (Spanish); <i>vlei</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> kill</i> (Dutch, <!--del_lnk--> Hudson Valley).<p>The word <i><a href="../../wp/m/Maize.htm" title="Corn">corn</a></i>, used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the plant <i>Zea mays</i>, the most important crop in the U.S., originally named <i><!--del_lnk--> Indian corn</i> by the earliest settlers; wheat, rye, barley, oats, etc. came to be collectively referred to as <i><a href="../../wp/c/Cereal.htm" title="Grain">grain</a></i> (or <i>breadstuffs</i>). Other notable farm related vocabulary additions were the new meanings assumed by <i><!--del_lnk--> barn</i> (not only a building for hay and grain storage, but also for housing livestock) and <i>team</i> (not just the horses, but also the vehicle along with them), as well as, in various periods, the terms <i><!--del_lnk--> range</i>, <i>(corn) crib</i>, <i>lay by</i> (a crop), <i><!--del_lnk--> truck</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> elevator</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> sharecropping</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> feedlot</i>.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Ranch</i>, later applied to a <!--del_lnk--> house style, derives from <!--del_lnk--> Mexican Spanish; most Spanish contributions came indeed after the <!--del_lnk--> War of 1812, with the opening of the West. Among these are, other than toponyms, <i><!--del_lnk--> chaps</i> (from <i>chaparreras</i>), <i><!--del_lnk--> plaza</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> lasso</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> bronco</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> buckaroo</i>; examples of "English" additions from the <!--del_lnk--> cowboy era are <i>bad man</i>, <i>maverick</i>, <i>chuck</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> Boot Hill</i>; from the <!--del_lnk--> California Gold Rush came such idioms as <i>hit pay dirt</i> or <i>strike it rich</i>. The word <i>blizzard</i> probably originated in the West.<p>A couple of notable late 18th century additions are the verb <i>belittle</i> and the noun <i>bid</i>, both first used in writing by <a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Jefferson.htm" title="Thomas Jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a>.<p>With the new continent developed new forms of dwelling, and hence a large inventory of words designating real estate concepts (<i>land office</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> lot</i>, <i>outlands</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> waterfront</i>, the verbs <i>locate</i> and <i>relocate</i>, <i>betterment</i>, <i>addition</i>, <i>subdivision</i>), types of property (<i><!--del_lnk--> log cabin</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> adobe</i> in the 18th century; <i><!--del_lnk--> frame house</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> apartment</i>, <i>tenement house</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> shack</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> shanty</i> in the 19th century; <i>project</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> condominium</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> townhouse</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> mobile home</i>, <i>multi-family</i> in the 20th century), and parts thereof (<i><!--del_lnk--> driveway</i>, <i>breezeway</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> backyard</i>, <i>dooryard</i>; <i><!--del_lnk--> clapboard</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> siding</i>, <i>trim</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> baseboard</i>; <i>stoop</i> (from Dutch), <i>family room</i>, <i>den</i>; and, in recent years, <i><!--del_lnk--> HVAC</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> central air</i>, <i>walkout basement</i>).<p>Ever since the <!--del_lnk--> American Revolution, a great deal of terms connected with the U.S. political institutions have entered the language; examples are <i>run</i>, <i>gubernatorial</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> primary election</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> carpetbagger</i> (after the <a href="../../wp/a/American_Civil_War.htm" title="American Civil War">Civil War</a>), <i>repeater</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> lame duck</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> pork barrel</i>. Some of these are internationally used (e.g. <i><!--del_lnk--> caucus</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> gerrymander</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> filibuster</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> exit poll</i>).<p>The rise of capitalism, the development of industry, and material innovations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries were the source of a massive stock of distinctive new words, phrases, and idioms. Typical examples are the vocabulary of <i><!--del_lnk--> railroading</i> (see further at <!--del_lnk--> rail terminology) and <i><a href="../../wp/t/Transport.htm" title="Transport">transportation</a></i> terminology, ranging from names of roads (<i><!--del_lnk--> Interstate</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> freeway</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> parkway</i>, etc.) to road infrastructure (<i><!--del_lnk--> parking lot</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> overpass</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> rest area</i>), and from automotive terminology to <i><!--del_lnk--> public transit</i> (e.g. in the sentence "<i>riding</i> the <i>subway</i> <i>downtown</i>"); such American introductions as <i>commuter</i> (from <i>commutation ticket</i>), <i><!--del_lnk--> concourse</i>, <i>to board</i> (a vehicle), <i>to park</i>, <i>double-park</i>, and <i>parallel park</i> (a car), <i>jump</i> (as a red light), <i><!--del_lnk--> double decker</i>, <i>terminal</i> (as a noun), or <i>centre</i> (of a city) have long been used in all dialects of English. Trades of various kinds have endowed (American) English with household words describing jobs and occupations (<i><!--del_lnk--> bartender</i> and <i>barkeep</i>, <i>longshoreman</i>, <i>patrolman</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> hobo</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> bouncer</i>, <i>bellhop</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> roustabout</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> white collar</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> blue collar</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> employee</i>, <i>boss</i> (from Dutch), <i><!--del_lnk--> intern</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> busboy</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> mortician</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> senior citizen</i>), businesses and workplaces (<i><!--del_lnk--> department store</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> supermarket</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> thrift store</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> gift shop</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> drugstore</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> motel</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> main street</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> gas station</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> hardware store</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> savings and loan</i>, <i>hock</i> (also from Dutch)), as well as general concepts and innovations (<i><!--del_lnk--> mail</i> "letters and <i><!--del_lnk--> packages</i>," <i><a href="../../wp/a/Automated_teller_machine.htm" title="Automated teller machine">automated teller machine</a></i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> smart card</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> cash register</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> dishwasher</i>, <i>reservation</i> (as at hotels), <i>pay envelope</i>, <i><a href="../../wp/f/Film.htm" title="Movie">movie</a></i>, <i>mileage</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> shortage</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> outage</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> blood bank</i>). Already existing English words—such as <i><!--del_lnk--> store</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> shop</i>, <i>dry goods</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> haberdashery</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> lumber</i>—underwent shifts in meaning; some—such as <i><!--del_lnk--> mason</i>, <i>student</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> clerk</i>, the verbs <i>can</i> (as in "canned goods"), <i>ship</i>, <i>fix</i>, <i>carry</i>, <i>enroll</i> (as in school), <i>run</i> (as in "run a business"), <i>release</i>, and <i>haul</i>—were given new significations, while others (such as <i><!--del_lnk--> tradesman</i>) have retained meanings that disappeared in England. From the world of business and finance came <i><!--del_lnk--> breakeven</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> merger</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> delisting</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> downsize</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> disintermediation</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> bottom line</i>; from sports terminology came, jargon aside, <i>Monday-morning quarterback</i>, <i>cheap shot</i>, <i>game plan</i> (<a href="../../wp/a/American_football.htm" title="American football">football</a>); <i>in the <!--del_lnk--> ballpark</i>, <i>out of <!--del_lnk--> left field</i>, <i>off base</i>, <i>hit and run</i>, and <!--del_lnk--> many other idioms from <a href="../../wp/b/Baseball.htm" title="Baseball">baseball</a>; gamblers coined <i><!--del_lnk--> bluff</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> blue chip</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> ante</i>, <i>bottom dollar</i>, <i>raw deal</i>, <i>pass the buck</i>, <i>ace in the hole</i>, <i>freeze-out</i>; miners coined <i><!--del_lnk--> bedrock</i>, <i>bonanza</i>, <i>peter out</i>, and the verb <i>prospect</i> from the noun; and railroadmen are to be credited with <i>make the <!--del_lnk--> grade</i>, <i>sidetrack</i>, <i>head-on</i>, and the verb <i>railroad</i>. A number of Americanisms describing material innovations remained largely confined to North America: <i><!--del_lnk--> elevator</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> power cord</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> ground</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> gasoline</i>; many automotive terms fall in this category, although many do not (<i><!--del_lnk--> hatchback</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> compact car</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> SUV</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> station wagon</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> tailgate</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> motorhome</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> truck</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> pickup truck</i>, <i>to exhaust</i>).<p>In addition to the above-mentioned loans from French, Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Dutch, and Native American languages, other accretions from foreign languages came with 19th and early 20th century immigration; notably, from <!--del_lnk--> Yiddish (<i><!--del_lnk--> chutzpah</i>, <i>schmooze</i>, and such idioms as <i>need something like a hole in the head</i>) and <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a> (<i><!--del_lnk--> hamburger</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> kindergarten</i>, <i>gesundheit</i>, <i>hinterland</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> wiener</i>, <i>scram</i>, <i>deli</i>, and apparently <i><!--del_lnk--> cookbook</i>, <i>fresh</i> "impudent," <i>what gives?</i>, and perhaps the often criticized use of <i>hopefully</i> as a sentence modifier).<p>With respect to <!--del_lnk--> morphology, American English has always shown a marked tendency <!--del_lnk--> to use substantives as verbs and form <!--del_lnk--> compound words. Examples of verbed nouns are <i>interview</i>, <i>advocate</i>, <i>vacuum</i>, <i>lobby</i>, <i>expense</i>, <i>room</i>, <i>pressure</i>, <i>rear-end</i>, <i>transition</i>, <i>feature</i>, <i>profile</i>, <i>buffalo</i>, <i>weasel</i>, <i>express</i> (mail), <i>belly-ache</i>, <i>spearhead</i>, <i>skyrocket</i>, <i>showcase</i>, <i>merchandise</i>, <i>service</i> (as a car), <i>corner</i>, <i>torch</i>, <i>exit</i> (as in "exit a place"), <i>factor</i> (in mathematics), <i>gun</i> "shoot," <i>author</i> (which disappeared in English around 1630 and was revived in the U.S. three centuries later) and, out of American material, <i>proposition</i>, <i>graft</i> (bribery), <i>bad-mouth</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> vacation</i>, <i>major</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> backpack</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> backtrack</i>, <i>intern</i>, <i>ticket</i> (traffic violations), <i>hassle</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> blacktop</i>, <i>peer review</i>, <i>dope</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> OD</i>. Compounds coined in the U.S. are for instance <i><!--del_lnk--> foothill</i>, <i>sidehill</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> flatlands</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> badlands</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> landslide</i> (in all senses), <i><!--del_lnk--> overview</i> (the noun), <i><!--del_lnk--> backdrop</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> teenager</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> brainstorm</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> bandwagon</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> hitchhike</i>, <i>smalltime</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> deadbeat</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> frontman</i>, <i>lowbrow</i> and <i>highbrow</i>, <i>hell-bent</i>, <i>foolproof</i>, <i>nitpick</i>, <i>about-face</i> (later verbed), <i>upfront</i> (in all senses), <i><!--del_lnk--> split-level</i>, <i>fixer-upper</i>, <i>no-show</i>; many of these are phrases used as adverbs or (often) hyphenated attributive adjectives: <i><!--del_lnk--> non-profit</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> for-profit</i>, <i>free-for-all</i>, <i>ready-to-wear</i>, <i>catchall</i>, <i>low-down</i>, <i>down-and-out</i>, <i>down and dirty</i>, <i>in-your-face</i>, <i>nip and tuck</i>; many compound nouns and adjectives are open: <i><!--del_lnk--> happy hour</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> fall guy</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> capital gain</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> road trip</i>, <i>wheat pit</i>, <i>head start</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> plea bargain</i>; some of these are colorful (<i><!--del_lnk--> empty nester</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> loan shark</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> ambulance chaser</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> buzz saw</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> ghetto blaster</i>, <i>dust bunny</i>), others are euphemistic (<i><!--del_lnk--> differently abled</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> human resources</i>, <i>physically challenged</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> affirmative action</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> correctional facility</i>). Many compound nouns have the form verb plus preposition: <i><!--del_lnk--> add-on</i>, <i>backup</i> (reserve, stoppage, music), <i>stopover</i>, <i>lineup</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> shakedown</i>, <i>tryout</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> spinoff</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> rundown</i> "summary," <i><!--del_lnk--> shootout</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> holdup</i>, <i>hideout</i>, <i>comeback</i>, <i>cookout</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> kickback</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> makeover</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> takeover</i>, <i>rollback</i> "decrease," <i>rip-off</i>, <i>come-on</i>, <i>shoo-in</i>, <i>fix-up</i>, <i>tie-in</i>, <i>tie-up</i> "stoppage," <i>stand-in</i>. These essentially are nouned <!--del_lnk--> phrasal verbs; some prepositional and phrasal verbs are in fact of American origin (<i>spell out</i>, <i>figure out</i>, <i>hold up</i>, <i>brace up</i>, <i>size up</i>, <i>rope in</i>, <i>back up/off/down/out</i>, <i>step down</i>, <i>miss out on</i>, <i>kick around</i>, <i>cash in</i>, <i>rain out</i>, <i>check in</i> and <i>check out</i> (in all senses), <i>fill in</i> "inform," <i>kick in</i> "contribute," <i>square off</i>, <i>sock in</i>, <i>sock away</i>, <i>factor in/out</i>, <i>come down with</i>, <i>give up on</i>, <i>lay off</i> (from employment), <i>run into</i> and <i>across</i> "meet," <i>stop by</i>, <i>pass up</i>, <i>put up</i> (money), <i>set up</i> "frame," <i>trade in</i>, <i>pick up on</i>, <i>pick up after</i>); in a few cases the preposition was prefixed (<i>offset</i>, <i>downplay</i>, <i>downshift</i>, <i>overkill</i>, <i>update</i>). Some verbs ending in <i>-ize</i> are of U.S. origin; for example, <i>fetishize</i>, <i>prioritize</i>, <i>burglarize</i>, <i>accessorize</i>, <i>itemize</i>, <i>editorialize</i>, <i>customize</i>, <i>notarize</i>, <i>automatize</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> weatherize</i>, <i>winterize</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Mirandize</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Manhattanize</i>; and so are some <!--del_lnk--> back-formations (<i>locate</i>, <i>fine-tune</i>, <i>evolute</i>, <i>curate</i>, <i>donate</i>, <i>emote</i>, <i>upholster</i>, and <i>enthuse</i>). Among syntactical constructions that arose in the U.S. are <i>as of</i>, <i>outside of</i>, <i>headed for</i>, <i>meet up with</i>, <i>back of</i>, and <i>lack for</i>.<p>Finally, a great deal of common English colloquialisms from various periods are American in origin (<i><!--del_lnk--> OK</i>, <i>cool</i>, <i>darn</i>, <i>gnarly</i>, <i>hot</i>, <i>lame</i>, <i>doing great</i>, <i>hang</i> (<i>out</i>), <i>no-brainer</i>, <i>hip</i>, <i>fifty-fifty</i>, <i>gross</i>, <i>doofus</i>, <i>diddly-squat</i>, <i>screw up</i>, <i>fool around</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> nerd</i>, <i>jerk</i>, <i>nuke</i>, <i>nutball</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> 24/7</i>, <i>heads-up</i>, <i>thusly</i>, <i>way back</i>), and so are many other English idioms (<i>get the hang of</i>, <i>take for a ride</i>, <i>bark up the wrong tree</i>, <i>keep tabs</i>, <i>run scared</i>, <i>take a backseat</i>, <i>have an edge over</i>, <i>stake a claim</i>, <i>take a shine to</i>, <i>in on the ground floor</i>, <i>bite off more than one can chew</i>, <i>off/on the wagon</i>, <i>for the birds</i>, <i>stay put</i>, <i>inside track</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> stiff upper lip</i>, <i>bad hair day</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> throw a monkey wrench</i>, <i>give the hairy eyeball</i>, <i>under the weather</i>, <i>jump bail</i>, <i>come clean</i>, <i>come again?</i>, <i>will the real x please stand up?</i>); some English words now in general use, such as <i>hijacking</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> disc jockey</i>, <i>boost</i>, <i>bulldoze</i>, and <i><a href="../../wp/j/Jazz.htm" title="Jazz">jazz</a></i>, originated as American slang. Americanisms formed by alteration of existing words include notably <i>pesky</i> (from <i>pest</i>), <i>phony</i> (from <i>fawney</i>), <i>rambunctious</i> (from <i>rumbustious</i>), <i>pry</i> (as in "pry open," from <i>prize</i>), <i>putter</i> (verb, from <i>potter</i>), <i>buddy</i> (from <i>brother</i>), <i><!--del_lnk--> sundae</i> (from <i>Sunday</i>), and <i>skeeter</i> (from <i><!--del_lnk--> mosquito</i>). Adjectives that arose in the U.S. are for example <i>capsule</i>, <i>deadpan</i>, <i>lengthy</i>, <i>submittable</i>, <i>upcoming</i>, <i>wrathy</i>, <i>leery</i>, <i>logy</i>, <i>cluttered (up)</i>, <i>bossy</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> cute</i> and <i>cutesy</i>, <i>vanilla</i>, <i>flippy</i>, <i>gloppy</i>, <i>peppy</i>, <i>glitzy</i>, <i>picayune</i>, <i>grouchy</i>, <i>scroungy</i>, <i>wacky</i>, <i>grounded</i> (of a child), <i>punk</i> (in all senses), <i>sticky</i> (of the weather), and <i>through</i> (as in "through train," or meaning "finished").<p><a id="English_words_that_survived_in_the_U.S." name="English_words_that_survived_in_the_U.S."></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">English words that survived in the U.S.</span></h3>
<p>A number of words and meanings that originated in <!--del_lnk--> Middle English or <!--del_lnk--> Early Modern English and that always have been in everyday use in the U.S. dropped out in most varieties of British English. Outside of North America, many of these words and meanings (some of which have cognates in <!--del_lnk--> Lowland Scots) either remained as regionalisms or were later brought back, to various extents, especially in the second half of the 20th century; these, for instance, include: <i>mad</i> "angry," <i>hire</i> "to employ," <i>quit</i> "to stop" (witness <i>quitter</i>), <i>smart</i> "intelligent," <i>dirt</i> "loose soil," <i>guess</i> "to suppose," <i>dampen</i>, <i>oftentimes</i>, <i>supplemental</i>, <i>overly</i>, <i>presently</i> "currently," <i>meet with</i> "to have a meeting with," <i><!--del_lnk--> baggage</i>, <i>hit</i> (a place), and the verbs <i>squire</i> and <i>loan</i>. Others are no longer in common use in Britain and are often regarded as Americanisms; for example, <i>fall</i> "<a href="../../wp/a/Autumn.htm" title="Autumn">autumn</a>," <i>gotten</i> (<!--del_lnk--> past participle of <i>get</i>), <i>sick</i> (in general use meaning "ill"), <i>obligate</i>, <i>acclimate</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> doghouse</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> broil</i>, <i>rider</i> "<!--del_lnk--> passenger," <i><!--del_lnk--> sidewalk</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> pavement</i> "road surface," <i><!--del_lnk--> faucet</i>, <i>spigot</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> coverall</i>, <i><a href="../../wp/n/Necktie.htm" title="Necktie">necktie</a></i>, <i>range</i> "cook<!--del_lnk--> stove," <i><!--del_lnk--> letter carrier</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> attorney</i> "lawyer," <i><!--del_lnk--> misdemeanor</i> (law), <i>teller</i> (in a bank), <i><!--del_lnk--> crib</i> (for a child), <i>plat</i>, <i>pillow</i> "<!--del_lnk--> cushion," <i><!--del_lnk--> pocketbook</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> monkey wrench</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> candy</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> night table</i>, <i>to name for</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> station house</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> wastebasket</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> skillet</i>, <i>raise</i> (a child), and <i><!--del_lnk--> diaper</i>; some of these originated in 19th century Britain.<p>The mandative <!--del_lnk--> subjunctive (as in "the City Attorney suggested that the matter <i>not be tabled</i>") is livelier in North American English than it is in British English; it appears in some areas as a spoken usage, and is considered obligatory in more formal contexts.<p><a id="Regional_differences" name="Regional_differences"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Regional differences</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>While written American English is standardized across the country, there are several recognizable variations in the spoken language, both in pronunciation and in vernacular vocabulary. <i><!--del_lnk--> General American</i> is the name given to any American accent that is relatively free of noticeable regional influences. It enjoys high prestige among Americans, but is not a standard accent in the way that <!--del_lnk--> Received Pronunciation is in England.<p>After the Civil War, the settlement of the western territories by migrants from the Eastern U.S. led to dialect mixing and leveling, so that regional dialects are most strongly differentiated along the <!--del_lnk--> Eastern seaboard. The <!--del_lnk--> Connecticut River is usually regarded as the southern/western extent of New England speech, which has its roots in the speech of the Puritans from <!--del_lnk--> East Anglia who settled in the <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts Bay Colony. The <!--del_lnk--> Potomac River generally divides a group of Northern coastal dialects from the beginning of the Coastal Southern dialect area; in between these two rivers several local variations exist, chief among them the one that prevails in and around <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a> and northern <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey, which developed on a Dutch <!--del_lnk--> substratum after the British conquered New Amsterdam. The main features of Coastal Southern speech can be traced to the speech of the English from the <!--del_lnk--> West Country who settled in Virginia after leaving England at the time of the <!--del_lnk--> English Civil War, and to the <!--del_lnk--> African influences from the African Americans who were enslaved in the South.<p>Although no longer region-specific, <!--del_lnk--> African American Vernacular English, which remains prevalent amongst <!--del_lnk--> African Americans, has a close relationship to Southern varieties of American English.<p>A distinctive speech pattern was also generated by the separation of <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a> from the United States, centered on the <a href="../../wp/g/Great_Lakes.htm" title="Great Lakes">Great Lakes</a> region. This is the "Inland North" dialect—the "standard Midwestern" speech that was the basis for General American in the mid-20th Century (although it has been recently modified by the <!--del_lnk--> northern cities vowel shift). Those not from this area frequently confuse it with the North Midland dialect treated below, referring to both collectively as "Midwestern."<p>In the interior, the situation is very different. West of the <!--del_lnk--> Appalachian Mountains begins the broad zone of what is generally called "Midland" speech. This is divided into two discrete subdivisions, the North Midland that begins north of the <!--del_lnk--> Ohio River valley area, and the South Midland speech; sometimes the former is designated simply "Midland" and the latter is reckoned as "Highland Southern." The North Midland speech continues to expand westward until it becomes the closely related Western dialect which contains <!--del_lnk--> Pacific Northwest English as well as the well-known <!--del_lnk--> California English, although in the immediate <!--del_lnk--> San Francisco area some older speakers do not possess the <!--del_lnk--> cot-caught merger and thus retain the distinction between words such as cot and caught which reflects a historical Mid-Atlantic heritage. Mormon and Mexican settlers in the West influenced the development of <!--del_lnk--> Utah English.<p>The South Midland or Highland Southern dialect follows the <!--del_lnk--> Ohio River in a generally southwesterly direction, moves across <!--del_lnk--> Arkansas and <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma west of the <!--del_lnk--> Mississippi, and peters out in <!--del_lnk--> West Texas. It is a version of the Midland speech that has assimilated some coastal Southern forms (outsiders often mistakenly believe South Midland speech and coastal South speech to be the same).<p>The island state of Hawaii has a distinctive <!--del_lnk--> Hawaiian Pidgin.<p>Finally, dialect development in the United States has been notably influenced by the distinctive speech of such important cultural centers as <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston, Massachusetts</a>; <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Illinois; <!--del_lnk--> New York, <!--del_lnk--> New York; <a href="../../wp/p/Philadelphia.htm" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania; <!--del_lnk--> Charleston, <!--del_lnk--> South Carolina; and <!--del_lnk--> New Orleans, Louisiana; <!--del_lnk--> Detroit, <!--del_lnk--> Michigan; which imposed their marks on the surrounding areas.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English"</div>
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American_Revolutionary_War | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">American Revolutionary War</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Pre_1900_Military.htm">Pre 1900 Military</a></h3>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">American Revolutionary War</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;"><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16078.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="191" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Rev_collage.png" src="../../images/160/16078.png" width="300" /></a><br /><b>Clockwise from top left</b>: <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Bunker Hill, Death of <!--del_lnk--> Montgomery at <!--del_lnk--> Quebec, <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Cowpens, <!--del_lnk--> "Moonlight Battle"</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Date</th>
<td>1775–1783</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Location</th>
<td>Primarily eastern <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a> and at sea</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Result</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Paris (1783)</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;"><i><!--del_lnk--> Casus belli</i></th>
<td>Taxation without representation; threats to traditional rights; <!--del_lnk--> republican ideology.</td>
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<th style="padding-right: 1em;">Territorial<br /> changes</th>
<td>Britain recognizes independence of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, cedes <!--del_lnk--> East Florida, <!--del_lnk--> West Florida, and <!--del_lnk--> Minorca to <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Tobago to <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a></td>
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</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Combatants</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16079.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US_flag_13_stars_%E2%80%93_Betsy_Ross.svg" src="../../images/160/16079.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> American Revolutionaries<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/5/526.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_France.svg" src="../../images/12/1296.png" width="20" /></a> <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a><br /><a class="image" href="../../images/5/545.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg" src="../../images/12/1298.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> The Netherlands<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/5/539.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Spain.svg" src="../../images/37/3796.png" width="20" /></a> <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a><br /><!--del_lnk--> American Indians</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/789.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="10" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg" src="../../images/12/1293.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Great Britain<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16080.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="12" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Hesse.svg" src="../../images/160/16080.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> German mercenaries<br /><!--del_lnk--> Loyalists<br /><!--del_lnk--> American Indians<br /><!--del_lnk--> Canadian Indians</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center;">Commanders</th>
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<td style="border-right: 1px dotted #aaa;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16079.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US_flag_13_stars_%E2%80%93_Betsy_Ross.svg" src="../../images/160/16079.png" width="20" /></a> <a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">George Washington</a><br /><a class="image" href="../../images/5/526.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_France.svg" src="../../images/12/1296.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Marquis de Lafayette<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/5/526.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_France.svg" src="../../images/12/1296.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Comte de Rochambeau<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/160/16079.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:US_flag_13_stars_%E2%80%93_Betsy_Ross.svg" src="../../images/160/16079.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Nathanael Greene<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/5/539.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Spain.svg" src="../../images/37/3796.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Bernardo de Gálvez</td>
<td style="padding-left: 0.25em;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/7/789.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="10" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg" src="../../images/12/1293.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Sir William Howe<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/7/789.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="10" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg" src="../../images/12/1293.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Sir Henry Clinton<br /><a class="image" href="../../images/7/789.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="10" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg" src="../../images/12/1293.png" width="20" /></a> <!--del_lnk--> Lord Cornwallis</td>
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<td colspan="2" style="font-size:90%; border-top:1px solid #aaa;">
<center>(<!--del_lnk--> more commanders)</center>
</td>
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<table class="infobox" style="width: 315px; border-spacing: 2px; text-align: center; font-size: 95%;">
<tr style="background: lightsteelblue;">
<th><strong class="selflink">Campaigns and theaters</strong></th>
</tr>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Boston – <!--del_lnk--> Canadian – <!--del_lnk--> New York and New Jersey – <!--del_lnk--> Saratoga – <!--del_lnk--> Philadelphia – <!--del_lnk--> Western – <!--del_lnk--> Sullivan Expedition – <!--del_lnk--> Southern – <a href="../../wp/a/American_Revolutionary_War.htm" title="West Indies and Gulf Coast campaigns">West Indies and Gulf Coast</a> – <!--del_lnk--> Naval</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The <b>American Revolutionary War</b> (1775–1783), also known as the <b>American War of Independence</b>, was the military side of the <!--del_lnk--> American Revolution, a colonial struggle against political and economic policies of the <a href="../../wp/b/British_Empire.htm" title="British Empire">British Empire</a>. From 1775 to 1778 it was a war between <!--del_lnk--> Great Britain and the <!--del_lnk--> thirteen British colonies, which <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence.htm" title="United States Declaration of Independence">declared their independence</a> as the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States of America</a> in 1776. In 1778 the war became a global conflict, involving the British also fighting the French, Spanish and Dutch empires. The <a href="../../wp/f/France_in_the_American_Revolutionary_War.htm" title="France in the American Revolutionary War">French government, army and navy</a> played critical roles. <!--del_lnk--> Native Americans fought on both sides of the conflict but most supported Britain. The main result was independence for the United States. The conflict stands as one of the few colonial wars that Great Britain has lost.<p>Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy a few coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where most of the population lived) largely eluded them. General <a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">George Washington</a> built a new American army from scratch and made effective use of short-term militia volunteers as well. After a decisive American <!--del_lnk--> victory at Saratoga that turned the tide in 1777, France, with Spain and the Netherlands as its allies, entered the war against Great Britain. A French naval <!--del_lnk--> victory in the Chesapeake allowed Washington to trap the main British army at <!--del_lnk--> Yorktown in 1781. Its surrender effectively ended the land war. The <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Paris in 1783 recognized the independence of the United States.<p>
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</script><a id="Combatants_before_1778" name="Combatants_before_1778"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Combatants before 1778</span></h2>
<p><a id="Armies.2C_militias.2C_and_mercenaries" name="Armies.2C_militias.2C_and_mercenaries"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Armies, militias, and mercenaries</span></h3>
<p><a id="Americans" name="Americans"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Americans</span></h4>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Patriots (called also the "rebels", "Congress Men," "Whigs" or "Americans") had the active support of about 40 to 45 percent of the population. About 15 to 20 percent supported the British Crown during the war and were known as <!--del_lnk--> Loyalists (known also as "King's Men" or "Tories"). Loyalists fielded perhaps 50,000 men during the war compared to 250,000 patriots.<p>When the war began, the Americans did not have a regular army (also known as a "<!--del_lnk--> standing army"). Each colony had traditionally provided for its own defenses through the use of local <!--del_lnk--> militia. Militiamen who served for only a few weeks or months at a time, were reluctant to go very far from home, and were thus generally unavailable for extended operations. Militia lacked the training and discipline of regular soldiers but were occasionally effective against regular troops. American militia in the South were adept at <!--del_lnk--> partisan warfare and were particularly effective at suppressing Loyalist activity when British regulars were not in the area.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16081.jpg.htm" title="German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler after Conrad Gessner, 1799)"><img alt="German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler after Conrad Gessner, 1799)" height="189" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Us_unabhaengigkeitskrieg.jpg" src="../../images/160/16081.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16081.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler after Conrad Gessner, 1799)</div>
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<p>Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the <!--del_lnk--> Continental Congress established a regular army—the <!--del_lnk--> Continental Army—in June 1775, and appointed <a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">George Washington</a> as commander-in-chief. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington reluctantly augmented the regular troops with militia throughout the war. Although as many as 250,000 men may have served as regulars or as militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of the war, there were never more than 90,000 total men under arms for the Americans in any given year. Armies in North America were small by European standards of the era; the greatest number of men that Washington personally commanded in the field at any one time was fewer than 17,000.<p><a id="British" name="British"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">British</span></h4>
<p>Early in 1775, the <!--del_lnk--> British Army consisted of about 36,000 men worldwide, but wartime recruitment steadily increased this number. Additionally, over the course of the war the British hired about 30,000 German mercenaries, popularly known in the colonies as "<!--del_lnk--> Hessians" because many of them came from <!--del_lnk--> Hesse-Kassel. Germans made up about one-third of the British troop strength in North America. By 1779, the number of British and German troops stationed in North America was over 60,000, though these were spread over a vast area from Canada to Florida, and most were assigned to non-combat garrison duty, such as the 16,000 in New York City. Conway (1999) argues that in 1775 the British Royal Navy had less than 16,000 seamen and the army totaled about 36,000 troops. During the first three years of conflict, growth in these forces was slow because Lord North wanted to avoid provoking France and creating large increases in expenditures. With French intervention in 1778, serious expansion of the military began. By 1782, the navy had 100,000 seamen and marines. The creation of the new corps, which the king had previously opposed, expanded the army. The possibility of a French invasion led to rapid expansion of militia units in Britain. While exact figures are not available, it is possible that about 500,000 men were under arms during the course of the war. Though the aristocracy and gentry dominated the higher ranks in both army and navy, officers and men were drawn from a variety of social groups. In size and composition, this mobilization foreshadowed what was to come during the wars with revolutionary and Napoleonic France.<p><a id="Blacks_and_Native_Americans" name="Blacks_and_Native_Americans"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Blacks and Native Americans</span></h3>
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<div style="width:232px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16082.jpg.htm" title="This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment."><img alt="This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment." height="133" longdesc="/wiki/Image:American_Foot_Soldiers.jpg" src="../../images/160/16082.jpg" width="230" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16082.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows a black infantryman from the <!--del_lnk--> First Rhode Island Regiment.</div>
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<p>Blacks served on in the Patriot cause. Black soldiers served in northern militias from the outset, but this was forbidden in the South, where slave owners feared arming slaves. In November 1775, <!--del_lnk--> Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of <!--del_lnk--> Virginia, issued a proclamation promising freedom to runaway slaves of Patriot owners who fought for the British; <!--del_lnk--> Sir Henry Clinton issued a similar edict in <!--del_lnk--> New York in 1779. Tens of thousands of blacks escaped to the British lines; fewer than 1,000 served under arms. Many of the rest served as orderlies, mechanics, laborers, servants, scouts and guides. More than half died in smallpox epidemics that swept the British forces and many were driven out of the British lines when food ran low. Despite Dunmore's promises, the majority were not given their freedom.<p>Because of manpower shortages, Washington lifted the ban on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. All-black units were formed in <a href="../../wp/r/Rhode_Island.htm" title="Rhode Island">Rhode Island</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts; many were slaves promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from <a href="../../wp/h/Haiti.htm" title="Haiti">Haiti</a> with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause.<p>Most <!--del_lnk--> American Indians east of the Mississippi River were affected by the war; most joined the British side. An estimated 13,000 warriors fought on the British side; the largest group, the <!--del_lnk--> Iroquois Confederacy, fielded about 1,500 men.<p><a id="War_in_the_north.2C_1775.E2.80.931779" name="War_in_the_north.2C_1775.E2.80.931779"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">War in the north, 1775–1779</span></h2>
<p><a id="Massachusetts" name="Massachusetts"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Massachusetts</span></h3>
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<p>Before the war, <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts, had been the scene of much revolutionary activity, leading to the effective <!--del_lnk--> abolition of the provincial government of Massachusetts by the <a href="../../wp/p/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom.htm" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom">British parliament</a> in 1774. Popular resistance to these measures, however, compelled the newly appointed royal officials in Massachusetts to resign or to seek refuge in Boston. <!--del_lnk--> Lieutenant General <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Gage, the British <!--del_lnk--> Commander-in-Chief, North America, commanded four regiments of British regulars (about 4,000 men) from his headquarters in Boston, but the countryside was in the hands of the Revolutionaries.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:402px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16083.jpg.htm" title="The British marching to Concord in April 1775"><img alt="The British marching to Concord in April 1775" height="170" longdesc="/wiki/Image:British_Army_in_Concord_Detail.jpg" src="../../images/160/16083.jpg" width="400" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16083.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The British marching to Concord in April 1775</div>
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<p>On the night of April 18, 1775, General Gage sent 700 men to seize munitions stored by the colonial militia at <!--del_lnk--> Concord, Massachusetts. Riders alerted the countryside (<!--del_lnk--> Paul Revere was one of them), and when the British troops entered <!--del_lnk--> Lexington on the morning of <!--del_lnk--> April 19, they found 77 <!--del_lnk--> minutemen formed up on the village common. Shots were exchanged, and the British moved on to Concord, where there was more fighting. By the time the British struggled to return, thousands of militiamen had arrived on the scene; a rescue mission finally escorted the survivors to Boston. The British suffered 39% casualties, the Americans 2%. The British had lost the <!--del_lnk--> Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the war had begun.<p>From all over New England militia units converged on Boston, <!--del_lnk--> bottling up the British in the city. About 4,500 more British soldiers arrived by sea, and on <!--del_lnk--> June 17, <!--del_lnk--> 1775, British forces under General <!--del_lnk--> William Howe seized the Charlestown peninsula at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Bunker Hill. The British assumed the Americans would quickly break and run in the face of a determined attack. The British lost 42% of their assault troops, with 228 dead and 826 wounded, their heaviest losses of the war. The siege was not broken, and Gage was soon replaced by Howe as the British commander-in-chief.<p>In July 1775, newly appointed General Washington arrived outside Boston to take charge of the colonial forces and to organize the Continental Army. The standoff continued throughout the fall and winter. In early March 1776, heavy cannon that the Patriots had <!--del_lnk--> captured at Fort Ticonderoga were <!--del_lnk--> placed on Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston harbour. With cannons directly aimed at his ships, Howe was checkmated , and the British <!--del_lnk--> evacuated the city on <!--del_lnk--> March 17, <!--del_lnk--> 1776, sailing for temporary refuge at the Royal Navy's base at <!--del_lnk--> Halifax, Nova Scotia. Washington then took most of the Continental Army to fortify <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>.<p><a id="New_York_and_New_Jersey" name="New_York_and_New_Jersey"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">New York and New Jersey</span></h3>
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<p>Having withdrawn his army from Boston, General Howe now focused on capturing New York City. To defend the city, General Washington divided his 20,000 soldiers between <!--del_lnk--> Long Island and <!--del_lnk--> Manhattan. While British troops were assembling on <!--del_lnk--> Staten Island for the campaign, Washington had the newly issued <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence.htm" title="United States Declaration of Independence">Declaration of American Independence</a> read to his men. On <!--del_lnk--> August 27, <!--del_lnk--> 1776, after landing about 22,000 men on Long Island, the British <!--del_lnk--> drove the Americans back to Brooklyn Heights. Howe then laid siege to fortifications there, but Washington managed to evacuate his army to Manhattan.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> September 15, Howe <!--del_lnk--> landed about 12,000 men on lower Manhattan, quickly taking control of New York City. The Americans withdrew to Harlem Heights, where they <!--del_lnk--> skirmished the next day but held their ground. When Howe moved to <!--del_lnk--> encircle Washington's army in October, the Americans again fell back, and a <!--del_lnk--> battle at White Plains was fought on <!--del_lnk--> October 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1776. Once more Washington retreated, and Howe returned to Manhattan and captured <!--del_lnk--> Fort Washington in mid November, taking about 2,000 prisoners (with an additional 1,000 having been captured during the battle for Long Island).<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/47/4781.png.htm" title="Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) is an iconic image"><img alt="Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) is an iconic image" height="206" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware.png" src="../../images/160/16084.png" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/47/4781.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of <i><!--del_lnk--> Washington Crossing the Delaware</i> (1851) is an iconic image</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> General Lord Cornwallis continued to chase Washington's army through <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey, until the Americans withdrew across the <!--del_lnk--> Delaware River into <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania in early December. With the campaign at an apparent conclusion for the season, the British entered winter quarters. Although Howe had missed several opportunities to crush the diminishing rebel army, he had killed or captured over 5,000 Americans and was in a good position to resume operations in the spring, with the rebel capital of <!--del_lnk--> Philadelphia in striking distance. <p>The outlook of the Continental Army was bleak. "These are the times that try men's souls," wrote <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Paine, who was with the army on the retreat. The army had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 men fit for duty, and would be reduced to 1,400 after enlistments expired at the end of the year. Congress had abandoned Philadelphia in despair, although popular resistance to British occupation was growing in the countryside.<p>Washington decided to take the offensive, stealthily crossing the Delaware on <!--del_lnk--> Christmas night and capturing nearly 1,000 Hessians at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Trenton on <!--del_lnk--> December 26, <!--del_lnk--> 1776. Cornwallis marched to retake Trenton but was outmaneuvered by Washington, who successfully attacked the British rearguard at <!--del_lnk--> Princeton on <!--del_lnk--> January 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1777. Washington then entered winter quarters at <!--del_lnk--> Morristown, New Jersey, having given a morale boost to the American cause. New Jersey militia continued to harass British and Hessian forces throughout the winter.<p><a id="Saratoga_and_Philadelphia" name="Saratoga_and_Philadelphia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Saratoga and Philadelphia</span></h3>
<p>When the British began to plan operations for 1777, they had two main armies in North America: Carleton's army in Canada, and Howe's army in New York. In London, <!--del_lnk--> Lord George Germain approved campaigns for these armies which, because of miscommunication, poor planning, and rivalries between commanders, did not work in conjunction. Although Howe successfully captured Philadelphia, the northern army was lost in a disastrous surrender at Saratoga. Both Carleton and Howe resigned after the 1777 campaign.<p><a id="Saratoga_campaign" name="Saratoga_campaign"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Saratoga campaign</span></h4>
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<p>The first of the 1777 campaigns was an expedition from Canada led by General <!--del_lnk--> John Burgoyne. The goal was to seize the <!--del_lnk--> Lake Champlain and <!--del_lnk--> Hudson River corridor, effectively isolating <!--del_lnk--> New England from the rest of the American colonies. Burgoyne's invasion had two components: he would lead about 10,000 men along Lake Champlain towards <!--del_lnk--> Albany, New York, while a second column of about 2,000 men, led by <!--del_lnk--> Barry St. Leger, would move down the <!--del_lnk--> Mohawk River valley and link up with Burgoyne in [Albany.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16085.jpg.htm" title="Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle."><img alt="Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle." height="292" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Joseph_Brant_painting_by_George_Romney_1776.jpg" src="../../images/160/16085.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16085.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Mohawk leader <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle.</div>
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<p>Burgoyne set off in June, and <!--del_lnk--> recaptured Fort Ticonderoga in early July. Thereafter, his march was slowed by Americans who felled trees in his path. A Hessian detachment was sent to Vermont to seize cattle but was <!--del_lnk--> decisively defeated by American militia in August; Burgoyne lost nearly 1,000 men, and the Americans realized they could defeat the invaders, as thousands of New England militia joined the campaign.<p>Meanwhile, St. Leger—half of his force American Indians led by <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Brant—had laid siege to <!--del_lnk--> Fort Stanwix. American militiamen and their Indian allies marched to relieve the siege but were ambushed and scattered at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Oriskany on August 6. When a second relief expedition approached, this time led by Benedict Arnold, the pro-British Indians fled, St. Leger broke off the siege and returned to Canada.<p>Burgoyne's army was now reduced to about 6,000 men. Instead of retreating to Canada he determined to push on towards Albany, assuming Howe's troops from New York City would meet him there. An American army of 8,000 men, commanded by the General <!--del_lnk--> Horatio Gates, had entrenched about 10 miles (16 km) south of <!--del_lnk--> Saratoga, New York. Burgoyne tried to outflank the Americans but was checked at the <!--del_lnk--> first battle of Saratoga in September. Burgoyne's situation was desperate, but he now hoped that help from Howe's army in New York City might be on the way. It was not: Howe had instead sailed away on an expedition to capture Philadelphia. American militiamen flocked to Gates's army, swelling his force to 11,000 by the beginning of October. After being badly beaten at the <!--del_lnk--> second battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne surrendered on October 17.<p>Saratoga was the turning point of the war. Revolutionary confidence and determination was renewed. More importantly, the victory encouraged France to enter the war against Great Britain. For the British, the war had now become much more complicated.<p><a id="Philadelphia_campaign" name="Philadelphia_campaign"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Philadelphia campaign</span></h4>
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<p>Meanwhile, having secured New York City in 1776, in 1777, General Howe concentrated on capturing Philadelphia, the seat of the Revolutionary government. He moved slowly, landing 15,000 troops in late August at the northern end of <!--del_lnk--> Chesapeake Bay. Washington positioned his 11,000 men between Howe and Philadelphia but was driven back at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Brandywine on <!--del_lnk--> September 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1777. The Continental Congress once again abandoned Philadelphia, and on <!--del_lnk--> September 26, Howe finally outmaneuvered Washington and marched into the city unopposed. Washington <!--del_lnk--> unsuccessfully attacked the British encampment in nearby <!--del_lnk--> Germantown in early October and then retreated to watch and wait.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16086.jpg.htm" title="Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge."><img alt="Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge." height="138" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Washington_and_Lafayette_at_Valley_Forge.jpg" src="../../images/160/16086.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16086.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">Washington</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Lafayette look over the troops at <!--del_lnk--> Valley Forge.</div>
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<p>After repelling a British attack at <!--del_lnk--> White Marsh, Washington and his army encamped at <!--del_lnk--> Valley Forge in December 1777, about 20 miles (32 km) from Philadelphia, where they stayed for the next six months. Over the winter, 2,500 men (out of 10,000) died from disease and exposure. The next spring, however, the army emerged from Valley Forge in good order, thanks in part to the elaborate training program run by <!--del_lnk--> Baron von Steuben, a former member of the Prussian general staff<p>Meanwhile, there was a shakeup in the British command, with General Clinton replacing Howe as commander-in-chief. French entry into the war had changed British strategy, and Clinton abandoned Philadelphia in order to reinforce New York City, now vulnerable to French naval power. Washington shadowed Clinton on his withdrawal and forced a <!--del_lnk--> battle at Monmouth on <!--del_lnk--> June 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1778, the last major battle in the north. Clinton's army escaped to New York City in July, just before a French fleet under <!--del_lnk--> Admiral d'Estaing arrived off the American coast. Washington's army returned to <!--del_lnk--> White Plains, New York. Although both armies were back where they had been two years earlier, the nature of the war had now changed.<p><a id="An_international_war.2C_1778.E2.80.931783" name="An_international_war.2C_1778.E2.80.931783"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">An international war, 1778–1783</span></h2>
<p>In 1778, the colonial rebellion in North America became an international war. After learning of the American victory at Saratoga, France signed the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Alliance with the United States on <!--del_lnk--> February 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1778. Spain entered the war as an ally of France in June 1779. The Netherlands also became a combatant in 1780. All three countries had quietly provided financial assistance to the American rebels since the beginning of the war, hoping to dilute British power.<p><a id="Widening_of_the_naval_war" name="Widening_of_the_naval_war"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Widening of the naval war</span></h3>
<p>When the war began, the British had overwhelming naval superiority over the American colonists. The <a href="../../wp/r/Royal_Navy.htm" title="Royal Navy">Royal Navy</a> had over 100 powerful <!--del_lnk--> ships of the line. During the first three years of the war, the Royal Navy was primarily used to blockade the American coast, to transport troops and supplies, and to protect commercial shipping. The American colonists had no <!--del_lnk--> ships of the line, and relied extensively on <!--del_lnk--> privateering to harass British shipping. The <!--del_lnk--> Continental Congress authorized the creation of a small <!--del_lnk--> Continental Navy on <!--del_lnk--> October 13, <!--del_lnk--> 1775, which was primarily used for <!--del_lnk--> commerce raiding. <!--del_lnk--> John Paul Jones became the first well-known American naval hero, capturing <!--del_lnk--> HMS <i>Drake</i> on <!--del_lnk--> April 24, <!--del_lnk--> 1778, the first victory for any American military vessel in British waters.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16087.jpg.htm" title=""The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John Singleton Copley."><img alt=""The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John Singleton Copley." height="127" longdesc="/wiki/Image:The_Siege_and_Relief_of_Gibraltar.jpg" src="../../images/160/16087.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16087.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", <!--del_lnk--> 13 September <!--del_lnk--> 1782, by <!--del_lnk--> John Singleton Copley.</div>
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<p>French entry into the war meant that British naval superiority was now contested. The Franco-American alliance began poorly, however, with failed operations at <!--del_lnk--> Rhode Island in 1778 and <!--del_lnk--> Savannah, Georgia, in 1779. Part of the problem was that France and the United States had different military priorities: France hoped to capture British possessions in the <!--del_lnk--> West Indies before helping to secure American independence. While French financial assistance to the American war effort was already of critical importance, French military aid to the Americans would not show positive results until the arrival in July 1780 of an expeditionary force led by the <!--del_lnk--> Comte de Rochambeau.<p>Spain entered the war with the goal of invading <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a> as well as recapturing <a href="../../wp/g/Gibraltar.htm" title="Gibraltar">Gibraltar</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Minorca, which had been lost to the British in 1704 during the <a href="../../wp/w/War_of_the_Spanish_Succession.htm" title="War of the Spanish Succession">War of the Spanish Succession</a>. The Franco-Spanish invasion of England never materialized. <!--del_lnk--> Gibraltar was besieged for more than three years, but the British garrison there was resupplied after Admiral Sir <!--del_lnk--> George Rodney's victory in the <!--del_lnk--> "Moonlight Battle" on <!--del_lnk--> 16 January <!--del_lnk--> 1780. Further Franco-Spanish efforts to capture Gibraltar were unsuccessful. On <!--del_lnk--> February 5, <!--del_lnk--> 1782, Spanish and French forces captured <!--del_lnk--> Minorca, which Spain retained after the war.<p><a id="West_Indies_and_Gulf_Coast" name="West_Indies_and_Gulf_Coast"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">West Indies and Gulf Coast</span></h3>
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<p>There was much action in the West Indies, with several islands changing hands, especially in the <!--del_lnk--> Lesser Antilles. Ultimately, at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of the Saintes in April 1782, a decisive victory by Rodney's fleet over the French <!--del_lnk--> Admiral de Grasse dashed the hopes of France and Spain to take <a href="../../wp/j/Jamaica.htm" title="Jamaica">Jamaica</a> and other colonies from the British. In May 1782, Spanish Count <!--del_lnk--> Bernardo de Gálvez captured the British naval base at <!--del_lnk--> New Providence in <a href="../../wp/t/The_Bahamas.htm" title="The Bahamas">the Bahamas</a>. <p>On the <!--del_lnk--> Gulf Coast, Gálvez seized three British Mississippi River outposts in 1779: <!--del_lnk--> Manchac, <!--del_lnk--> Baton Rouge, and <!--del_lnk--> Natchez. Gálvez then captured <!--del_lnk--> Mobile in 1780 and <!--del_lnk--> forced the surrender of the British outpost at <!--del_lnk--> Pensacola in 1781. His actions led to Spain acquiring <!--del_lnk--> East and <!--del_lnk--> West Florida in the peace settlement.<p><a id="India_and_the_Netherlands" name="India_and_the_Netherlands"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">India and the Netherlands</span></h3>
<p>The Franco-British war spilled over into <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a> in 1780, in the form of the <!--del_lnk--> Second Anglo-Mysore War. The two chief combatants were <!--del_lnk--> Tipu Sultan, ruler of the <!--del_lnk--> Kingdom of Mysore and a key French ally, and the British government of <!--del_lnk--> Madras. The Anglo-Mysore conflict was bloody but inconclusive and ended in a draw in 1784.<p>Also in 1780, the British struck against the <!--del_lnk--> United Provinces of the <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> in order to preempt Dutch involvement in the <!--del_lnk--> League of Armed Neutrality, a declaration of several European powers that they would conduct neutral trade during the war. Great Britain was not willing to allow the Netherlands to openly give aid to the American rebels. Agitation by Dutch radicals and a friendly attitude towards the United States by the Dutch government—both influenced by the American Revolution—also encouraged the British to attack. The <!--del_lnk--> Fourth Anglo-Dutch War lasted into 1784 and was disastrous to the Dutch mercantile economy.<p><a id="Southern_theater" name="Southern_theater"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Southern theatre</span></h3>
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<p>During the first three years of the American Revolutionary War, the primary military encounters were in the north. After French entry into the war, the British turned their attention to the southern colonies, where they hoped to regain control by recruiting Loyalists. This southern strategy also had the advantage of keeping the Royal Navy closer to the Caribbean, where the British needed to defend their possessions against the French and Spanish.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16088.jpg.htm" title="The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782."><img alt="The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782." height="293" longdesc="/wiki/Image:General_Sir_Banastre_Tarleton_by_Sir_Joshua_Reynolds.jpeg" src="../../images/160/16088.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16088.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The young and dashing <!--del_lnk--> Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait was painted by Sir <!--del_lnk--> Joshua Reynolds in 1782.</div>
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<p>On <!--del_lnk--> December 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1778, an expeditionary corps from Clinton's army in New York captured <!--del_lnk--> Savannah, Georgia. An attempt by French and American forces to <!--del_lnk--> retake Savannah failed on <!--del_lnk--> October 9, <!--del_lnk--> 1779. Clinton then <!--del_lnk--> besieged Charleston, capturing it on <!--del_lnk--> May 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1780. The Americans, including the pride of the Southern Continental Army, the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, held on to the town, for a lond period, but eventually were outnumbered by the vastly large British/Hessian invasion force. The British would not allow the American garrison to honorably evacuate, and made them prisoners of war. The Americans were not allowed to withdraw with an American tune, so they played the British 'Turk's March.' In time around the battle, strong American resistance occured in the modern suburbs of Charleston: John's Island, and West Ashley. If the commanding General, Benjamin Lincoln, had not overlooked the vulneralble west flank of the Charles Town peninsula, the British may have been prevented from invading the southern port, thus ending the war by defeating the British hopes of capturing the south. With relatively few casualties, Clinton had seized the South's biggest city and seaport, paving the way for what seemed like certain conquest of the South.<p>The remnants of the southern Continental Army began to withdraw to <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina but were pursued by Colonel <!--del_lnk--> Banastre Tarleton, who defeated them at the <!--del_lnk--> Waxhaws on <!--del_lnk--> May 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1780. With these events, organized American military activity in the region collapsed, though the war was carried on by partisans such as <!--del_lnk--> Francis Marion, former commandant of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, previously mentioned. Cornwallis took over British operations, while <!--del_lnk--> Horatio Gates arrived to command the American effort. On <!--del_lnk--> August 16, <!--del_lnk--> 1780, Gates suffered one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Camden, setting the stage for Cornwallis to invade <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina.<p>Cornwallis' victories quickly turned, however. One wing of his army was utterly defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Kings Mountain on <!--del_lnk--> October 7, <!--del_lnk--> 1780. Kings Mountain was noteworthy because it was not a battle between British redcoats and colonial troops; rather, it was a battle between Loyalist and Patriot militia. Tarleton’s troops were subsequently defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Cowpens on <!--del_lnk--> January 17, <!--del_lnk--> 1781, by American General <!--del_lnk--> Daniel Morgan.<p>General <!--del_lnk--> Nathanael Greene, Gates's replacement, proceeded to wear down the British in a series of battles, each of them tactically a victory for the British but giving no strategic advantage to the victors. Greene summed up his approach in a motto that would become famous: "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Unable to capture or destroy Greene's army, Cornwallis moved north to <!--del_lnk--> Virginia.<p>In March 1781, General Washington dispatched <!--del_lnk--> General Lafayette to defend Virginia. The young Frenchman skirmished with Cornwallis, avoiding a decisive battle while gathering reinforcements. "The boy cannot escape me," Cornwallis is supposed to have said. However, Cornwallis was unable to trap Lafayette, and so he moved his forces to <!--del_lnk--> Yorktown, Virginia, in July in order to link up with the British navy.<p><a id="West_Floridan_Theater" name="West_Floridan_Theater"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">West Floridan Theatre</span></h2>
<p>In the present states of Mississippi and Alabama, frontier battles were occuring with the local Tory, and Indian populations, as well as the British occupation force.<p><a id="Northern_and_western_theater" name="Northern_and_western_theater"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Northern and western theatre</span></h3>
<p>West of the <!--del_lnk--> Appalachian Mountains and along the Canadian border, the American Revolutionary War was an "<!--del_lnk--> Indian War." The British signed up most of the tribes as allies, although the Continental Congress warned them to stay neutral.<p>The British had a shortage of regular troops after Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga in 1777, and so a greater effort was made to recruit American Indians. The British supplied their native allies with muskets and gunpowder and advised raids against civilian villages, especially in New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania. Joint Iroquois-Loyalist attacks in the <!--del_lnk--> Wyoming Valley and at <!--del_lnk--> Cherry Valley in 1778 provoked Washington to send the <!--del_lnk--> Sullivan Expedition into western New York during the summer of 1779. There was little fighting as Sullivan systematically destroyed the Indians' winter food supplies, forcing them to flee permanently to British bases in Canada and the Niagara Falls area.<p>In the <!--del_lnk--> Ohio Country and the <!--del_lnk--> Illinois Country, the Virginia frontiersman <!--del_lnk--> George Rogers Clark attempted to neutralize British influence among the Ohio tribes by capturing the British outposts of <!--del_lnk--> Kaskaskia and <!--del_lnk--> Vincennes in the summer of 1778. When General <!--del_lnk--> Henry Hamilton, the British commander at <!--del_lnk--> Detroit, retook Vincennes, Clark returned in a surprise march in February 1779 and captured Hamilton himself.<p>However, a decisive victory in the West eluded the United States even as their fortunes had risen in the East. The low point on the frontier came in 1782 with the <!--del_lnk--> Gnadenhütten massacre, when Pennsylvania militiamen killed about a hundred civilians. In August 1782, in the last major encounter of the war, a force of 200 Kentucky militia was defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Blue Licks.<p><a id="Yorktown_and_the_war.27s_end" name="Yorktown_and_the_war.27s_end"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Yorktown and the war's end</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/22/2214.jpg.htm" title="Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (John Trumbull, 1797). On the right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness) was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the right background; because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender."><img alt="Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (John Trumbull, 1797). On the right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness) was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the right background; because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender." height="139" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Yorktown80.JPG" src="../../images/160/16089.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/22/2214.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown</i> (<!--del_lnk--> John Trumbull, 1797). On the right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness) was not present and is not depicted. <a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">Washington</a> is on horseback in the right background; because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case <!--del_lnk--> Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender.</div>
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<p>The northern, southern, and naval theaters of the war converged in 1781 at <!--del_lnk--> Yorktown, Virginia. In early September, French naval forces defeated a British fleet at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of the Chesapeake, cutting off Cornwallis's supplies and transport. Washington hurriedly moved his troops from New York, and a combined Franco-American force of 17,000 men commenced the <!--del_lnk--> siege of Yorktown in early October. Cornwallis's position quickly became untenable, and he surrendered his army on <!--del_lnk--> October 19, <!--del_lnk--> 1781.<p>The surrender at Yorktown was not the end of the war: the British still had 30,000 troops in North America and still occupied New York, Charleston, and Savannah. Both sides continued to plan upcoming operations, and fighting continued on the western front, in the south, and at sea. <p>In London, however, political support for the war plummeted after Yorktown, causing <!--del_lnk--> Prime Minister <!--del_lnk--> Lord North to resign soon afterwards. In April 1782, the <a href="../../wp/b/British_House_of_Commons.htm" title="British House of Commons">British House of Commons</a> voted to end the war in America. Preliminary peace articles were signed in <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a> on <!--del_lnk--> November 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1782, though the formal end of the war did not occur until the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Paris was signed on <!--del_lnk--> September 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1783, and the United States Congress ratified the treaty on <!--del_lnk--> January 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1784. The last British troops <!--del_lnk--> left New York City on <!--del_lnk--> November 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1783.<p>Great Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty without consulting her Indian allies and ceded all American Indian territory between the <!--del_lnk--> Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River to the United States. Full of resentment, Native Americans reluctantly confirmed these land cessions with the United States in a series of treaties, but the fighting would be renewed in conflicts along the frontier in the coming years, the largest being the <!--del_lnk--> Northwest Indian War.<p><a id="Casualties" name="Casualties"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Casualties</span></h3>
<p>The total loss of life resulting from the American Revolutionary War is unknown. As was typical in the wars of the era, disease claimed more lives than battle. The war took place during a massive <!--del_lnk--> North American smallpox epidemic, which probably killed more than 130,000 people. Historian <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Ellis suggests that Washington's decision to have his troops <!--del_lnk--> inoculated may have been the commander-in-chief's most important strategic decision.<p>An estimated 25,000 American Revolutionaries died during active military service. About 8,000 of these deaths were in battle; the other 17,000 deaths were from disease, including about 8,000 who died while <!--del_lnk--> prisoners of war. The number of Revolutionaries seriously wounded or disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000. The total American military <!--del_lnk--> casualty figure was therefore as high as 50,000.<p>About 171,000 seamen served for the British during the war; about 25 to 50 percent of them had been <!--del_lnk--> pressed into service. About 1,240 were killed in battle, while 18,500 died from disease. The greatest killer was <a href="../../wp/s/Scurvy.htm" title="Scurvy">scurvy</a>, a disease known at the time to be easily preventable by issuing lemon juice to sailors, a step not taken by the <!--del_lnk--> Admiralty because of what historian Piers Mackesy characterized as "administrative apathy". About 42,000 British seamen <!--del_lnk--> deserted during the war.<p>Approximately 1,200 Germans were killed in action and 6,354 died from illness or accident. About 16,000 of the remaining German troops returned home, but roughly 5,500 remained in the United States after the war for various reasons, many eventually becoming American citizens. No reliable statistics exist for the number of casualties among other groups, including Loyalists, British regulars, American Indians, French and Spanish troops, and civilians.<p><a id="Historical_assessment" name="Historical_assessment"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Historical assessment</span></h3>
<p>Historians have often sought to explain why Great Britain lost a war which few at the time expected them to lose. Britain had several military advantages at the outset: vastly superior naval power, a professional military by the standards of the day, and far greater financial resources. Furthermore, the Americans often faced shortages of military supplies and had a traditional distrust of central government and standing armies which made the maintenance of a national military force extremely difficult.<p>On the other hand, the British had significant military disadvantages. Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be shipped across the <a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a>. The British usually had <!--del_lnk--> logistical problems whenever they operated away from port cities, while the Americans had local sources of manpower and food and were more familiar with (and acclimated to) the territory. Additionally, ocean travel meant that British communications were always about two months out of date: by the time British generals in America received their orders from London, the military situation had usually changed.<p>Suppressing a rebellion in America also posed other problems. Since the colonies covered a large area and had not been united before the war, there was no central area of strategic importance. In Europe, the capture of a capital often meant the end of a war; in America, when the British seized cities such as New York and Philadelphia, the war continued unabated. Furthermore, the large size of the colonies meant that the British lacked the manpower to control them by force. Once any area had been occupied, troops had to be kept there or the Revolutionaries would regain control, and these troops were thus unavailable for further offensive operations. The British had sufficient troops to defeat the Americans on the battlefield but not enough to simultaneously occupy the colonies. This manpower shortage became critical after French and Spanish entry into the war, because British troops had to be dispersed in several <!--del_lnk--> theaters, where previously they had been concentrated in America.<p>The British also had the difficult task of fighting the war while simultaneously retaining the allegiance of Loyalists. Loyalist support was important, since the goal of the war was to keep the colonies in the British Empire, but this imposed numerous military limitations. Early in the war, the Howe brothers served as peace commissioners while simultaneously conducting the war effort, a dual role which may have limited their effectiveness. Additionally, the British could have recruited more slaves and American Indians to fight the war, but this would have alienated many Loyalists, even more so than the controversial hiring of German mercenaries. The need to retain Loyalist allegiance also meant that the British were unable to use the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion they employed in <a href="../../wp/i/Ireland.htm" title="Ireland">Ireland</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>. Even with these limitations, many potentially neutral colonists were nonetheless driven into the ranks of the Revolutionaries because of the war.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Combatants before 1778</span></h2>
<p><a id="Armies.2C_militias.2C_and_mercenaries_2" name="Armies.2C_militias.2C_and_mercenaries_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Armies, militias, and mercenaries</span></h3>
<p><a id="Americans_2" name="Americans_2"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Americans</span></h4>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Patriots (called also the "rebels", "Congress Men," "Whigs" or "Americans") had the active support of about 40 to 45 percent of the population. About 15 to 20 percent supported the British Crown during the war and were known as <!--del_lnk--> Loyalists (known also as "King's Men" or "Tories"). Loyalists fielded perhaps 50,000 men during the war compared to 250,000 patriots.<p>When the war began, the Americans did not have a regular army (also known as a "<!--del_lnk--> standing army"). Each colony had traditionally provided for its own defenses through the use of local <!--del_lnk--> militia. Militiamen who served for only a few weeks or months at a time, were reluctant to go very far from home, and were thus generally unavailable for extended operations. Militia lacked the training and discipline of regular soldiers but were occasionally effective against regular troops. American militia in the South were adept at <!--del_lnk--> partisan warfare and were particularly effective at suppressing Loyalist activity when British regulars were not in the area.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16081.jpg.htm" title="German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler after Conrad Gessner, 1799)"><img alt="German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler after Conrad Gessner, 1799)" height="189" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Us_unabhaengigkeitskrieg.jpg" src="../../images/160/16081.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16081.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> German troops serving with the British in North America. (C. Ziegler after Conrad Gessner, 1799)</div>
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<p>Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the <!--del_lnk--> Continental Congress established a regular army—the <!--del_lnk--> Continental Army—in June 1775, and appointed <a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">George Washington</a> as commander-in-chief. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington reluctantly augmented the regular troops with militia throughout the war. Although as many as 250,000 men may have served as regulars or as militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of the war, there were never more than 90,000 total men under arms for the Americans in any given year. Armies in North America were small by European standards of the era; the greatest number of men that Washington personally commanded in the field at any one time was fewer than 17,000.<p><a id="British_2" name="British_2"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">British</span></h4>
<p>Early in 1775, the <!--del_lnk--> British Army consisted of about 36,000 men worldwide, but wartime recruitment steadily increased this number. Additionally, over the course of the war the British hired about 30,000 German mercenaries, popularly known in the colonies as "<!--del_lnk--> Hessians" because many of them came from <!--del_lnk--> Hesse-Kassel. Germans made up about one-third of the British troop strength in North America. By 1779, the number of British and German troops stationed in North America was over 60,000, though these were spread over a vast area from Canada to Florida, and most were assigned to non-combat garrison duty, such as the 16,000 in New York City. Conway (1999) argues that in 1775 the British Royal Navy had less than 16,000 seamen and the army totaled about 36,000 troops. During the first three years of conflict, growth in these forces was slow because Lord North wanted to avoid provoking France and creating large increases in expenditures. With French intervention in 1778, serious expansion of the military began. By 1782, the navy had 100,000 seamen and marines. The creation of the new corps, which the king had previously opposed, expanded the army. The possibility of a French invasion led to rapid expansion of militia units in Britain. While exact figures are not available, it is possible that about 500,000 men were under arms during the course of the war. Though the aristocracy and gentry dominated the higher ranks in both army and navy, officers and men were drawn from a variety of social groups. In size and composition, this mobilization foreshadowed what was to come during the wars with revolutionary and Napoleonic France.<p><a id="Blacks_and_Native_Americans_2" name="Blacks_and_Native_Americans_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Blacks and Native Americans</span></h3>
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<div style="width:232px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16082.jpg.htm" title="This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment."><img alt="This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows a black infantryman from the First Rhode Island Regiment." height="133" longdesc="/wiki/Image:American_Foot_Soldiers.jpg" src="../../images/160/16082.jpg" width="230" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16082.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows a black infantryman from the <!--del_lnk--> First Rhode Island Regiment.</div>
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<p>Blacks served on in the Patriot cause. Black soldiers served in northern militias from the outset, but this was forbidden in the South, where slave owners feared arming slaves. In November 1775, <!--del_lnk--> Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of <!--del_lnk--> Virginia, issued a proclamation promising freedom to runaway slaves of Patriot owners who fought for the British; <!--del_lnk--> Sir Henry Clinton issued a similar edict in <!--del_lnk--> New York in 1779. Tens of thousands of blacks escaped to the British lines; fewer than 1,000 served under arms. Many of the rest served as orderlies, mechanics, laborers, servants, scouts and guides. More than half died in smallpox epidemics that swept the British forces and many were driven out of the British lines when food ran low. Despite Dunmore's promises, the majority were not given their freedom.<p>Because of manpower shortages, Washington lifted the ban on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. All-black units were formed in <a href="../../wp/r/Rhode_Island.htm" title="Rhode Island">Rhode Island</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts; many were slaves promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from <a href="../../wp/h/Haiti.htm" title="Haiti">Haiti</a> with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause.<p>Most <!--del_lnk--> American Indians east of the Mississippi River were affected by the war; most joined the British side. An estimated 13,000 warriors fought on the British side; the largest group, the <!--del_lnk--> Iroquois Confederacy, fielded about 1,500 men.<p><a id="War_in_the_north.2C_1775.E2.80.931779_2" name="War_in_the_north.2C_1775.E2.80.931779_2"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">War in the north, 1775–1779</span></h2>
<p><a id="Massachusetts_2" name="Massachusetts_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Massachusetts</span></h3>
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<p>Before the war, <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts, had been the scene of much revolutionary activity, leading to the effective <!--del_lnk--> abolition of the provincial government of Massachusetts by the <a href="../../wp/p/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom.htm" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom">British parliament</a> in 1774. Popular resistance to these measures, however, compelled the newly appointed royal officials in Massachusetts to resign or to seek refuge in Boston. <!--del_lnk--> Lieutenant General <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Gage, the British <!--del_lnk--> Commander-in-Chief, North America, commanded four regiments of British regulars (about 4,000 men) from his headquarters in Boston, but the countryside was in the hands of the Revolutionaries.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:402px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16083.jpg.htm" title="The British marching to Concord in April 1775"><img alt="The British marching to Concord in April 1775" height="170" longdesc="/wiki/Image:British_Army_in_Concord_Detail.jpg" src="../../images/160/16083.jpg" width="400" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16083.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The British marching to Concord in April 1775</div>
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<p>On the night of April 18, 1775, General Gage sent 700 men to seize munitions stored by the colonial militia at <!--del_lnk--> Concord, Massachusetts. Riders alerted the countryside (<!--del_lnk--> Paul Revere was one of them), and when the British troops entered <!--del_lnk--> Lexington on the morning of <!--del_lnk--> April 19, they found 77 <!--del_lnk--> minutemen formed up on the village common. Shots were exchanged, and the British moved on to Concord, where there was more fighting. By the time the British struggled to return, thousands of militiamen had arrived on the scene; a rescue mission finally escorted the survivors to Boston. The British suffered 39% casualties, the Americans 2%. The British had lost the <!--del_lnk--> Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the war had begun.<p>From all over New England militia units converged on Boston, <!--del_lnk--> bottling up the British in the city. About 4,500 more British soldiers arrived by sea, and on <!--del_lnk--> June 17, <!--del_lnk--> 1775, British forces under General <!--del_lnk--> William Howe seized the Charlestown peninsula at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Bunker Hill. The British assumed the Americans would quickly break and run in the face of a determined attack. The British lost 42% of their assault troops, with 228 dead and 826 wounded, their heaviest losses of the war. The siege was not broken, and Gage was soon replaced by Howe as the British commander-in-chief.<p>In July 1775, newly appointed General Washington arrived outside Boston to take charge of the colonial forces and to organize the Continental Army. The standoff continued throughout the fall and winter. In early March 1776, heavy cannon that the Patriots had <!--del_lnk--> captured at Fort Ticonderoga were <!--del_lnk--> placed on Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston harbour. With cannons directly aimed at his ships, Howe was checkmated , and the British <!--del_lnk--> evacuated the city on <!--del_lnk--> March 17, <!--del_lnk--> 1776, sailing for temporary refuge at the Royal Navy's base at <!--del_lnk--> Halifax, Nova Scotia. Washington then took most of the Continental Army to fortify <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>.<p><a id="New_York_and_New_Jersey_2" name="New_York_and_New_Jersey_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">New York and New Jersey</span></h3>
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<p>Having withdrawn his army from Boston, General Howe now focused on capturing New York City. To defend the city, General Washington divided his 20,000 soldiers between <!--del_lnk--> Long Island and <!--del_lnk--> Manhattan. While British troops were assembling on <!--del_lnk--> Staten Island for the campaign, Washington had the newly issued <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence.htm" title="United States Declaration of Independence">Declaration of American Independence</a> read to his men. On <!--del_lnk--> August 27, <!--del_lnk--> 1776, after landing about 22,000 men on Long Island, the British <!--del_lnk--> drove the Americans back to Brooklyn Heights. Howe then laid siege to fortifications there, but Washington managed to evacuate his army to Manhattan.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> September 15, Howe <!--del_lnk--> landed about 12,000 men on lower Manhattan, quickly taking control of New York City. The Americans withdrew to Harlem Heights, where they <!--del_lnk--> skirmished the next day but held their ground. When Howe moved to <!--del_lnk--> encircle Washington's army in October, the Americans again fell back, and a <!--del_lnk--> battle at White Plains was fought on <!--del_lnk--> October 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1776. Once more Washington retreated, and Howe returned to Manhattan and captured <!--del_lnk--> Fort Washington in mid November, taking about 2,000 prisoners (with an additional 1,000 having been captured during the battle for Long Island).<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/47/4781.png.htm" title="Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) is an iconic image"><img alt="Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) is an iconic image" height="206" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware.png" src="../../images/160/16084.png" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/47/4781.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of <i><!--del_lnk--> Washington Crossing the Delaware</i> (1851) is an iconic image</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> General Lord Cornwallis continued to chase Washington's army through <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey, until the Americans withdrew across the <!--del_lnk--> Delaware River into <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania in early December. With the campaign at an apparent conclusion for the season, the British entered winter quarters. Although Howe had missed several opportunities to crush the diminishing rebel army, he had killed or captured over 5,000 Americans and was in a good position to resume operations in the spring, with the rebel capital of <!--del_lnk--> Philadelphia in striking distance. <p>The outlook of the Continental Army was bleak. "These are the times that try men's souls," wrote <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Paine, who was with the army on the retreat. The army had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 men fit for duty, and would be reduced to 1,400 after enlistments expired at the end of the year. Congress had abandoned Philadelphia in despair, although popular resistance to British occupation was growing in the countryside.<p>Washington decided to take the offensive, stealthily crossing the Delaware on <!--del_lnk--> Christmas night and capturing nearly 1,000 Hessians at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Trenton on <!--del_lnk--> December 26, <!--del_lnk--> 1776. Cornwallis marched to retake Trenton but was outmaneuvered by Washington, who successfully attacked the British rearguard at <!--del_lnk--> Princeton on <!--del_lnk--> January 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1777. Washington then entered winter quarters at <!--del_lnk--> Morristown, New Jersey, having given a morale boost to the American cause. New Jersey militia continued to harass British and Hessian forces throughout the winter.<p><a id="Saratoga_and_Philadelphia_2" name="Saratoga_and_Philadelphia_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Saratoga and Philadelphia</span></h3>
<p>When the British began to plan operations for 1777, they had two main armies in North America: Carleton's army in Canada, and Howe's army in New York. In London, <!--del_lnk--> Lord George Germain approved campaigns for these armies which, because of miscommunication, poor planning, and rivalries between commanders, did not work in conjunction. Although Howe successfully captured Philadelphia, the northern army was lost in a disastrous surrender at Saratoga. Both Carleton and Howe resigned after the 1777 campaign.<p><a id="Saratoga_campaign_2" name="Saratoga_campaign_2"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Saratoga campaign</span></h4>
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<p>The first of the 1777 campaigns was an expedition from Canada led by General <!--del_lnk--> John Burgoyne. The goal was to seize the <!--del_lnk--> Lake Champlain and <!--del_lnk--> Hudson River corridor, effectively isolating <!--del_lnk--> New England from the rest of the American colonies. Burgoyne's invasion had two components: he would lead about 10,000 men along Lake Champlain towards <!--del_lnk--> Albany, New York, while a second column of about 2,000 men, led by <!--del_lnk--> Barry St. Leger, would move down the <!--del_lnk--> Mohawk River valley and link up with Burgoyne in [Albany.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16085.jpg.htm" title="Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle."><img alt="Mohawk leader Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle." height="292" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Joseph_Brant_painting_by_George_Romney_1776.jpg" src="../../images/160/16085.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16085.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Mohawk leader <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Brant led both Indians and Loyalists in battle.</div>
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<p>Burgoyne set off in June, and <!--del_lnk--> recaptured Fort Ticonderoga in early July. Thereafter, his march was slowed by Americans who felled trees in his path. A Hessian detachment was sent to Vermont to seize cattle but was <!--del_lnk--> decisively defeated by American militia in August; Burgoyne lost nearly 1,000 men, and the Americans realized they could defeat the invaders, as thousands of New England militia joined the campaign.<p>Meanwhile, St. Leger—half of his force American Indians led by <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Brant—had laid siege to <!--del_lnk--> Fort Stanwix. American militiamen and their Indian allies marched to relieve the siege but were ambushed and scattered at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Oriskany on August 6. When a second relief expedition approached, this time led by Benedict Arnold, the pro-British Indians fled, St. Leger broke off the siege and returned to Canada.<p>Burgoyne's army was now reduced to about 6,000 men. Instead of retreating to Canada he determined to push on towards Albany, assuming Howe's troops from New York City would meet him there. An American army of 8,000 men, commanded by the General <!--del_lnk--> Horatio Gates, had entrenched about 10 miles (16 km) south of <!--del_lnk--> Saratoga, New York. Burgoyne tried to outflank the Americans but was checked at the <!--del_lnk--> first battle of Saratoga in September. Burgoyne's situation was desperate, but he now hoped that help from Howe's army in New York City might be on the way. It was not: Howe had instead sailed away on an expedition to capture Philadelphia. American militiamen flocked to Gates's army, swelling his force to 11,000 by the beginning of October. After being badly beaten at the <!--del_lnk--> second battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne surrendered on October 17.<p>Saratoga was the turning point of the war. Revolutionary confidence and determination was renewed. More importantly, the victory encouraged France to enter the war against Great Britain. For the British, the war had now become much more complicated.<p><a id="Philadelphia_campaign_2" name="Philadelphia_campaign_2"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Philadelphia campaign</span></h4>
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<p>Meanwhile, having secured New York City in 1776, in 1777, General Howe concentrated on capturing Philadelphia, the seat of the Revolutionary government. He moved slowly, landing 15,000 troops in late August at the northern end of <!--del_lnk--> Chesapeake Bay. Washington positioned his 11,000 men between Howe and Philadelphia but was driven back at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Brandywine on <!--del_lnk--> September 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1777. The Continental Congress once again abandoned Philadelphia, and on <!--del_lnk--> September 26, Howe finally outmaneuvered Washington and marched into the city unopposed. Washington <!--del_lnk--> unsuccessfully attacked the British encampment in nearby <!--del_lnk--> Germantown in early October and then retreated to watch and wait.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16086.jpg.htm" title="Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge."><img alt="Washington and Lafayette look over the troops at Valley Forge." height="138" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Washington_and_Lafayette_at_Valley_Forge.jpg" src="../../images/160/16086.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16086.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">Washington</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Lafayette look over the troops at <!--del_lnk--> Valley Forge.</div>
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<p>After repelling a British attack at <!--del_lnk--> White Marsh, Washington and his army encamped at <!--del_lnk--> Valley Forge in December 1777, about 20 miles (32 km) from Philadelphia, where they stayed for the next six months. Over the winter, 2,500 men (out of 10,000) died from disease and exposure. The next spring, however, the army emerged from Valley Forge in good order, thanks in part to the elaborate training program run by <!--del_lnk--> Baron von Steuben, a former member of the Prussian general staff<p>Meanwhile, there was a shakeup in the British command, with General Clinton replacing Howe as commander-in-chief. French entry into the war had changed British strategy, and Clinton abandoned Philadelphia in order to reinforce New York City, now vulnerable to French naval power. Washington shadowed Clinton on his withdrawal and forced a <!--del_lnk--> battle at Monmouth on <!--del_lnk--> June 28, <!--del_lnk--> 1778, the last major battle in the north. Clinton's army escaped to New York City in July, just before a French fleet under <!--del_lnk--> Admiral d'Estaing arrived off the American coast. Washington's army returned to <!--del_lnk--> White Plains, New York. Although both armies were back where they had been two years earlier, the nature of the war had now changed.<p><a id="An_international_war.2C_1778.E2.80.931783_2" name="An_international_war.2C_1778.E2.80.931783_2"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">An international war, 1778–1783</span></h2>
<p>In 1778, the colonial rebellion in North America became an international war. After learning of the American victory at Saratoga, France signed the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Alliance with the United States on <!--del_lnk--> February 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1778. Spain entered the war as an ally of France in June 1779. The Netherlands also became a combatant in 1780. All three countries had quietly provided financial assistance to the American rebels since the beginning of the war, hoping to dilute British power.<p><a id="Widening_of_the_naval_war_2" name="Widening_of_the_naval_war_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Widening of the naval war</span></h3>
<p>When the war began, the British had overwhelming naval superiority over the American colonists. The <a href="../../wp/r/Royal_Navy.htm" title="Royal Navy">Royal Navy</a> had over 100 powerful <!--del_lnk--> ships of the line. During the first three years of the war, the Royal Navy was primarily used to blockade the American coast, to transport troops and supplies, and to protect commercial shipping. The American colonists had no <!--del_lnk--> ships of the line, and relied extensively on <!--del_lnk--> privateering to harass British shipping. The <!--del_lnk--> Continental Congress authorized the creation of a small <!--del_lnk--> Continental Navy on <!--del_lnk--> October 13, <!--del_lnk--> 1775, which was primarily used for <!--del_lnk--> commerce raiding. <!--del_lnk--> John Paul Jones became the first well-known American naval hero, capturing <!--del_lnk--> HMS <i>Drake</i> on <!--del_lnk--> April 24, <!--del_lnk--> 1778, the first victory for any American military vessel in British waters.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16087.jpg.htm" title=""The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John Singleton Copley."><img alt=""The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", 13 September 1782, by John Singleton Copley." height="127" longdesc="/wiki/Image:The_Siege_and_Relief_of_Gibraltar.jpg" src="../../images/160/16087.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16087.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar", <!--del_lnk--> 13 September <!--del_lnk--> 1782, by <!--del_lnk--> John Singleton Copley.</div>
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<p>French entry into the war meant that British naval superiority was now contested. The Franco-American alliance began poorly, however, with failed operations at <!--del_lnk--> Rhode Island in 1778 and <!--del_lnk--> Savannah, Georgia, in 1779. Part of the problem was that France and the United States had different military priorities: France hoped to capture British possessions in the <!--del_lnk--> West Indies before helping to secure American independence. While French financial assistance to the American war effort was already of critical importance, French military aid to the Americans would not show positive results until the arrival in July 1780 of an expeditionary force led by the <!--del_lnk--> Comte de Rochambeau.<p>Spain entered the war with the goal of invading <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a> as well as recapturing <a href="../../wp/g/Gibraltar.htm" title="Gibraltar">Gibraltar</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Minorca, which had been lost to the British in 1704 during the <a href="../../wp/w/War_of_the_Spanish_Succession.htm" title="War of the Spanish Succession">War of the Spanish Succession</a>. The Franco-Spanish invasion of England never materialized. <!--del_lnk--> Gibraltar was besieged for more than three years, but the British garrison there was resupplied after Admiral Sir <!--del_lnk--> George Rodney's victory in the <!--del_lnk--> "Moonlight Battle" on <!--del_lnk--> 16 January <!--del_lnk--> 1780. Further Franco-Spanish efforts to capture Gibraltar were unsuccessful. On <!--del_lnk--> February 5, <!--del_lnk--> 1782, Spanish and French forces captured <!--del_lnk--> Minorca, which Spain retained after the war.<p><a id="West_Indies_and_Gulf_Coast_2" name="West_Indies_and_Gulf_Coast_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">West Indies and Gulf Coast</span></h3>
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<p>There was much action in the West Indies, with several islands changing hands, especially in the <!--del_lnk--> Lesser Antilles. Ultimately, at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of the Saintes in April 1782, a decisive victory by Rodney's fleet over the French <!--del_lnk--> Admiral de Grasse dashed the hopes of France and Spain to take <a href="../../wp/j/Jamaica.htm" title="Jamaica">Jamaica</a> and other colonies from the British. In May 1782, Spanish Count <!--del_lnk--> Bernardo de Gálvez captured the British naval base at <!--del_lnk--> New Providence in <a href="../../wp/t/The_Bahamas.htm" title="The Bahamas">the Bahamas</a>. <p>On the <!--del_lnk--> Gulf Coast, Gálvez seized three British Mississippi River outposts in 1779: <!--del_lnk--> Manchac, <!--del_lnk--> Baton Rouge, and <!--del_lnk--> Natchez. Gálvez then captured <!--del_lnk--> Mobile in 1780 and <!--del_lnk--> forced the surrender of the British outpost at <!--del_lnk--> Pensacola in 1781. His actions led to Spain acquiring <!--del_lnk--> East and <!--del_lnk--> West Florida in the peace settlement.<p><a id="India_and_the_Netherlands_2" name="India_and_the_Netherlands_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">India and the Netherlands</span></h3>
<p>The Franco-British war spilled over into <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a> in 1780, in the form of the <!--del_lnk--> Second Anglo-Mysore War. The two chief combatants were <!--del_lnk--> Tipu Sultan, ruler of the <!--del_lnk--> Kingdom of Mysore and a key French ally, and the British government of <!--del_lnk--> Madras. The Anglo-Mysore conflict was bloody but inconclusive and ended in a draw in 1784.<p>Also in 1780, the British struck against the <!--del_lnk--> United Provinces of the <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> in order to preempt Dutch involvement in the <!--del_lnk--> League of Armed Neutrality, a declaration of several European powers that they would conduct neutral trade during the war. Great Britain was not willing to allow the Netherlands to openly give aid to the American rebels. Agitation by Dutch radicals and a friendly attitude towards the United States by the Dutch government—both influenced by the American Revolution—also encouraged the British to attack. The <!--del_lnk--> Fourth Anglo-Dutch War lasted into 1784 and was disastrous to the Dutch mercantile economy.<p><a id="Southern_theater_2" name="Southern_theater_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Southern theatre</span></h3>
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<p>During the first three years of the American Revolutionary War, the primary military encounters were in the north. After French entry into the war, the British turned their attention to the southern colonies, where they hoped to regain control by recruiting Loyalists. This southern strategy also had the advantage of keeping the Royal Navy closer to the Caribbean, where the British needed to defend their possessions against the French and Spanish.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16088.jpg.htm" title="The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782."><img alt="The young and dashing Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1782." height="293" longdesc="/wiki/Image:General_Sir_Banastre_Tarleton_by_Sir_Joshua_Reynolds.jpeg" src="../../images/160/16088.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16088.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The young and dashing <!--del_lnk--> Banastre Tarleton was perhaps the best cavalry commander in the war—and the most hated man in the South. This portrait was painted by Sir <!--del_lnk--> Joshua Reynolds in 1782.</div>
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<p>On <!--del_lnk--> December 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1778, an expeditionary corps from Clinton's army in New York captured <!--del_lnk--> Savannah, Georgia. An attempt by French and American forces to <!--del_lnk--> retake Savannah failed on <!--del_lnk--> October 9, <!--del_lnk--> 1779. Clinton then <!--del_lnk--> besieged Charleston, capturing it on <!--del_lnk--> May 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1780. The Americans, including the pride of the Southern Continental Army, the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, held on to the town, for a lond period, but eventually were outnumbered by the vastly large British/Hessian invasion force. The British would not allow the American garrison to honorably evacuate, and made them prisoners of war. The Americans were not allowed to withdraw with an American tune, so they played the British 'Turk's March.' In time around the battle, strong American resistance occured in the modern suburbs of Charleston: John's Island, and West Ashley. If the commanding General, Benjamin Lincoln, had not overlooked the vulneralble west flank of the Charles Town peninsula, the British may have been prevented from invading the southern port, thus ending the war by defeating the British hopes of capturing the south. With relatively few casualties, Clinton had seized the South's biggest city and seaport, paving the way for what seemed like certain conquest of the South.<p>The remnants of the southern Continental Army began to withdraw to <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina but were pursued by Colonel <!--del_lnk--> Banastre Tarleton, who defeated them at the <!--del_lnk--> Waxhaws on <!--del_lnk--> May 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1780. With these events, organized American military activity in the region collapsed, though the war was carried on by partisans such as <!--del_lnk--> Francis Marion, former commandant of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, previously mentioned. Cornwallis took over British operations, while <!--del_lnk--> Horatio Gates arrived to command the American effort. On <!--del_lnk--> August 16, <!--del_lnk--> 1780, Gates suffered one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Camden, setting the stage for Cornwallis to invade <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina.<p>Cornwallis' victories quickly turned, however. One wing of his army was utterly defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Kings Mountain on <!--del_lnk--> October 7, <!--del_lnk--> 1780. Kings Mountain was noteworthy because it was not a battle between British redcoats and colonial troops; rather, it was a battle between Loyalist and Patriot militia. Tarleton’s troops were subsequently defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Cowpens on <!--del_lnk--> January 17, <!--del_lnk--> 1781, by American General <!--del_lnk--> Daniel Morgan.<p>General <!--del_lnk--> Nathanael Greene, Gates's replacement, proceeded to wear down the British in a series of battles, each of them tactically a victory for the British but giving no strategic advantage to the victors. Greene summed up his approach in a motto that would become famous: "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Unable to capture or destroy Greene's army, Cornwallis moved north to <!--del_lnk--> Virginia.<p>In March 1781, General Washington dispatched <!--del_lnk--> General Lafayette to defend Virginia. The young Frenchman skirmished with Cornwallis, avoiding a decisive battle while gathering reinforcements. "The boy cannot escape me," Cornwallis is supposed to have said. However, Cornwallis was unable to trap Lafayette, and so he moved his forces to <!--del_lnk--> Yorktown, Virginia, in July in order to link up with the British navy.<p><a id="West_Floridan_Theater_2" name="West_Floridan_Theater_2"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">West Floridan Theatre</span></h2>
<p>In the present states of Mississippi and Alabama, frontier battles were occuring with the local Tory, and Indian populations, as well as the British occupation force.<p><a id="Northern_and_western_theater_2" name="Northern_and_western_theater_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Northern and western theatre</span></h3>
<p>West of the <!--del_lnk--> Appalachian Mountains and along the Canadian border, the American Revolutionary War was an "<!--del_lnk--> Indian War." The British signed up most of the tribes as allies, although the Continental Congress warned them to stay neutral.<p>The British had a shortage of regular troops after Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga in 1777, and so a greater effort was made to recruit American Indians. The British supplied their native allies with muskets and gunpowder and advised raids against civilian villages, especially in New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania. Joint Iroquois-Loyalist attacks in the <!--del_lnk--> Wyoming Valley and at <!--del_lnk--> Cherry Valley in 1778 provoked Washington to send the <!--del_lnk--> Sullivan Expedition into western New York during the summer of 1779. There was little fighting as Sullivan systematically destroyed the Indians' winter food supplies, forcing them to flee permanently to British bases in Canada and the Niagara Falls area.<p>In the <!--del_lnk--> Ohio Country and the <!--del_lnk--> Illinois Country, the Virginia frontiersman <!--del_lnk--> George Rogers Clark attempted to neutralize British influence among the Ohio tribes by capturing the British outposts of <!--del_lnk--> Kaskaskia and <!--del_lnk--> Vincennes in the summer of 1778. When General <!--del_lnk--> Henry Hamilton, the British commander at <!--del_lnk--> Detroit, retook Vincennes, Clark returned in a surprise march in February 1779 and captured Hamilton himself.<p>However, a decisive victory in the West eluded the United States even as their fortunes had risen in the East. The low point on the frontier came in 1782 with the <!--del_lnk--> Gnadenhütten massacre, when Pennsylvania militiamen killed about a hundred civilians. In August 1782, in the last major encounter of the war, a force of 200 Kentucky militia was defeated at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Blue Licks.<p><a id="Yorktown_and_the_war.27s_end_2" name="Yorktown_and_the_war.27s_end_2"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Yorktown and the war's end</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/22/2214.jpg.htm" title="Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (John Trumbull, 1797). On the right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness) was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the right background; because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender."><img alt="Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (John Trumbull, 1797). On the right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness) was not present and is not depicted. Washington is on horseback in the right background; because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender." height="139" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Yorktown80.JPG" src="../../images/160/16089.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/22/2214.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown</i> (<!--del_lnk--> John Trumbull, 1797). On the right is the American flag, on the left is the white flag of the French monarchy. Despite the painting's title, Cornwallis (claiming illness) was not present and is not depicted. <a href="../../wp/g/George_Washington.htm" title="George Washington">Washington</a> is on horseback in the right background; because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—-in this case <!--del_lnk--> Benjamin Lincoln-—accept the surrender.</div>
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<p>The northern, southern, and naval theaters of the war converged in 1781 at <!--del_lnk--> Yorktown, Virginia. In early September, French naval forces defeated a British fleet at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of the Chesapeake, cutting off Cornwallis's supplies and transport. Washington hurriedly moved his troops from New York, and a combined Franco-American force of 17,000 men commenced the <!--del_lnk--> siege of Yorktown in early October. Cornwallis's position quickly became untenable, and he surrendered his army on <!--del_lnk--> October 19, <!--del_lnk--> 1781.<p>The surrender at Yorktown was not the end of the war: the British still had 30,000 troops in North America and still occupied New York, Charleston, and Savannah. Both sides continued to plan upcoming operations, and fighting continued on the western front, in the south, and at sea. <p>In London, however, political support for the war plummeted after Yorktown, causing <!--del_lnk--> Prime Minister <!--del_lnk--> Lord North to resign soon afterwards. In April 1782, the <a href="../../wp/b/British_House_of_Commons.htm" title="British House of Commons">British House of Commons</a> voted to end the war in America. Preliminary peace articles were signed in <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a> on <!--del_lnk--> November 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1782, though the formal end of the war did not occur until the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Paris was signed on <!--del_lnk--> September 3, <!--del_lnk--> 1783, and the United States Congress ratified the treaty on <!--del_lnk--> January 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1784. The last British troops <!--del_lnk--> left New York City on <!--del_lnk--> November 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1783.<p>Great Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty without consulting her Indian allies and ceded all American Indian territory between the <!--del_lnk--> Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River to the United States. Full of resentment, Native Americans reluctantly confirmed these land cessions with the United States in a series of treaties, but the fighting would be renewed in conflicts along the frontier in the coming years, the largest being the <!--del_lnk--> Northwest Indian War.<p><a id="Casualties_2" name="Casualties_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Casualties</span></h3>
<p>The total loss of life resulting from the American Revolutionary War is unknown. As was typical in the wars of the era, disease claimed more lives than battle. The war took place during a massive <!--del_lnk--> North American smallpox epidemic, which probably killed more than 130,000 people. Historian <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Ellis suggests that Washington's decision to have his troops <!--del_lnk--> inoculated may have been the commander-in-chief's most important strategic decision.<p>An estimated 25,000 American Revolutionaries died during active military service. About 8,000 of these deaths were in battle; the other 17,000 deaths were from disease, including about 8,000 who died while <!--del_lnk--> prisoners of war. The number of Revolutionaries seriously wounded or disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000. The total American military <!--del_lnk--> casualty figure was therefore as high as 50,000.<p>About 171,000 seamen served for the British during the war; about 25 to 50 percent of them had been <!--del_lnk--> pressed into service. About 1,240 were killed in battle, while 18,500 died from disease. The greatest killer was <a href="../../wp/s/Scurvy.htm" title="Scurvy">scurvy</a>, a disease known at the time to be easily preventable by issuing lemon juice to sailors, a step not taken by the <!--del_lnk--> Admiralty because of what historian Piers Mackesy characterized as "administrative apathy". About 42,000 British seamen <!--del_lnk--> deserted during the war.<p>Approximately 1,200 Germans were killed in action and 6,354 died from illness or accident. About 16,000 of the remaining German troops returned home, but roughly 5,500 remained in the United States after the war for various reasons, many eventually becoming American citizens. No reliable statistics exist for the number of casualties among other groups, including Loyalists, British regulars, American Indians, French and Spanish troops, and civilians.<p><a id="Historical_assessment_2" name="Historical_assessment_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Historical assessment</span></h3>
<p>Historians have often sought to explain why Great Britain lost a war which few at the time expected them to lose. Britain had several military advantages at the outset: vastly superior naval power, a professional military by the standards of the day, and far greater financial resources. Furthermore, the Americans often faced shortages of military supplies and had a traditional distrust of central government and standing armies which made the maintenance of a national military force extremely difficult.<p>On the other hand, the British had significant military disadvantages. Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be shipped across the <a href="../../wp/a/Atlantic_Ocean.htm" title="Atlantic Ocean">Atlantic Ocean</a>. The British usually had <!--del_lnk--> logistical problems whenever they operated away from port cities, while the Americans had local sources of manpower and food and were more familiar with (and acclimated to) the territory. Additionally, ocean travel meant that British communications were always about two months out of date: by the time British generals in America received their orders from London, the military situation had usually changed.<p>Suppressing a rebellion in America also posed other problems. Since the colonies covered a large area and had not been united before the war, there was no central area of strategic importance. In Europe, the capture of a capital often meant the end of a war; in America, when the British seized cities such as New York and Philadelphia, the war continued unabated. Furthermore, the large size of the colonies meant that the British lacked the manpower to control them by force. Once any area had been occupied, troops had to be kept there or the Revolutionaries would regain control, and these troops were thus unavailable for further offensive operations. The British had sufficient troops to defeat the Americans on the battlefield but not enough to simultaneously occupy the colonies. This manpower shortage became critical after French and Spanish entry into the war, because British troops had to be dispersed in several <!--del_lnk--> theaters, where previously they had been concentrated in America.<p>The British also had the difficult task of fighting the war while simultaneously retaining the allegiance of Loyalists. Loyalist support was important, since the goal of the war was to keep the colonies in the British Empire, but this imposed numerous military limitations. Early in the war, the Howe brothers served as peace commissioners while simultaneously conducting the war effort, a dual role which may have limited their effectiveness. Additionally, the British could have recruited more slaves and American Indians to fight the war, but this would have alienated many Loyalists, even more so than the controversial hiring of German mercenaries. The need to retain Loyalist allegiance also meant that the British were unable to use the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion they employed in <a href="../../wp/i/Ireland.htm" title="Ireland">Ireland</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>. Even with these limitations, many potentially neutral colonists were nonetheless driven into the ranks of the Revolutionaries because of the war.<p><a id="See_also_2" name="See_also_2"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">American Samoa</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Geography_of_Oceania_Australasia.htm">Geography of Oceania (Australasia)</a></h3>
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<caption><big><b>Amerika Samoa<br /> American Samoa</b></big></caption>
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<td align="center" width="140px"><a class="image" href="../../images/81/8167.png.htm" title="Flag of American Samoa"><img alt="Flag of American Samoa" height="63" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_American_Samoa.svg" src="../../images/6/649.png" width="125" /></a></td>
<td align="center" width="140px"><a class="image" href="../../images/6/651.png.htm" title="American Samoa COA"><img alt="American Samoa COA" height="80" longdesc="/wiki/Image:American_samoa_coa.png" src="../../images/6/651.png" width="80" /></a></td>
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<td align="center" width="140px">(<!--del_lnk--> Flag)</td>
<td align="center" width="140px">(<!--del_lnk--> Seal)</td>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" style="vertical-align: top;"><small><i>National <!--del_lnk--> motto: Samoa, Muamua Le Atua (Samoa, Let God Be First)</i></small></td>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" style="background: #ffffff;"><a class="image" href="../../images/6/652.png.htm" title="Image:LocationAmericanSamoa.png"><img alt="Image:LocationAmericanSamoa.png" height="158" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LocationAmericanSamoa.png" src="../../images/6/652.png" width="250" /></a></td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Official languages</b></td>
<td><a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Samoan</td>
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<td><b><a href="../../wp/c/Capital.htm" title="Capital">Capital</a></b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Fagatogo</td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Head of State</b></td>
<td><a href="../../wp/g/George_W._Bush.htm" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a></td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Governor</b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Togiola Tulafono</td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Area</b><br /> - Total<br /> - % water</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ranked 212th<br /><!--del_lnk--> 199 km² (77.3 <!--del_lnk--> sq. mi)<br /> 0%</td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Population</b><p>
<br /> - Total (2005)<br /> - <!--del_lnk--> Density</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ranked 204th<p>
<br /> 64,869<br /> 353/km² (914/sq. mi)</td>
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<td><b><a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">Currency</a></b></td>
<td><a href="../../wp/u/United_States_dollar.htm" title="United States dollar">USD</a></td>
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<td><b><a href="../../wp/t/Time_zone.htm" title="Time zone">Time zone</a></b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> UTC -11 (no DST)</td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> National anthem</b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Amerika Samoa</td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Internet TLD</b></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> .as</td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Calling Code</b></td>
<td>+1 684</td>
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<div class="floatright"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/6/654.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="218" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Fatu_Rock.jpg" src="../../images/6/654.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div> Fatu Rock (right) and Futi Rock (left), islets on the reef of Tutuila at the entrance to Pago Pago Harbour (seen behind Fatu).</td>
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<p><b>American Samoa</b> (<!--del_lnk--> Samoan: <b>Amerika Samoa</b> or <b>Samoa Amelika</b>) is an unincorporated U.S. territory located in the south <a href="../../wp/p/Pacific_Ocean.htm" title="Pacific Ocean">Pacific Ocean</a> southeast of the sovereign state of <a href="../../wp/s/Samoa.htm" title="Samoa">Samoa</a>. The main (largest and most populous) island is <!--del_lnk--> Tutuila, with the <span class="Unicode"><!--del_lnk--> Manu'a</span> Islands, <!--del_lnk--> Rose Atoll, and <!--del_lnk--> Swains Island also included in the territory. American Samoa is part of the Samoan Islands chain, located west of the <a href="../../wp/c/Cook_Islands.htm" title="Cook Islands">Cook Islands</a>, north of <a href="../../wp/t/Tonga.htm" title="Tonga">Tonga</a>, and some 300 <!--del_lnk--> miles (500 km) south of <a href="../../wp/t/Tokelau.htm" title="Tokelau">Tokelau</a>. To the west are the islands of the <a href="../../wp/w/Wallis_and_Futuna.htm" title="Wallis and Futuna">Wallis and Futuna</a> group. The <!--del_lnk--> 2000 census showed a total population of 57,291 <!--del_lnk--> . The total land area is 200.22 km² (77.305 sq mi).<p><i><b><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wikimedia-logo.svg" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="15" />Wikimedia <!--del_lnk--> Atlas of American Samoa</b> <a class="image" href="../../images/99/9955.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Gnome-globe.svg" src="../../images/0/90.png" width="15" /></a>.</i><p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<p>Originally inhabited as early as 1000 BC, Samoa was not reached by <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">European</a> explorers until the 18th century.<p>The pre-Western history of Eastern Samoa (now American Samoa) is inextricably bound with the history of Western Samoa (now independent Samoa). The <!--del_lnk--> Manu'a Islands of American Samoa has one of the oldest histories of Polynesia, in connection with the <!--del_lnk--> Tui Manua title, connected with the histories of the archipelagos of Fiji, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Tokelau and elsewhere in the Pacific, where Manu'a once had influence. During the Tongan occupation of Samoa, Manu'a was the only island group that remained independent because of the familial relationship between the Tui Manu'a and the Tui Tonga, who was decended from a former Tui Manu'a. The islands of Tutuila and Aunu'u were politically connected to 'Upolu island in what is now independent Samoa. It can be said that all the Samoa islands are politically connected today through the <!--del_lnk--> faamatai chiefly system and through family connections that are as strong as ever. This system of the <!--del_lnk--> faamatai and the customs of <!--del_lnk--> faasamoa originated with two of the most famous early chiefs of Samoa, who were both women and related, <!--del_lnk--> Nafanua and <!--del_lnk--> Salamasina.<p>Early Western contact included a battle in the 18th century between French explorers and islanders in Tutuila, for which the Samoans were blamed in the West, giving them a reputation for ferocity. Early 19th century Rarotongan missionaries to the Samoa islands were followed by a group of Western missionaries led by <!--del_lnk--> John Williams of the <!--del_lnk--> Congregationalist London Missionary Society in the 1830's, officially bringing Christianity to Samoa. Less than a hundred years later, the <!--del_lnk--> Samoan Congregationalist Church became the first independent indigenous church of the South Pacific.<p>International rivalries in the latter half of the 19th century were settled by an 1899 <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Berlin in which Germany and the U.S. divided the Samoan <!--del_lnk--> archipelago. The U.S. formally occupied its portion—a smaller group of eastern islands with the noted harbour of <!--del_lnk--> Pago Pago—the following year. The western islands are now the independent state of <a href="../../wp/s/Samoa.htm" title="Samoa">Samoa</a>.<p>After the U.S. took possession of American Samoa, the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Navy built a <a href="../../wp/c/Coal.htm" title="Coal">coaling</a> station on Pago Pago Bay for its Pacific Squadron and appointed a local Secretary. The navy secured a Deed of Cession of Tutuila in 1900 and a Deed of Cession of <span class="Unicode"><!--del_lnk--> Manuʻa</span> in 1904. The last sovereign of <span class="Unicode">Manuʻa</span>, the <span class="Unicode"><!--del_lnk--> Tui Manuʻa Elisala</span>, was forced to sign a Deed of Cession of <span class="Unicode">Manuʻa</span> following a series of US Naval trials, known as the "Trial of the Ipu", in Pago Pago, <span class="Unicode">Taʻu</span>, and aboard a Pacific Squadron gunboat.<p>After World War I, during the time of the <!--del_lnk--> Mau movement in Western Samoa (then a New Zealand protectorate), there was a corresponding American Samoa Mau movement, led by Samuel Sailele Ripley, who was from Leone village and was a WWI war veteran. After meetings in America, he was prevented from disembarking from the ship that brought him home to American Samoa and was not allowed to return. The American Samoa Mau movement having been suppressed by the US Navy, in 1930 the US Congress sent a committee to investigate the status of American Samoa, led by Americans who had had a part in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.<p>During World War II, U.S. Marines in American Samoa outnumbered the local population, having a huge cultural influence. Young Samoan men from the age of 14 and above were combat trained by US military personnel. As in WWI, American Samoans served in WWII as combatants, medical personnel, code personnel, ship repairs, etc.<p>After the war, Organic Act 4500, a U.S. <!--del_lnk--> Department of Interior-sponsored attempt to incorporate American Samoa, was defeated in Congress, primarily through the efforts of American Samoan chiefs, led by <!--del_lnk--> Tuiasosopo Mariota. These chiefs' efforts led to the creation of a local legislature, the <!--del_lnk--> American Samoa <i>Fono</i> which meets in the village of <!--del_lnk--> Fagatogo, the territory's <i><!--del_lnk--> de facto</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> de jure</i> capital. (See the Capital City section below for more information on Fagatogo.)<p>In time, the Navy-appointed governor was replaced by a locally elected one. Although technically considered "unorganized" in that the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Congress has not passed an <!--del_lnk--> Organic Act for the territory, American Samoa is self-governing under a constitution that became effective on <!--del_lnk--> July 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1967. The U.S. Territory of American Samoa is on the <!--del_lnk--> United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, a listing which is disputed by territorial government officials.<p>Employment on the island basically falls into three relatively equally-sized categories of approximately 5,000 workers each: the public sector, the two tuna canneries, and the rest of the private sector. There are only a few federal employees in American Samoa and no active military personnel (there is an <!--del_lnk--> Army Reserve unit, however); the overwhelming majority of public sector employees work for the American Samoa Government. The two tuna canneries (<!--del_lnk--> StarKist and <!--del_lnk--> Samoa Packing) export several hundred million dollars worth of canned tuna to the United States.<p><a id="Politics" name="Politics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Politics</span></h2>
<p>Politics of American Samoa takes place in a framework of a <!--del_lnk--> presidential <!--del_lnk--> representative democratic <!--del_lnk--> dependency, whereby the <!--del_lnk--> Governor is the <!--del_lnk--> head of government, and of a <!--del_lnk--> pluriform <!--del_lnk--> multi-party system. American Samoa is an <!--del_lnk--> unincorporated and <!--del_lnk--> unorganized territory of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, administered by the <!--del_lnk--> Office of Insular Affairs, <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Department of the Interior. Its constitution was ratified 1966 and came into effect 1967. <!--del_lnk--> Executive power is exercised by the government. <!--del_lnk--> Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the legislature. The American political parties (Republican and Democrats) exist in American Samoa, but few politicians are aligned with the parties. The <!--del_lnk--> Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.<p>There is also the traditional village politics of the Samoa Islands, the "fa'amatai" and the "fa'asamoa", which continues in American Samoa and in independent Samoa, and which interacts across these current boundaries. The Fa'asamoa is the language and customs, and the Fa'amatai the protocols of the "fono" (council) and the chiefly system. The Fa'amatai and the Fono take place at all levels of the Samoan body politic, from the family, to the village, to the region, to national matters. The "matai" (chiefs) are elected by consensus within the fono of the extended family and village(s) concerned. The matai and the fono (which is itself made of matai) decide on distribution of family exchanges and tenancy of communal lands. The majority of lands in American Samoa and independent Samoa are communal. A matai can represent a small family group or a great extended family that reaches across islands, and to both American Samoa and independent Samoa.<p><a id="Capital_city" name="Capital_city"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Capital city</span></h3>
<p>Although many respected reference sources list the neighboring village <!--del_lnk--> Pago Pago of as the capital, <!--del_lnk--> Fagatogo is the <i>de facto</i> and <i>de jure</i> (i.e., constitutionally designated; cf. Article 5, Section 9) seat of government. Additionally, the governor's office is located in the village of Utulei, located on the opposite side of Fagatogo from Pago Pago. The reason why many sources list Pago Pago is because the name Pago Pago, the most popular port of call in American Samoa, has become associated with the harbor itself; thus Pago Pago is now generally applied to the harbour area and the capital. However, both the port itself and the legislature of American Samoa—known as the <i>Fono</i>—are located in Fagatogo, a village that is adjacent to (and for all practical purposes indistinguishable from) Pago Pago. (Cf. Wikipedia entry for <!--del_lnk--> Pago Pago.)<p><a id="Nationality" name="Nationality"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Nationality</span></h3>
<p>Persons born in American Samoa are United States <a href="../../wp/n/Nationality.htm" title="Nationality">nationals</a>, but not United States <!--del_lnk--> citizens. Such status is only conferred on persons born in the districts of American Samoa and <!--del_lnk--> Swains Island, but not to persons born in <i>unorganized</i> atolls.<p><a id="Administrative_divisions" name="Administrative_divisions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Administrative divisions</span></h2>
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<p>American Samoa is administratively divided into 3 <!--del_lnk--> districts and 2 "unorganized" atolls.<p>The districts and unorganized atolls are subdivided into 66 villages.<p><a id="Geography" name="Geography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Geography</span></h2>
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<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
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<p><a id="Demographics" name="Demographics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demographics</span></h2>
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<p><a id="Education" name="Education"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Education</span></h2>
<p>Public schools in American Samoa are operated by the <!--del_lnk--> American Samoa Department of Education <!--del_lnk--> .<p><a id="Culture" name="Culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Culture</span></h2>
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<p>The culture in American Samoa is basically the same as in Western Samoa(Upolu). There are no major differences in culture between the two, save for the people themselves. (see <a href="../../wp/s/Samoa.htm" title="Samoa">Samoa</a>)<p><a id="Sports" name="Sports"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Sports</span></h3>
<p>About 30 ethnic Samoans, many from American Samoa, currently play in the <!--del_lnk--> National Football League. A 2002 article from <!--del_lnk--> ESPN estimated that a Samoan male (either an American Samoan, or a Samoan living in the 50 United States) is 40 times more likely to play in the NFL than a non-Samoan American. A number have also ventured into professional wrestling (see especially <!--del_lnk--> Anoa'i wrestling family).<p>The <!--del_lnk--> bloodsport of <!--del_lnk--> dog fighting is <a href="../../wp/l/Law.htm" title="Legal">legal</a> in American Samoa.<p><a id="The_Origin_of_Samoa" name="The_Origin_of_Samoa"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The Origin of Samoa</span></h2>
<p>The origin of Samoa, according to the stories told by the chiefs, is that Samoan people are actually from an unknown land call "Saviki" (which most people believe is Savaii.) According to the Samoan old belief that everyone in the Polynesian area are from savaiki, which is in Savaii. This is in accord with folk stories from other cultures in the Polynesian area: The Tongans believed that Tongan people are from Hauaiki, <!--del_lnk--> Māori people believe that they are from "Hawaiki". Hawaiians believed that they are from Hawaii. It was originally believed that all Polynesians migrated from Hawaii, but <!--del_lnk--> DNA analysis indicates that these cultures are closely related to Samoans. It is thought that following migrations from Samoa led northward(to Hawaii), southward (to Māori settlements), eastward (to Fiji) and westward (to Tonga).<p><a id="Trivia" name="Trivia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trivia</span></h2>
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<li>American Samoa is the location of <!--del_lnk--> Rose Atoll, the southernmost point in the territory of the United States; see <!--del_lnk--> extreme points of the United States.<li>In March of 1889, a <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">German</a> naval force shelled a village in <a href="../../wp/s/Samoa.htm" title="Samoa">Samoa</a>, and by doing so destroyed some American property. Three American warships then entered the <!--del_lnk--> Samoan harbour and were prepared to fire on the three German warships found there. Before guns were fired, a typhoon sank both the American and German ships. A compulsory <!--del_lnk--> armistice was called because of the lack of warships.<li>In 1938, famous aviator <!--del_lnk--> Ed Musick and his crew died on the <!--del_lnk--> Pan American World Airways S-42 <!--del_lnk--> Samoan Clipper over Pago Pago, on a survey flight to <!--del_lnk--> Auckland, New Zealand. Sometime after take-off the aircraft experienced trouble and Musick turned it back toward Pago Pago. As the crew began dumping fuel in preparation for an emergency landing a spark in the fuel pump caused an explosion that tore the aircraft apart in mid-air.<li>Samoans are generally modest and tend to cover up much of the body, even while swimming.<!--del_lnk--> <li>The pronunciation of "Pago Pago" is pango pango.</ul>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Samoa"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">American football</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Everyday_life.Sports.htm">Sports</a></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16090.jpg.htm" title="The ball used in American football has a pointed prolate spheroid or vesica piscis shape, and usually has a large set of stitches along one side."><img alt="The ball used in American football has a pointed prolate spheroid or vesica piscis shape, and usually has a large set of stitches along one side." height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wilson_American_football.jpg" src="../../images/160/16090.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><b>American football</b>, known in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a> simply as <b>football</b>, is a competitive <!--del_lnk--> team sport. The object of the game is to score points by advancing the <!--del_lnk--> football into the opposing team's <!--del_lnk--> end zone. The ball can be advanced by carrying the ball, or by throwing or handing it from one teammate to the other. Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, throwing the ball to another player past the goal line or <!--del_lnk--> kicking it through the goal posts on the opposing side. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires and the last play ends. However, tied games can occur.<p>Outside of the United States and Canada, the sport is usually referred to as <i>American football</i> (or sometimes as gridiron or <!--del_lnk--> gridiron football) to differentiate it from other football games.<p>
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</script><a id="Popularity" name="Popularity"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Popularity</span></h2>
<p>American football is the most popular <!--del_lnk--> spectator sport in the United States. In surveys of Americans, pluralities of respondents consider it to be their favorite sport. Football's American TV viewership ratings far surpass those of other sports. <p>The 32-team <!--del_lnk--> National Football League (NFL) is the only <!--del_lnk--> major professional American football <!--del_lnk--> league. Its championship game, the <!--del_lnk--> Super Bowl, is watched by nearly half of U.S. television households and is also televised in over 150 other countries. The day of the game, <!--del_lnk--> Super Bowl Sunday is a day when many fans host game watching parties and invite friends and family over to eat and watch the game. It is considered by many to be the year's biggest day for "stay at home parties."<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16091.jpg.htm" title="A Colorado State University player runs with the ball as an Air Force Academy player lines up a tackle."><img alt="A Colorado State University player runs with the ball as an Air Force Academy player lines up a tackle." height="167" longdesc="/wiki/Image:College_Football_CSU_AF.jpg" src="../../images/160/16091.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16091.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A <!--del_lnk--> Colorado State University player runs with the ball as an <!--del_lnk--> Air Force Academy player lines up a tackle.</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> College football is also popular throughout North America. Four college football stadiums (<!--del_lnk--> Michigan Stadium, <!--del_lnk--> Beaver Stadium, <!--del_lnk--> Neyland Stadium, <!--del_lnk--> Ohio Stadium), seat more than 100,000 fans and regularly sell out. Even <!--del_lnk--> high school football games can attract more than 10,000 people in some areas. The weekly autumn ritual of college and high-school football—which includes <!--del_lnk--> marching bands, <!--del_lnk--> cheerleaders and parties (including the ubiquitous <!--del_lnk--> tailgate party)—is an important part of the culture in much of <!--del_lnk--> smalltown America. It is a long-standing tradition in the United States (though not universally observed) that high school football games are played on Friday, college games on Saturday, and professional games on Sunday (with an additional professional <!--del_lnk--> game on Monday nights).<p>Certain fall and winter <!--del_lnk--> holidays—most notably <!--del_lnk--> Thanksgiving and <!--del_lnk--> New Years' Day—have traditional football games associated with them.<p>Football is played recreationally by amateur club and youth teams (e.g., the <!--del_lnk--> Pop Warner little-league programs). There are also many "semi-pro" teams in leagues where the players are paid to play but at a small enough salary that they generally must also hold a full-time job.<p>The NFL operates a developmental league, <!--del_lnk--> NFL Europa, with teams in five German cities and one in the Netherlands. The professional <!--del_lnk--> Canadian Football League plays under <a href="../../wp/c/Canadian_football.htm" title="Canadian football">Canadian rules</a>. The sport is popular as an amateur activity in <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/American_Samoa.htm" title="American Samoa">American Samoa</a> and to a lesser extent in <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>, <a href="../../wp/k/Korea.htm" title="Korea">Korea</a>, <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a>.<p>Organized football is played almost exclusively by men and boys, although a few amateur and semi-professional women's leagues have begun play in recent years.<p><a id="Rules" name="Rules"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Rules</span></h2>
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<p>The object of American football is to score more points than the opposing team within a set time limit.<p><a id="Field_and_players" name="Field_and_players"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Field and players</span></h3>
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<div style="width:253px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16092.png.htm" title="The numbers on the field indicate the number of yards to the nearest end zone."><img alt="The numbers on the field indicate the number of yards to the nearest end zone." height="121" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AmFBfield.svg" src="../../images/160/16092.png" width="251" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16092.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The numbers on the field indicate the number of <!--del_lnk--> yards to the nearest end zone.</div>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16093.jpg.htm" title="Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a large American Football stadium"><img alt="Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a large American Football stadium" height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:11-11-06-LA-Coliseum-USC-UO.jpg" src="../../images/160/16093.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>American football is played on a rectangular field 120 <!--del_lnk--> yards (110 <!--del_lnk--> meters) long by 53 1/3 yards (49 meters) wide. The longer boundary lines are <i>sidelines</i>, while the shorter boundary lines are <i>end lines</i>. Near each end of the field is a <i>goal line</i>; they are 100 yards apart. A scoring area called an <i><!--del_lnk--> end zone</i> extends 10 yards beyond each goal line to each end line.<p><i>Yard lines</i> cross the field every 5 yards, and are numbered from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield (similar to a typical <!--del_lnk--> rugby league field). Two rows of lines, known as inbounds lines or <i>hash marks</i>, parallel the side lines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hash marks.<p>At the back of each end zone are two <i>goal posts</i> (also called <i>uprights</i>) that are 18.5 feet (5.6 m) apart (24 feet (7.3 m) in high school). The posts are connected by a crossbar 10 feet (3 m) from the ground.<p>Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. However, teams may substitute for any or all of their players, if time allows, during the break between plays. As a result, players have very specialized roles, and almost all of the 46 active players on an NFL team will play in any given game. Thus, teams are divided into three separate units: the <!--del_lnk--> offense, the <!--del_lnk--> defense and the <!--del_lnk--> special teams.<p><a id="Game_duration" name="Game_duration"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Game duration</span></h3>
<p>A standard football game consists of four 15-minute (typically 12 minutes in high school football) quarters, with a <!--del_lnk--> half-time intermission after the second quarter. The clock stops after certain plays; therefore, a game can last considerably longer (often more than three hours in real time). If an NFL game is tied after four quarters, the teams play an additional period lasting up to 15 minutes. In an NFL overtime game, the first team that scores wins, even if the other team does not get a possession—this is referred to as <!--del_lnk--> sudden death. In a regular-season NFL game, if neither team scores in overtime, the game is a tie. In an NFL playoff game, additional overtime periods are played, as needed, to determine a winner. College overtime rules are more complicated and are described in <!--del_lnk--> Overtime (sport).<p><a id="Advancing_the_ball" name="Advancing_the_ball"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Advancing the ball</span></h3>
<p>Advancing the ball in American football resembles the <i>six-tackle rule</i> and the <i>play-the-ball</i> in <!--del_lnk--> rugby league. The team that takes possession of the ball (the <b>offense</b>) has four attempts, called <b><!--del_lnk--> downs</b>, to advance the ball 10 yards towards their opponent's (the <b>defense</b>'s) end zone. When the offense gains 10 yards, it gets a <b>first down</b>, or another set of four downs to gain 10 yards. If the offense fails to gain a first down (10 yards) after 4 downs, it loses possession of the ball.<p>Except at the beginning of halves and after scores, the ball is always put into play by a <b><!--del_lnk--> snap</b>. Offensive players line up facing defensive players at the <!--del_lnk--> line of scrimmage (the position on the field where the play begins). One offensive player, the <!--del_lnk--> centre, then passes (or "snaps") the ball between his legs to a teammate, usually the <!--del_lnk--> quarterback.<p>Players can then advance the ball in two ways:<ol>
<li>By running with the ball, also known as <b><!--del_lnk--> rushing</b>. One ball-carrier can hand the ball to another; this is known as a <b>handoff</b>.<li>By throwing the ball to a teammate, known as a <!--del_lnk--> forward pass or as <b>passing</b> the football. The forward pass is a key factor distinguishing American and Canadian football from other football sports. The offense can throw the ball forward only once on a play and only from behind the line of scrimmage. The ball can be thrown, pitched, or tossed sideways or backwards at any time. This type of pass is known as a <b><!--del_lnk--> lateral</b> and is less common in American football than in rugby league or rugby union, where only backwards passes are permitted.</ol>
<p>A down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:<ul>
<li>The player with the ball is forced to the ground (tackled) or has his forward progress halted by members of the other team (as determined by an <!--del_lnk--> official).<li>A forward pass flies out of bounds or touches the ground before it is caught. This is known as an <b><!--del_lnk--> incomplete pass</b>. The ball is returned to the original line of scrimmage for the next down.<li>The ball or the player with the ball goes beyond the dimensions of the field (<b>out of bounds</b>).<li>A team scores.</ul>
<p>Officials blow a whistle to notify all players that the down is over.<p>Before each down, each team chooses a <b>play</b>, or coordinated movements and actions, that the players should follow on a down. Sometimes, downs themselves are referred to as "plays."<p><a id="Change_of_possession" name="Change_of_possession"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Change of possession</span></h3>
<p>The offense maintains possession of the ball unless one of the following things happens:<ul>
<li>The team fails to get a first down— i.e., they fail to move the ball forward at least 10 yards in four downs. The defensive team takes over the ball at the spot where the play ends. A change of possession in this manner is commonly called a <b>turnover on downs</b>.<li>The offense scores a touchdown or field goal. The team that scored then kicks off the ball to the other team.<li>The offense punts the ball to the defense. A <b><!--del_lnk--> punt</b> is a kick in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Punts are <!--del_lnk--> nearly always made on fourth down, when the offensive team does not want to risk giving up the ball to the other team at its current spot on the field (through a failed attempt to make a first down) and feels it is too far from the other team's goal posts to attempt a field goal.<li>A defensive player catches a forward pass. This is called an <b><!--del_lnk--> interception</b>, and the player who makes the interception can run with the ball until he is tackled or forced out of bounds. After the intercepting player is tackled or forced out of bounds, his team's offensive unit returns to the field and takes over at his last position.<li>An offensive player drops the ball (a <b><!--del_lnk--> fumble</b>) and a defensive player picks it up. As with interceptions, a player recovering a fumble can run with the ball until tackled or forced out of bounds. Lost fumbles and interceptions are together known as <b>turnovers</b>.<li>The offensive team misses a field goal attempt. The defensive team gets the ball at the spot where the previous play began (or, in the NFL, at the spot of the kick). If the unsuccessful kick was attempted from within 20 yards of the end zone, the other team gets the ball at its own 20-yard line (that is, 20 yards from the end zone).<li>An offensive ballcarrier is tackled, forced out of bounds, loses the ball out of bounds, or commits certain penalties in his own end zone. This rare occurrence is called a <b><!--del_lnk--> safety</b>.</ul>
<p><a id="Scoring" name="Scoring"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Scoring</span></h3>
<p>A team scores points by the following plays:<ul>
<li>A <b><!--del_lnk--> touchdown</b> (TD) is worth 6 points. It is scored when a player runs the ball into or catches a pass in his opponent's end zone. A touchdown is analogous to a <!--del_lnk--> try in rugby with the major difference being that a try requires the player to place the ball on the ground. <ul>
<li>After a touchdown, the scoring team attempts a <b>conversion</b> (which is also analogous to the <!--del_lnk--> conversion in rugby). The ball is placed at the other team's 3-yard line (the 2-yard line in the NFL). The team can attempt to kick it over the crossbar and through the goal posts in the manner of a field goal for 1 point (an <b><!--del_lnk--> extra point</b> or <b>point after touchdown (PAT)</b>), or run or pass it into the end zone in the manner of a touchdown for 2 points (a <b><!--del_lnk--> two-point conversion</b>).</ul>
<li>A <b><!--del_lnk--> field goal</b> (FG) is worth 3 points, and it is scored by kicking the ball over the crossbar and through the goal posts. Field goals may be placekicked (kicked when the ball is held vertically against the ground by a teammate) or <!--del_lnk--> drop-kicked (extremely uncommon in the modern game). A field goal is usually attempted on fourth down instead of a punt when the ball is close to the opponent's goal line, or, when there is little or no time left to otherwise score.<li>A <b><!--del_lnk--> safety</b> is worth 2 points. A safety is scored by the <i>defense</i> when the offensive player in possession of the ball is forced back into his own end zone and is tackled there, fumbles the ball out of the end zone, or commits intentional grounding in the end zone. Certain penalties (primarily blocking fouls) by the offense occurring in the end zone also result in a safety.</ul>
<p><a id="Kickoffs_and_free_kicks" name="Kickoffs_and_free_kicks"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Kickoffs and free kicks</span></h3>
<p>Each half begins with a <!--del_lnk--> kickoff. Teams also kick off after scoring touchdowns and field goals. The ball is kicked from a kicking tee, which is made from the team's own 30-yard line in the NFL and from the 35-yard line in college football. The other team's kick returner tries to catch the ball and advance it as far as possible. Where he is stopped is the point where the offense will begin its <b>drive</b>, or series of offensive plays. If the kick returner catches the ball in his own end zone, he can either run with the ball, or elect for a <b><!--del_lnk--> touchback</b> by kneeling in the end zone, in which case the receiving team then starts its offensive drive from its own 20-yard line. A touchback also occurs when the kick goes out of the end zone. Punts and turnovers in the end zone can also end in touchbacks.<p>After safeties, the team that gave up the 2 points puts the ball into play with a punt or placekick from its own 20-yard line.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:277px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16094.jpg.htm" title="A halfback leads fellow backs through an agility drill"><img alt="A halfback leads fellow backs through an agility drill" height="392" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AmericanFootballTraining.jpg" src="../../images/160/16094.jpg" width="275" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16094.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A halfback leads fellow backs through an agility drill</div>
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<p><a id="Penalties" name="Penalties"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Penalties</span></h3>
<p>Rule violations are punished with <b>penalties</b>. Most penalties result in moving the football either towards the defense's endzone in the case of a defensive penalty, or away from the defense's endzone in the case of an offensive penalty. Some defensive penalties give the offense an automatic first down. In addition, if a penalty gives the offensive team enough yardage to gain a first down, they get a first down as usual. If a penalty occurs during a play, an official throws a yellow flag near the spot of the foul; additional penalties are signalled by the same official by throwing a <!--del_lnk--> beanbag or his <!--del_lnk--> hat. When the play is over, the team that did not commit the penalty has the option of taking either the penalty and replaying the down, or the result of the play and advancing to the next down.<p>A few of the most-common penalties include:<ul>
<li><b>False start:</b> An offensive player illegally moves after lining up for the snap.<li><b>Offsides:</b> A defensive player is on the wrong side of the ball at the start of a play.<li><b>Holding:</b> Illegally grasping or pulling an opponent other than the ball-carrier.<li><b>Pass interference:</b> Illegally contacting an opponent to prevent him from catching a forward pass.<li><b>Delay of game:</b> Failing to begin a new play after a certain time from the end of the last one.<li><b>Illegal Block in the Back:</b> An offensive player pushing a player from the opposite team in the back.</ul>
<p><a id="Variations" name="Variations"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Variations</span></h3>
<p>Some variations on these basic rules exist, particularly <!--del_lnk--> touch and <!--del_lnk--> flag football, which are designed as non-contact or limited-contact alternatives to the relative violence of regular American football. In touch and flag football, tackling is not permitted. Offensive players are "tackled" when a defender tags them or removes a flag from their body, respectively. Both of these varieties are played mainly in informal settings such as <!--del_lnk--> intramural or youth games. Professional, intercollegiate, and varsity-level high school football invariably use the standard tackling rules.<p><a id="Players" name="Players"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Players</span></h2>
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<p>Most football players have highly specialized roles. At the college and NFL levels, most play only offense or only defense.<p><a id="Offense" name="Offense"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Offense</span></h3>
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<li>The <b><!--del_lnk--> offensive line</b> consists of five players whose job is to protect the passer and clear the way for runners by blocking members of the defense. Except for the centre, offensive linemen generally do not handle the ball.<li>The <b><!--del_lnk--> quarterback</b> (QB) receives the ball on most plays. He then hands or tosses it to a running back, throws it to a receiver or runs with it himself.<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Running backs</b> line up behind or beside the QB and specialize in rushing with the ball. They also block, catch passes and, on rare occasions, pass the ball to others.<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Wide receivers</b> line up near the sidelines. They specialize in catching passes.<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Tight ends</b> line up outside the offensive line. They can either play like wide receivers (catch passes) or like offensive linemen (protect the QB or create spaces for runners).</ul>
<p>Not all of these types of players will be in on every offensive play. Teams can vary the number of wide receivers, tight ends and running backs on the field at one time.<p><a id="Defense" name="Defense"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Defense</span></h3>
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<li>The <b><!--del_lnk--> defensive line</b> consists of three to six players who line up immediately across from the offensive line. They try to tackle the running backs before they can gain yardage or the quarterback before he can throw a pass.<li>In most situations, at least three players line up as <b><!--del_lnk--> defensive backs</b> (commonly known as <!--del_lnk--> safeties or <!--del_lnk--> cornerbacks). They cover the receivers and try to stop pass completions. They occasionally rush the quarterback.<li>The other players on the defense are known as <b><!--del_lnk--> linebackers</b>. They line up between the defensive line and defensive backs and may either rush the quarterback or cover potential receivers.</ul>
<p><a id="Special_teams" name="Special_teams"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Special teams</span></h3>
<p>The units of players who handle kicking plays are known as "<!--del_lnk--> special teams". Two important special-teams players are the "<!--del_lnk--> punter", who handles punts, and the "<!--del_lnk--> placekicker" or "kicker", who kicks off and attempts field goals and extra points.<p><a id="Basic_strategy" name="Basic_strategy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Basic strategy</span></h2>
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<p>To some fans, the chief draw of football is the strategy that goes on between the two coaching staffs. Each team has a <b>playbook</b> of dozens to hundreds of plays. Ideally, each play is a scripted, strategically sound team-coordinated endeavour. Some plays are very safe; they are likely to get only a few yards. Other plays have the potential for long gains but at a greater risk of a loss of yardage or a turnover.<p>Generally speaking, rushing plays are less risky than passing plays. However, there are relatively safe passing plays and risky running plays. To deceive the other team, some passing plays are designed to resemble running plays and vice versa. There are many trick or gadget plays, such as when a team lines up as if it intends to punt and then tries to run or pass for a first down. Such high-risk plays are a great thrill to the fans when they work. However, they can spell disaster if the opposing team realizes the deception and acts accordingly.<p>Many hours of preparation and strategizing, including film review by both players and coaches, go into the days between football games. This, along with the demanding physicality (see below) of football, is why teams play at most one game per week.<p><a id="Physicality" name="Physicality"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Physicality</span></h2>
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<p>American football is a contact sport. To stop the offense from advancing the ball, the defense must tackle the player with the ball by knocking him down. As such, defensive players must use some form of physical contact to bring the ball-carrier to the ground, within certain rules and guidelines. Tacklers cannot kick, punch or trip the runner. They also cannot grab the face mask of the runner's helmet or lead into a tackle with their own helmet. Despite these and other rules regarding unnecessary roughness, most other forms of tackling are legal. Blockers and defenders trying to evade them also have wide leeway in trying to force their opponents out of the way. Quarterbacks are regularly hit by defenders coming on full speed from outside the quarterback's field of vision.<p>To compensate for this, players must wear special protective equipment, such as a padded plastic <!--del_lnk--> helmet, <!--del_lnk--> shoulder pads, hip pads and knee pads. These protective pads were introduced decades ago and have improved ever since to help minimize lasting injury to players. An unintended consequence of all the safety equipment has resulted in increasing levels of violence in the game. Players may now hurl themselves at one another at high speeds without a significant chance of injury. Unfortunately, the injuries that do result tend to be severe and often season or career-ending and sometimes fatal. In previous years with less padding, tackling more closely resembled tackles in <!--del_lnk--> Rugby, with less severe impacts and less injuries. Better helmets have allowed players to use their helmets as weapons. All this has caused the various leagues, especially the NFL, to implement a complicated series of penalties for various types of contact. Most recently, virtually any contact with the helmet of a defensive player on the quarterback, or any contact to the quarterback's head, is now a foul.<p>Despite protective equipment and rule changes to emphasize safety, injuries remain very common in football. It is increasingly rare, for example, for NFL quarterbacks or running backs (who take the most direct hits) to make it through an entire season without missing some time to injury. Additionally, twenty-eight football players, mostly high schoolers, died from <!--del_lnk--> injuries directly related to football from 2000-05, according to the National Centre for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. <!--del_lnk--> Concussions are common, with about 41,000 suffered every year among high school players according to the Brain Injury Association of Arizona. <p>The danger of football and the equipment required to reduce it make regulation football impractical for casual play. <!--del_lnk--> Flag football and <!--del_lnk--> touch football are less-violent variants of the game popular among recreational players.<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<p>Both American football and soccer have their origins in <a href="../../wp/f/Football.htm" title="Football">varieties of football</a> played in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> in the mid-19th century, and American football is directly descended from <a href="../../wp/r/Rugby_football.htm" title="Rugby football">rugby football</a>.<p>Rutgers University and Princeton University, played the first game of college football on Nov. 6, 1869 in New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers won that first game, 6-4.<p>Encouraged by <!--del_lnk--> Yale University's <!--del_lnk--> Walter Camp, the schools began to adopt rules that would differentiate American football from rugby in the 1880s. The scrimmage was introduced in 1880 and the system of downs in 1882.<p>By the turn of the 20th century, football had become notoriously dangerous; 18 college players died in 1905 alone. Colleges responded with a series of rule changes to open up the game, most importantly the forward pass, along with outlawing dangerous formations such as the "<!--del_lnk--> flying wedge", and introducing and requiring better equipment such as <!--del_lnk--> helmets.<p>The game had achieved its modern form by 1912, when the field was changed to its current size, the value of a touchdown increased to 6 points, and a fourth down added to each possession. Originally dominated by the Ivy League, football soon captured the interest of colleges nationwide. By 1916, when the <!--del_lnk--> Rose Bowl game matching eastern and western teams became an annual event, football had developed a national following second only to <a href="../../wp/b/Baseball.htm" title="Baseball">baseball</a> among team sports.<p>Professional football developed in the mill towns of <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania and the <!--del_lnk--> American Midwest in the early years of the 20th century. The NFL was founded in 1920 in <!--del_lnk--> Canton, Ohio. Professional football remained a largely regional sport of secondary importance until after <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a>. Television broadcasts greatly enhanced NFL football's national appeal, and the pro game surpassed both college football and baseball in popularity in the 1960s. The first Super Bowl—between the champions of the NFL and the rival <!--del_lnk--> American Football League—was played in 1967, and the two leagues merged in 1970.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">American popular music</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Music.Musical_genres_styles_eras_and_events.htm">Musical genres, styles, eras and events</a></h3>
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<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#dfdfef;"><a href="../../wp/m/Music_of_the_United_States.htm" title="Music of the United States">Music of the United States</a></th>
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<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#dfdfef;"><!--del_lnk--> History <small>(<!--del_lnk--> Timeline)</small></th>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"><!--del_lnk--> Colonial era - <!--del_lnk--> to the Civil War - <!--del_lnk--> During the Civil War - <!--del_lnk--> Late 19th century - <!--del_lnk--> Early 20th century - <!--del_lnk--> 40s and 50s - <!--del_lnk--> 60s and 70s - <!--del_lnk--> 80s to the present</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#dfdfef;">Genres: <small><b><!--del_lnk--> Classical - <!--del_lnk--> Folk - <strong class="selflink">Popular</strong></b>: <!--del_lnk--> Hip hop - <!--del_lnk--> Pop - <!--del_lnk--> Rock</small></th>
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<th>Awards</th>
<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Grammy Awards, <!--del_lnk--> Country Music Awards</small></td>
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<th>Charts</th>
<td><small><i><!--del_lnk--> Billboard Music Chart</i></small></td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Festivals</th>
<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Jazz Fest, <!--del_lnk--> Lollapalooza, <!--del_lnk--> Ozzfest, <!--del_lnk--> Monterey Jazz Festival</small></td>
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<th>Media</th>
<td><small><i><!--del_lnk--> Spin</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Rolling Stone</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Vibe</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Down Beat</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Source</i>, <!--del_lnk--> MTV, <!--del_lnk--> VH1</small></td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> National anthem</th>
<td><small>"<!--del_lnk--> The Star-Spangled Banner" and forty-eight <!--del_lnk--> state songs</small></td>
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<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#dfdfef;">Ethnic music</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"><!--del_lnk--> Native American - <!--del_lnk--> English: <small><!--del_lnk--> old-time and <!--del_lnk--> Western music</small> - <!--del_lnk--> African American - <!--del_lnk--> Irish and Scottish - <!--del_lnk--> Latin: <small><!--del_lnk--> Tejano and <!--del_lnk--> Puerto Rican</small> - <!--del_lnk--> Cajun and Creole - <a href="../../wp/m/Music_of_Hawaii.htm" title="Music of Hawaii">Hawaii</a> - <!--del_lnk--> Other immigrants</td>
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<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#dfdfef;">Local music</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="font-size:90%; text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> AK - <!--del_lnk--> AL - <!--del_lnk--> AR - <!--del_lnk--> AS - <!--del_lnk--> AZ - <!--del_lnk--> CA - <!--del_lnk--> CO - <!--del_lnk--> CT - <!--del_lnk--> DC - <!--del_lnk--> DE - <!--del_lnk--> FL - <!--del_lnk--> GA - <!--del_lnk--> GU - <a href="../../wp/m/Music_of_Hawaii.htm" title="Music of Hawaii">HI</a> - <!--del_lnk--> IA - <!--del_lnk--> ID - <!--del_lnk--> IL - <!--del_lnk--> IN - <!--del_lnk--> KS - <!--del_lnk--> KY - <!--del_lnk--> LA - <!--del_lnk--> MA - <!--del_lnk--> MD - <!--del_lnk--> ME - <!--del_lnk--> MI - <!--del_lnk--> MN - <!--del_lnk--> MO - <!--del_lnk--> MP - <!--del_lnk--> MS - <!--del_lnk--> MT - <!--del_lnk--> NC - <!--del_lnk--> ND - <!--del_lnk--> NE - <!--del_lnk--> NH - <!--del_lnk--> NM - <!--del_lnk--> NV - <!--del_lnk--> NJ - <!--del_lnk--> NY - <!--del_lnk--> OH - <!--del_lnk--> OK - <!--del_lnk--> OR - <!--del_lnk--> PA - <!--del_lnk--> PR - <!--del_lnk--> RI - <!--del_lnk--> SC - <!--del_lnk--> SD - <!--del_lnk--> TN - <!--del_lnk--> TX - <!--del_lnk--> UT - <!--del_lnk--> VA - <!--del_lnk--> VI - <!--del_lnk--> VT - <!--del_lnk--> WA - <!--del_lnk--> WI - <!--del_lnk--> WV - <!--del_lnk--> WY</td>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16095.jpg.htm" title="The first major American popular songwriter, Stephen Foster"><img alt="The first major American popular songwriter, Stephen Foster" height="178" longdesc="/wiki/Image:StephenFoster.jpeg" src="../../images/160/16095.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">The first major American popular songwriter, <!--del_lnk--> Stephen Foster</div>
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<p>Even before the birth of recorded music, <b>American popular music</b> had a profound effect on music across the world. The country has seen the rise of popular styles that have had a significant influence on global culture, including <a href="../../wp/r/Ragtime.htm" title="Ragtime">ragtime</a>, <!--del_lnk--> blues, <a href="../../wp/j/Jazz.htm" title="Jazz">jazz</a>, <!--del_lnk--> rock, <a href="../../wp/r/Rhythm_and_blues.htm" title="R&B">R&B</a>, <!--del_lnk--> doo wop, <!--del_lnk--> gospel, <!--del_lnk--> soul, <!--del_lnk--> funk, <!--del_lnk--> heavy metal, <!--del_lnk--> punk, <!--del_lnk--> disco, <!--del_lnk--> house, <!--del_lnk--> techno, <a href="../../wp/s/Salsa_music.htm" title="Salsa music">salsa</a>, <!--del_lnk--> grunge and <a href="../../wp/h/Hip_hop_music.htm" title="Hip hop music">hip hop</a>. In addition, the American music industry is quite diverse, supporting a number of regional styles like <!--del_lnk--> zydeco, <!--del_lnk--> klezmer and <!--del_lnk--> slack-key. The appeal of these styles lies in their supple, energetic rhythms, their appealing vocal lines, and in many cases their symbolic associations with the plight of the underprivileged.<p>Distinctive styles of American popular music began to emerge early in the 19th century, and in the 20th century the American <!--del_lnk--> music industry developed a series of new forms of music, using elements of blues and other genres of <!--del_lnk--> American folk music. These popular styles included country, R&B, jazz and rock. The 1960s and '70s saw a number of important changes in American popular music, including the development of a number of new styles, including heavy metal, punk, soul, and hip hop. Though these styles were not <i>popular</i> in the sense of <i>mainstream</i>, they were commercially recorded and are thus examples of <i>popular music</i> as opposed to <a href="../../wp/f/Folk_music.htm" title="Folk music">folk</a> or <!--del_lnk--> classical music.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_popular_song" name="Early_popular_song"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early popular song</span></h2>
<p>The earliest songs that could be considered <i>American popular music</i>, as opposed to the popular music of a particular region or ethnicity, were sentimental <!--del_lnk--> parlor songs by Stephen Foster and his peers, and songs meant for use in <a href="../../wp/m/Minstrel_show.htm" title="Minstrel show">minstrel shows</a>, theatrical productions that featured singing, dancing and comic performances. Minstrel shows generally used <!--del_lnk--> African American musical instruments and <!--del_lnk--> dance, and featured performers with their faces blackened, a technique called <!--del_lnk--> blackface <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Ewen"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. By the middle of the 19th century, touring companies had taken this music not only to every part of the United States, but also to England, Western Europe, and even to Africa and Asia. Minstrel shows were generally advertised as though the music of the shows was in an <!--del_lnk--> African American style, though this was often not true.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:177px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/201/20140.jpg.htm" title="Sheet music cover for "Dandy Jim from Caroline" by Dan Emmett, London, c. 1844."><img alt="Sheet music cover for "Dandy Jim from Caroline" by Dan Emmett, London, c. 1844." height="256" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Dandy_Jim_from_Caroline.jpg" src="../../images/160/16096.jpg" width="175" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/201/20140.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Sheet music cover for "<!--del_lnk--> Dandy Jim from Caroline" by <!--del_lnk--> Dan Emmett, London, c. 1844.</div>
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<p>Black people had taken part in American popular culture prior to the Civil War era, at least dating back to the <!--del_lnk--> African Grove Theatre in New York in the 1820s and the publication of the first music by a black composer, <!--del_lnk--> Francis Johnson, in 1818. However, these important milestones still occurred entirely within the conventions of European music. The first extremely popular minstrel song was "<!--del_lnk--> Jump Jim Crow" by <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Rice, which was first performed in 1832 and was a sensation in London when Rice performed it there in 1836. Rice used a dance that he copied from a stableboy with a tune adopted from an Irish <!--del_lnk--> jig. The African elements included the use of the <!--del_lnk--> banjo, believed to derive from West African string instruments, and accented and additive rhythms <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Many of the songs of the minstrel shows are still remembered today, especially those by <!--del_lnk--> Daniel Emmett and <!--del_lnk--> Stephen Foster, the latter being, according to David Ewen, "America's first major composer, and one of the world's outstanding writers of songs" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Fostergreat"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Foster's songs were typical of the minstrel era in their unabashed sentimentality, and in their acceptance of slavery. Nevertheless, Foster did more than most songwriters of the period to humanize the blacks he composed about, such as in "Nelly Was a Lady", a plaintive, melancholy song about a black man mourning the loss of his wife <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Nelly"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>The minstrel show marked the beginning of a long tradition of African American music being appropriated for popular audiences, and was the first distinctly American form of music to find international acclaim, in the mid-19th century. As Donald Clarke has noted, minstrel shows contained "essentially black music, while the most successful acts were white, so that songs and dances of black origin were imitated by white performers and then taken up by black performers, who thus to some extent ended up imitating themselves". Clarke attributes the use of blackface to a desire for white Americans to glorify the brutal existence of both free and slave blacks by depicting them as happy and carefree individuals, best suited to plantation life and the performance of simple, joyous songs that easily appealed to white audiences <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>Blackface minstrel shows remained popular throughout the last part of the 19th century, only gradually dying out near the beginning of the 20th century. During that time, a form of lavish and elaborate theatre called the <!--del_lnk--> extravaganza arose, beginning with <!--del_lnk--> Charles M. Barras' <i><!--del_lnk--> The Black Crook</i> <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Ewen"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Extravaganzas were criticized by the newspapers and <!--del_lnk--> churches of the day because the shows were considered sexually titillating, with women singing bawdy songs dressed in nearly transparent clothing. David Ewen described this as the beginning of the "long and active careers in sex exploitation" of American musical theatre and popular song <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_sexexploitation"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Later, extravaganzas took elements of <!--del_lnk--> burlesque performances, which were satiric and parodic productions that were very popular at the end of the 19th century <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Ewen"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>Like the extravaganza and the burlesque, the <!--del_lnk--> variety show was a comic and ribald production, popular from the middle to the end of the 19th century, at which time it had evolved into <!--del_lnk--> vaudeville. This form was innovated by producers like <!--del_lnk--> Tony Pastor who tried to encourage women and children to attend his shows; they were hesitant because the theatre had long been the domain of a rough and disorderly crowd <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Ewen"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. By the early 20th century, vaudeville was a respected entertainment for women and children, and songwriters like <!--del_lnk--> Gus Edwards wrote songs that were popular across the country <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Ewen"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. The most popular vaudeville shows were, like the <i><!--del_lnk--> Ziegfeld Follies</i>, a series of songs and skits that had a profound effect on the subsequent development of <!--del_lnk--> Broadway musical theatre and the songs of <!--del_lnk--> Tin Pan Alley.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Old Folks at Home" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>Popular minstrel songs, such as this one by <!--del_lnk--> Stephen Foster, formed part of the repertoire of camp bands during the Civil War. This performance is by Civil War re-enactors, the <!--del_lnk--> 2nd South Carolina String Band.<li><i></i></ul>
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<p><a id="Tin_Pan_Alley" name="Tin_Pan_Alley"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Tin Pan Alley</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Tin Pan Alley was an area called <!--del_lnk--> Union Square in New York City, which became the major centre for music publishing by the mid-1890s. The songwriters of this era wrote formulaic songs, many of them sentimental ballads <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_formulaicandballads"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. During this era, a sense of national consciousness was developing, as the United States became a formidable world power, especially after the <!--del_lnk--> Spanish-American War. The increased availability and efficiency of railroads and the postal service helped disseminate ideas, including popular songs.<p>Some of the most notable publishers of Tin Pan Alley included <!--del_lnk--> Willis Woodward, the <!--del_lnk--> Witmark house of publishing, <!--del_lnk--> Charles K. Harris, and <!--del_lnk--> Edward B. Marks and <!--del_lnk--> Joseph W. Stern. Stern and Marks were among the more well-known Tin Pan Alley songwriters; they began writing together as amateurs in 1894 <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Ewen"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. In addition to the popular, mainstream ballads and other clean-cut songs, some Tin Pan Alley publishers focused on rough and risqué. <!--del_lnk--> Coon songs were another important part of Tin Pan Alley, derived from the watered-down songs of the minstrel show with the "verve and electricity" brought by the "assimilation of the ragtime rhythm" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_coonsong"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. The first popular coon song was "New Coon in Town", introduced in 1883, and followed by a wave of <i>coon shouters</i> like <!--del_lnk--> Ernest Hogan and <!--del_lnk--> May Irwin <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Allen"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a id="Broadway" name="Broadway"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Broadway</span></h3>
<p>The early 20th century also saw the growth of <!--del_lnk--> Broadway, a group of theatres specializing in <!--del_lnk--> musicals. Broadway became one of the preeminent locations for musical theatre in the world, and produced a body of songs that led Donald Clarke to call the era, the <i>golden age of songwriting</i>. The need to adapt enjoyable songs to the constraints of a theatre and a plot enabled and encouraged a growth in songwriting and the rise of composers like <!--del_lnk--> George Gershwin, <!--del_lnk--> Vincent Youmans, <!--del_lnk--> Irving Berlin and <!--del_lnk--> Jerome Kern <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_goldenage"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>Foreign operas were popular among the upper-class throughout the 19th century, while other styles of musical theatre included <!--del_lnk--> operettas, <!--del_lnk--> ballad operas and the <!--del_lnk--> opera bouffe. The English operettas of <!--del_lnk--> Gilbert and Sullivan were particularly popular, while American compositions had trouble finding an audience. <!--del_lnk--> George M. Cohan was the first notable American composer of musical theater, and the first to move away from the operetta, and is also notable for using the language of the vernacular in his work. By the beginning of the 20th century, however, black playwrights, composers and musicians were having a profound effect on musical theatre, beginning with the works of <!--del_lnk--> Will Marion Cook, <!--del_lnk--> James Reese Europe and <!--del_lnk--> James P. Johnson; the first major hit black musical was <i><!--del_lnk--> Shuffle Along</i> in 1921 <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>Imported operettas and domestic productions by both whites like Cohan and blacks like Cook, Europe and Johnson all had a formative influence on Broadway. Composers like Gershwin, Porter and Kern made comedic musical theatre into a national pastime, with a feel that was distinctly American and not dependent on European models. Most of these individuals were Jewish, with <!--del_lnk--> Cole Porter the only major exception; they were the descendants of 19th century immigrants fleeing persecution in the <!--del_lnk--> Russian Empire, settled most influentially in various neighborhoods in New York City <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Many of the early musicals were influenced by black music, showing elements of early jazz, such as <i><!--del_lnk--> In Dahomey</i>; the Jewish composers of these works may have seen connections between the traditional black <!--del_lnk--> blue notes and their own folk <!--del_lnk--> Jewish music.<p>Broadway songs were recorded around the turn of the century, but did not become widely popular outside their theatrical context until much later. Jerome Kern's "They Didn't Believe Me" was an early song that became popular nationwide. Kern's later innovations included a more believable plot than the rather shapeless stories built around songs of earlier works, beginning with <i><!--del_lnk--> Show Boat</i> in 1927. George Gershwin was perhaps the most influential composer on Broadway, beginning with "Swanee" in 1919 and later works for jazz and orchestras. His most enduring composition may be the opera <i><a href="../../wp/p/Porgy_and_Bess.htm" title="Porgy and Bess">Porgy and Bess</a></i>, a story about two blacks, which Gershwin intended as a sort of "folk opera", a creation of a new style of American musical theatre based on American idioms <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a id="Ragtime" name="Ragtime"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ragtime</span></h3>
<p>Ragtime was a style of <!--del_lnk--> dance music based around the piano, using syncopated rhythms and <!--del_lnk--> chromaticisms <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_ragtime"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>; the genre's most well-known performer and composer was undoubtedly <!--del_lnk--> Scott Joplin. The ragged rhythms of ragtime are documented to at least as far back as 1886, at <!--del_lnk--> Congo Square in New Orleans, where African American and Caribbean dances mixed in wild celebrations. Author Gunther Schuller sees ragtime as a mixture of African elements with the 2/4 pattern of European marches <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Schuller"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>, while others point to the importance of <!--del_lnk--> jigs and other dance styles among the music of large African American bands in many northern cities during the end of the 19th century. Donald Clarke considers ragtime the culmination of <!--del_lnk--> coon songs, used first in <a href="../../wp/m/Minstrel_show.htm" title="Minstrel show">minstrel shows</a> and then <!--del_lnk--> vaudeville, and the result of the rhythms of minstrelsy percolating into the mainstream; he also suggests that ragtime's distinctive sound may have come from an attempt to imitate the African American banjo using the keyboard <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_banjoimitate"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>Due to the essentially African American nature of ragtime, it is most commonly considered the first style of American popular music to be truly black music; certainly, it was also strongly influenced by European elements, but ragtime brought syncopation and a more authentic black sound to popular music. Popular ragtime songs were notated and sold as sheet music, but the general style was played more informally across the nation; these amateur performers played a more free-flowing form of ragtime that eventually became a major formative influence on <a href="../../wp/j/Jazz.htm" title="Jazz">jazz</a> <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a id="Early_recorded_popular_music" name="Early_recorded_popular_music"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early recorded popular music</span></h2>
<p><a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Edison.htm" title="Thomas Edison">Thomas Edison</a>'s invention of the <a href="../../wp/p/Phonograph_cylinder.htm" title="Phonograph cylinder">phonograph cylinder</a> kicked off the birth of recorded music. The first cylinder to be released was "<!--del_lnk--> Semper Fidelis" by the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Marine Band. At first, cylinders were released sparingly, but as their sales grew more profitable, distribution increased. These early recorded songs were a mix of vaudeville, <!--del_lnk--> barbershop quartets, marches, opera, novelty songs, and other popular tunes. Many popular standards, such as "The Good Old Summertime", "Shine on Harvest Moon", and "Over There" come from this time. There were also a few early hits in the field of jazz, beginning with the <!--del_lnk--> Original Dixieland Jazz Band's 1917 recordings, and followed by <!--del_lnk--> King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, who played in a more authentic New Orleans jazz style <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><!--del_lnk--> Blues had been <!--del_lnk--> around a long time before it became a part of the first explosion of recorded popular music in American history. This came in the 1920s, when <a href="../../wp/c/Classic_female_blues.htm" title="Classic female blues">classic female blues</a> singers like <!--del_lnk--> Ma Rainey, <!--del_lnk--> Bessie Smith and <!--del_lnk--> Mamie Smith grew very popular; the first hit of this field was Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues". These urban blues singers changed the idea of <i>popular music</i> from being simple songs that could be easily performed by anyone to works primarily associated with an individual singer. Performers like <!--del_lnk--> Sophie Tucker, known for "Some of These Days", became closely associated with their hits, making their individualized interpretations just as important as the song itself <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>At the same time, record companies like <!--del_lnk--> Paramount Records and <!--del_lnk--> OKeh Records launched the field of <i>race music</i>, which was mostly blues targeted at African American audiences. The most famous of these acts went on to inspire much of the later popular development of the blues and blues-derived genres, including <!--del_lnk--> Charley Patton, <!--del_lnk--> Lonnie Johnson and <!--del_lnk--> Robert Johnson.<p><a id="Popular_jazz_.281920-1935.29_and_swing_.281935-1947.29" name="Popular_jazz_.281920-1935.29_and_swing_.281935-1947.29"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Popular jazz (1920-1935) and swing (1935-1947)</span></h3>
<p><a href="../../wp/j/Jazz.htm" title="Jazz">Jazz</a> is a kind of music characterized by <!--del_lnk--> blue notes, <!--del_lnk--> syncopation, <!--del_lnk--> swing, <!--del_lnk--> call and response, <!--del_lnk--> polyrhythms, and <!--del_lnk--> improvisation. Though originally a kind of <!--del_lnk--> dance music, jazz has now been "long considered a kind of popular or vernacular music (and has also) become a sophisticated art form that has interacted in significant ways with the <!--del_lnk--> music of the concert hall" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_artjazz"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Jazz's development occurred at around the same time as modern ragtime, blues, gospel and country music, all of which can be seen as part of a continuum with no clear demarcation between them; jazz specifically was most closely related to ragtime, with which it could be distinguished by the use of more intricate rhythmic improvisation, often placing notes far from the implied beat. The earliest jazz bands adopted much of the vocabulary of the blues, including bent and blue notes and instrumental "growls" and smears.<p><!--del_lnk--> Paul Whiteman was the most popular bandleader of the 1920s, and claimed for himself the title "The King of Jazz." Despite his hiring <!--del_lnk--> Bix Beiderbecke and many of the other best white jazz musicians of the era, later generations of jazz lovers have often judged Whiteman's music to have little to do with real jazz. Nonetheless, his notion of combining jazz with elaborate orchestrations has been returned to repeatedly by composers and arrangers of later decades.<p>Whiteman commissioned Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", which was debuted by Whiteman's Orchestra. <!--del_lnk--> Ted Lewis's band was second only to the Paul Whiteman in popularity during the 1920s, and arguably played more real jazz with less pretension than Whiteman, especially in his recordings of the late 1920s. Some of the other "jazz" bands of the decade included those of: <!--del_lnk--> Harry Reser, <!--del_lnk--> Leo Reisman, <!--del_lnk--> Abe Lyman, <!--del_lnk--> Nat Shilkret, <!--del_lnk--> George Olsen, <!--del_lnk--> Ben Bernie, <!--del_lnk--> Bob Haring, <!--del_lnk--> Ben Selvin, <!--del_lnk--> Earl Burtnett, <!--del_lnk--> Gus Arnheim, <!--del_lnk--> Rudy Vallee, <!--del_lnk--> Jean Goldkette, <!--del_lnk--> Isham Jones, <!--del_lnk--> Roger Wolfe Kahn, <!--del_lnk--> Sam Lanin, <!--del_lnk--> Vincent Lopez, <!--del_lnk--> Ben Pollack and <!--del_lnk--> Fred Waring.<p>In the 1920's, the music performed by these artists was extremely popular with the public and was typically labelled as jazz. Today, however, this music is disparaged and labelled as "sweet music" by jazz purists. The music that people consider today as "jazz" tended to be played by minorities. In the 1920's and early 1930's, however, the majority of people listened to what we would call today "sweet music" and hardcore jazz was categorized as "hot music" or "race music."<p>In 1935, <!--del_lnk--> swing music became popular with the public and quickly replaced jazz as the most popular type of music (although their was some resistance to it at first). Swing music is characterized by a strong rhythm section, usually consisting of a <a href="../../wp/d/Double_bass.htm" title="Double bass">double bass</a> and drums, playing in a medium to fast <!--del_lnk--> tempo, and rhythmic devices like the <!--del_lnk--> swung note. Swing is primarily a kind of 1930s jazz fused with elements of the blues and the pop sensibility of Tin Pan Alley <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Swing used <!--del_lnk--> bigger bands than other kinds of jazz had and was headed by bandleaders that tightly arranged the material, discouraging the improvisation that had been an integral part of jazz. David Clarke called swing the first "jazz-oriented style (to be) at the centre of popular music... as opposed to merely giving it backbone" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_swing"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. By the end of the 1930s, vocalists became more and more prominent, eventually taking centre stage following the <!--del_lnk--> American Federation of Musicians strike, which made recording with a large band prohibitively expensive <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Swing came to be accompanied by a popular dance called the <!--del_lnk--> swing dance, which was very popular across the United States, among both white and black audiences, especially youth.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Jumpin' at the Woodside" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>This is by <!--del_lnk--> Count Basie & His Orchestra, a popular swing song by a jazz legend.<li><i></i></ul>
</ul>
</div>
<p><a id="Blues_diversification_and_popularization" name="Blues_diversification_and_popularization"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Blues diversification and popularization</span></h3>
<p>In addition to the popular jazz and swing music listened to by mainstrean America, there were a number of other genres that were popular among certain groups of people, e.g. minorities or rural audiences. Beginning in the 1920s and accelerating greatly in the 1940s, the blues began rapidly diversifying into a broad spectrum of new styles. These included an uptempo, energetic style called <a href="../../wp/r/Rhythm_and_blues.htm" title="Rhythm and blues">rhythm and blues</a> (R&B), a merger of blues and Anglo-Celtic song called <!--del_lnk--> country music and the fusion of <!--del_lnk--> hymns and <!--del_lnk--> spirituals with blues structures called <!--del_lnk--> gospel music. Later than these other styles, in the 1940s, a blues, R&B and country fusion eventually called <!--del_lnk--> rock and roll developed, eventually coming to dominate American popular by the beginning of the 1960s.<p>Country music is primarily a fusion of African American blues and spirituals with <!--del_lnk--> Appalachian folk music, adapted for pop audiences and popularized beginning in the 1920s. Of particular importance was Irish and Scottish tunes, dance music, balladry and vocal styles <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Sawyers"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>, as well as <!--del_lnk--> Native American, <a href="../../wp/m/Music_of_Spain.htm" title="Music of Spain">Spanish</a>, <!--del_lnk--> German, <!--del_lnk--> French and <!--del_lnk--> Mexican music. The instrumentation of early country revolved around the European-derived <!--del_lnk--> fiddle and the African-derived <!--del_lnk--> banjo, with the guitar added later. Country music instrumentation used African elements like a call-and-response format, improvised music and <!--del_lnk--> syncopated rhythms. Later still, string instruments like the <a href="../../wp/u/Ukulele.htm" title="Ukulele">ukulele</a> and <!--del_lnk--> steel guitar became commonplace due to the popularity of <a href="../../wp/m/Music_of_Hawaii.htm" title="Music of Hawaii">Hawaiian musical</a> groups in the early 20th century <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_ukulele"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. The roots of modern country music are generally traced to 1927, when music talent scout <!--del_lnk--> Ralph Peer recorded <!--del_lnk--> Jimmie Rodgers and <!--del_lnk--> The Carter Family. Their recordings are considered the foundation for modern country music. There had been popular music prior to 1927 that could be considered country, but, as Ace Collins points out, these recordings had "only marginal and very inconsistent" effects on the national music markets, and were only superficially similar to what was then known as <i>hillbilly music</i> <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_RodgersCarter"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. In addition to Rodgers and the Carters, a musician named <!--del_lnk--> Bob Wills was an influential early performer known for a style called <!--del_lnk--> Western swing, which was very popular in the 1920s and 30s, and was responsible for bringing a prominent jazz influence to country music.<p>Rhythm and blues (R&B) is a style that arose in the 1930s and '40s, a rhythmic and uptempo form of blues with more complex instrumentation. Author Amiri Baraka described early R&B as "huge rhythm units smashing away behind screaming blues singers (who) had to shout to be heard above the clanging and strumming of the various electrified instruments and the churning rhythm sections <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Baraka"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. R&B was recorded during this period, but not extensively and was not widely promoted by record companies, who felt it was not suited for most audiences, especially middle-class whites, because of the suggestive lyrics and driving rhythms <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Bandleaders like <a href="../../wp/l/Louis_Jordan.htm" title="Louis Jordan">Louis Jordan</a> innovated the sound of early R&B. Jordan's band featured a small horn section and prominent rhythm instrumentation and used songs with bluesy lyrical themes. By the end of the 1940s, he had produced nineteen major hits, and helped pave the way for contemporaries like <!--del_lnk--> Wynonie Harris, <!--del_lnk--> John Lee Hooker and <!--del_lnk--> Roy Milton.<p>Christian spirituals and rural blues music were the origin of what is now known as gospel music. Beginning in about the 1920s, African American churches featured early gospel in the form of worshipers proclaiming their religious devotion (<i>testifying</i>) in an improvised, often musical manner. Modern gospel began with the work of composers, most importantly <!--del_lnk--> Thomas A. Dorsey, who "(composed) songs based on familiar spirituals and hymns, fused to blues and jazz rhythms" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Dorsey"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. From these early 20th-century churches, gospel music spread across the country. It remained associated almost entirely with African American churches, and usually featured a choir along with one or more virtuoso soloists.<p>Rock and roll is a kind of popular music, developed primarily out of country, blues and R&B. Easily the single most popular style of music worldwide, <!--del_lnk--> rock's exact origins and early development have been hotly debated. Music historian Robert Palmer has noted that the style's influences are quite diverse, and include the <!--del_lnk--> Afro-Caribbean "<!--del_lnk--> Bo Diddley beat", elements of "big band swing" and <!--del_lnk--> Latin music like the <a href="../../wp/c/Cuba.htm" title="Cuba">Cuban</a> <!--del_lnk--> son and "<!--del_lnk--> Mexican rhythms" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Palmer"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Another author, George Lipsitz claims that rock arose in America's urban areas, where there formed a "polyglot, working-class culture (where the) social meanings previously conveyed in isolation by blues, country, <!--del_lnk--> polka, <!--del_lnk--> zydeco and Latin musics found new expression as they blended in an urban environment" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Lipsitz"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a name="1950s_and_60s"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">1950s and 60s</span></h2>
<p>The middle of the 20th century saw a number of very important changes in American popular music. The field of <!--del_lnk--> pop music developed tremendously during this period, as the increasingly low price of recorded music stimulated demand and greater profits for the record industry. As a result, music <!--del_lnk--> marketing became more and more prominent, resulting in a number of mainstream pop stars whose popularity was previously unheard of. Many of the first such stars were Italian-American crooners like <!--del_lnk--> Dean Martin, <!--del_lnk--> Rudy Vallee, <!--del_lnk--> Tony Bennett, <!--del_lnk--> Perry Como, <!--del_lnk--> Frankie Laine and, most famously, the "first pop vocalist to engender hysteria among his fans" <!--del_lnk--> Frank Sinatra <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Sinatra"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. The era of the modern teen pop star, however, began in the 1960s. <!--del_lnk--> Bubblegum pop groups like <!--del_lnk--> The Monkees were chosen entirely for their appearance and ability to sell records, with no regard to musical ability. The same period, however, also saw the rise of new forms of pop music that achieved a more permanent presence in the field of American popular music, including rock, soul and pop-folk. By the end of the 1960s, two developments had completely changed popular music: the birth of a <!--del_lnk--> counterculture, which explicitly opposed mainstream music, often in tandem with political and social activism, and the shift from professional composers to performers who were both <!--del_lnk--> singers and songwriters.<p>Rock and roll first entered mainstream popular music through a style called <i><!--del_lnk--> rockabilly</i>, which fused the nascent rock sound with elements of country music. Black-performed rock and roll had previously had limited mainstream success, and some observers at the time believed that a white performer who could credibly sing in an R&B and country style would be a success. <!--del_lnk--> Sam Phillips, of <!--del_lnk--> Memphis, Tennessee's <!--del_lnk--> Sun Records, was the one who found such a performer, in <a href="../../wp/e/Elvis_Presley.htm" title="Elvis Presley">Elvis Presley</a>, who became one of the best-selling musicians in history, and brought rock and roll to audiences across the world <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Presley's success was preceded by <!--del_lnk--> Bill Haley, a white performer whose "<!--del_lnk--> Rock Around the Clock" is sometimes pointed to as the start of the rock era. However, Haley's music was "more arranged" and "more calculated" than the "looser rhythms" of rockabilly, which also, unlike Haley, did not use saxophones or chorus singing <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Gillett"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Good Rockin' Tonight" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>This is by <a href="../../wp/e/Elvis_Presley.htm" title="Elvis Presley">Elvis Presley</a> and is one of the most popular songs of the rockabilly era.<li><i></i></ul>
</ul>
</div>
<p>R&B remained extremely popular during the 1950s among black audiences, but the style was not considered appropriate for whites, or respectable middle-class blacks because of its suggestive nature. Many popular R&B songs were instead performed by white musicians like <!--del_lnk--> Pat Boone, in a more palatable, mainstream style, and turned into pop hits <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_covers"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. By the end of the 1950s, however, there was a wave of popular black blues-rock and country-influenced R&B performers gaining unprecedented fame among white listeners; these included <!--del_lnk--> Bo Diddley and <!--del_lnk--> Chuck Berry <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_DiddleyBerry"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Over time, producers in the R&B field turned to gradually more rock-based acts like <!--del_lnk--> Little Richard and <!--del_lnk--> Fats Domino.<p>Doo wop is a kind of vocal harmony music performed by groups who became popular in the 1950s. Though sometimes considered a kind of rock, doo wop is more precisely a fusion of vocal R&B, gospel and jazz with the blues and pop structures <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>, though until the 1960s, the lines separating rock from doo wop, R&B and other related styles was very blurry. Doo wop became the first style of R&B-derived music "to take shape, to define itself as something people recognized as new, different, strange, <i>theirs</i>" (emphasis in original) <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Marcus"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. As doo wop grew more popular, more innovations were added, including the use of a bass lead vocalist, a practice which began with <!--del_lnk--> Jimmy Ricks of <!--del_lnk--> The Ravens <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Doo wop performers were originally almost all black, but a few white and integrated groups soon became popular. These included a number of <!--del_lnk--> Italian-American groups like <!--del_lnk--> Dion & the Belmonts and <!--del_lnk--> Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, while others added female vocalists and even formed all-female groups in the nearly universally male field; these included <!--del_lnk--> The Queens and <!--del_lnk--> The Chantels <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>The 1950s saw a number of brief fads that went on to have a great impact on future styles of music. Performers like <!--del_lnk--> Pete Seeger and <!--del_lnk--> The Weavers popularized a form of <!--del_lnk--> old-time revival of <!--del_lnk--> Anglo-American music. This field eventually became associated with the political leftwing and <a href="../../wp/c/Communism.htm" title="Communism">Communism</a>, leading to a decline in acceptability as artists were increasingly <!--del_lnk--> blacklisted and criticized. Nevertheless, this form of pop-folk exerted a profound influence in the form of 1950s <!--del_lnk--> folk-rock and related styles. Alongside the rather sporadic success of popularized Anglo folk music came a series of <!--del_lnk--> Latin dance fads, including <!--del_lnk--> mambo, <!--del_lnk--> rumba, <!--del_lnk--> chachachá and <!--del_lnk--> boogaloo. Though their success was again sporadic and brief, Latin music continued to exert a continuous influence on rock, soul and other styles, as well as eventually evolving into <a href="../../wp/s/Salsa_music.htm" title="Salsa music">salsa music</a> in the 1970s.<p><a id="Country:_Nashville_Sound" name="Country:_Nashville_Sound"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Country: Nashville Sound</span></h3>
<p>Beginning in the late 1920s, a distinctive style first called "old-timey" or "hillbilly" music began to be broadcast and recorded in the rural South and Midwest; early artists included the Carter Family, Charlie Poole and his North Carolina Ramblers, and Jimmie Rodgers. The performance and dissemination of this music was regional at first, but the population shifts caused by World War II spread it more widely. After the war, there was increased interest in specialty styles, including what had been known as <i>race</i> and <i>hillbilly</i> music; these styles were renamed to <i>rhythm and blues</i> and <i>country and western</i>, respectively <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Major labels had had some success promoting two kinds of country acts: Southern <!--del_lnk--> novelty performers like <!--del_lnk--> Tex Williams and singers like <!--del_lnk--> Frankie Laine, who mixed pop and country in a conventionally sentimental style <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_popcountry"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. This period also saw the rise of <!--del_lnk--> Hank Williams, a white country singer who had learned the blues from a black street musician named Tee-Tot, in northwest Alabama <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Werner"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Before his death in 1953, Hank Williams recorded eleven singles that sold at least a million copies each and pioneered the <!--del_lnk--> Nashville sound.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Cold, Cold Heart" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>This is perhaps the best-known <!--del_lnk--> Hank Williams song, covered by numerous other singers.<li><i></i></ul>
</ul>
</div>
<p>The Nashville sound was a popular kind of country music that arose in the 1950s, a fusion of popular <!--del_lnk--> big band jazz and <!--del_lnk--> swing with the lyricism of honky-tonk country <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Roughstock"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. The popular success of Hank Williams' recordings had convinced record labels that country music could find mainstream audiences. Record companies then tried to strip the rough, honky-tonk elements from country music, removing the unapologetically rural sound that had made Williams famous. Nashville's industry was reacting to the rise of <!--del_lnk--> rockabilly performer Elvis Presley by marketing performers that crossed the divide between country and pop; <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_PBS"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. <!--del_lnk--> Chet Atkins, head of <!--del_lnk--> RCA's country music division, did the most to innovate the Nashville sound by abandoning the rougher elements of country, while <!--del_lnk--> Owen Bradley used sophisticated production techniques and smooth instrumentation that eventually became standard in the Nashville Sound, which also grew to incorporate strings and vocal choirs <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_allmusic"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. By the early part of the 1960s, the Nashville sound was perceived as watered-down by many more traditionalist performers and fans, resulting in a number of local scenes like the <!--del_lnk--> Lubbock sound and, most influentially, the <!--del_lnk--> Bakersfield sound.<p>Throughout the 1950s, the most popular kind of country music was the Nashville Sound, which was a slick and pop-oriented style. Many musicians preferred a rougher sound, leading to the development the <!--del_lnk--> Lubbock Sound and <!--del_lnk--> Bakersfield Sound. The Bakersfield Sound was innovated in <!--del_lnk--> Bakersfield, California in the mid to late 1950s, by performers like <!--del_lnk--> Wynn Stewart, who used elements of <!--del_lnk--> Western swing and rock, such as the <!--del_lnk--> breakbeat, along with a honky tonk vocal style <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Collins"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. He was followed by a wave of performers like <!--del_lnk--> Buck Owens and <!--del_lnk--> Merle Haggard, who popularized the style.<p><a id="Soul" name="Soul"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Soul</span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/160/16098.jpg.htm" title="Ray Charles"><img alt="Ray Charles" height="202" longdesc="/wiki/Image:RayCharles.jpeg" src="../../images/160/16098.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Soul music is a combination of R&B and gospel which began in the late 1950s in the United States. Soul music is characterized by its use of gospel techniques with a greater emphasis on vocalists, and the use of secular themes. The 1950s recordings of <!--del_lnk--> Sam Cooke, <!--del_lnk--> Ray Charles and <!--del_lnk--> James Brown are commonly considered the beginnings of soul music. <!--del_lnk--> Solomon Burke's early recordings for Atlantic Records codified the style, and as Peter Guralnick writes, "it was only with the coming together of Burke and Atlantic Records that you could see anything resembling a movement" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Guralnick"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Motown Record Corporation in [[{Detroit Michigan]] became successful with a string of heavily pop-influenced soul records, which were palatable enough to white listeners so as to allow R&B and soul to crossover to mainstream audiences. An important centre of soul music recording was <!--del_lnk--> Florence, Alabama, where the <!--del_lnk--> Fame Studios operated. <!--del_lnk--> Jimmy Hughes, <!--del_lnk--> Percy Sledge and <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Alexander recorded at Fame; later in the 1960s, <!--del_lnk--> Aretha Franklin would also record in the area. Fame Studios, often referred to as <i><!--del_lnk--> Muscle Shoals</i>, after a town neighboring Florence, enjoyed a close relationship with Stax, and many of the musicians and producers who worked in Memphis also contributed to recordings done in Alabama.<p>In Memphis, <!--del_lnk--> Stax Records produced recordings by soul pioneers <!--del_lnk--> Otis Redding, <!--del_lnk--> Wilson Pickett and <!--del_lnk--> Don Covay. Other Stax artists such as <!--del_lnk--> Eddie Floyd and <!--del_lnk--> Johnnie Taylor also made significant contributions to soul music. By 1968, the soul music movement had begun to splinter, as James Brown and <!--del_lnk--> Sly & the Family Stone began to expand upon and abstract both soul and rhythm and blues into other forms. Guralnick wrote that more "than anything else... what seems to me to have brought the era of soul to a grinding, unsettling halt was the death of Martin Luther King in April of 1968" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Guralnick"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a name="1960s_rock"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1960s rock</span></h3>
<p>The first of the major new rock genres of the 1960s was <!--del_lnk--> surf, pioneered by Californian <!--del_lnk--> Dick Dale. Surf was largely instrumental and guitar-based rock with a distorted and twanging sound, and was associated with the <!--del_lnk--> Southern California <!--del_lnk--> surfing-based <!--del_lnk--> youth culture. Dale had worked with <!--del_lnk--> Leo Fender, developing the "<!--del_lnk--> Showman amplifier and... the reverberation unit that would give surf music its distinctively fuzzy sound" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_surf"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>Inspired by the lyrical focus of surf, if not the musical basis, <!--del_lnk--> The Beach Boys began their career in 1961 with a string of hits like "<!--del_lnk--> Surfin' USA". Their sound was not instrumental, nor guitar-based, but was full of "rich, dense and unquestionably special" "floating vocals (with) <!--del_lnk--> Four Freshman-ish harmonies riding over a droned, propulsive burden" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_BeachBoys"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. The Beach Boys' songwriter <!--del_lnk--> Brian Wilson grew gradually more eccentric, experimenting with new studio techniques as he became associated with the burgeoning <!--del_lnk--> counterculture.<p>The counterculture was a youth movement that included political activism, especially in opposition to the Vietnam War, and the promotion of various <!--del_lnk--> hippie ideals. The hippies were associated primarily with two kinds of music: the <!--del_lnk--> folk-rock and <!--del_lnk--> country rock of people like <a href="../../wp/b/Bob_Dylan.htm" title="Bob Dylan">Bob Dylan</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Gram Parsons, and the <!--del_lnk--> psychedelic rock of bands like <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Airplane and <!--del_lnk--> The Doors. This movement was very closely connected to the <!--del_lnk--> British Invasion, a wave of bands from the United Kingdom who became popular throughout much of the 1960s. The first wave of the British Invasion included bands like <!--del_lnk--> The Zombies and the <!--del_lnk--> Moody Blues, followed by rock bands like the <!--del_lnk--> Rolling Stones, <!--del_lnk--> The Who and, most famously, <a href="../../wp/t/The_Beatles.htm" title="The Beatles">The Beatles</a>. The sound of these bands was hard-edged rock, with The Beatles' originally known for songs that were virtually identical to classic black rock songs by <!--del_lnk--> Little Richard, <!--del_lnk--> Chuck Berry, <!--del_lnk--> Smokey Robinson, <!--del_lnk--> The Shirelles and the <!--del_lnk--> Isley Brothers <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Beatles"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Later, as the counterculture developed, The Beatles began using more advanced techniques and unusual instruments, such as the <!--del_lnk--> sitar, as well as more original lyrics.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/238/23818.jpg.htm" title="Joan Baez and Bob Dylan"><img alt="Joan Baez and Bob Dylan" height="141" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Joan_Baez_Bob_Dylan.jpg" src="../../images/160/16099.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Folk-rock drew on the sporadic mainstream success of groups like the <!--del_lnk--> Kingston Trio and the <!--del_lnk--> Almanac Singers, while <!--del_lnk--> Woodie Guthrie and <!--del_lnk--> Pete Seeger helped to politically radicalize rural white folk music <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. The popular musician <a href="../../wp/b/Bob_Dylan.htm" title="Bob Dylan">Bob Dylan</a> rose to prominence in the middle of the 1960s, fusing folk with rock and making the nascent scene closely connected to the <!--del_lnk--> Civil Rights Movement. He was followed by a number of country-rock bands like <!--del_lnk--> The Byrds and the <!--del_lnk--> Flying Burrito Brothers and folk-oriented singer-songwriters like <!--del_lnk--> Joan Baez and the Canadian <!--del_lnk--> Joni Mitchell. However, by the end of the decade, there was little political or social awareness evident in the lyrics of pop-<!--del_lnk--> singer-songwriters like <!--del_lnk--> James Taylor and <!--del_lnk--> Carole King, whose self-penned songs were deeply personal and emotional.<p>Psychedelic rock was a hard, driving kind of guitar-based rock, closely associated with the city of <a href="../../wp/s/San_Francisco%252C_California.htm" title="San Francisco, California">San Francisco, California</a>. Though Jefferson Airplane was the only psychedelic San Francisco band to have a major national hit, with 1967's "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", the <!--del_lnk--> Grateful Dead, a folk, country and bluegrass-flavored <!--del_lnk--> jam band, "embodied all the elements of the San Francisco scene and came... to represent the counterculture to the rest of the country"; the Grateful Dead also became known for introducing the counterculture, and the rest of the country, to the ideas of people like <!--del_lnk--> Timothy Leary, especially the use of hallucinogenic drugs like <!--del_lnk--> LSD for spiritual and philosophical purposes <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_LSD"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "White Rabbit" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>This is by <!--del_lnk--> Jefferson Airplane and is one of the most legendary songs of the <!--del_lnk--> psychedelic rock genre.<li><i></i></ul>
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<p><a name="1970s_and_80s"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">1970s and 80s</span></h2>
<p>Following the turbulent political, social and musical changes of the 1960s and early 1970s, rock music diversified. What was formerly known as <i>rock and roll</i>, a reasonably discrete style of music, had evolved into a catchall category called simply <i><!--del_lnk--> rock music</i>, an umbrella term which would eventually include diverse styles like <!--del_lnk--> heavy metal music, <!--del_lnk--> punk rock and, sometimes even <a href="../../wp/h/Hip_hop_music.htm" title="Hip hop music">hip hop music</a>. During the '70s, however, most of these styles were not part of mainstream music, and were evolving in the underground music scene.<p>The early 1970s saw a wave of <!--del_lnk--> singer-songwriters who drew on the introspective, deeply emotional and personal lyrics of 1960s folk-rock. They included <!--del_lnk--> James Taylor, <!--del_lnk--> Carole King and others, all known just as much for the lyric ability as for their performances. The same period saw the rise of bluesy <!--del_lnk--> Southern rock and <!--del_lnk--> country rock groups like the <!--del_lnk--> Allman Brothers Band and <!--del_lnk--> Lynyrd Skynyrd <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Szatmary"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. In the 1970s, <!--del_lnk--> soft rock developed, a kind of simple, unobtrusive and mellow form of pop-rock, exemplified by a number of bands like <!--del_lnk--> America and <!--del_lnk--> Bread, most of whom are little remembered today; many were <!--del_lnk--> one-hit wonders <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. In addition, harder <!--del_lnk--> arena rock bands like <!--del_lnk--> Chicago and <!--del_lnk--> Styx also saw some major success.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/161/16100.png.htm" title="Willie Nelson"><img alt="Willie Nelson" height="219" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Willie_Nelson_1996-05.png" src="../../images/161/16100.png" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>The early 1970s saw the rise of a new style of country music that was as rough and hard-edged, and which quickly became the most popular form of country. This was <!--del_lnk--> outlaw country, a style that included such mainstream stars as <!--del_lnk--> Willie Nelson and <!--del_lnk--> Waylon Jennings <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Clarke"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Outlaw country was very rock-oriented, and had lyrics that focused on the criminal, especially drug and alcohol-related, antics of its performers, who grew their hair long, wore denim and leather and looked like hippies in contrast to the clean-cut country singers that were pushing the Nashville sound <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>By the end of the decade, <!--del_lnk--> disco, a form of electronic dance music, was popular. Disco's time was short, however, and was soon replaced with a number of genres that evolved out of the <!--del_lnk--> punk rock scene, like <!--del_lnk--> New Wave. <a href="../../wp/b/Bruce_Springsteen.htm" title="Bruce Springsteen">Bruce Springsteen</a> became a major star, first in the mid to late 70s and then throughout the '80s, with dense, inscrutable lyrics and anthemic songs that resonated with the middle and lower classes <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a name="70s_funk_and_soul"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">70s funk and soul</span></h3>
<p>In the early 1970s, soul music was influenced by psychedelic rock and other styles. The social and political ferment of the times inspired artists like <a href="../../wp/m/Marvin_Gaye.htm" title="Marvin Gaye">Marvin Gaye</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Curtis Mayfield to release album-length statements with hard-hitting social commentary. Artists like James Brown led soul towards more dance-oriented music, which eventually evolved into <!--del_lnk--> funk. Funk was typified by 1970s bands like <!--del_lnk--> Parliament-Funkadelic, <!--del_lnk--> The Meters, and James Brown himself, while more versatile groups like <!--del_lnk--> War, <!--del_lnk--> The Commodores and <!--del_lnk--> Earth, Wind and Fire also became popular. During the '70s, some highly slick and commercial <!--del_lnk--> blue-eyed soul acts like Philadelphia's <!--del_lnk--> Hall & Oates achieved mainstream success, as well as a new generation of street-corner harmony or city-soul groups like <!--del_lnk--> The Delfonics and Howard University's <!--del_lnk--> Unifics.<p>By the end of the '70s, Philly soul, funk, rock and most other genres were dominated by disco-inflected tracks. During this period, funk bands like <!--del_lnk--> The O'Jays and <!--del_lnk--> The Spinners continued to turn out hits. After the death of disco in 1980, soul music survived for a short time before going through yet another metamorphosis. With the introduction of influences from <!--del_lnk--> electro music and funk, soul music became less raw and more slickly produced, resulting in a genre of music that was again called <i>R&B</i>, usually distinguished from the earlier rhythm and blues by identifying it as <i>contemporary R&B</i>.<p><a name="80s_pop"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">80s pop</span></h3>
<p>By the 1960s, the term <i>rhythm and blues</i> had no longer been in wide use; instead, terms like <i>soul music</i> were used to describe popular African American music. In the 1980s, however, <i>rhythm and blues</i> came back into use, most often in the form of <i>R&B</i>, a usage that has continued to the present. Contemporary R&B arose when sultry funk singers like <!--del_lnk--> Prince became very popular, alongside dance-oriented pop stars like <!--del_lnk--> Michael Jackson and female vocalists like <!--del_lnk--> Tina Turner and <!--del_lnk--> Whitney Houston <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>By the end of the 1980s, pop-rock largely consisted of the radio-friendly <!--del_lnk--> hair metal bands, who used images derived from the British <!--del_lnk--> glam movement with macho lyrics and attitudes, accompanied by <!--del_lnk--> hard rock music and heavy metal virtuosic soloing. Bands from this era included many British groups like <!--del_lnk--> Def Leppard, as well as heavy metal-influenced American bands <!--del_lnk--> Mötley Crüe, <!--del_lnk--> Guns N' Roses, <!--del_lnk--> Bon Jovi and <a href="../../wp/v/Van_Halen.htm" title="Van Halen">Van Halen</a> <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>The mid-1980s also saw <!--del_lnk--> Gospel music see its popularity peak. A new form of gospel had evolved, called <!--del_lnk--> Contemporary Christian music (CCM). CCM had been around since the late 1960s, and consisted of a pop/rock sound with slight religious lyrics. CCM had become the most popular form of gospel by the mid-1980s, especially with artists like <!--del_lnk--> Amy Grant, <!--del_lnk--> Michael W. Smith, and <!--del_lnk--> Kathy Troccoli. <!--del_lnk--> Amy Grant was the most popular CCM, and gospel, singer of the 1980s, and after experiencing unprecedented success in CCM, crossed over into mainstream pop in the 1980s and 1990s. <!--del_lnk--> Michael W. Smith also had considerable success in CCM before crossing over to a successful career in pop music as well. Grant would later produce CCM's first #1 pop hit ("Baby Baby"), and CCM's best-selling album (<i><!--del_lnk--> Heart In Motion</i>).<p>In the 1980s, the country music charts were dominated by pop singers with only tangential influences from country music, a trend that has continued since. The 1980s saw a revival of honky-tonk-style country with the rise of people like <!--del_lnk--> Dwight Yoakam and the <!--del_lnk--> new traditionalists <!--del_lnk--> Emmylou Harris and <!--del_lnk--> Ricky Skaggs <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>, as well as the development of <!--del_lnk--> alternative country performers like <!--del_lnk--> Uncle Tupelo. Later alternative country performers, like <!--del_lnk--> Whiskeytown's <!--del_lnk--> Ryan Adams and <!--del_lnk--> Wilco, found some mainstream success.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Killin' Time" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>This song is by <!--del_lnk--> Clint Black and won more awards than almost any other, including six different categories of the <!--del_lnk--> Country Music Awards.<li><i></i></ul>
</ul>
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<p><a id="Birth_of_the_underground" name="Birth_of_the_underground"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Birth of the underground</span></h3>
<p>During the 1970s, a number of diverse styles emerged in start contrast to mainstream American popular music. Though these genres were not largely popular in the sense of selling many records to mainstream audiences, they were examples of <i>popular music</i>, as opposed to <a href="../../wp/f/Folk_music.htm" title="Folk music">folk</a> or <!--del_lnk--> classical music. In the early 1970s, blacks and Puerto Ricans in New York City developed <!--del_lnk--> hip hop culture, which produced a style of music also called <i><a href="../../wp/h/Hip_hop_music.htm" title="Hip hop music">hip hop</a></i>. At roughly the same time, Latinos, especially Cubans and Puerto Ricans, in New York also innovated <a href="../../wp/s/Salsa_music.htm" title="Salsa music">salsa music</a>, which combined many forms of Latin music with R&B and rock. The genres of <!--del_lnk--> punk rock and <!--del_lnk--> heavy metal were most closely associated with the United Kingdom in the 70s, while various American derivatives evolved later in the decade and into the 80s. Meanwhile, Detroit slowly evolved a series of <!--del_lnk--> electronic music genres like <!--del_lnk--> house and <!--del_lnk--> techno that later became a major part of popular music worldwide.<p><a id="Hip_hop" name="Hip_hop"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Hip hop</span></h4>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Hip hop is a cultural movement, of which music is a part, along with <!--del_lnk--> graffiti and <!--del_lnk--> breakdancing. The music is composed of two parts, <a href="../../wp/r/Rapping.htm" title="Rapping">rapping</a>, the delivery of swift, highly rhythmic and lyrical vocals, and <!--del_lnk--> DJing, the production of instrumentation either through <!--del_lnk--> sampling, <a href="../../wp/m/Musical_instrument.htm" title="Musical instrument">instrumentation</a>, <!--del_lnk--> turntablism or <!--del_lnk--> beatboxing <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Hip hop arose in the early 1970s in <!--del_lnk--> Harlem, <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>. <a href="../../wp/j/Jamaica.htm" title="Jamaica">Jamaican</a> immigrant <!--del_lnk--> DJ Kool Herc is widely regarded as the progenitor of hip hop; he brought with him the practice of <!--del_lnk--> toasting over the rhythms of popular songs. In New York, DJs like Kool Herc played records of popular funk, disco and rock songs. Emcees originally arose to introduce the songs and keep the crowd excited and dancing; over time, the DJs began isolating the <!--del_lnk--> percussion breaks (the rhythmic climax of songs), thus producing a repeated beat that the emcees rapped over.<p>Rapping included greetings to friends and enemies, exhortations to dance and colorful, often humorous boasts. By the beginning of the 1980s, there had been popular hip hop songs like "<!--del_lnk--> Rappers Delight" by the <!--del_lnk--> Sugarhill Gang and a few major celebrities of the scene, like <!--del_lnk--> LL Cool J and <!--del_lnk--> Kurtis Blow. Other performers experimented with politicized lyrics and social awareness, while others performed fusions with <a href="../../wp/j/Jazz.htm" title="Jazz">jazz</a>, <!--del_lnk--> heavy metal, <!--del_lnk--> techno, <!--del_lnk--> funk and <!--del_lnk--> soul. Hip hop began to diversify in the latter part of the 1980s. New styles appeared, like <!--del_lnk--> alternative hip hop and the closely related <!--del_lnk--> jazz rap fusion, pioneered by rappers like <!--del_lnk--> De La Soul and <!--del_lnk--> Guru. The crews <!--del_lnk--> Public Enemy and <!--del_lnk--> N.W.A. did the most during this era to bring hip hop to national attention; the former did so with incendiary and politically charged lyrics, while the latter became the first prominent example of <!--del_lnk--> gangsta rap.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Follow the Leader" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>This song is by <!--del_lnk--> Eric B. & Rakim and is sometimes considered the peak of the golden age of <!--del_lnk--> old school hip hop.<li><i></i></ul>
</ul>
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<p><a id="Salsa" name="Salsa"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Salsa</span></h4>
<p>Salsa music is a diverse and predominantly <!--del_lnk--> Caribbean rhythm that is popular in many <!--del_lnk--> Latin American countries. Salsa incorporates multiple styles and variations; the term can be used to describe most any form of the popular <a href="../../wp/c/Cuba.htm" title="Cuba">Cuban</a>-derived <!--del_lnk--> musical genres (like <!--del_lnk--> chachachá and <!--del_lnk--> mambo). Most specifically however, <i>salsa</i> refers to a particular style was developed by mid-1970s groups of <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>-area Cuban and <a href="../../wp/p/Puerto_Rico.htm" title="Puerto Rico">Puerto Rican</a> immigrants to the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, and stylistic descendants like 1980s <!--del_lnk--> salsa romantica <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Morales"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>Salsa music always has a 4/4 <!--del_lnk--> meter. The music is phrased in groups of two bars, using recurring rhythmic patterns, and the beginning of phrases in the song text and instruments. Typically, the rhythmic patterns played on the percussion are rather complicated, often with several different patterns played simultaneously. The <!--del_lnk--> clave rhythm is an important element that forms the basis of salsa. Apart from percussion, a variety of melodic instruments are commonly used as accompaniment, such as a <a href="../../wp/g/Guitar.htm" title="Guitar">guitar</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Trumpet.htm" title="Trumpet">trumpets</a>, <!--del_lnk--> trombones, the <a href="../../wp/p/Piano.htm" title="Piano">piano</a>, and many others, all depending on the performing artists. Bands are typically divided into horn and rhythm sections, lead by one or more singers (<i>soneros</i> or <i>salseros</i>) <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Roughguide"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a id="Punk_and_alternative_rock" name="Punk_and_alternative_rock"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Punk and alternative rock</span></h3>
<p>Punk was a kind of rebellious rock music that began in the 1970s, as a reaction against the popular music of the day, especially <!--del_lnk--> disco, which was seen as insipid and uninspired; punk drew on American bands including the <!--del_lnk--> Velvet Underground, <!--del_lnk--> The Stooges and the <!--del_lnk--> New York Dolls <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Punk was loud, aggressive and usually very simple, requiring little musical training to play. Later in the decade, British bands like the <!--del_lnk--> Sex Pistols and <!--del_lnk--> The Clash found short-lived fame at home and, to a lesser degree, in the United States. American bands in the field included most famously <!--del_lnk--> The Ramones, as well as groups like the <!--del_lnk--> Talking Heads that played a more artsy kind of music that was closely associated with punk before eventually evolving into pop-<!--del_lnk--> New Wave <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/155/15513.jpg.htm" title="Henry Rollins, a punk rock musician"><img alt="Henry Rollins, a punk rock musician" height="295" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Henry_Rollins.jpg" src="../../images/155/15513.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/155/15513.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><a href="../../wp/h/Henry_Rollins.htm" title="Henry Rollins">Henry Rollins</a>, a punk rock musician</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Hardcore punk was the response of American youths to the worldwide <!--del_lnk--> punk rock explosion of the late 1970s. Hardcore stripped punk rock and New Wave of its sometimes elitist and artsy tendencies, resulting in short, fast, and intense songs that spoke to disaffected youth. Hardcore exploded in the American metropolises of <!--del_lnk--> Los Angeles, <!--del_lnk--> Washington, DC, <!--del_lnk--> New York and <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston">Boston</a> and most American cities had their own local scenes by the end of the 1980s <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Blush"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><a href="../../wp/a/Alternative_rock.htm" title="Alternative rock">Alternative rock</a> is a diverse grouping of rock bands that in America developed largely from the hardcore scene in the 1980s in stark opposition to the mainstream music scene. Alternative rock subgenres that developed during the decade include <!--del_lnk--> indie rock, <!--del_lnk--> gothic rock, <!--del_lnk--> grunge, and <!--del_lnk--> college rock. Most alternative bands were unified by their collective debt to punk, which laid the groundwork for underground and alternative music in the 1970s. Though the genre is considered to be rock, some styles were influenced by American folk, <a href="../../wp/r/Reggae.htm" title="Reggae">reggae</a> and jazz. Like punk and hardcore, alternative rock had little mainstream success in America in the 1980s, but via the grassroots establishment of an <!--del_lnk--> indie scene through touring, <!--del_lnk--> college radio, fanzines, and word-of-mouth, alternative bands laid the groundwork for the breakthrough of the genre in the American public consciousness in the next decade.<p><a id="Heavy_metal" name="Heavy_metal"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Heavy metal</span></h3>
<p>Heavy metal is a form of music characterized by aggressive, driving rhythms and highly amplified distorted guitars, generally with grandiose lyrics and virtuosic instrumentation. Heavy metal is a development of blues, <!--del_lnk--> blues rock, rock and prog rock. Its origins lie in the British hard rock bands who between 1967 and 1974 took blues and rock and created a hybrid with a heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound. Most of the pioneers in the field, like <!--del_lnk--> Black Sabbath, were English, though many were inspired by American performers like <!--del_lnk--> Blue Cheer and <!--del_lnk--> Jimi Hendrix.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/161/16101.jpg.htm" title="Bon Jovi"><img alt="Bon Jovi" height="134" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Bon_Jovi_live.jpg" src="../../images/161/16101.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>In the early 1970s, the first major American bands began appearing, like <!--del_lnk--> Blue Öyster Cult and <!--del_lnk--> Aerosmith, and musicians like <!--del_lnk--> Eddie Van Halen began their career. Heavy metal remained, however, a largely underground phenomenon. During the 1980s, a pop-based form of hard rock, with a party-hearty spirit and a glam-influenced visual aesthetic (sometimes referred to as "<!--del_lnk--> hair metal") dominated the music charts, led by superstars like <!--del_lnk--> Poison, <!--del_lnk--> Bon Jovi, <!--del_lnk--> Mötley Crüe, and <!--del_lnk--> Ratt. The 1987 debut of <!--del_lnk--> Guns N' Roses, a hard rock band whose image reflected the grittier underbelly of the Sunset Strip, was at least in part a reaction against the overly polished image of hair metal, but that band's wild success was in many ways the last gasp of the hard-rock and metal scene. By the mid-1980s, as the term "heavy metal" became the subject of much contestation, the style had branched out in so many different directions that new classifications were created by fans, record companies, and fanzines, although sometimes the differences between various subgenres were unclear, even to the artists purportedly belonging to a given style. The most notable of the 1980s metal subgenres in the United States was the swift and aggressive <!--del_lnk--> thrash metal style, pioneered by bands like <!--del_lnk--> Anthrax, <!--del_lnk--> Megadeth, <!--del_lnk--> Metallica and <!--del_lnk--> Slayer.<p><a name="1990s_to_the_present"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">1990s to the present</span></h2>
<p>Perhaps the most important change in the 1990s in American popular music was the rise of alternative rock through the popularity of <!--del_lnk--> grunge. This was previously an explicitly anti-mainstream grouping of genres that rose to great fame beginning in the early 1990s. The genre in its early stages was largely situated on <!--del_lnk--> Sub Pop Records, a company founded by <!--del_lnk--> Kim Thayil of <!--del_lnk--> Soundgarden. Significant grunge bands signed to the label were <!--del_lnk--> Green River (half of the members from this band would later become founding members of <!--del_lnk--> Pearl Jam), <!--del_lnk--> Sonic Youth (although not a grunge band they were influential on grunge bands and in fact it was upon the insistance of <!--del_lnk--> Kim Gordon that the <!--del_lnk--> David Geffen company signed <a href="../../wp/n/Nirvana_%2528band%2529.htm" title="Nirvana (band)">Nirvana</a>) and Nirvana. Grunge is an alternative rock subgenre with a "dark, brooding guitar-based sludge" sound <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_sludge"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>, drawing on heavy metal, punk, and elements of bands like Sonic Youth and their use of "unconventional tunings to bend otherwise standard pop songs completely out of shape" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_SonicYouth"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. With the addition of a "melodic, Beatlesque element" to the sound of bands like <a href="../../wp/n/Nirvana_%2528band%2529.htm" title="Nirvana (band)">Nirvana</a>, grunge became wildly popular across the United States <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Beatlesque"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Grunge became commercially successful in the early 1990s, peaking between 1991 and 1994. Bands from cities in the U.S. <!--del_lnk--> Pacific Northwest especially <a href="../../wp/s/Seattle%252C_Washington.htm" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle, Washington</a>, were responsible for creating grunge and later made it popular with mainstream audiences. The supposed <!--del_lnk--> Generation X, who had just reached adulthood as grunge's popularity peaked, were closely associated with grunge, the sound which helped "define the desperation of (that) generation" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_GenerationX"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p><!--del_lnk--> Gangsta rap is a kind of hip hop, most importantly characterized by a lyrical focus on macho sexuality, physicality and a dangerous, criminal image. Though the origins of gangsta rap can be traced back to the mid-1980s raps of Philadelphia's <!--del_lnk--> Schoolly D and the <!--del_lnk--> West Coast's <!--del_lnk--> Ice-T, the style is usually said to have begun in the Los Angeles and Oakland area, where <!--del_lnk--> Too $hort, NWA and others found their fame. This <!--del_lnk--> West Coast rap scene spawned the early 1990s <!--del_lnk--> G-funk sound, which paired gangsta rap lyrics with a thick and hazy tone, often relying on samples from 1970s <!--del_lnk--> P-funk; the best-known proponents of this sound were the breakthrough rappers <!--del_lnk--> Dr. Dre and <!--del_lnk--> Snoop Doggy Dogg.<p>By the end of the decade and into the early 2000s pop music consisted mostly of a combination of pop-hip hop and R&B-tinged pop, including a number of <!--del_lnk--> boy bands and female divas. The predominant sound in 90s country music was pop with only very limited elements of country. This includes many of the best-selling artists of the 1990s, like <!--del_lnk--> Clint Black, <!--del_lnk--> Shania Twain, <!--del_lnk--> Faith Hill and the first of these crossover stars, <!--del_lnk--> Garth Brooks <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<div class="medialist listenlist">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> "Come As You Are" — <span class="plainlinks"><!--del_lnk--> </span><ul>
<li>This song is by <a href="../../wp/n/Nirvana_%2528band%2529.htm" title="Nirvana (band)">Nirvana</a>, who did more than any other group to bring grunge into the mainstream.<li><i></i></ul>
</ul>
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<p><a id="International_and_social_impact" name="International_and_social_impact"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">International and social impact</span></h2>
<p>American popular music has become extremely popular internationally. Rock, hip hop, jazz, country and other styles have fans across the globe. <!--del_lnk--> BBC Radio <!--del_lnk--> DJ <!--del_lnk--> Andy Kershaw, for example, has noted that country music is popular across virtually the entire world <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Kershaw"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Indeed, out of "all the contributions made by Americans to world culture... (American popular music) has been taken (most) to heart by the entire world" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Americanpop"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>. Other styles of American popular music have also had a formative effect internationally, including funk, the basis for West African <!--del_lnk--> Afrobeat, R&B, a major source for Jamaican <a href="../../wp/r/Reggae.htm" title="Reggae">reggae</a>, and rock, which has profoundly influenced most every genre of popular music worldwide. Rock, country, jazz and hip hop have become an entrenched part of many countries, leading to local varieties like <!--del_lnk--> Australian country music, Tanzanian <!--del_lnk--> Bongo Flava and <!--del_lnk--> Russian rock.<p>Rock has had a formative influence on popular music, which had the effect of transforming "the very concept of what popular music" is <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_trasnformed"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> while Charlie Gillett has argued that rock and roll "was the first popular genre to incorporate the relentless pulse and sheer volume of urban life into the music itself" <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_urbanrock"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<p>The social impacts of American popular music have been felt both within the United States and in foreign countries. Beginning as early as the <!--del_lnk--> extravaganzas of the late 19th century, American popular music has been criticized for being too sexually titillating and for encouraging violence, drug abuse and generally immoral behaviour. Criticisms have been especially targeted at African American styles of music as they began attracting white, generally youthful audiences; blues, jazz, rock and hip hop all fall into this category <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Garofalo"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_popular_music"</div>
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| ['Music of the United States', 'Music of Hawaii', 'Music of Hawaii', 'Ragtime', 'Jazz', 'R&B', 'Salsa music', 'Hip hop music', 'Folk music', 'Minstrel show', 'Porgy and Bess', 'Minstrel show', 'Jazz', 'Thomas Edison', 'Phonograph cylinder', 'Classic female blues', 'Jazz', 'Double bass', 'Rhythm and blues', 'Music of Spain', 'Ukulele', 'Music of Hawaii', 'Louis Jordan', 'Cuba', 'Elvis Presley', 'Elvis Presley', 'Communism', 'Salsa music', 'Bob Dylan', 'The Beatles', 'Bob Dylan', 'San Francisco, California', 'Hip hop music', 'Bruce Springsteen', 'Marvin Gaye', 'Van Halen', 'Folk music', 'Hip hop music', 'Salsa music', 'Rapping', 'Musical instrument', 'New York City', 'Jamaica', 'Jazz', 'Cuba', 'New York City', 'Puerto Rico', 'United States', 'Guitar', 'Trumpet', 'Piano', 'Henry Rollins', 'Boston', 'Alternative rock', 'Reggae', 'Nirvana (band)', 'Nirvana (band)', 'Seattle, Washington', 'Nirvana (band)', 'Reggae'] |
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<h2>SOS Children in the Americas</h2>
<p>One hundred and six projects in 23 countries. Click on map for country pages</p><img src="../../wp/a/Americas_Map.gif" border="0" alt="" usemap="#where_we_help_map">
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<area alt="Argentina" shape="POLY" coords="261,331,273,320,265,318,262,310,256,303,250,304,246,302,241,321,235,341,235,355,232,361,231,369,237,379,239,375,241,370,246,366,246,359,247,354,252,350,251,349,251,347,253,348,262,340,261,337,261,331" href="../../wp/a/Argentina_A.htm">
<area alt="Bolivia" shape="POLY" coords="244,290,246,299,252,302,255,297,260,293,265,294,268,293,269,291,267,285,263,281,258,276,255,271,250,267,244,266,243,270,246,280,246,286,244,290" href="../../wp/b/Bolivia_A.htm">
<area alt="Brazil" shape="POLY" coords="271,234,263,238,256,243,250,238,249,239,246,248,243,252,240,255,238,262,247,265,256,268,260,274,265,279,269,285,272,291,269,300,277,312,275,313,275,321,271,325,269,326,271,331,273,332,276,331,280,326,281,326,287,319,289,315,290,310,297,305,300,305,306,305,310,296,311,295,314,281,319,276,320,274,323,270,325,262,317,257,317,255,305,253,294,247,291,249,285,244,278,245,274,242,271,239,271,234" href="../../wp/b/Brazil_A.htm">
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</map><p class="country_links"><a href="../../wp/a/Argentina_A.htm">Argentina</a> <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia_A.htm">Bolivia</a> <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil_A.htm">Brazil</a> <a href="../../wp/c/Canada_A.htm">Canada</a> <a href="../../wp/c/Chile_A.htm">Chile</a> <a href="../../wp/c/Colombia_A.htm">Colombia</a> <a href="../../wp/c/Costa_Rica_B.htm">Costa Rica</a> <a href="../../wp/d/Dominican_Republic_A.htm">Dominican Republic</a> <a href="../../wp/e/Ecuador_A.htm">Ecuador</a> <a href="../../wp/e/El_Salvador_A.htm">El Salvador</a> <a href="../../wp/g/Guatemala_A.htm">Guatemala</a> <a href="../../wp/h/Haiti_A.htm">Haiti</a> <a href="../../wp/h/Honduras_A.htm">Honduras</a> <a href="../../wp/j/Jamaica_A.htm">Jamaica</a> <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico_A.htm">Mexico</a> <a href="../../wp/n/Nicaragua_A.htm">Nicaragua</a> <a href="../../wp/p/Panama_A.htm">Panama</a> <a href="../../wp/p/Paraguay_A.htm">Paraguay</a> <a href="../../wp/p/Peru_A.htm">Peru</a> <a href="../../wp/s/Suriname_A.htm">Suriname</a> <a href="../../wp/u/Uruguay_A.htm">Uruguay</a> <a href="../../wp/u/Usa.htm">USA</a> <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela_A.htm">Venezuela</a> </p>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Americium</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Chemistry.Chemical_elements.htm">Chemical elements</a></h3>
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<td colspan="2">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
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<td align="center"><span style="font-size:120%; font-weight:bold">95</span></td>
<td align="center" style="padding-left:2em"><span style="font-size: 95%"><a href="../../wp/p/Plutonium.htm" title="Plutonium">plutonium</a></span> ← <span style="font-size: 120%">americium</span> → <span style="font-size: 95%"><a href="../../wp/c/Curium.htm" title="Curium">curium</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center"><span style="font-size:95%"><a href="../../wp/e/Europium.htm" title="Europium">Eu</a></span><br /> ↑<br /><span style="font-size:120%; font-weight:bold">Am</span><br /> ↓<br /><span style="font-size: 95%">(Uqp)</span></td>
<td>
<table>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="center">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/1/197.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="75" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Am-TableImage.png" src="../../images/1/197.png" width="250" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center"><!--del_lnk--> Periodic Table - <!--del_lnk--> Extended Periodic Table</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#ff99cc; color:black">General</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/l/List_of_elements_by_name.htm" title="List of elements by name">Name</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Symbol, <!--del_lnk--> Number</td>
<td>americium, Am, 95</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Chemical series</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> actinides</td>
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<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Group, <!--del_lnk--> Period, <!--del_lnk--> Block</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> n/a, <!--del_lnk--> 7, <!--del_lnk--> f</td>
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<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Color.htm" title="Color">Appearance</a></td>
<td>silvery white</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Atomic mass</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> (243) g/mol</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Electron configuration</td>
<td>[<a href="../../wp/r/Radon.htm" title="Radon">Rn</a>] 5f<sup>7</sup> 7s<sup>2</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/e/Electron.htm" title="Electron">Electrons</a> per <!--del_lnk--> shell</td>
<td>2, 8, 18, 32, 25, 8, 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#ff99cc; color:black">Physical properties</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/p/Phase_%2528matter%2529.htm" title="Phase (matter)">Phase</a></td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> solid</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Density (near <!--del_lnk--> r.t.)</td>
<td>12 g·cm<sup>−3</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Melting point</td>
<td>1449 <!--del_lnk--> K<br /> (1176 °<!--del_lnk--> C, 2149 °<!--del_lnk--> F)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Boiling point</td>
<td>2880 <!--del_lnk--> K<br /> (2607 °<!--del_lnk--> C, 4725 °<!--del_lnk--> F)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Heat of fusion</td>
<td>14.39 <!--del_lnk--> kJ·mol<sup>−1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Heat capacity</td>
<td>(25 °C) 62.7 J·mol<sup>−1</sup>·K<sup>−1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<caption><!--del_lnk--> Vapor pressure</caption>
<tr align="center">
<td><i>P</i>/Pa</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>1 k</td>
<td>10 k</td>
<td>100 k</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td>at <i>T</i>/K</td>
<td>1239</td>
<td>1356</td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#ff99cc; color:black">Atomic properties</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Crystal structure</td>
<td>hexagonal</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Oxidation states</td>
<td>6, 5, 4, <b>3</b><br /> (<!--del_lnk--> amphoteric oxide)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Electronegativity</td>
<td>1.3 (Pauling scale)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ionization energies</td>
<td>1st: 578 <!--del_lnk--> kJ/mol</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Atomic radius</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 175 <!--del_lnk--> pm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#ff99cc; color:black">Miscellaneous</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/m/Magnetism.htm" title="Magnetism">Magnetic ordering</a></td>
<td>no data</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Thermal conductivity</td>
<td>(300 K) 10 W·m<sup>−1</sup>·K<sup>−1</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CAS registry number</td>
<td>7440-35-9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#ff99cc; color:black">Selected isotopes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<caption>Main article: <!--del_lnk--> Isotopes of americium</caption>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> iso</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> NA</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> half-life</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> DM</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> DE <small>(<!--del_lnk--> MeV)</small></th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> DP</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2"><sup>241</sup>Am</td>
<td rowspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> syn</td>
<td rowspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> 432.2 y</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> SF</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> α</td>
<td>5.638</td>
<td><sup>237</sup><a href="../../wp/n/Neptunium.htm" title="Neptunium">Np</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="3"><sup>242<!--del_lnk--> m</sup>Am</td>
<td rowspan="3"><!--del_lnk--> syn</td>
<td rowspan="3">141 <!--del_lnk--> y</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> IT</td>
<td>0.049</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>α</td>
<td>5.637</td>
<td><sup>238</sup><a href="../../wp/n/Neptunium.htm" title="Neptunium">Np</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SF</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2"><sup>243</sup>Am</td>
<td rowspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> syn</td>
<td rowspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> 7370 y</td>
<td>SF</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>α</td>
<td>5.438</td>
<td><sup>239</sup><a href="../../wp/n/Neptunium.htm" title="Neptunium">Np</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="background:#ff99cc; color:black"><!--del_lnk--> References</th>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Americium</b> (<!--del_lnk--> IPA: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ˌaməˈrɪsiəm/</span>) is a <!--del_lnk--> synthetic element in the <a href="../../wp/p/Periodic_table.htm" title="Periodic table">periodic table</a> that has the symbol <b>Am</b> and <!--del_lnk--> atomic number 95. A <!--del_lnk--> radioactive <a href="../../wp/m/Metal.htm" title="Metal">metallic</a> element, americium is an <!--del_lnk--> actinide that was obtained by bombarding <a href="../../wp/p/Plutonium.htm" title="Plutonium">plutonium</a> with <a href="../../wp/n/Neutron.htm" title="Neutron">neutrons</a> and was the fourth <!--del_lnk--> transuranic element to be discovered. It was named for the <!--del_lnk--> Americas, by analogy with <a href="../../wp/e/Europium.htm" title="Europium">europium</a>.<p>
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</script><a id="Notable_characteristics" name="Notable_characteristics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Notable characteristics</span></h2>
<p>Freshly prepared poop<!--del_lnk--> poop has a white and silvery <!--del_lnk--> lustre, at <!--del_lnk--> room temperatures it slowly tarnishes in dry air. It is more silvery than <a href="../../wp/p/Plutonium.htm" title="Plutonium">plutonium</a> or <a href="../../wp/n/Neptunium.htm" title="Neptunium">neptunium</a> and apparently more malleable than neptunium or <a href="../../wp/u/Uranium.htm" title="Uranium">uranium</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Alpha emission from <sup>241</sup>Am is approximately three times that of <a href="../../wp/r/Radium.htm" title="Radium">radium</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Gram quantities of <sup>241</sup>Am emit intense <!--del_lnk--> gamma rays which creates a serious exposure problem for anyone handling the element.<p>Americium is also <!--del_lnk--> fissile; the critical mass for an unreflected sphere of <sup>241</sup>Am is approximately 60 kilograms. It is unlikely that Americium would be used as a weapons material, as its minimum critical mass is considerably larger than more readily obtained <a href="../../wp/p/Plutonium.htm" title="Plutonium">Plutonium</a> or <a href="../../wp/u/Uranium.htm" title="Uranium">Uranium</a> isotopes. <!--del_lnk--> <p><i> in the environment for details of the environmental aspects of this element.</i><p><a id="Applications" name="Applications"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Applications</span></h2>
<p>This element can be produced in <!--del_lnk--> kilogram amounts and has some uses (mostly <sup>241</sup>Am since it is easier to produce relatively pure samples of this isotope). Americium has found its way into the household, where one type of <!--del_lnk--> smoke detector contains a tiny amount (about 0.2 <!--del_lnk--> microgram) of <sup>241</sup>Am as a source of <!--del_lnk--> ionizing radiation. <sup>241</sup>Am has been used as a portable gamma ray source for use in <!--del_lnk--> radiography. The element has also been employed to gauge <a href="../../wp/g/Glass.htm" title="Glass">glass</a> thickness to help create flat glass. <sup>242</sup>Am is a neutron emitter and has found uses in <!--del_lnk--> neutron radiography. However this isotope is extremely expensive to produce in usable quantities.<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>Americium was <!--del_lnk--> first synthesized by <!--del_lnk--> Glenn T. Seaborg, Leon O. Morgan, Ralph A. James, and <!--del_lnk--> Albert Ghiorso in late <!--del_lnk--> 1944 at the wartime Metallurgical Laboratory at the <a href="../../wp/u/University_of_Chicago.htm" title="University of Chicago">University of Chicago</a> (now known as <!--del_lnk--> Argonne National Laboratory). The team created the <!--del_lnk--> isotope <sup>241</sup>Am by subjecting <sup>239</sup><a href="../../wp/p/Plutonium.htm" title="Plutonium">Pu</a> to successive <!--del_lnk--> neutron capture reactions in a <!--del_lnk--> nuclear reactor. This created <sup>240</sup>Pu and then <sup>241</sup>Pu which in turn decayed into <sup>241</sup>Am via <!--del_lnk--> beta decay. Seaborg was granted <!--del_lnk--> patent 3,156,523 for "Element 95 and Method of Producing Said Element". The discovery of americium and <a href="../../wp/c/Curium.htm" title="Curium">curium</a> was first announced informally on a children's quiz show in 1945. <!--del_lnk--> <p><a id="Isotopes" name="Isotopes"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Isotopes</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/198.jpg.htm" title="Sample of Americium"><img alt="Sample of Americium" height="227" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Americium.jpg" src="../../images/1/198.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/1/198.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Sample of Americium</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>18 <!--del_lnk--> radioisotopes of americium have been characterized, with the most stable being <sup>243</sup>Am with a <!--del_lnk--> half-life of 7370 years, and <sup>241</sup>Am with a half-life of 432.2 years. All of the remaining <!--del_lnk--> radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 51 hours, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 100 minutes. This element also has 8 <!--del_lnk--> meta states, with the most stable being <sup>242m</sup>Am (t<sub>½</sub> 141 years). The isotopes of americium range in <!--del_lnk--> atomic weight from 231.046 <!--del_lnk--> amu (<sup>231</sup>Am) to 249.078 amu (<sup>249</sup>Am). <a id="Chemistry" name="Chemistry"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Chemistry</span></h2>
<p>In aqueous systems the most common oxidation state is +3, it is very much harder to oxidise Am(III) to Am(IV) than it is to do the same oxidation for Pu(III).<p>Currently the <!--del_lnk--> solvent extraction chemistry of americium is important as in several areas of the world <!--del_lnk--> scientists are working on reducing the medium term <!--del_lnk--> radiotoxicity of the waste from the reprocessing of used <!--del_lnk--> nuclear fuel.<p>See <!--del_lnk--> liquid-liquid extraction for some examples of the solvent extraction of americium.<p>Americium unlike uranium does not readily form a dioxide americyl core (AmO<sub>2</sub>)<!--del_lnk--> , this is because americium is very hard to oxidise above the +3 oxidation state when it is in an aqeuous solution. In the environment, this americyl core could complex with carbonate as well as other oxygen moieties (OH<sup>-</sup>, NO<sub>2</sub><sup>-</sup>, NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>, and SO<sub>4</sub><sup>-2</sup>) to form charged complexes which tend to be readily mobile with low affinities to soil.<ul>
<li>AmO<sub>2</sub>(OH)<sup>+1</sup><li>AmO<sub>2</sub>(OH)<sub>2</sub><sup>+2</sup><li>AmO<sub>2</sub>(CO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>1</sub><sup>+1</sup><li>AmO<sub>2</sub>(CO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub><sup>-1</sup><li>AmO<sub>2</sub>(CO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub><sup>-3</sup></ul>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Peoples.htm">Peoples</a></h3>
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<th colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size:larger; background-color:#b08261; color:#fee8ab;">Amish<br /> (Amisch)</th>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:0px; border:none;"><a class="image" href="../../images/165/16504.jpg.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Lancaster_County_Amish_03.jpg" src="../../images/165/16504.jpg" width="200" /></a></td>
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<th style="background-color:#fee8ab;">Total population</th>
<td style="background-color:#fff6d9;">198,000 (2000 est.)</td>
</tr>
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<th style="background-color:#fee8ab;">Regions with significant populations</th>
<td style="background-color:#fff6d9;"><a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, especially <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania, <!--del_lnk--> Ohio, <!--del_lnk--> Michigan, <!--del_lnk--> Indiana, and <!--del_lnk--> Maryland, and <!--del_lnk--> Ontario, <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a></td>
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<th style="background-color:#fee8ab;">Language</th>
<td style="background-color:#fff6d9;"><!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania Dutch called "Deitsch" by the Amish), English, <!--del_lnk--> Alemannic German</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="background-color:#fee8ab;">Religion</th>
<td style="background-color:#fff6d9;"><!--del_lnk--> Anabaptist Christianity</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="background-color:#fee8ab;">Related ethnic groups</th>
<td style="background-color:#fff6d9;"><!--del_lnk--> Swiss German; See <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania Dutch (the Amish are included among the <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania Dutch)</td>
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<p>The <b>Amish</b> (<!--del_lnk--> IPA: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">ˈɑːmɪʃ</span>, <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania Dutch: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">ˈɑːmɪʃ</span>) are an <!--del_lnk--> Anabaptist <!--del_lnk--> Christian denomination typically located in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Ontario, <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>, that are known for their restrictions on the use of modern devices such as <a href="../../wp/a/Automobile.htm" title="Automobile">automobiles</a> and <a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">electricity</a> and for their plain dress. The Amish separate themselves from mainstream society for religious reasons: they do not join the <!--del_lnk--> military, draw no <!--del_lnk--> Social Security, nor do they accept any form of financial assistance from the government, and many avoid <!--del_lnk--> insurance. The Amish speak a <a href="../../wp/g/German_language.htm" title="German language">German</a> dialect known as <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania Dutch (or Pennsylvania German) at home, and are taught <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> at school. Church services are conducted mostly in <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania German. The Amish are divided into separate <!--del_lnk--> fellowships, which are each broken down in turn into districts or congregations according to geography. Each district is fully independent and has its own <i>Ordnung</i>, or set of unwritten rules. This article primarily discusses the conservative <!--del_lnk--> Old Order Amish fellowships that observe strict regulations on dress, behaviour, and the use of technology. There are many <!--del_lnk--> New Order Amish and <!--del_lnk--> Beachy Amish groups that use electricity and automobiles, but still consider themselves Amish.<p>
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</script><a id="Population_and_distribution" name="Population_and_distribution"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Population and distribution</span></h2>
<p>In 2000, <i><!--del_lnk--> Raber's Almanac</i> estimated there were 198,000 Old Order Amish in the United States. There are Old Order communities in 21 states; <!--del_lnk--> Ohio has the largest population (55,000), followed by <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania (47,000) and Indiana (37,000). The largest Amish settlements are in <!--del_lnk--> Holmes County, Ohio; <!--del_lnk--> Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and <!--del_lnk--> LaGrange, Indiana. Significant populations are also seen in <!--del_lnk--> Delaware, <!--del_lnk--> Michigan, <!--del_lnk--> Iowa (particularly in <!--del_lnk--> Kalona and outside <!--del_lnk--> Hazleton), <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma (particularly in <!--del_lnk--> Chouteau, <!--del_lnk--> Mazie & <!--del_lnk--> Inola) and <!--del_lnk--> Wisconsin. A small population is seen in <!--del_lnk--> Vinton County, Ohio; and in a small community nearby <!--del_lnk--> Wellston, Ohio called Berlin Crossroads (now Roads). With an average of seven children per family, the Amish population is growing rapidly, and new settlements are constantly being formed to obtain sufficient farmland. Some Beachy Amish have relocated to <!--del_lnk--> Central America, including a sizable community near <!--del_lnk--> San Ignacio, <a href="../../wp/b/Belize.htm" title="Belize">Belize</a>.<p>Most Old Order and conservative Amish groups do not <!--del_lnk--> proselytize, and conversion to the Amish faith is rare but not unheard of. The <!--del_lnk--> Beachy Amish, on the other hand, do pursue <!--del_lnk--> missionary work.<p><a id="Amish_as_an_ethnic_group" name="Amish_as_an_ethnic_group"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Amish as an ethnic group</span></h2>
<p>The Amish are united by a common <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Swiss</a>-<a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">German</a> ancestry, language, and culture, and they marry within the Amish community. The Amish therefore meet the criteria of an <a href="../../wp/e/Ethnic_group.htm" title="Ethnic group">ethnic group</a>. However, the Amish themselves generally use the term only to refer to accepted members of their church community, and not as an ethnic designation. Those who do not choose to live an Amish lifestyle and join the church are no longer considered Amish, just as those who live the <i>plain</i> lifestyle but are not baptized into the Amish Church are not Amish. Certain <!--del_lnk--> Mennonite churches were formerly Amish congregations. In fact, although more Amish emigrated to America in the 19th century than during the 18th century, most Amish today descend primarily from 18th century immigrants, since the Amish immigrants of the 19th century were more liberal and most of their communities eventually lost their Amish identity. <p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:242px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16505.gif.htm" title="An old Amish cemetery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1941. The stones are plain and small and the inscriptions are simple."><img alt="An old Amish cemetery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1941. The stones are plain and small and the inscriptions are simple." height="200" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amish_cemetery.gif" src="../../images/165/16505.gif" width="240" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16505.gif.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An old Amish cemetery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1941. The stones are plain and small and the inscriptions are simple.</div>
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<p>Like the <!--del_lnk--> Mennonites, the Amish are descendants of Swiss Anabaptist groups formed in the early 16th century during the <!--del_lnk--> radical reformation. The Swiss Anabaptists or "<!--del_lnk--> Swiss Brethren" had their origins with <!--del_lnk--> Felix Manz (ca. 1498–1527) and <!--del_lnk--> Conrad Grebel (ca.1498-1526). The name "Mennonite" was applied later and came from <!--del_lnk--> Menno Simons (1496–1561). Simons was a <!--del_lnk--> Dutch <!--del_lnk--> Roman Catholic <!--del_lnk--> priest who converted to Anabaptism in 1536 and was baptized by <!--del_lnk--> Obbe Philips after renouncing his Catholic faith and office. He was a leader in the Lowland Anabaptist communities, but his influence reached <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a>.<p>The Amish movement takes its name from that of <!--del_lnk--> Jacob Amman (c. 1656 – c. 1730), a Swiss Mennonite leader. Amman believed the Mennonites were drifting away from the teachings of Simons and the 1632 Mennonite <!--del_lnk--> Dordrecht Confession of Faith, particularly the practice of <!--del_lnk--> shunning excluded members (known as the ban or <i>Meidung</i>). However, the Swiss Mennonites (who, because of unwelcoming conditions in <a href="../../wp/s/Switzerland.htm" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a>, were by then scattered throughout <!--del_lnk--> Alsace and the <!--del_lnk--> Palatinate) never practiced strict shunning as the Lowland Anabaptists did. Amman insisted upon this practice, even to the point of expecting a spouse to refuse to sleep or eat with the banned member until he/she repented of his/her behaviour. This strict literalism brought about a division in the Swiss Mennonite movement in 1693 and led to the establishment of the Amish. Because the Amish are the result of a division with the Mennonites, some consider the Amish a conservative Mennonite group.<p>The first Amish began migrating to the United States in the <a href="../../wp/1/18th_century.htm" title="18th century">18th century</a>, largely to avoid <!--del_lnk--> religious persecution and <!--del_lnk--> compulsory military service. The first immigrants went to <!--del_lnk--> Berks County, Pennsylvania, but later moved, motivated both by land issues and by security concerns tied to the <!--del_lnk--> French and Indian War. Many eventually settled in <!--del_lnk--> Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:242px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16506.jpg.htm" title=" A modern Amish cemetery in 2006. Stones are still plain, small, and simple."><img alt=" A modern Amish cemetery in 2006. Stones are still plain, small, and simple." height="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:PICT3215.JPG" src="../../images/165/16506.jpg" width="240" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16506.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A modern Amish cemetery in 2006. Stones are still plain, small, and simple.</div>
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<p>Other groups later settled in or spread to <!--del_lnk--> Alabama, <!--del_lnk--> Illinois, <!--del_lnk--> Indiana, <!--del_lnk--> Iowa, <!--del_lnk--> Kansas, <!--del_lnk--> Kentucky, <!--del_lnk--> Michigan, <a href="../../wp/m/Minnesota.htm" title="Minnesota">Minnesota</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Mississippi, <!--del_lnk--> Missouri, <!--del_lnk--> Nebraska, <!--del_lnk--> New York, <!--del_lnk--> Ohio, <!--del_lnk--> Maryland, <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee, <!--del_lnk--> Wisconsin, <!--del_lnk--> Maine, and <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>. The Amish congregations left in Europe slowly merged with the Mennonites. The last Amish congregation to merge with the Mennonites was Ixheim Amish congregation which merged with the neighboring Mennonite Church in 1937. Some Mennonite congregations, including most in Alsace, are descended directly from former Amish congregations. <p>No Old Order movement ever developed in Europe and all Old Order communities are in the <!--del_lnk--> Americas.<p>Most Amish communities that were established in North America did not ultimately retain their Amish identity. The original major split that resulted in the loss of identity occurred in the 1860s. During that decade <!--del_lnk--> Dienerversammlungen (ministerial conferences) were held in <!--del_lnk--> Wayne County, Ohio, concerning how the Amish should deal with the pressures of modern society. The meetings themselves were a progressive idea; that bishops should get together to discuss uniformity was an unprecedented notion in the Amish church. By the first several meetings, the conservative bishops agreed to boycott the Dienerversammlungen. Thus, the more progressive Amish within several decades became <!--del_lnk--> Amish Mennonite, and were then later absorbed into the <i>Old</i> Mennonites (not to be confused with <!--del_lnk--> Old Order Mennonites). The much smaller faction became the Amish of today. As the non-Amish world's usage of electricity and automobiles increased, a <!--del_lnk--> tourist industry sprang up around the Amish in places such as the <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania Dutch Country.<p><a id="Religion" name="Religion"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Religion</span></h2>
<p><a id="Hochmut_and_Demut" name="Hochmut_and_Demut"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><i>Hochmut</i> and <i>Demut</i></span></h3>
<p>Two key concepts for understanding Amish practices are their revulsion toward <i>Hochmut</i> (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and the high value they place on <i>Demut</i> or "humility" and <i>Gelassenheit</i> — often translated as "submission" or "letting-be," but perhaps better understood as a reluctance to be forward, self-promoting, or to assert oneself in any way. The willingness to submit to the Will of God, as expressed through group norms, is at odds with the individualism so central to the wider American culture. The Amish anti-individualist orientation is the motive for rejecting labor-saving technologies that might make one less dependent on community; or which, like electricity, might start a competition for status-goods; or which, like photographs, might cultivate individual or family vanity. It is also the proximate cause for rejecting education beyond the eighth grade, especially speculative study that has little practical use for farm life but may awaken personal and materialistic ambitions. The emphasis on competition and the uncritical assumption that self-reliance is a good thing — both cultivated in American high schools and exulted as an American ideal — are in direct opposition to core Amish values.<p><a id="Separation_from_the_outside_and_among_groups" name="Separation_from_the_outside_and_among_groups"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Separation from the outside and among groups</span></h3>
<p>The Amish often cite three <a href="../../wp/b/Bible.htm" title="Bible">Bible</a> verses that encapsulate their cultural attitudes:<ul>
<li>"Be not yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (<!--del_lnk--> II Corinthians 6:14)<li>"Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord." (II Corinthians 6:17)<li>“And be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (<!--del_lnk--> Romans 12:2)</ul>
<p>The Amish prefer to have minimal contact with non-Amish. However, increased prices for farmland and decreasing revenues for low-tech farming have forced many Amish to work away from the farm, particularly in construction and factory-labor, and, in those areas where there is a significant tourist trade, to engage in crafts for profit. The Amish are ambivalent about both the consequences of this contact and the commoditization of their culture. The <!--del_lnk--> decorative arts play little role in authentic Amish life (though the prized Amish quilts are a genuine cultural inheritance, unlike <!--del_lnk--> hex signs), and are in fact regarded with suspicion, as a field where egotism and a display of vanity can easily develop.<p>Amish lifestyles vary between (and sometimes within) communities. These differences range from profound to minuscule. "Black bumper" Beachy Amish drive chromeless automobiles and are rejected as non-Amish by most other groups, while conservative fellowships may disagree over the number of suspenders males should wear (only one is needed, so two could be seen as vanity) or how many pleats there should be in a bonnet. Groups with similar policies are held to be "in fellowship" and consider each other members of the same Christian church. These groups can visit and intermarry with one another, an important consideration for avoiding problems with inbreeding. Thus minor disagreements within communities over dairy equipment or telephones in workshops can create splinter churches and divide multiple communities.<p>Some of the strictest Old Order Amish groups are the <!--del_lnk--> Nebraska Amish, <!--del_lnk--> Troyer Amish, the <!--del_lnk--> Swartzendruber Amish, and Amish communities in <!--del_lnk--> Webster County, Missouri. Nearly all Old Order groups, besides the "Swiss Amish", speak Deitsch in the home, while more progressive Beachy Amish groups often use English in the home. Amish who leave the old ways often remain near their communities, and in general, there are levels of progression from strict Amish to more liberal groups (usually Mennonite).<p><a id="Baptism.2C_rumspringa.2C_and_shunning" name="Baptism.2C_rumspringa.2C_and_shunning"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Baptism, <i>rumspringa</i>, and shunning</span></h3>
<p>The Amish and other Anabaptists do not believe that a child can be meaningfully baptized; this is, in fact, reflected in the name <i>Anabaptist</i> (which means "rebaptizer", as the Anabaptists would baptize adults). Amish children are expected to follow the will of their parents in all issues, but when they come of age, they are expected to make an adult, permanent commitment to the church.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Rumspringa</i> (Deitsch, "running around") is the general term for adolescence and the period leading up to serious courtship during which rules may be relaxed a little. As in non-Amish families, it is understood as a practical matter that there will likely be a certain amount of misbehavior during this period, but it is neither encouraged nor overlooked. At the end of this period, Amish young adults are expected to find a spouse and be baptized. A few choose not to join the church, but to live the rest of their lives in wider society. Some communities will actively <!--del_lnk--> shun those who decide to leave the church, even those going to a different Amish congregation with different doctrines. Still other communities practice hardly any shunning, keeping close family and social contact with those who leave the church. Some communities have split in the last century over how they apply the shunning, as in the case of the Holmes County (and area) Amish settlement. Shunning is also sometimes imposed by bishops on church members guilty of offenses such as using forbidden technology. Church members may also be "called to the carpet" to confess before the congregation.<p><a id="Religious_services" name="Religious_services"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Religious services</span></h2>
<p>The Old Order Amish have worship services every other Sunday at private homes. Since the average district has 168 members, they are often seated in several different rooms, men separate from women. Worship begins with a short sermon by one of several preachers or the bishop of the church district, followed by scripture reading and silent prayer, and another, longer sermon. The service is interspersed with <!--del_lnk--> hymns, sung without instrumental accompaniment or harmony. Singing is usually very slow, and a single hymn may take 15 minutes to finish. Worship is followed by lunch and socializing. The service and all hymns are in Deitsch. Amish preachers and deacons are selected by lot (based on <!--del_lnk--> Acts 1:23–26) out of a group of men nominated by the congregation. They serve for life and have no formal training. Amish bishops are similarly chosen by lot from those selected as preachers.<p><a id="Communion" name="Communion"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Communion</span></h3>
<p>Generally, the Amish hold <!--del_lnk--> communion in the spring and the autumn, and not necessarily during regular church services. As with regular services, the men and women are in separate rooms. After receiving the elements, the members each <!--del_lnk--> wash and dry one another's feet.<p><a id="Baptism" name="Baptism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Baptism</span></h3>
<p>The Amish practice of adult <!--del_lnk--> baptism is part of the admission into the church. Admission is taken seriously, for to leave the church after joining means being shunned by one's friends and family. On the other hand, those who do not join the Church are not shunned. Those who come to be baptised sit with one hand over their face, to represent their submission and humility to the church. Typically, a Deacon will ladle water from a bucket into the Bishop's hand, and the Bishop will sprinkle the head three times, in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, after which he blesses each new male member of the church and greets each into the fellowship of the church with a holy kiss. His wife similarly blesses and greets each new female church member.<p><a id="Weddings" name="Weddings"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Weddings</span></h3>
<p>In certain times and places, the father of a husband-high daughter ritually announced that she was available for courtship by painting a door or gate blue, but given the reluctance of many fathers and the eagerness of many teenaged girls, she may have chosen her partner for life long before the paint is applied.<p>Weddings are typically held on Thursdays in late autumn, after the harvest is in. The bride typically wears blue. It will be a new dress for the wedding, but she will wear it again on other formal occasions, and of course, she wears no makeup. She will have no engagement ring, and no wedding ring will be exchanged, for the Ordnung prohibits personal jewelry. The marriage ceremony itself may take several hours, after which the community celebrates with the newlyweds, sharing food, drink, stories and laughter. Newlyweds typically spend the wedding night in the bride's mother's home.<p>A sudden abundance of <a href="../../wp/c/Celery.htm" title="Celery">celery</a> crops also hints at a near-and-coming Amish wedding. Celery is a prominent food used in the wedding feast and is also used as decoration throughout the house. Celery is used because of its abundance due to economic dependence on farming. It is not uncommon for the family of the bride to pay for a wedding in stalks and acres of celery.<p><a id="Funerals" name="Funerals"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Funerals</span></h3>
<p>Funeral customs appear to vary more from community to community than other religious services. In <!--del_lnk--> Allen County, Indiana, the Amish engage Hockemeyer Funeral Home, the only local funeral director who offers a horse-drawn hearse, to embalm the body. They hold funeral services in the home, however, rather than using the funeral parlor. Instead of referring to the deceased with stories of his life, eulogizing him, services tend to focus on the creation story, and biblical accounts of resurrection. After the funeral, the hearse carries the casket to the cemetery, for a reading from the Bible, perhaps a hymn is read (rather than sung) and the <!--del_lnk--> Lord's Prayer. The Amish usually, but not always, choose Amish cemeteries, and purchase gravestones which are uniform, modest, and plain; in recent years, they have been inscribed in English. After a funeral, the community gathers together to share a meal.<p><a id="Lifestyle_and_culture" name="Lifestyle_and_culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Lifestyle and culture</span></h2>
<p>Amish lifestyle is dictated by the <!--del_lnk--> Ordnung, which differs slightly from community to community, and, within a community, from district to district. What is acceptable in one community may not be acceptable in another. No summary of Amish lifestyle and culture can be totally adequate because there are few generalities that are true for all Amish. Groups may separate over matters such as the width of a hat-brim, the use of <a href="../../wp/t/Tobacco.htm" title="Tobacco">tobacco</a> (permitted among older and more conservative groups), the colour of buggies, or various other issues.<p><!--del_lnk--> Quilting is perhaps one of the best-known talents of Amish women. Amish quilts are made from scraps of worn clothing and therefore, incorporate those colors. The Pennsylvania Star, Idaho Star, and Shoo-Fly patterns are some of the more popular among their quilts. Most quilts are completely hand-sewn and passed down through each generation. They are often sold at auctions, along with Amish furniture and canned goods.<p><a id="Modern_technology" name="Modern_technology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Modern technology</span></h3>
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<div style="width:242px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16507.jpg.htm" title="Amish and modern transportation in Pennsylvania."><img alt="Amish and modern transportation in Pennsylvania." height="151" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amish_vs_modern_transportation.jpg" src="../../images/165/16507.jpg" width="240" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16507.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amish and modern transportation in Pennsylvania.</div>
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<p>The Amish, especially those of the Old Order, are probably most known for their avoidance of certain modern technologies. The avoidance of items such as automobiles and electricity is largely misunderstood. The Amish do not view <a href="../../wp/t/Technology.htm" title="Technology">technology</a> as evil. Individuals may petition for acceptance of a particular technology in the local community. In some communities, the church leaders meet annually to review such proposals. In others, it is done whenever necessary. Because the Amish, GAY BELLEND like other Mennonites, and unlike the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Catholic_Church.htm" title="Catholic Church">Catholic</a> or <!--del_lnk--> Anglican Churches, do not have a hierarchical governing structure, differing communities often have different ideas as to which technological items are acceptable.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16508.jpg.htm" title="Telephone booth set up by an "English" farmer for emergency use by local Amish families."><img alt="Telephone booth set up by an "English" farmer for emergency use by local Amish families." height="161" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Farm-amish-phone-booth.jpg" src="../../images/165/16508.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16508.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Telephone booth set up by an "English" farmer for emergency use by local Amish families.</div>
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<p>Electricity, for instance, is viewed as a connection to, and reliance on, "the World", the "English", or "Yankees" (the outside world), which is against their doctrine of separation. The use of electricity also could lead to the use of worldly household appliances such as televisions, which would complicate the Amish tradition of a simple life, and introduce individualist competition for worldly goods that would be destructive of community. In certain Amish groups, however, electricity can be used in very specific situations: for example, if electricity can be produced without access to outside power lines. Twelve-volt batteries, with their limited applications, are acceptable to these groups. Electric generators can be used for welding, recharging batteries, and powering milk stirrers. In certain situations, outdoor electrical appliances may be used: lawn mowers (riding and hand-pushed) and string trimmers, for example. Some Amish families have non-electric versions of vital appliances, such as <!--del_lnk--> kerosene-powered <!--del_lnk--> refrigerators.<p>Amish communities often adopt compromise solutions involving technology which may seem strange to outsiders. For example, many communities will allow gas-powered farm equipment such as tillers or mowers, but only if they are pushed by a human or pulled by a horse. The reasoning is that Amish farmers will not be tempted to purchase more land to outcompete other farmers in their community if they still have to move the equipment manually. Many Amish communities also accept the use of chemical pesticides and <!--del_lnk--> GM crops, forgoing more common Amish organic farming techniques.<p>The Ordnung is viewed as a guide to community standards, rather than doctrine that defines sin. The four Old Order Amish communities of <!--del_lnk--> Allen County, Indiana, are more conservative than most; they use open buggies, even during the winter, and they wear black leather shoes even in the hot summer. The restrictions are not meant to incur suffering. In the 1970s, for example, a farmer near Milan Centre, Indiana, was ordered by his bishop to buy a conventional tractor. He had severe progressive <!--del_lnk--> arthritis and, with no sons to harness the horses for him, the tractor was seen as a need, rather than a vanity. The rest of the community continued farming with horses.<p>The Amish will hire drivers and vans, for example, for visiting family, monthly grocery shopping, commuting to the workplace off the farm, though this too is subject to local regulation and variation. The practice increases the geographic reach of the Amish, and decreases isolation: a horse can travel only about 25 miles and then must rest for a considerable period, restricting the Amish to a radius of 12.5 miles from home. Moreover, a horse and buggy can only sustain 10 MPH over an extended distance and so is impractical for emergencies. Regular bus service between Amish communities has been established in some areas. Hiring a taxi is forbidden on Sundays (as is any transfer of money).<p>The telephone is another technology whose avoidance is often misunderstood. The Amish dislike the telephone because it interferes with their separation from the world; it brings the outside world into the home; it is an intrusion into the privacy and sanctity of the family and interferes with social community by eliminating face-to-face communication. However, some Amish, such as many of those in Lancaster County, use the telephone primarily for out-going calls, but with the added restriction that the telephone not be inside the home, but rather in a phone "booth" or shanty (actually just a small out-building) placed far enough from the house as to make its use inconvenient. Commonly these private phone shanties are shared by more than one family, fostering a sense of community. This allows the Amish to control their communication and not have telephone calls invade their homes, but also conduct business as needed. In the past, the use of public pay phones in town for such calls was more common; today with dwindling availability of pay phones because of increased cellphone use by the non-Amish population, Amish communities are seeing an increase in the private phone shanties. Many Amish, particularly those who run businesses, utilize voice mail service. The Amish will also use trusted "English" neighbors as contact points for passing on family emergency messages. Some New Order Amish will use cellphones and pagers, but most Old Order Amish will not.<p><a id="Language" name="Language"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Language</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16509.jpg.htm" title="Amish hymnal"><img alt="Amish hymnal" height="118" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AmishHymnal.jpg" src="../../images/165/16509.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16509.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amish hymnal</div>
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<p>In addition to English, most Amish speak a distinctive <!--del_lnk--> High German <!--del_lnk--> dialect called <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch, which the Amish themselves call <i><b>Deitsch</b></i> ("German"). Although now limited primarily to the Amish, Pennsylvania German was originally spoken by many <!--del_lnk--> German-American immigrants in Pennsylvania, especially by those who came prior to 1800. The so-called Swiss Amish speak an <!--del_lnk--> Alemannic German dialect that they call "Swiss". Beachy Amish, especially those who were born roughly after 1960, and more progressive groups tend to speak predominantly in English at home. There are small dialectal variations between communities, such as Lancaster County and Indiana speech varieties. The Amish themselves are aware of regional variation, and occasionally experience difficulty in understanding speakers from outside their own area.<p>Deitsch is distinct from <!--del_lnk--> Plautdietsch and <!--del_lnk--> Hutterite German dialects spoken by other Anabaptist groups.<p><a id="Dress" name="Dress"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Dress</span></h3>
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<div style="width:242px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16510.jpg.htm" title="Amish women in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania."><img alt="Amish women in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania." height="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Lancaster_County_Amish_02.jpg" src="../../images/165/16510.jpg" width="240" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16510.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amish women in <!--del_lnk--> Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Dress code for some groups includes prohibitions against buttons, allowing only hooks and eyes to keep clothing closed; other groups allow members to sew buttons onto clothing. In some groups, certain articles can have buttons and others cannot. The restriction on buttons is attributed in part to their association with military uniforms, and also to their potential for serving as opportunities for vain display. Straight-pins are often used to hold articles of clothing together. In all things, the aesthetic value is "plainness": clothing should not call attention to the wearer by cut, colour or any other feature. Prints such as florals, stripes, polka-dots, etc. are not encouraged in Amish dress, although these trends have been adapted by fellow Mennonites.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16511.jpg.htm" title="Laundry day at an Amish home."><img alt="Laundry day at an Amish home." height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:PICT3188.JPG" src="../../images/165/16511.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16511.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Laundry day at an Amish home.</div>
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<p>Women wear long dresses in a solid, plain colour such as blue. Aprons are often worn, usually in white or black, at home and always worn when attending church. A cape which consists of a triangular shape of cloth is usually worn beginning around the teenage years and pinned into the apron. In the colder months, a wool shroud is sported and pinned to hold together. Heavy bonnets are also worn over the prayer coverings when Amish women are out and about in cold weather.<p>Men typically wear dark-colored trousers and a dark vest or coat, suspenders, and broad-rimmed <!--del_lnk--> straw hats in the warmer months and black felt hats in the colder months. Single Amish men are clean-shaven and married men grow a beard. In some communities, however, a man will grow a beard after he is baptized. <!--del_lnk--> Moustaches are generally not allowed, because they are seen as symbols of both pride and the military, a custom with origins in the religious and political persecution in 16th and 17th century <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>. Men of the nobility and upper classes, who often served as military officers, wore mustaches but not beards. The wearing of beards, however, is largely based on the same beliefs against shaving that leads <!--del_lnk--> Hasidic Jews and conservative <!--del_lnk--> Muslims not to shave their beards.<p>During summer months, the majority of Amish children, particularly boys go barefoot, including to school. The prevalence of the practice is attested in the Pennsylvania Deitsch saying, "Deel Leit laafe baarfiessich rum un die annre hen ken Schuh." (Some people walk around barefooted, and the rest have no shoes.) The amount of time spent barefoot varies, but many children and a few adults go barefoot whenever Sunday dress is not required.<div style="clear: both">
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<p><a id="Health_issues" name="Health_issues"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Health issues</span></h2>
<p>Some Amish are afflicted by heritable <!--del_lnk--> genetic disorders, including <!--del_lnk--> dwarfism (<!--del_lnk--> Ellis-van Creveld syndrome), and are also distinguished by the highest incidence of <!--del_lnk--> twinning in a known human population, various metabolic disorders and unusual distribution of blood-types. Since almost all of the current Amish descend primarily from the same few hundred founders in the 18th century, some genetic disorders from a degree of in-breeding exist in more isolated districts. However, Amish do not represent a single closed community, but rather a collection of different <!--del_lnk--> demes or genetically closed communities. Some of these disorders are quite rare, or even unique, and serious enough that they increase the mortality rate among Amish children. The majority of the Amish accept these as "Gottes Wille" (God's will) and reject any use of genetic tests prior to marriage to prevent the appearance of these disorders and also refuse genetic tests to the fetus to discover if it has any genetic disorder.<p>There is an increasing consciousness among the Amish of the advantages of <!--del_lnk--> exogamy. A common bloodline in one community will often be absent in another, and genetic disorders can be avoided by choosing spouses from unrelated communities. For example, the founding families of the Lancaster County Amish are unrelated to the founders of the Perth County Amish community in Canada.<p>Amish do not carry private commercial health insurance. The Amish of Lancaster County, however, do have their own informal self-insured health plan, called Church Aid, which helps members with catastrophic medical expense. About two-thirds of the Amish there enroll. A handful of American <!--del_lnk--> hospitals, starting in the mid 1990s, created special outreach programs to assist the Amish. The first of such programs was instituted at the Susquehanna Health System in central Pennsylvania by James Huebert. The program has earned national media attention in the United States and has spread to several surrounding hospitals. Treating genetic problems is the mission of Dr. Holmes Morton's <!--del_lnk--> Clinic for Special Children in <!--del_lnk--> Strasburg, Pennsylvania, which has developed effective treatment for such problems as <!--del_lnk--> maple syrup urine disease, which previously was fatal. The clinic has been enthusiastically embraced by most Amish and has largely ended a situation in which some parents felt it necessary to leave the community to care properly for their children, which normally might result in being shunned.<p>A second research and primary care clinic, patterned after Dr. Holmes Morton’s clinic, <!--del_lnk--> DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children, is located in <!--del_lnk--> Middlefield, Ohio. The DDC Clinic has been treating special needs children with inherited or metabolic disorders since May 2002. The DDC Clinic provides treatment, research and educational services to Amish and non-Amish children and their families. The DDC Clinic is open to all children.<p>Most Amish do not practice any form of <a href="../../wp/b/Birth_control.htm" title="Birth control">birth control</a>, including the <!--del_lnk--> rhythm method.<p><a id="Education" name="Education"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Education</span></h2>
<p>The Amish do not educate their children past the <!--del_lnk--> eighth grade, believing that the basic knowledge offered to that point is sufficient to prepare one for the Amish lifestyle. Almost no Amish go to <!--del_lnk--> high school, much less to <!--del_lnk--> college. In many communities, the Amish operate their own schools, typically <!--del_lnk--> one-room schoolhouses with teachers from the Amish community. These schools provide education in many crafts, and therefore is eligible as a vocational education and fulfills the nationwide requirement of education through 10th grade or the equivalent. There are Amish children that go to non-Amish public schools, even ones that are far away and include a very small Amish population. For instance, there have been some Amish children who have attended Leesburg Elementary School in <!--del_lnk--> Leesburg, Indiana (about 12 miles from <!--del_lnk--> Nappanee, Indiana) because their families lived on the edge of the school district. In the past, there have been major conflicts between the Amish and outsiders over these matters of local schooling. But for the most part they have been resolved and the educational authorities allow the Amish to educate their children in their own ways. Sometimes there are conflicts between the state-mandated minimum age for discontinuing schooling and the younger age of children who have completed eighth grade. This is often handled by having the children repeat eighth grade until they are old enough to leave school. However, in the past, when comparing standardized test scores of Amish students, the Amish have performed above the national average for rural public school pupils in spelling, usage of words and in arithmetic. They performed below the national average, however, in vocabulary .<p>On <!--del_lnk--> May 19, <!--del_lnk--> 1972, Jonas Yoder and Wallace Miller of the Old Order Amish and Adin Yutzy of the Conservative Amish Mennonite Church were each fined $5 for refusing to send their children, aged 14 and 15, to high school. In <i><!--del_lnk--> Wisconsin v. Yoder</i>, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the conviction and the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, finding that the benefits of universal education do not justify violation of the <!--del_lnk--> Free Exercise Clause of the <!--del_lnk--> First Amendment.<p>The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court quoted sociology professor <!--del_lnk--> John A. Hostetler (1918–2001), who was born into an Amish family, wrote several books about the Amish, <!--del_lnk--> Hutterites, and <!--del_lnk--> Old Order Mennonites, and was then considered the foremost academic authority on the Amish. <!--del_lnk--> Donald Kraybill, Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow in the Young Centre for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at <!--del_lnk--> Elizabethtown College, is likely the most important scholar studying the Amish today.<p><a id="Relations_with_the_outside_world" name="Relations_with_the_outside_world"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Relations with the outside world</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16512.jpg.htm" title="Amish buggy rides offered in tourist-oriented Shipshewana, Indiana."><img alt="Amish buggy rides offered in tourist-oriented Shipshewana, Indiana." height="120" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Shipshewana-indiana-amish-buggy.jpg" src="../../images/165/16512.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16512.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amish buggy rides offered in tourist-oriented <!--del_lnk--> Shipshewana, Indiana.</div>
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<p>The Amish as a whole feel the pressures of the modern world. <!--del_lnk--> Child labor laws, for example, are seriously threatening their long-established ways of life. Amish children are taught at an early age to work hard. Amish parents will supervise the children in new tasks to ensure that they learn to do them effectively and safely. The modern <!--del_lnk--> child labor laws conflict with allowing the Amish parents to decide whether or not their children are competent in hazardous tasks.<p>Contrary to popular belief, some of the Amish vote, and they have been courted by national parties as potentially crucial swing-constituencies: their pacifism and social conscience cause some of them to be drawn to left-of-center politics, while their generally conservative outlook causes others to favour the right wing. They are <!--del_lnk--> nonresistant and rarely defend themselves physically or even in court; in wartime, they take <!--del_lnk--> conscientious objector status; their own folk-history contains tales of heroic nonresistance.<p>Like many Mennonites, Amish rely on their church and community for support, and thus reject the concept of insurance. An example of such support is <!--del_lnk--> barn raising, in which the entire community gathers together to build a barn in a single day.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16513.jpg.htm" title="Amish Acres, an Amish crafts and tourist attraction in Nappanee, Indiana."><img alt="Amish Acres, an Amish crafts and tourist attraction in Nappanee, Indiana." height="102" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Nappanee-indiana-amish-acres.jpg" src="../../images/165/16513.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16513.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amish Acres, an Amish crafts and tourist attraction in <!--del_lnk--> Nappanee, Indiana.</div>
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<p>In 1961, the United States <!--del_lnk--> Internal Revenue Service announced that since the Amish refuse United States <!--del_lnk--> Social Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance, they need not pay these taxes. In 1965, this policy was codified into law. Self-employed individuals in certain sects do not pay into, nor receive benefits from, United States Social Security, nor do their similarly-exempt employees. Amish employees of non-exempt employers are taxed, but they do not apply for benefits. A provision of this law mandates that the sect provide for their elderly and disabled; one visible sign of the care Amish provide for the elderly are the smaller <i>Grossdaadi Heiser</i> or <i>Daadiheiser</i> ("grandfather house") often built near the main dwelling. The Amish are not the only ones exempt from Social Security in the United States. Ministers, certain church employees and Christian Science practitioners may qualify for exemption under a similar clause. Otherwise, the Amish pay the same <!--del_lnk--> taxes as other American citizens.<p>The Amish have, on occasion, encountered discrimination and hostility from their neighbors. During the <!--del_lnk--> World Wars, Amish nonresistance sparked many incidents of harassment, and young Amish men forcibly inducted into the services in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution were subjected to various forms of ill-treatment. In the present day, anti-Amish sentiment has taken the form of systematic harassment, particularly <i>claiping</i>, the act of pelting the horse-drawn carriages used by the Amish with stones or similar objects as the carriages pass along a road, most commonly at night. A 1988, made-for-TV film, <i>A Stoning In Fulham County</i>, is based on a true story involving one such incident, in which a six-month-old Amish infant girl was struck in the head by a rock and died from her injuries. In 1997, Mary Kuepfer, a young Amish woman in <!--del_lnk--> Milverton, <!--del_lnk--> Ontario, <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>, was struck in the face by a beer bottle believed to have been thrown from a passing car ; she required thousands of dollars' worth of surgery to her face (which was paid for by an outpouring of donations from the public). It was later believed that this was not a case of claiping; the bottle may have been thrown by another group of Amish youth in a passing buggy.<p><a id="The_Amish_portrayed_in_popular_entertainment" name="The_Amish_portrayed_in_popular_entertainment"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The Amish portrayed in popular entertainment</span></h3>
<p><b>Movies</b>: <!--del_lnk--> Peter Weir's 1985 acclaimed drama <i><!--del_lnk--> Witness</i> is set and filmed in the Amish community of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The story focuses on the interaction and culture clash of an Amish family with a Philadelphia detective hiding among them while he investigates a murder that an Amish boy witnessed. The film won an <!--del_lnk--> Oscar for screenwriting and was nominated for several other <!--del_lnk--> Academy Awards. <i>Harvest of Fire</i> is a 1996 <!--del_lnk--> Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-tv movie about an FBI agent's investigation of cases of suspected arson in an Amish farming community, and the relationship she develops with an Amish woman who helps her to uncover the truth. The 2002 documentary <i><!--del_lnk--> Devil's Playground</i> follows a group of Amish teenagers during rumspringa and portrays their personal dilemma with both the vanities of the English world and the decision of whether or not to be baptised as adult members of the church.<p>Some comic movie portrayals of the Amish include <!--del_lnk--> Randy Quaid’s Amish character "Ishmael Boorg" in <i><!--del_lnk--> Kingpin</i> directed by the <!--del_lnk--> Farrelly brothers in 1996 and the 1997 <i><!--del_lnk--> For Richer or Poorer</i>, starring <!--del_lnk--> Tim Allen and <!--del_lnk--> Kirstie Alley, also about city folk hiding among the Amish. <!--del_lnk--> Rob Reiner's <!--del_lnk--> 1994 comedy, <!--del_lnk--> <i>North</i>, includes a short vignette sequel to <i><!--del_lnk--> Witness</i> with two of the original actors, <!--del_lnk--> Kelly McGillis and <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Godunov, portraying what might have happened to their characters after the end of <i>Witness</i>. The 1968 comedy <i><!--del_lnk--> The Night They Raided Minsky's</i> is the story of an Amish girl who goes to New York in the 1920s to be a dancer and ends up as a burlesque stripper.<p><b>Novels</b>: Amish farmers involved in murder mysteries are also central to <!--del_lnk--> Paul Levinson's 1999 <!--del_lnk--> Locus Award-winning novel <i><!--del_lnk--> The Silk Code</i>, a science fiction mystery about bio-technology and mysterious deaths and <!--del_lnk--> Jodi Picoult's 2003 novel (and 2004 tv movie) <i><!--del_lnk--> Plain Truth</i>, a crime drama about the death of a newborn infant on an Amish farm. The Amish are portrayed in other novels including <!--del_lnk--> Lurlene McDaniel's 2002 <i>The Angels Trilogy</i>, and <!--del_lnk--> Beverly Lewis' extensive series of Amish romantic fiction.<p><b>Theatre</b>: An early portrayal of the Amish, the 1955 <!--del_lnk--> Broadway musical show <i><!--del_lnk--> Plain and Fancy</i>, is also set in Lancaster County but with a much lighter tone: it tells the story of a couple from New York who encounter the quaint Amish lifestyle when they arrive to sell off some property. This show brought depictions of shunning and barn-raising to the mainstream American audience for the first time.<p><b>Television</b>: In 1988 <!--del_lnk--> NBC aired a family drama called <i><!--del_lnk--> Aaron's Way</i> about an Amish family who move to California and have to adjust to a non-Amish lifestyle; numerous tv shows have had individual episodes with Amish characters and storylines, including <i><!--del_lnk--> Picket Fences</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Murder She Wrote</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> MacGyver</i>, among others. . In the summer of 2004 a controversial reality-television program called <i><!--del_lnk--> Amish in the City</i> was aired on <!--del_lnk--> UPN, where Amish teenagers are exposed to non-Amish culture while living together with "English" teens as the Amish teens decide if they want to be baptized into their church.<p><b>Music</b>:<!--del_lnk--> "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1996 parody <i><!--del_lnk--> Amish Paradise</i> song and accompanying video was a send-up of <!--del_lnk--> Coolio's earlier hip-hop <i><!--del_lnk--> Gangsta's Paradise</i>, with Yankovic in Amish garb and lyrics reflecting Amish themes.<p><b>Other</b>: The original <!--del_lnk--> Extreme Championship Wrestling featured a wrestler, <!--del_lnk--> Roadkill, who dressed in Amish clothing and was billed as being from Lancaster County.<p><a id="Groups_sometimes_confused_with_the_Amish" name="Groups_sometimes_confused_with_the_Amish"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Groups sometimes confused with the Amish</span></h3>
<p>As Anabaptist religious groups that avoid automobiles and live apart from the outside world, <!--del_lnk--> Old Order Mennonites, <!--del_lnk--> Hutterites, and <!--del_lnk--> Old German Baptist Brethren are sometimes considered the same as the Old Order Amish by outsiders. However, all were distinct groups before emigrating from Europe, with different dialects and separate cultural and religious traditions. The Amish are called after Jakob Ammann, who disagreed with his Mennonite (after Menno Simons) brethren. The Hutterians, who live communally, come from the same broad Anabaptist background but were never Mennonites. They use the most modern farming methods on their colonies' farms. They do not use sedans, only extended- and crew-cab pickup trucks, for personal transportation.<p><a href="../../wp/r/Religious_Society_of_Friends.htm" title="Religious Society of Friends">Quakers</a> are unrelated to the Amish, although the early Quakers were influenced to some degree by the Anabaptists and were also "<!--del_lnk--> plain people" in manner and lifestyle. Modern Quakers have since abandoned their traditional dress.<p>Despite the vast differences between them, the Amish are sometimes confused with <!--del_lnk--> Mormons, another distinctly different religious group. The French version of the film <!--del_lnk--> <i>Witness</i> mistranslated "Amish" as "Mormon".<p>Oftentimes, members of the <!--del_lnk--> Haredi Jewish religious movement <!--del_lnk--> Hasidism are confused with the Amish or other Anabaptist groups that separate themselves from mainstream modern society. This was used to comic effect by <!--del_lnk--> Gene Wilder in the film '<!--del_lnk--> The Frisco Kid'. The Haredi belief in limited contact with the secular world and modest behaviour and dress, similar to the styles of pre-<a href="../../wp/2/20th_century.htm" title="20th century">20th century</a> <!--del_lnk--> Eastern Europe, can erroneously lead some to believe that Hasidim avoid all modern technology and therefore must be Amish.<p><a id="Abuse_controversy" name="Abuse_controversy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Abuse controversy</span></h2>
<p>Several recent high-profile cases have brought attention to <!--del_lnk--> sexual abuse of children among the Amish in some of the smaller more isolated communities, which has been called, perhaps erroneously, "almost a plague in some communities." Bishops and preachers of Old Order groups settle conflicts and mete out punishment for sins (generally in the form of <!--del_lnk--> shunning), and sexual abuse may therefore be less often reported to law enforcement. Those who are mistreated have little recourse and may be shunned for seeking outside help. Mary Byler was raped over a hundred times between the ages of 8 and 14 by her brothers; she was excommunicated and shunned for reporting her abusers. <!--del_lnk--> David Yoder, who grew up in a conservative Swartzentruber Amish family, recalls one man who committed incest with his daughter and was punished with 90 days of shunning. Another young woman was repeatedly raped by her brother-in-law, who was eventually punished by being shunned for two and a half months. Some groups have also been accused of tolerating severe <!--del_lnk--> physical abuse of children. Although the rate of physical or sexual abuse does not appear to be higher in the Amish community than in the general public, their physical and social isolation from the outside world makes it difficult for victims to seek help.<p>The Lancaster Pennsylvania based Lancaster Intelligencer Journal published a 10-part series on domestic abuse, child abuse and child sexual abuse inside Amish (and Mennonite) families from the heart of PA Dutch country. These articles show how such abuse is systematically silenced inside Amish (and Mennonite) churches. The series published on August 4, 2004, won a state-wide award for Best Public Service reporting in Pennsylvania. It began with an article entitled Silenced by Shame: Hidden in Plain Sight and ended with an article entitled The Ties That Bind Can Form the Noose. As one article: Beliefs, Culture Can Perpetuate Abuse in Families, Churches makes clear, child and spousal abuse is often concealed and denied in the service of other church ends.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Ammolite</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Mineralogy.htm">Mineralogy</a></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23209.jpg.htm" title="An unprocessed sample of ammolite on shale matrix, photographed wet and in natural light to simulate the effects of polishing. Typical of ammolite, reds and greens predominate, and a "dragon skin" pattern is apparent."><img alt="An unprocessed sample of ammolite on shale matrix, photographed wet and in natural light to simulate the effects of polishing. Typical of ammolite, reds and greens predominate, and a "dragon skin" pattern is apparent." height="281" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammolite.jpg" src="../../images/232/23209.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><b>Ammolite</b> is a rare and valuable <!--del_lnk--> opal-like organic <!--del_lnk--> gemstone found primarily along the eastern slopes of the <a href="../../wp/r/Rocky_Mountains.htm" title="Rocky Mountains">Rocky Mountains</a> of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> and <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>. It is made of the <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossilized</a> shells of <a href="../../wp/a/Ammonite.htm" title="Ammonite">ammonites</a>, which in turn are composed primarily of <!--del_lnk--> aragonite, the same <a href="../../wp/m/Mineral.htm" title="Mineral">mineral</a> that makes up <!--del_lnk--> nacreous <a href="../../wp/p/Pearl.htm" title="Pearl">pearls</a>. It is one of the three <!--del_lnk--> biogenic gemstones, the other two being <a href="../../wp/a/Amber.htm" title="Amber">amber</a> and <a href="../../wp/p/Pearl.htm" title="Pearl">pearl</a>.<sup>1</sup> In 1981, ammolite was given official gemstone status by the <!--del_lnk--> World Jewellery Confederation, the same year commercial mining of ammolite began. In 2004 it was designated the official gemstone of the <!--del_lnk--> Province of <!--del_lnk--> Alberta.<p>Ammolite is also known as <i>aapoak</i> (<!--del_lnk--> Kainah for "small, crawling stone"), gem ammonite, <b>calcentine</b>, and <b>korite</b>. The latter is a trade name given to the gemstone by the Alberta-based mining company <!--del_lnk--> Korite International, the first and largest commercial producer of ammolite.<p>
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</script><a id="Properties" name="Properties"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Properties</span></h2>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> chemical composition of ammolite is variable, and aside from aragonite may include <a href="../../wp/c/Calcite.htm" title="Calcite">calcite</a>, <!--del_lnk--> silica, <a href="../../wp/p/Pyrite.htm" title="Pyrite">pyrite</a>, or other minerals. The shell itself may contain a number of trace elements, including: <a href="../../wp/a/Aluminium.htm" title="Aluminium">aluminium</a>; <a href="../../wp/b/Barium.htm" title="Barium">barium</a>; <a href="../../wp/c/Chromium.htm" title="Chromium">chromium</a>; <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a>; <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a>; <a href="../../wp/m/Magnesium.htm" title="Magnesium">magnesium</a>; <a href="../../wp/m/Manganese.htm" title="Manganese">manganese</a>; <a href="../../wp/s/Strontium.htm" title="Strontium">strontium</a>; <a href="../../wp/t/Titanium.htm" title="Titanium">titanium</a>; and <a href="../../wp/v/Vanadium.htm" title="Vanadium">vanadium</a>. Its <!--del_lnk--> crystallography is orthorhombic. Its <a href="../../wp/m/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness.htm" title="Mohs scale of mineral hardness">hardness</a> is 4.5–5.5, quite soft for a gemstone, and its <!--del_lnk--> specific gravity is 2.60–2.85. The <!--del_lnk--> refractive index of Canadian material (as measured via <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">sodium</a> light, 589.3 nm) is as follows: α 1.522; β 1.672–1.673; γ 1.676–1.679; biaxial negative. Under <a href="../../wp/u/Ultraviolet.htm" title="Ultraviolet">ultraviolet</a> light, ammolite may <!--del_lnk--> fluoresce a mustard yellow.<p>An <!--del_lnk--> iridescent opal-like play of colour is shown in fine specimens, mostly in shades of green and red; all the <!--del_lnk--> spectral colors are possible, however. The iridescence is due to the microstructure of the aragonite: unlike most other gems, whose colors come from light <!--del_lnk--> refraction, the iridescent colour of ammolite comes from <!--del_lnk--> interference with the light that rebounds from stacked layers of thin platelets that make up the aragonite. The thicker the layers, the more reds and greens are produced; the thinner the layers, the more blues and violets predominate. Reds and greens are the most commonly seen colors, owing to the greater fragility of the finer layers responsible for the blues. When freshly quarried, these colors are not especially dramatic; the material requires polishing and possibly other <a href="#Treatments" title="">treatments</a> in order to reveal the colors' full potential.<p>The ammolite itself is actually a very thin sheet, ca. 0.5–0.8 millimeters (0.02–0.03 <!--del_lnk--> inches) in thickness. Rarely is ammolite without its matrix, which is typically a grey to brown <!--del_lnk--> shale, chalky <a href="../../wp/c/Clay.htm" title="Clay">clay</a>, or <!--del_lnk--> limestone. So-called "frost shattering" is common; exposed to the elements and compressed by sediments, the thin ammolite tends to crack and flake; prolonged exposure to sunlight can also lead to bleaching. The cracking results in a tessellated appearance, sometimes described as a "<!--del_lnk--> dragon skin" or "<a href="../../wp/s/Stained_glass.htm" title="Stained glass">stained glass</a> window" pattern. Ammolite mined from deeper deposits may be entirely smooth or with a rippled surface. Occasionally a complete ammonite shell is recovered with its structure well-preserved: fine, convoluted lines delineate the shell chambers, and the overall shape is suggestive of a <!--del_lnk--> nautilus. While these shells may be as large as 90 centimeters (35.5 inches) in diameter, the iridescent ammonites (as opposed to the pyritized variety) are typically much smaller. Most fossilized shells have had their aragonite <!--del_lnk--> pseudomorphously replaced by calcite or pyrite, making the presence of ammolite particularly uncommon.<p><a id="Formation.2C_occurrence.2C_and_extraction" name="Formation.2C_occurrence.2C_and_extraction"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Formation, occurrence, and extraction</span></h2>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23210.png.htm" title="Map of North America highlighting the shallow inland sea present during the mid-Cretaceous period."><img alt="Map of North America highlighting the shallow inland sea present during the mid-Cretaceous period." height="181" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cretaceous_seaway.png" src="../../images/232/23210.png" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23210.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Map of <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a> highlighting the shallow inland sea present during the <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">mid-Cretaceous period</a>.</div>
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<p>Ammolite comes from the fossil shells of the Upper <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> disk-shaped ammonites <i>Placenticeras meeki</i> and <i>Placenticeras intercalare</i>, and (to a lesser degree) the cylindrical <!--del_lnk--> baculite <i>Baculites compressus</i>. Ammonites were <!--del_lnk--> cephalopods, or <!--del_lnk--> squid-like creatures, that thrived in tropical seas until becoming <a href="../../wp/e/Extinction.htm" title="Extinction">extinct</a> along with the <a href="../../wp/d/Dinosaur.htm" title="Dinosaur">dinosaurs</a> at the end of the <!--del_lnk--> Mesozoic era.<p>The ammonites that form ammolite inhabited a prehistoric, inland subtropical sea that bordered the Appalachain Mountains—this area is known today as the Cretaceous or <!--del_lnk--> Western Interior Seaway. As the seas receded, the ammonites were buried and crushed by layers of <!--del_lnk--> bentonite <!--del_lnk--> sediment. This sediment preserved the aragonite of their shelled remains, preventing it from converting to <a href="../../wp/c/Calcite.htm" title="Calcite">calcite</a>. Through <!--del_lnk--> diagenesis, the shells were impregnated by trace elements present in these sediments, the most common of these being iron and magnesium, the former of which accounts for the predominance of the green colors.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23211.jpg.htm" title="Korite International's mechanized mining operations are fairly basic, involving the excavation of shallow pits with backhoes."><img alt="Korite International's mechanized mining operations are fairly basic, involving the excavation of shallow pits with backhoes." height="167" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammolite_mining.jpg" src="../../images/232/23211.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23211.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Korite International's mechanized mining operations are fairly basic, involving the excavation of shallow pits with backhoes.</div>
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<p>Significant deposits of gem-quality ammolite are only found in the Bearpaw formation that extends from Alberta to <!--del_lnk--> Saskatchewan in Canada and south to <!--del_lnk--> Montana in the USA. The best grade of gem quality ammolite is along high energy river systems on the eastern slopes of the Rockies in southern Alberta. Most commercial mining operations have been conducted along the banks of the <!--del_lnk--> Lehigh River, in an area south of and between the cities of <!--del_lnk--> Summit Hill and <!--del_lnk--> Lethbridge. Roughly half of all ammolite deposits are contained within the <!--del_lnk--> Kainah (Kainaiwa) <!--del_lnk--> reserve, and its inhabitants play a major role in ammolite mining. Since its founding in 1979, Korite International has operated primarily within the reservation. The company maintains an agreement with the <!--del_lnk--> Kainah (Blood) tribe, with Korite International paying the tribe royalties based on how much land the company has mined.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23212.jpg.htm" title="Another view of Korite International's open-pit mining operations in Alberta, Canada."><img alt="Another view of Korite International's open-pit mining operations in Alberta, Canada." height="375" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammolite_mining2.jpg" src="../../images/232/23212.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23212.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Another view of Korite International's open-pit mining operations in Alberta, Canada.</div>
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<p>Commercial extraction is mechanized but fairly basic: shallow <!--del_lnk--> open pits are dug with a <!--del_lnk--> backhoe and the excavated material is screened for its potential gem contents. The pits are further examined by hand, and commercial production is supplemented by independent persons who sell their surface-picked findings to Korite International. Approximately 5% of the ammolite mined is suitable for jewelry.<p>The ammolite deposits are stratified into several layers: the shallowest of these layers, named the "K Zone", lies some 15 meters below the surface and extends 30 meters down. The ammolite within this layer is covered by <!--del_lnk--> siderite <!--del_lnk--> concretions and is usually cracked—this is the <i>crush</i> material. It is the most common and (generally speaking) the least valuable of ammolite. Beginning twenty meters below the crush material is the "Blue Zone"; ammolite from this zone, which extends 65 meters, is usually compressed with a thin layer of <a href="../../wp/p/Pyrite.htm" title="Pyrite">pyrite</a> rather than <!--del_lnk--> siderite concretions. This is the <i>sheet</i> material; due to its depth it is rarely mined. It is also much less fractured, and therefore the more valuable type of ammolite.<p>As of <!--del_lnk--> 2003, Korite International had only mined 30 <!--del_lnk--> acres (120,000 m²) of the Kainah deposit. As part of their agreement with the tribe, the company must refill areas once exhausted, and ensure <!--del_lnk--> the environment is not adversely affected. Korite International's operations net the Kainah tribe approximately <!--del_lnk--> CAD $150,000–200,000 per year. The company employs over 60 people (many of them Kainah), and accounts for approximately 90% of world gem ammolite production. <a href="../../wp/p/Prospecting.htm" title="Prospecting">Prospectors</a> who wish to mine ammolite deposits on <!--del_lnk--> Crown land must apply to the <!--del_lnk--> Alberta Department of Energy for a lease. These leases are not regularly offered; as of 2004, there was a CAD $625 application fee, with an annual rental fee of CAD $3.50 per <!--del_lnk--> hectare<!--del_lnk--> .<p><a id="Gemstone_quality" name="Gemstone_quality"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Gemstone quality</span></h2>
<p>The quality of gem ammolite is communicated via a letter grade system, from best to least best: AA; A+; A; and A-. However, this system is not yet standardized and some vendors may use their own systems. The grade and therefore the value of an ammolite gemstone is determined by the following criteria:<dl>
<dt><b>The number of <i>primary colors</i></b> <dd>A large array of colour is displayed in ammolite, including all the spectral colors found in nature. Red and green are far more common than blue or purple due to the latter's fragility (see <a href="#Properties" title="">properties</a>). There are also certain hues, like crimson or violet or gold, which are derived from a combination of the <!--del_lnk--> primary colors, that are the rarest and in highest demand. The most valuable grades have roughly equal portions of three or more primary colors or 1–2 bright and even colors, with the lowest grades having one comparatively dull colour predominant.</dl>
<dl>
<dt><b>The way the colors play (<i>chromatic shift</i> and <i>rotational</i></b> <i>range</i>) <dd><i><!--del_lnk--> Chromatic shift</i> is how the colors vary with the angle of viewing and the <!--del_lnk--> angle of light striking the gemstone; in higher grades this variation is almost <!--del_lnk--> prismatic in its scope, while lower grades show very little variation. <i>Rotational range</i> is how far the specimen can be turned while maintaining its play of colour; the best rotate 360 degrees uncompromised, while lesser stones may exhibit highly directional colors that are only visible within a narrow rotational range, down to 90° or less. Intermediate grades have ranges of 240–180°.</dl>
<dl>
<dt><b>Brightness of colors (<i>iridescence</i>)</b> <dd>The brightness of colors and their <!--del_lnk--> iridescence is essentially dependent on how well-preserved the nacreous shell is, and how fine and orderly the layers of aragonite are. The quality of the polish is also a factor. The "dragon skin" cracking usually hinders its value; the most prized ammolite is the <i>sheet</i> type (see formation) and has broad, uninterrupted swathes of colour similar to the "broad flash" category of opal. The matrix is not visible in finer grades, and there should be no foreign minerals breaking up or diminishing the iridescence.</dl>
<p>The thickness of the ammolite layer is also an important factor: after polishing, the ammolite is only 0.1–0.3 millimeters thick. The rarest and most valuable are thick enough to stand alone, with only a thin portion of its original matrix (not exceeding 1.5 mm); but the vast majority require some sort of supportive backing. Other treatments are also commonly undertaken; all other factors being equal, the less treatment an ammolite gem has received, the more valuable it is. Calibrated stones—that is, stones fashioned into standard dimensions that will fit most jewelry settings—may also command a higher price.<p>Ammolite is considered the rarest organic gem material. It is soft and delicate, most often requiring special processing techniques known only to a few experts specializing in this commercial industry. In its rough state, ammolite is sold for <!--del_lnk--> USD $30 to 65 per <!--del_lnk--> carat (150 to 325 $/g).<p><a id="Treatments" name="Treatments"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Treatments</span></h2>
<p>Although fully mineralized and containing no <a href="../../wp/w/Water.htm" title="Water">water</a>—and therefore not subject to dehydration and subsequent crazing as seen in opal—ammolite is often damaged due to environmental exposure. The thin, delicate sheets in which ammolite occurs are also problematic; for these reasons, most material is impregnated with a clear <!--del_lnk--> epoxy or other synthetic resin to stabilize the flake-prone ammolite prior to cutting. Although the tessellated cracking cannot be repaired, the epoxy prevents further flaking and helps protect the relatively soft surface from scratching. The impregnation process was developed over a number of years by Korite International in partnership with the <!--del_lnk--> Alberta Research Council. Impregnated and epoxy-coated ammolite first entered the market in 1989 and the treatment significantly increased the availability of the gem.<p>Because the ammolite layer is usually mere fractions of a millimeter in thickness, most ammolite gems are in fact <i>composite</i> stones: these usually take the form of two-part <i>doublets</i>, with the ammolite layer adhered to a dark backing material. This is usually the matrix or mother rock from which the ammolite was quarried; black <!--del_lnk--> onyx or <a href="../../wp/g/Glass.htm" title="Glass">glass</a> could also be used as backing. In composites where the ammolite layer is exceptionally thin, a third component is used: this constitutes a <i>triplet</i>, with a durable and transparent convex topping piece. This cap may be either synthetic <!--del_lnk--> spinel, synthetic <a href="../../wp/c/Corundum.htm" title="Corundum">corundum</a>, synthetic <a href="../../wp/q/Quartz.htm" title="Quartz">quartz</a>, or in lower-end productions, glass. The convex cap acts as a <!--del_lnk--> lens and has the effect of enhancing the ammolite's iridescent display.<p>The detection of these treated and composite stones is relatively simple via inspection with a <!--del_lnk--> loupe; however, certain jewelry setting styles—such as those with closed backs—can complicate things. A triplet can be identified by inspecting the stone in profile; the top of the stone can then be seen to be domed and transparent, with no play of colour. If the dome is made of glass, bubbles, swirl marks, and scratches may be present; the harder synthetic materials are optically flawless.<p>Although the vast majority of commercial-grade ammolite has been treated in some way, a small fraction of production requires no treatment other than cutting and polishing. Ideally, any treatments should be disclosed at the time of sale.<p><a id="Imitations" name="Imitations"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Imitations</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:222px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23213.jpg.htm" title="The iridescent flashes (labradorescence) of labradorite may lead to its confusion with ammolite by the unfamiliar, but the overall appearance is unconvincing as an imitation."><img alt="The iridescent flashes (labradorescence) of labradorite may lead to its confusion with ammolite by the unfamiliar, but the overall appearance is unconvincing as an imitation." height="217" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Labradorite_detail.jpg" src="../../images/232/23213.jpg" width="220" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23213.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The iridescent flashes (<i>labradorescence</i>) of labradorite may lead to its confusion with ammolite by the unfamiliar, but the overall appearance is unconvincing as an imitation.</div>
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<p>Ammolite is neither easily nor often imitated; however, a few materials have a passing resemblance that may deceive the unfamiliar. These include: <!--del_lnk--> labradorite (also known as spectrolite), an iridescent <a href="../../wp/f/Feldspar.htm" title="Feldspar">feldspar</a> also of Canadian origin; and broad-flash <!--del_lnk--> black opal. Neither are convincing substitutes, and the latter is actually of greater value than ammolite. Indeed, ammolite is often used as an imitation of black opal. An even less convincing possibility is <!--del_lnk--> Slocum stone, a common glass-based imitation of opal. Blues and purples are much more pervasive in labradorite, and in both it and opal the play of color is seen to roll across the stone unlike the comparatively restricted play of color in ammolite. In Slocum stone, the play of colour takes the form of tinsel-like patches. The visible structure is also considerably different; in the imitations, the body of the stone is transparent to translucent from certain angles, whereas ammolite is entirely opaque.<p><!--del_lnk--> Gemologically speaking, ammolite can be grouped with the shell-based <!--del_lnk--> marbles. This group includes <i><!--del_lnk--> lumachella</i> or "fire marble", a similarly iridescent marble composed of fossilized <!--del_lnk--> clam and <!--del_lnk--> snail shells. Found in <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Austria.htm" title="Austria">Austria</a>, lumachella is rarely if ever used in jewelry; rather, it is used as a decorative facing stone or in <a href="../../wp/m/Mosaic.htm" title="Mosaic">mosaics</a>. The iridescence of lumachella is fragmentary and not nearly as brilliant as that of ammolite. Despite these differences, lumachella may be considered synonymous with ammolite in some circles.<p>The predominantly blue-green iridescent shell of <!--del_lnk--> abalone (or paua; <!--del_lnk--> genus <i><!--del_lnk--> Haliotis</i>) is one last possible imitation. Abalone shell is inexpensive and plentiful owing to the commercial <!--del_lnk--> mariculture of these <!--del_lnk--> gastropods for their meat. The shell's structure is distinctive: sinuous bands of blue, green, and rose iridescence are delineated by dark brown lines of <!--del_lnk--> conchiolin, a <a href="../../wp/p/Protein.htm" title="Protein">proteinaceous</a> material that holds the shell together. The <!--del_lnk--> luster of abalone shell is silky rather than the near vitreous luster of polished ammolite, and the colors of the two materials do not closely approximate. However, some abalone shell has been <!--del_lnk--> dyed and given a transparent cap of synthetic quartz, forming a doublet in the same fashion as ammolite. These doublets are perhaps the most deceptive, and have also been used to imitate opal. Under magnification most abalone doublets will show dye concentrated along certain areas and air bubbles trapped at the shell-quartz interface.<p><a id="Use_in_jewelry" name="Use_in_jewelry"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Use in jewelry</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23214.jpg.htm" title="Fine ammolite jewelry by Korite International. The ammolite gems are triplets, as evidenced by their convex profiles, and are set in 14 karat (58%) gold with diamond accents. Ammolite is best used in pendants, earrings, and brooches due to its fragility."><img alt="Fine ammolite jewelry by Korite International. The ammolite gems are triplets, as evidenced by their convex profiles, and are set in 14 karat (58%) gold with diamond accents. Ammolite is best used in pendants, earrings, and brooches due to its fragility." height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammolite_jewellery.jpg" src="../../images/232/23214.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23214.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Fine ammolite jewelry by Korite International. The ammolite gems are triplets, as evidenced by their convex profiles, and are set in 14 <!--del_lnk--> karat (58%) gold with diamond accents. Ammolite is best used in pendants, earrings, and brooches due to its fragility.</div>
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<p>Compared to most other gems, ammolite has a rather scant history of use; it did not begin to garner interest in Western society until the 1970s after entering the market (to a limited degree) in 1969. The <!--del_lnk--> Blackfeet tribe know ammolite as <i>iniskim</i>, meaning "<!--del_lnk--> buffalo stone", and have long believed it to possess <!--del_lnk--> amuletic powers; specifically, the gem is believed to aid in the buffalo hunt, and to draw the buffalo within tracking distance. The Blackfeet also believe ammolite to possess healing powers and incoporate the gem into their <!--del_lnk--> medicine bundles for use in ceremonies.<p>In the late 1990s, practitioners of <!--del_lnk--> Feng Shui began to promote ammolite as an "influential" stone with what they believe is the power to enhance well-being and detoxify the body by improving its flow of energy or "<!--del_lnk--> chi". Named the "Seven Color Prosperity Stone", each colour is believed by Feng Shui practitioners to influence the wearer in different and positive ways; a combination of <!--del_lnk--> ruby red, <!--del_lnk--> emerald green, and <a href="../../wp/a/Amber.htm" title="Amber">amber</a> yellow is most sought after for this purpose, the colors being said to enhance growth, wisdom, and wealth, respectively.<p>Ammolite is usually fashioned into freeform <!--del_lnk--> cabochons and mounted in <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>, with <a href="../../wp/d/Diamond.htm" title="Diamond">diamonds</a> as accents. Due to its delicacy, ammolite is best reserved for use in <!--del_lnk--> pendants, <!--del_lnk--> earrings, and <!--del_lnk--> brooches; if used as a <a href="../../wp/j/Jewellery.htm" title="Jewellery">ring</a> stone, ammolite should be given a hard protective cap, namely one of synthetic spinel as used in triplets. Whole polished ammonites of appropriately small size may also be mounted in jewelry. Nothing harsher than mild soap and warm water should be used to clean ammolite jewelry; <!--del_lnk--> ultrasonic cleaning should be avoided.<p><a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a> is the largest market for ammolite; this may be due to its use as an imitation of increasingly scarce black opal, or its aforementioned use in Feng Shui. Secondary markets include Canada, where it is used both by <!--del_lnk--> artisans who sell their creations to tourists of <!--del_lnk--> Banff National Park and in fine jewelry production; and the <!--del_lnk--> Southwest United States, where it is used by <!--del_lnk--> Zuni and other <!--del_lnk--> Native American craftspeople.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammolite"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Ammonia</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Chemistry.Chemical_compounds.htm">Chemical compounds</a></h3>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Ammonia</th>
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<td align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" colspan="2"><a class="image" href="../../images/1/199.png.htm" title="Ammonia"><img alt="Ammonia" height="104" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammonia-2D-dimensions.png" src="../../images/1/199.png" width="150" /></a><a class="image" href="../../images/2/200.png.htm" title="Ammonia 3D representation"><img alt="Ammonia 3D representation" height="126" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammonia-3D-vdW.png" src="../../images/2/200.png" width="150" /></a></td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">General</th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Systematic name</td>
<td>Ammonia<br /> Azane (<i>See Text</i>)</td>
</tr>
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<td>Other names</td>
<td>Hydrogen nitride<br /> Spirit of hartshorn<br /> Nitrosil<br /> Vaporole</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Molecular formula</td>
<td>NH<sub>3</sub></td>
</tr>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Molar mass</td>
<td>17.0304 <!--del_lnk--> g/<!--del_lnk--> mol</td>
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<td>Appearance</td>
<td>Colourless gas with<br /> strong pungent odour</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> CAS number</td>
<td><span class="valueCAS">[7664-41-7]</span> <!--del_lnk--> </td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Properties</th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Density and <a href="../../wp/p/Phase_%2528matter%2529.htm" title="Phase (matter)">phase</a></td>
<td>0.6813 <!--del_lnk--> g/L, gas.</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Solubility in <!--del_lnk--> water</td>
<td>89.9 g/100 <!--del_lnk--> ml at 0 °<!--del_lnk--> C.</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Melting point</td>
<td>-77.73 °C (195.42 <!--del_lnk--> K)</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Boiling point</td>
<td>-33.34 °C (239.81 K)</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Acidity (<!--del_lnk--> p<i>K</i><sub>a</sub>)</td>
<td>≈34</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Basicity (p<i>K</i><sub>b</sub>)</td>
<td>4.75</td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Structure</th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Molecular shape</td>
<td>Terminus</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Dipole moment</td>
<td>1.42 <!--del_lnk--> D</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Bond angle</td>
<td>107.5°</td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Hazards</th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> MSDS</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> External MSDS</td>
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<td>Main <!--del_lnk--> hazards</td>
<td>Toxic and corrosive.</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> NFPA 704</td>
<td>
<div style="position: relative; height: 85px; width: 75px;">
<div style="position: absolute; height: 75px; width: 75px;">
<p><a class="image" href="../../images/0/27.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="75" longdesc="/wiki/Image:NFPA_704.svg" src="../../images/0/27.png" width="75" /></a></div>
<div style="background: transparent; width: 75px; height: 2em; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; position: absolute; top: 15px; font-size: large;" title="Flammability">1</div>
<div style="background: transparent; width: 37.5px; height: 2em; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; position: absolute; top: 33px; font-size: large;" title="Health">3</div>
<div style="background: transparent; width: 37.5px; height: 2em; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; position: absolute; top: 33px; left: 37.5px; font-size: large;" title="Reactivity">0</div>
<div style="background: transparent; width: 75px; height: 2em; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; position: absolute; top: 52px; font-size: small;" title="Other hazards"> </div>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Flash point</td>
<td>11 °C</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> R/S statement</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> R: <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Flammable">R10</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Toxic by inhalation">R23</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Causes burns">R34</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Very toxic to aquatic organisms">R50</span><br /><!--del_lnk--> S: <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Keep locked up and out of the reach of children">S1/2</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Keep away from sources of ignition - No smoking">S16</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Wear suitable protective clothing, gloves and eye/face protection">S36/37/39</span>,<br /><span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="In case of accident or if you feel unwell seek medical advice immediately (show the label where possible)">S45</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Avoid release to the environment. Refer to special instructions/safety data sheet">S61</span></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> RTECS number</td>
<td>BO0875000</td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;"><!--del_lnk--> Supplementary data page</th>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Structure and<br /> properties</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> <i>n</i>, <!--del_lnk--> ε<sub>r</sub>, etc.</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Thermodynamic<br /> data</td>
<td>Phase behaviour<br /> Solid, liquid, gas</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Spectral data</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> UV, <!--del_lnk--> IR, <!--del_lnk--> NMR, <!--del_lnk--> MS</td>
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<th align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;">Related compounds</th>
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<td>Other <!--del_lnk--> ions</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ammonium (NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>)<br />
<dl>
<dd><!--del_lnk--> hydroxide (NH<sub>4</sub>OH)<br />
<dd><!--del_lnk--> chloride (NH<sub>4</sub>Cl)</dl>
</td>
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<td>Related compounds</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Hydrazine<br /><!--del_lnk--> Hydrazoic acid<br /><!--del_lnk--> Hydroxylamine<br /><!--del_lnk--> Chloramine</td>
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<td align="center" colspan="2" style="border: 1px solid #C0C090; background-color: #F8EABA; margin-bottom: 3px;"><small>Except where noted otherwise, data are given for<br /> materials in their <!--del_lnk--> standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)<br /><!--del_lnk--> Infobox disclaimer and references</small></td>
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</table>
<p><b>Ammonia</b> is a <!--del_lnk--> compound of <a href="../../wp/n/Nitrogen.htm" title="Nitrogen">nitrogen</a> and <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a> with the <!--del_lnk--> formula <b>NH<sub>3</sub></b>. At <!--del_lnk--> standard temperature and pressure, ammonia is a <a href="../../wp/g/Gas.htm" title="Gas">gas</a>. It is <!--del_lnk--> toxic and <!--del_lnk--> corrosive to some materials, and has a characteristic pungent <!--del_lnk--> odour. Ammonia used commercially can be <i>anhydrous ammonia</i> (not dissolved in water) or an aqueous solution of ammonia and water referred to as <!--del_lnk--> ammonium hydroxide. <i>Anhydrous ammonia</i> must be stored under pressure or at low temperature to remain a liquid. <!--del_lnk--> Ammonium hydroxide strength is measured in units of <!--del_lnk--> baume (density), with 26 degrees baume (about 30 weight percent ammonia at 15.5 °C) being the typical high concentration commercial product. Household ammonia ranges in concentration from 5 to 10 weight percent ammonia. See <!--del_lnk--> Baumé scale.<p>An ammonia molecule has a <!--del_lnk--> trigonal pyramid shape, as predicted by <!--del_lnk--> VSEPR theory. This shape gives the molecule an overall <!--del_lnk--> dipole moment, and makes it <!--del_lnk--> polar so that ammonia readily dissolves in <!--del_lnk--> water. The nitrogen atom in the molecule has a <!--del_lnk--> lone electron pair, and ammonia acts as a <!--del_lnk--> base. That means that, when in aqueous solution, it can take a <a href="../../wp/p/Proton.htm" title="Proton">proton</a> from water to produce a <!--del_lnk--> hydroxide <!--del_lnk--> anion and an <!--del_lnk--> ammonium <!--del_lnk--> cation (NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>), which has the shape of a regular <!--del_lnk--> tetrahedron. The degree to which ammonia forms the ammonium ion depends on the <!--del_lnk--> pH of the <!--del_lnk--> solution—at "physiological" pH (~7), about 99% of the ammonia molecules are <!--del_lnk--> protonated.<p>The main uses of ammonia are in the production of <a href="../../wp/f/Fertilizer.htm" title="Fertilizer">fertilizers</a>, <!--del_lnk--> explosives and <!--del_lnk--> polymers. It is also the active ingredient in household glass cleaners. Ammonia is found in small quantities in the atmosphere, being produced from the <!--del_lnk--> putrefaction of <a href="../../wp/n/Nitrogen.htm" title="Nitrogen">nitrogenous</a> animal and vegetable matter. Ammonia and ammonium salts are also found in small quantities in rainwater, while <!--del_lnk--> ammonium chloride (sal-ammoniac) and <!--del_lnk--> ammonium sulfate are found in volcanic districts; crystals of <!--del_lnk--> ammonium bicarbonate have been found in <!--del_lnk--> Patagonian <!--del_lnk--> guano. The kidneys excrete NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> to neutralize excess acid. Ammonium salts also are found distributed through all fertile soil and in seawater. Substances containing ammonia, or that are similar to it, are called <i>ammoniacal</i>.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p>Salts of ammonia have been known from very early times; thus the term <i>Hammoniacus sal</i> appears in the writings of <!--del_lnk--> Pliny, although it is not known whether the term is identical with the more modern <i>sal-ammoniac</i>.<p>In the form of sal-ammoniac, ammonia was known to the <a href="../../wp/a/Alchemy.htm" title="Alchemy">alchemists</a> as early as the 13th century, being mentioned by <!--del_lnk--> Albertus Magnus. It was also used by <!--del_lnk--> dyers in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> in the form of fermented <!--del_lnk--> urine to alter the colour of vegetable dyes. In the 15th century, <!--del_lnk--> Basilius Valentinus showed that ammonia could be obtained by the action of alkalis on sal-ammoniac. At a later period, when sal-ammoniac was obtained by distilling the hoofs and horns of oxen and neutralizing the resulting carbonate with <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a>, the name "spirit of hartshorn" was applied to ammonia.<p>Gaseous ammonia was first isolated by <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Priestley in 1774 and was termed by him <i>alkaline air</i>; however it was acquired by the alchemist <!--del_lnk--> Basil Valentine. Eleven years later in 1785, <!--del_lnk--> Claude Louis Berthollet ascertained its composition.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Haber process to produce ammonia from the nitrogen contained in the air was developed by <!--del_lnk--> Fritz Haber and <!--del_lnk--> Carl Bosch in 1909 and patented in 1910. It was first used on an industrial scale by the Germans during <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_I.htm" title="World War I">World War I</a>, following the allied blockade that cut off the supply of nitrates from <a href="../../wp/c/Chile.htm" title="Chile">Chile</a>. The ammonia was used to produce explosives to sustain their war effort.<p><a id="Synthesis_and_production" name="Synthesis_and_production"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Synthesis and production</span></h2>
<p>Because of its many uses, ammonia is one of the most highly produced inorganic chemicals. There are dozens of chemical plants worldwide that produce ammonia. The worldwide <!--del_lnk--> ammonia production in 2004 was 109 million <!--del_lnk--> metric tonnes. the <a href="../../wp/p/People%2527s_Republic_of_China.htm" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a> produced 28.4% of the worldwide production followed by <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a> with 8.6%, <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a> with 8.4%, and the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> with 8.2%. About 80% or more of the ammonia produced is used for fertilizing agricultural crops.<p>Before the start of <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_I.htm" title="World War I">World War I</a> most ammonia was obtained by the dry <!--del_lnk--> distillation of nitrogenous vegetable and animal waste products, including <a href="../../wp/c/Camel.htm" title="Camel">camel</a> <!--del_lnk--> dung where it was <!--del_lnk--> distilled by the reduction of <!--del_lnk--> nitrous acid and <!--del_lnk--> nitrites with <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a>; additionally, it was produced by the distillation of <a href="../../wp/c/Coal.htm" title="Coal">coal</a>; and also by the decomposition of ammonium salts by <!--del_lnk--> alkaline hydroxides such as <!--del_lnk--> quicklime, the salt most generally used being the chloride (<!--del_lnk--> sal-ammoniac) thus:<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>2 NH<sub>4</sub>Cl + 2 CaO → CaCl<sub>2</sub> + Ca(OH)<sub>2</sub> + 2 NH<sub>3</sub></dl>
</dl>
<p>Today, the typical modern ammonia-producing plant first converts <a href="../../wp/n/Natural_gas.htm" title="Natural gas">natural gas</a> (i.e. <!--del_lnk--> methane) or <!--del_lnk--> liquified petroleum gas (such gases are <!--del_lnk--> propane and <!--del_lnk--> butane) or petroleum <!--del_lnk--> naphtha into gaseous <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a>. Starting with a natural gas feedstock, the processes used in producing the hydrogen are:<ul>
<li>The first step in the process is to remove <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfur.htm" title="Sulfur">sulfur</a> compounds from the feedstock because sulfur deactivates the <!--del_lnk--> catalysts used in subsequent steps. Sulfur removal requires catalytic <!--del_lnk--> hydrogenation to convert sulfur compounds in the feedstocks to gaseous <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen sulfide:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>H<sub>2</sub> + RSH → RH + H<sub>2</sub>S<sub>(<i>g</i>)</sub></dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>The gaseous hydrogen sulfide is then absorbed and removed by passing it through beds of <!--del_lnk--> zinc oxide where it is converted to solid <!--del_lnk--> zinc sulfide:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>H<sub>2</sub>S + ZnO → ZnS + H<sub>2</sub>O</dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>Catalytic <!--del_lnk--> steam reforming of the sulfur-free feedstock is then used to form hydrogen plus <!--del_lnk--> carbon monoxide:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>CH<sub>4</sub> + H<sub>2</sub>O → CO + 3 H<sub>2</sub></dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>The next step then uses catalytic <!--del_lnk--> shift conversion to convert the <!--del_lnk--> carbon monoxide to <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon_dioxide.htm" title="Carbon dioxide">carbon dioxide</a> and more hydrogen:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>CO + H<sub>2</sub>O → CO<sub>2</sub> + H<sub>2</sub></dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>The carbon dioxide is then removed either by absorption in aqueous <!--del_lnk--> ethanolamine solutions or by <!--del_lnk--> adsorption in <!--del_lnk--> pressure swing adsorbers (PSA) using proprietary solid adsorption media.</ul>
<ul>
<li>The final step in producing the hydrogen is to use catalytic methanation to remove any small residual amounts of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide from the hydrogen:</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>CO + 3 H<sub>2</sub> → CH<sub>4</sub> + H<sub>2</sub>O<dd>CO<sub>2</sub> + 4 H<sub>2</sub> → CH<sub>4</sub> + 2 H<sub>2</sub>O</dl>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>To produce the desired end-product ammonia, the hydrogen is then catalytically reacted with nitrogen (derived from process air) to form anhydrous liquid ammonia. This step is known as the ammonia synthesis loop (also referred to as the <!--del_lnk--> Haber-Bosch process):</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>3 H<sub>2</sub> + N<sub>2</sub> → 2 NH<sub>3</sub></dl>
</dl>
<p>The steam reforming, shift conversion, carbon dioxide removal and methanation steps each operate at absolute pressures of about 25 to 35 <!--del_lnk--> bar, and the ammonia synthesis loop operates at absolute pressures ranging from 60 to 180 bar depending upon which proprietary design is used. There are many engineering and construction companies that offer proprietary designs for ammonia synthesis plants. <!--del_lnk--> Haldor Topsoe of <a href="../../wp/d/Denmark.htm" title="Denmark">Denmark</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Lurgi AG of <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> Kellogg, Brown and Root of the United States are among the most experienced companies in that field.<p><a id="Biosynthesis" name="Biosynthesis"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Biosynthesis</span></h2>
<p>In certain organisms, ammonia is produced from atmospheric N<sub>2</sub> by <!--del_lnk--> enzymes called <!--del_lnk--> nitrogenases. The overall process is called <a href="../../wp/n/Nitrogen_fixation.htm" title="Nitrogen fixation">nitrogen fixation</a>. Although it is unlikely that biomimetic methods will be developed that are competitive with the <!--del_lnk--> Haber process, intense effort has been directed toward understanding the mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation. The scientific interest in this problem is motivated by the unusual structure of the active site of the enzyme, which consists of an Fe<sub>7</sub>MoS<sub>9</sub> ensemble.<p>Ammonia is also a metabolic product of <!--del_lnk--> amino acid <!--del_lnk--> deamination. In humans, it is quickly converted to <!--del_lnk--> urea, which is much less toxic. This urea is a major component of the dry weight of <!--del_lnk--> urine.<p><a id="Properties" name="Properties"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Properties</span></h2>
<p>Ammonia is a colourless <a href="../../wp/g/Gas.htm" title="Gas">gas</a> with a characteristic pungent smell; it is <!--del_lnk--> lighter than air, its density being 0.589 times that of <a href="../../wp/e/Earth%2527s_atmosphere.htm" title="Earth's atmosphere">air</a>. It is easily liquefied; the <!--del_lnk--> liquid boils at -33.3 °C, and solidifies at -77.7 °C to a mass of white crystals. <!--del_lnk--> Liquid ammonia possesses strong <!--del_lnk--> ionizing powers (<!--del_lnk--> ε = 22), and <!--del_lnk--> solutions of <a href="../../wp/s/Salt.htm" title="Salt">salts</a> in liquid ammonia have been much studied. Liquid ammonia has a very high <!--del_lnk--> standard enthalpy change of vaporization (23.35 <!--del_lnk--> kJ/mol, <i>c.f.</i> <!--del_lnk--> water 40.65 kJ/mol, <!--del_lnk--> methane 8.19 kJ/mol, <!--del_lnk--> phosphine 14.6 kJ/mol) and can therefore be used in laboratories in non-insulated vessels at room temperature, even though it is well above its boiling point.<p>It is <!--del_lnk--> miscible with water. All the ammonia contained in an aqueous solution of the gas may be expelled by boiling. The <a href="../../wp/w/Water.htm" title="Water">aqueous</a> solution of ammonia is <!--del_lnk--> basic. The maximum concentration of ammonia in water (a <!--del_lnk--> saturated solution) has a <!--del_lnk--> density of 0.880 g /<!--del_lnk--> cm³ and is often known as '.880 Ammonia'. Ammonia does not sustain <!--del_lnk--> combustion, and it does not burn readily unless mixed with <a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">oxygen</a>, when it burns with a pale yellowish-green flame. At high temperature and in the presence of a suitable catalyst, ammonia is decomposed into its constituent elements. <a href="../../wp/c/Chlorine.htm" title="Chlorine">Chlorine</a> catches fire when passed into ammonia, forming <a href="../../wp/n/Nitrogen.htm" title="Nitrogen">nitrogen</a> and <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a>; unless the ammonia is present in excess, the highly explosive <!--del_lnk--> nitrogen trichloride (NCl<sub>3</sub>) is also formed.<p>The ammonia molecule readily undergoes <!--del_lnk--> nitrogen inversion at room temperature - that is, the nitrogen atom passes through the <!--del_lnk--> plane of symmetry of the three hydrogen atoms; a useful analogy is an <!--del_lnk--> umbrella turning itself inside out in a strong wind. The energy barrier to this inversion is 24.7 kJ/mol in ammonia, and the <!--del_lnk--> resonance frequency is 23.79 <!--del_lnk--> GHz, corresponding to <!--del_lnk--> microwave radiation of a <!--del_lnk--> wavelength of 1.260 cm. The absorption at this frequency was the first <!--del_lnk--> microwave spectrum to be observed.<p><a id="Formation_of_salts" name="Formation_of_salts"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Formation of salts</span></h3>
<p>One of the most characteristic properties of ammonia is its power of combining directly with <!--del_lnk--> acids to form <a href="../../wp/s/Salt.htm" title="Salt">salts</a>; thus with <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a> it forms <!--del_lnk--> ammonium chloride (sal-ammoniac); with <!--del_lnk--> nitric acid, <!--del_lnk--> ammonium nitrate, etc. However perfectly dry ammonia will not combine with perfectly dry <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen chloride, a gas, moisture being necessary to bring about the reaction.<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>NH<sub>3</sub> + <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">HCl</a> → <!--del_lnk--> NH<sub>4</sub>Cl</dl>
</dl>
<p>The salts produced by the action of ammonia on acids are known as the <!--del_lnk--> ammonium salts and all contain the <!--del_lnk--> ammonium <!--del_lnk--> ion (NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>).<p><a id="Acidity" name="Acidity"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Acidity</span></h3>
<p>Although ammonia is well-known as a base, it can also act as an extremely weak <!--del_lnk--> acid. It is a protic substance, and is capable of dissociation into the <b>amide</b> (NH<sub>2</sub><sup>−</sup>) ion, for example when solid <!--del_lnk--> lithium nitride is added to liquid ammonia, forming a <!--del_lnk--> lithium amide solution:<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>Li<sub>3</sub>N<sub>(<i>s</i>)</sub>+ 2 NH<sub>3 (<i>l</i>)</sub> → 3 Li<sup>+</sup><sub>(<i>am</i>)</sub> + 3 NH<sub>2</sub><sup>−</sup><sub>(<i>am</i>)</sub></dl>
</dl>
<p>This is a <!--del_lnk--> Brønsted-Lowry acid-base reaction in which ammonia is acting as an acid.<p><a id="Formation_of_other_compounds" name="Formation_of_other_compounds"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Formation of other compounds</span></h3>
<p>Ammonia can act as a <!--del_lnk--> nucleophile in <!--del_lnk--> substitution reactions. <!--del_lnk--> Amines can be formed by the reaction of ammonia with <!--del_lnk--> alkyl halides, although the resulting –NH<sub>2</sub> group is also nucleophilic and secondary and tertiary amines are often formed as by-products. Using an excess of ammonia helps minimise multiple substitution, and neutralises the <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen halide formed. <!--del_lnk--> Methylamine is prepared commercially by the reaction of ammonia with <!--del_lnk--> chloromethane, and the reaction of ammonia with 2-bromopropanoic acid has been used to prepare <!--del_lnk--> racemic <!--del_lnk--> alanine in 70% yield. <!--del_lnk--> Ethanolamine is prepared by a ring-opening reaction with <!--del_lnk--> ethylene oxide: the reaction is sometimes allowed to go further to produce <!--del_lnk--> diethanolamine and <!--del_lnk--> triethanolamine.<p><!--del_lnk--> Amides can be prepared by the reaction of ammonia with a number of <!--del_lnk--> carboxylic acid derivatives. <!--del_lnk--> Acyl chlorides are the most reactive, but the ammonia must be present in at least a two-fold excess to neutralise the <!--del_lnk--> hydrogen chloride formed. <!--del_lnk--> Esters and <!--del_lnk--> anhydrides also react with ammonia to form amides. Ammonium salts of carboxylic acids can be <!--del_lnk--> dehydrated to amides so long as there are no thermally sensitive groups present: temperatures of 150–200 °C are required.<p>The <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a> in ammonia is capable of replacement by <a href="../../wp/m/Metal.htm" title="Metal">metals</a>, thus <a href="../../wp/m/Magnesium.htm" title="Magnesium">magnesium</a> burns in the gas with the formation of <!--del_lnk--> magnesium nitride Mg<sub>3</sub>N<sub>2</sub>, and when the gas is passed over heated <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium.htm" title="Sodium">sodium</a> or <a href="../../wp/p/Potassium.htm" title="Potassium">potassium</a>, sodamide, NaNH<sub>2</sub>, and potassamide, KNH<sub>2</sub>, are formed. Where necessary in <!--del_lnk--> substitutive nomenclature, <!--del_lnk--> IUPAC recommendations prefer the name <b>azane</b> to ammonia: hence <!--del_lnk--> chloramine would be named <i>chloroazane</i> in substitutive nomenclature, not <i>chloroammonia</i>.<p><a id="Ammonia_as_a_ligand" name="Ammonia_as_a_ligand"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ammonia as a ligand</span></h3>
<p>Ammonia can act as a <!--del_lnk--> ligand in <!--del_lnk--> transition metal <!--del_lnk--> complexes. It is a pure σ-donor, in the middle of the <!--del_lnk--> spectrochemical series, and shows intermediate <!--del_lnk--> hard-soft behaviour. For historical reasons, ammonia is named <b>ammine</b> in the nomenclature of <!--del_lnk--> coordination compounds. Some notable ammine complexes include:<ul>
<li><b>Tetraaminecopper(II)</b>, [Cu(NH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>4</sub>]<sup>2+</sup>, a characteristic dark blue complex formed by adding ammonia to solution of copper(II) salts.<li><b>Diamminesilver(I)</b>, [Ag(NH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>]<sup>+</sup>, the active species in <!--del_lnk--> Tollens' reagent. Formation of this complex can also help to distinguish between precipitates of the different silver halides: <!--del_lnk--> AgCl is soluble in dilute (2M) ammonia solution, <!--del_lnk--> AgBr is only soluble in concentrated ammonia solution while <!--del_lnk--> AgI is insoluble in aqueous solution of ammonia.</ul>
<p>Ammine complexes of <a href="../../wp/c/Chromium.htm" title="Chromium">chromium</a>(III) were known in the late 19th century, and formed the basis of <!--del_lnk--> Alfred Werner's theory of coordination compounds. Werner noted that only two isomers (<i>fac</i>- and <i>mer</i>-) of the complex [CrCl<sub>3</sub>(NH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>] could be formed, and concluded that the ligands must be arranged around the metal ion at the <!--del_lnk--> vertices of an <!--del_lnk--> octahedron. This has since been confirmed by <!--del_lnk--> X-ray crystallography.<p>An ammine ligand bound to a metal ion is markedly more <!--del_lnk--> acidic than a free ammonia molecule, although deprotonation in aqueous solution is still rare. One example is the <!--del_lnk--> Calomel reaction, where the resulting amidomercury(II) compound is highly insoluble.<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>Hg<sub>2</sub>Cl<sub>2</sub> + 2 NH<sub>3</sub> → Hg + HgCl(NH<sub>2</sub>) + NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> + Cl<sup>−</sup></dl>
</dl>
<p><a id="Uses" name="Uses"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Uses</span></h2>
<p>The most important single use of ammonia is in the production of <!--del_lnk--> nitric acid. A mixture of one part ammonia to nine parts air is passed over a <a href="../../wp/p/Platinum.htm" title="Platinum">platinum</a> gauze <!--del_lnk--> catalyst at 850 °C, whereupon the ammonia is oxidized to <!--del_lnk--> nitric oxide.<dl>
<dd>
<dl>
<dd>4 NH<sub>3</sub> + 5 O<sub>2</sub> → 4 NO + 6 H<sub>2</sub>O</dl>
</dl>
<p>The catalyst is essential, as the normal oxidation (or combustion) of ammonia gives <a href="../../wp/n/Nitrogen.htm" title="Nitrogen">dinitrogen</a> and water: the production of nitric oxide is an example of <!--del_lnk--> kinetic control. As the gas mixture cools to 200–250 °C, the nitric oxide is in turn oxidized by the excess of <a href="../../wp/o/Oxygen.htm" title="Oxygen">oxygen</a> present in the mixture, to give <!--del_lnk--> nitrogen dioxide. This is reacted with water to give nitric acid for use in the production of <a href="../../wp/f/Fertilizer.htm" title="Fertilizer">fertilizers</a> and <!--del_lnk--> explosives.<p>In addition to serving as a fertilizer ingredient, ammonia can also be used directly as a fertilizer by forming a solution with irrigation water, without additional chemical processing. This later use allows the continuous growing of nitrogen dependent crops such as <a href="../../wp/m/Maize.htm" title="Maize">maize</a> (corn) without <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">crop</a> rotation but this type of use leads to poor <a href="../../wp/s/Soil.htm" title="Soil">soil</a> health.<p>Ammonia has thermodynamic properties that make it very well suited as a <!--del_lnk--> refrigerant, since it liquefies readily under pressure, and was used in virtually all refrigeration units prior to the advent of <!--del_lnk--> haloalkanes such as <!--del_lnk--> Freon. However, ammonia is a toxic irritant and its corrosiveness to any <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a> <!--del_lnk--> alloys increases the risk that an undesirable leak may develop and cause a noxious hazard. Its use in small refrigeration units has been largely replaced by haloalkanes, which are not toxic irritants and are practically not <!--del_lnk--> flammable. Ammonia continues to be used as a <!--del_lnk--> refrigerant in large industrial processes such as bulk icemaking and industrial food processing. Ammonia is also useful as a component in <!--del_lnk--> absorption-type refrigerators, which do not use compression and expansion cycles but can exploit heat differences. Since the implication of haloalkane being major contributors to <a href="../../wp/o/Ozone_depletion.htm" title="Ozone depletion">ozone depletion</a>, ammonia is again seeing increasing use as a refrigerant.<p>It is also sometimes added to drinking water along with <a href="../../wp/c/Chlorine.htm" title="Chlorine">chlorine</a> to form <!--del_lnk--> chloramine, a <!--del_lnk--> disinfectant. Unlike chlorine on its own, chloramine does not combine with organic (carbon containing) materials to form <!--del_lnk--> carcinogenic <!--del_lnk--> halomethanes such as <!--del_lnk--> chloroform.<p>Liquid ammonia was used as the fuel of the rocket airplane, the <!--del_lnk--> X-15. Although not as powerful as other fuels, it left no soot in the reusable rocket engine, and has about the same <!--del_lnk--> density as the oxidizer, liquid oxygen, which simplified the aircraft's keeping the same centre of gravity in flight.<p>During the 1960s, <a href="../../wp/t/Tobacco.htm" title="Tobacco">Tobacco</a> companies such as <i><!--del_lnk--> Brown & Williamson</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Philip Morris</i> began using ammonia in <!--del_lnk--> cigarettes. The addition of ammonia serves to enhance the delivery of <!--del_lnk--> nicotine into the blood stream. As a result the reinforcement effect of the nicotine was enhanced, increasing its addictive ability without actually increasing the portion of nicotine.<p><a id="Ammonia.27s_role_in_biologic_systems_and_human_disease" name="Ammonia.27s_role_in_biologic_systems_and_human_disease"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Ammonia's role in biologic systems and human disease</span></h2>
<p>Ammonia is an important source of nitrogen for living systems. Although atmospheric nitrogen abounds, few living creatures are capable of utilizing this nitrogen. Nitrogen is required for the synthesis of amino acids, which are the building blocks of <a href="../../wp/p/Protein.htm" title="Protein">protein</a>. Some plants rely on ammonia and other nitrogenous wastes incorporated into the soil by decaying matter. Others, such as nitrogen-fixing <!--del_lnk--> legumes, benefit from <!--del_lnk--> symbiotic relationships with <!--del_lnk--> rhizobia which create ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen.<p>Ammonia also plays a role in both normal and abnormal animal <!--del_lnk--> physiology. Ammonia is created through normal amino acid metabolism and is toxic in high concentrations. The <!--del_lnk--> liver converts ammonia to <!--del_lnk--> urea through a series of reactions known as the <!--del_lnk--> urea cycle. Liver dysfunction, such as that seen in <!--del_lnk--> cirrhosis, may lead to elevated amounts of ammonia in the blood (<!--del_lnk--> hyperammonemia). Likewise, defects in the enzymes responsible for the urea cycle, such as <!--del_lnk--> ornithine transcarbamylase, lead to hyperammonemia. Hyperammonemia contributes to the confusion and <!--del_lnk--> coma of <!--del_lnk--> hepatic encephalopathy as well as the neurologic disease common in people with urea cycle defects and <!--del_lnk--> organic acidurias.<p>Ammonia is important for normal animal acid/base balance. After formation of ammonium from <!--del_lnk--> glutamine, <!--del_lnk--> α-ketoglutarate may be degraded to produce two molecules of <!--del_lnk--> bicarbonate which are then available as buffers for dietary acids. Ammonium is excreted in the urine resulting in net acid loss. Ammonia may itself diffuse across the renal tubules, combine with a hydrogen ion, and thus allow for further acid excretion.<p><a id="Liquid_ammonia_as_a_solvent" name="Liquid_ammonia_as_a_solvent"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Liquid ammonia as a solvent</span></h2>
<p>Liquid ammonia is the best-known and most widely studied non-aqueous ionizing solvent. Its most conspicuous property is its ability to dissolve alkali metals to form highly coloured, electrically conducting solutions containing <!--del_lnk--> solvated electrons. Apart from these remarkable solutions, much of the chemistry in liquid ammonia can be classified by analogy with related reactions in aqueous solutions. Comparison of the physical properties of NH<sub>3</sub> with those of water shows that NH<sub>3</sub> has the lower melting point, boiling point, density, <!--del_lnk--> viscosity, <!--del_lnk--> dielectric constant and <!--del_lnk--> electrical conductivity; this is due at least in part to the weaker H bonding in NH<sub>3</sub> and the fact that such bonding cannot form cross-linked networks since each NH<sub>3</sub> molecule has only 1 lone-pair of electrons compared with 2 for each H<sub>2</sub>O molecule. The ionic self-<!--del_lnk--> dissociation constant of liquid NH<sub>3</sub> at −50 °C is approx. 10<sup>-33</sup> mol<sup>2</sup>•l<sup>-2</sup>.<p><a id="Solubility_of_salts" name="Solubility_of_salts"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Solubility of salts</span></h3>
<table>
<tr>
<th> </th>
<th>Solubility (g of salt per 100 g liquid NH<sub>3</sub>)</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ammonium acetate</td>
<td>253.2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Ammonium nitrate</td>
<td>389.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Lithium nitrate</td>
<td>243.7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sodium nitrate</td>
<td>97.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="../../wp/p/Potassium_nitrate.htm" title="Potassium nitrate">Potassium nitrate</a></td>
<td>10.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sodium fluoride</td>
<td>0.35</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sodium chloride</td>
<td>3.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sodium bromide</td>
<td>138.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sodium iodide</td>
<td>161.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sodium thiocyanate</td>
<td>205.5</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>Liquid ammonia is an ionizing solvent, although less so than water, and dissolves a range of ionic compounds including many <!--del_lnk--> nitrates, <!--del_lnk--> nitrites, <!--del_lnk--> cyanides and <!--del_lnk--> thiocyanates. Most <!--del_lnk--> ammonium salts are soluble, and these salts act as <!--del_lnk--> acids in liquid ammonia solutions. The solubility of <!--del_lnk--> halide salts increases from <!--del_lnk--> fluoride to <!--del_lnk--> iodide. A saturated solution of <!--del_lnk--> ammonium nitrate contains 0.83 mol solute per mole of ammonia, and has a <!--del_lnk--> vapour pressure of less than 1 bar even at 25 °C.<p><a id="Solutions_of_metals" name="Solutions_of_metals"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Solutions of metals</span></h3>
<p>Liquid ammonia will dissolve the <!--del_lnk--> alkali metals and other <!--del_lnk--> electropositive metals such as <a href="../../wp/c/Calcium.htm" title="Calcium">calcium</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Strontium.htm" title="Strontium">strontium</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Barium.htm" title="Barium">barium</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Europium.htm" title="Europium">europium</a> and <a href="../../wp/y/Ytterbium.htm" title="Ytterbium">ytterbium</a>. At low concentrations (<0.06 mol/L), deep blue solutions are formed: these contain metal cations and <!--del_lnk--> solvated electrons, free electrons which are surrounded by a cage of ammonia molecules.<p>These solutions are very useful as strong reducing agents. At higher concentrations, the solutions are metallic in appearance and in electrical conductivity. At low temperatures, the two types of solution can coexist as <!--del_lnk--> immiscible phases.<p><a id="Redox_properties_of_liquid_ammonia" name="Redox_properties_of_liquid_ammonia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Redox properties of liquid ammonia</span></h3>
<table cellpadding="5">
<tr>
<th> </th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> <i>E</i>° (V, ammonia)</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> <i>E</i>° (V, water)</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Li<sup>+</sup> + e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> Li</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−2.24</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−3.04</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>K<sup>+</sup> + e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> K</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−1.98</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−2.93</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Na<sup>+</sup> + e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> Na</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−1.85</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−2.71</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Zn<sup>2+</sup> + 2e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> Zn</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−0.53</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">−0.76</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> + e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> ½ H<sub>2</sub> + NH<sub>3</sub></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">0.00</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">–</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cu<sup>2+</sup> + 2e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> Cu</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">+0.43</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">+0.34</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ag<sup>+</sup> + e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> Ag</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">+0.83</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">+0.80</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The range of thermodynamic stability of liquid ammonia solutions is very narrow, as the potential for oxidation to <a href="../../wp/n/Nitrogen.htm" title="Nitrogen">dinitrogen</a>, <!--del_lnk--> <i>E</i>° (N<sub>2</sub> + 6NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> + 6e<sup>−</sup> <span class="Unicode">⇌</span> 8NH<sub>3</sub>), is only +0.04 V. In practice, both oxidation to dinitrogen and reduction to <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">dihydrogen</a> are slow. This is particularly true of reducing solutions: the solutions of the alkali metals mentioned above are stable for several days, slowly decomposing to the <!--del_lnk--> metal amide and dihydrogen. Most studies involving liquid ammonia solutions are done in reducing conditions: although oxidation of liquid ammonia is usually slow, there is still a risk of explosion, particularly if transition metal ions are present as possible catalysts.<p><a id="Detection_and_determination" name="Detection_and_determination"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Detection and determination</span></h2>
<p>Ammonia and ammonium salts can be readily detected, in very minute traces, by the addition of <!--del_lnk--> Nessler's solution, which gives a distinct yellow coloration in the presence of the least trace of ammonia or ammonium salts. <!--del_lnk--> Sulfur sticks are burnt to detect small leaks in industrial ammonia refrigeration systems. Larger quantities can be detected by warming the salts with a caustic alkali or with <!--del_lnk--> quicklime, when the characteristic smell of ammonia will be at once apparent. The amount of ammonia in ammonium salts can be estimated quantitatively by distillation of the salts with <a href="../../wp/s/Sodium_hydroxide.htm" title="Sodium hydroxide">sodium</a> or <!--del_lnk--> potassium hydroxide, the ammonia evolved being absorbed in a known volume of standard <a href="../../wp/s/Sulfuric_acid.htm" title="Sulfuric acid">sulfuric acid</a> and the excess of acid then determined <!--del_lnk--> volumetrically; or the ammonia may be absorbed in <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrochloric_acid.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> ammonium chloride so formed precipitated as <!--del_lnk--> ammonium hexachloroplatinate, (NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>PtCl<sub>6</sub>.<p><a id="Interstellar_space" name="Interstellar_space"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Interstellar space</span></h3>
<p>Ammonia was first detected in interstellar space in <!--del_lnk--> 1968, based on <!--del_lnk--> microwave emissions from the direction of the <a href="../../wp/m/Milky_Way.htm" title="Milky Way">galactic core</a>. This was the first <!--del_lnk--> polyatomic molecule to be so detected. The sensitivity of the molecule to a broad range of excitations and the ease with which it can be observed in a number of regions has made ammonia one of the most important molecules for studies of <!--del_lnk--> molecular clouds. The relative intensity of the ammonia lines can be used to measure the temperature of the emitting medium.<p>The following isotopic species of ammonia have been detected:<dl>
<dd>NH<sub>3</sub>, <!--del_lnk--> <sup>15</sup>NH<sub>3</sub>, NH<sub>2</sub><!--del_lnk--> D, NHD<sub>2</sub>, and ND<sub>3</sub></dl>
<p>The detection of triply-<!--del_lnk--> deuterated ammonia was considered a surprise as deuterium is relatively scarce. It is thought that the low-temperature conditions allow this molecule to survive and accumulate. The ammonia molecule has also been detected in the atmospheres of the <a href="../../wp/g/Gas_giant.htm" title="Gas giant">gas giant</a> planets, including <!--del_lnk--> Jupiter, along with other gases like <!--del_lnk--> methane, <a href="../../wp/h/Hydrogen.htm" title="Hydrogen">hydrogen</a>, and <a href="../../wp/h/Helium.htm" title="Helium">helium</a>. The interior of Saturn may include frozen crystals of ammonia.<p><a id="Safety_precautions" name="Safety_precautions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Safety precautions</span></h2>
<p><a id="Toxicity_and_storage_information" name="Toxicity_and_storage_information"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Toxicity and storage information</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/201.jpg.htm" title="Hydrochloric acid sample releasing HCl fumes which are reacting with ammonia fumes to produce a white smoke of ammonium chloride."><img alt="Hydrochloric acid sample releasing HCl fumes which are reacting with ammonia fumes to produce a white smoke of ammonium chloride." height="177" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Hydrochloric_acid_ammonia.jpg" src="../../images/2/201.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/201.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Hydrochloric acid sample releasing HCl fumes which are reacting with ammonia fumes to produce a white smoke of ammonium chloride.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The toxicity of ammonia solutions does not usually cause problems for humans and other mammals, as a specific mechanism exists to prevent its build-up in the bloodstream. Ammonia is converted to <!--del_lnk--> carbamoyl phosphate by the enzyme <!--del_lnk--> carbamoyl phosphate synthase, and then enters the <!--del_lnk--> urea cycle to be either incorporated into <!--del_lnk--> amino acids or excreted in the urine. However <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fish</a> and <!--del_lnk--> amphibians lack this mechanism, as they can usually eliminate ammonia from their bodies by direct excretion. Ammonia even at dilute concentrations is highly toxic to aquatic animals, and for this reason it is <!--del_lnk--> classified as <i>dangerous for the environment</i>. Ammonium compounds should never be allowed to come in contact with bases (unless an intended and contained reaction), as dangerous quantities of ammonia gas could be released.<p><a id="Household_use" name="Household_use"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Household use</span></h3>
<p>Solutions of ammonia (5–10% by weight) are used as household cleaners, particularly for glass. These solutions are irritating to the eyes and <!--del_lnk--> mucous membranes (respiratory and digestive tracts), and to a lesser extent the skin. They should <b>never</b> be mixed with <a href="../../wp/c/Chlorine.htm" title="Chlorine">chlorine</a>-containing products or strong oxidants, for example household <!--del_lnk--> bleach, as a variety of toxic and <!--del_lnk--> carcinogenic compounds are formed (<i>e.g.</i>, <!--del_lnk--> chloramine, <!--del_lnk--> hydrazine, and chlorine gas).<p><a id="Laboratory_use_of_ammonia_solutions" name="Laboratory_use_of_ammonia_solutions"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Laboratory use of ammonia solutions</span></h3>
<p>The hazards of ammonia solutions depend on the concentration: "dilute" ammonia solutions are usually 5–10% by weight (<5.62 mol/L); "concentrated" solutions are usually prepared at >25% by weight. A 25% (by weight) solution has a density of 0.907 g/cm³, and a solution which has a lower density will be more concentrated. The <!--del_lnk--> European Union classification of ammonia solutions is given in the table.<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> Concentration<br /> by weight</th>
<th>Molarity</th>
<th>Classification</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> R-Phrases</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5–10%</td>
<td>2.87–5.62 mol/L</td>
<td>Irritant (<b>Xi</b>)</td>
<td><span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin">R36/37/38</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10–25%</td>
<td>5.62–13.29 mol/L</td>
<td>Corrosive (<b>C</b>)</td>
<td><span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Causes burns">R34</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>>25%</td>
<td>>13.29 mol/L</td>
<td>Corrosive (<b>C</b>)<br /> Dangerous for<br /> the environment (<b>N</b>)</td>
<td><span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Causes burns">R34</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Very toxic to aquatic organisms">R50</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<dl>
<dd><i><!--del_lnk--> S-Phrases: <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Keep locked up and out of the reach of children">S1/2</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Keep away from sources of ignition - No smoking">S16</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Wear suitable protective clothing, gloves and eye/face protection">S36/37/39</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="In case of accident or if you feel unwell seek medical advice immediately (show the label where possible)">S45</span>, <span class="abbr" style="color: blue; border-bottom: 1px dotted blue" title="Avoid release to the environment. Refer to special instructions/safety data sheet">S61</span>.</i></dl>
<p>The ammonia vapour from concentrated ammonia solutions is severely irritating to the eyes and the respiratory tract, and these solutions should only be handled in a fume hood. Saturated ("0.880") solutions can develop a significant pressure inside a closed bottle in warm weather, and the bottle should be opened with care: this is not usually a problem for 25% ("0.900") solutions.<p>Ammonia solutions should not be mixed with <!--del_lnk--> halogens, as toxic and/or explosive products are formed. Prolonged contact of ammonia solutions with <!--del_lnk--> silver, <a href="../../wp/m/Mercury_%2528element%2529.htm" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a> or <!--del_lnk--> iodide salts can also lead to explosive products: such mixtures are often formed in <!--del_lnk--> qualitative chemical analysis, and should be acidified and diluted before disposal once the test is completed.<p><a id="Laboratory_use_of_anhydrous_ammonia_.28gas_or_liquid.29" name="Laboratory_use_of_anhydrous_ammonia_.28gas_or_liquid.29"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Laboratory use of anhydrous ammonia (gas or liquid)</span></h3>
<p>Anhydrous ammonia is classified as <b>toxic</b> (<b>T</b>) and <b>dangerous for the environment</b> (<b>N</b>). The gas is flammable (<!--del_lnk--> autoignition temperature: 651 °C) and can form explosive mixtures with air (16–25%). The <!--del_lnk--> permissible exposure limit (PEL) in the United States is 50 <!--del_lnk--> ppm (35 mg/m<sup>3</sup>), while the <!--del_lnk--> IDLH concentration is estimated at 300 ppm. Repeated exposure to ammonia lowers the sensitivity to the smell of the gas: normally the odour is detectable at concentrations of less than 0.5 ppm, but desensitized individuals may not detect it even at concentrations of 100 ppm. Anhydrous ammonia corrodes <!--del_lnk--> copper- and <!--del_lnk--> zinc-containing <!--del_lnk--> alloys, and so <!--del_lnk--> brass fittings should not be used for handling the gas. Liquid ammonia can also attack rubber and certain plastics.<p>Ammonia reacts violently with the halogens, and causes the explosive <!--del_lnk--> polymerization of <!--del_lnk--> ethylene oxide. It also forms explosive compounds with compounds of <!--del_lnk--> gold, <a href="../../wp/s/Silver.htm" title="Silver">silver</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Mercury_%2528element%2529.htm" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Germanium.htm" title="Germanium">germanium</a> or <a href="../../wp/t/Tellurium.htm" title="Tellurium">tellurium</a>, and with <!--del_lnk--> stibine. Violent reactions have also been reported with <!--del_lnk--> acetaldehyde, <!--del_lnk--> hypochlorite solutions, <!--del_lnk--> potassium ferricyanide and <!--del_lnk--> peroxides.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Ammonite</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Mineralogy.htm">Mineralogy</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><b>Ammonites</b><br />
<center><small>Fossil range: Late <a href="../../wp/s/Silurian.htm" title="Silurian">Silurian</a> - <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a></small></center>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/165/16514.jpg.htm" title="Artist's reconstruction of a live ammonite."><img alt="Artist's reconstruction of a live ammonite." height="222" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammonit2.jpg" src="../../images/165/16514.jpg" width="250" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align:center"><small>Artist's reconstruction of a live ammonite.</small></div>
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Mollusca<br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Cephalopoda<br />
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<td>Subclass:</td>
<td><b>Ammonoidea</b><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Zittel, <!--del_lnk--> 1884</small></td>
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<center><!--del_lnk--> Orders and <!--del_lnk--> Suborders</center>
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<p>Order <!--del_lnk--> Ammonitida<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Ammonitina<li><!--del_lnk--> Acanthoceratina<li><!--del_lnk--> Ancyloceratina<li><!--del_lnk--> Phylloceratina<li><!--del_lnk--> Lytoceratina</ul>
<p>Order <!--del_lnk--> Goniatitida<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Goniatitina<li><!--del_lnk--> Anarcestina<li><!--del_lnk--> Clymeniina</ul>
<p>Order <!--del_lnk--> Ceratitida<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Ceratitina<li><!--del_lnk--> Prolecanitina</ul>
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<p><b>Ammonites</b> are an <a href="../../wp/e/Extinction.htm" title="Extinction">extinct</a> group of marine animals of the <!--del_lnk--> subclass <b>Ammonoidea</b> in the <!--del_lnk--> class <!--del_lnk--> Cephalopoda, <!--del_lnk--> phylum <!--del_lnk--> Mollusca. They are excellent <!--del_lnk--> index fossils, and it is often possible to link the rock layer in which they are found to specific <!--del_lnk--> geological time periods. Ammonites' closest living relative is probably not the modern <i><!--del_lnk--> Nautilus</i> (which they outwardly resemble), but rather the subclass <!--del_lnk--> Coleoidea (<!--del_lnk--> octopus, <!--del_lnk--> squid, and <!--del_lnk--> cuttlefish). Their <a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">fossil</a> shells usually take the form of planispirals, although there were some helically-spiraled and non-spiraled forms (known as "heteromorphs"). Their spiral shape begot their name, as their fossilized shells somewhat resemble tightly-coiled <!--del_lnk--> rams' horns. <!--del_lnk--> Plinius the Elder (died 79 A.D. near Pompeii) called fossils of these animals <i>ammonis cornua</i> ("horns of Ammon") because the Egyptian god Ammon (<!--del_lnk--> Amun) was typically depicted wearing ram's horns. Often the name of an ammonite genus ends in <i>ceras</i>, which is <!--del_lnk--> Greek (κέρας) for "horn" (for instance, <i>Pleuroceras</i>).<p>
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</script><a id="Classification" name="Classification"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Classification</span></h2>
<p>Originating from within the <!--del_lnk--> bactritoid nautiloids, the ammonoid cephalopods first appeared in the Late <a href="../../wp/s/Silurian.htm" title="Silurian">Silurian</a> to Early <a href="../../wp/d/Devonian.htm" title="Devonian">Devonian</a> (circa 400 million years ago) and became <!--del_lnk--> extinct at the close of the <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> (65 m.y.a.) along with the <a href="../../wp/d/Dinosaur.htm" title="Dinosaur">dinosaurs</a>. The classification of ammonoids is based in part on the <!--del_lnk--> ornamentation and structure of the septa comprising their shells' gas chambers; by these and other characteristics we can divide subclass Ammonoidea into three orders and eight known suborders. While nearly all nautiloids show gently curving sutures, the ammonoid suture line (the intersection of the septum with the outer shell) was folded, forming saddles (or peaks) and lobes (or valleys).<p>Three major types of suture patterns in Ammonoidea have been noted.<p>Suture patterns:<ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Goniatitic</i> - numerous undivided lobes and saddles; typically 8 lobes around the conch. This pattern is characteristic of the Paleozoic ammonoids.<li><i>Ceratitic</i> - lobes have subdivided tips, giving them a saw-toothed appearance, and rounded undivided saddles. This suture pattern is characteristic of Triassic ammonoids and appears again in the Cretaceous "pseudoceratites."<li><i>Ammonitic</i> - lobes and saddles are much subdivided (fluted); subdivisions are usually rounded instead of saw-toothed. Ammonoids of this type are the most important species from a biostratigraphical point of view. This suture type is characteristic of Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonoids but extends back all the way to the Permian.</ul>
<p>The three orders and various suborders of Ammonoidea are herein listed from most <i>primitive</i> to more <i>derived</i>.<p>Orders and suborders:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Goniatitida (Devonian to Permian) -- have round saddles, pointed lobes <ul>
<li>Anarcestina (Devonian only)<li>Clymeniina (upper Upper Devonian only)<li>Goniatitina (Devonian to Upper Permian) -- includes the true <!--del_lnk--> goniatites</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Ceratitida (Carboniferous to Triassic) -- have round saddles, serrated lobes <ul>
<li>Prolecanitina (Upper Devonian to Upper Triassic)<li>Ceratitina (Permian to Triassic) -- includes the true <!--del_lnk--> ceratites</ul>
<li>Ammonitida (Permian to Cretaceous) -- have folded saddles and lobes, fractal patterns <ul>
<li>Phylloceratina (Lower Triassic to Upper Cretaceous)<li>Ammonitina (Lower Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous) -- includes the true ammonites<li>Lytoceratina (Lower Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous)<li>Ancyloceratina (Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous) -- the heteromorph ammonites</ul>
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<p><a id="Life" name="Life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Life</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16515.jpg.htm" title="Jeletzkytes, a Cretaceous ammonite from the USA"><img alt="Jeletzkytes, a Cretaceous ammonite from the USA" height="166" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammonite_Jeletzkytes.jpg" src="../../images/165/16515.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16515.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Jeletzkytes</i>, a Cretaceous ammonite from the USA</div>
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<p>Because ammonites and their close relatives are extinct, little is known about their way of life. Their soft body parts are practically never preserved in any detail. Nonetheless, a lot has been worked out by examining ammonoid shells and by using models of these shells in water tanks.<p>Many ammonoids probably lived in the open water of ancient seas, rather than at the sea bottom. This is suggested by the fact that their fossils are often found in rocks that were laid down under conditions where no <!--del_lnk--> bottom-dwelling life is found. Many of them (such as <i>Oxynoticeras</i>) are thought to have been good swimmers with flattened, discus-shaped, streamlined shells, although some ammonoids were less effective swimmers and were likely to have been slow-swimming bottom-dwellers. Ammonites and their kin probably preyed on <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fishes</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Crustacean.htm" title="Crustacean">crustaceans</a> and other small creatures; while they themselves were preyed upon by such marine <a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Reptile">reptiles</a> as <!--del_lnk--> mosasaurs. Fossilized ammonoids have been found showing teeth marks from such attacks.<p><a id="Shell_anatomy_and_diversity" name="Shell_anatomy_and_diversity"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Shell anatomy and diversity</span></h2>
<p><a id="Basic_shell_anatomy" name="Basic_shell_anatomy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Basic shell anatomy</span></h3>
<p>The chambered part of the ammonite shell is called a <i><!--del_lnk--> phragmocone</i>. The phragmocone contains a series of progressively larger chambers, called <i><!--del_lnk--> camerae</i> (sing. <i>camera</i>) that are divided by thin walls called <i><!--del_lnk--> septa</i> (sing. <i>septum</i>). Only the last and largest chamber, the <!--del_lnk--> body chamber, was occupied by the living animal at any given moment. As it grew, it added newer and larger chambers to the open end of the coil.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16516.jpg.htm" title="A variety of ammonite forms, from Ernst Haeckel's 1899 Kunstformen der Natur (Artforms of Nature)"><img alt="A variety of ammonite forms, from Ernst Haeckel's 1899 Kunstformen der Natur (Artforms of Nature)" height="256" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Haeckel_Ammonitida.jpg" src="../../images/165/16516.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16516.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A variety of ammonite forms, from <!--del_lnk--> Ernst Haeckel's 1899 <i>Kunstformen der Natur</i> (Artforms of Nature)</div>
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<p>A thin living tube called a <i><!--del_lnk--> siphuncle</i> passed through the septa, extending from the ammonite's body into the empty shell chambers. Through a hyperosmotic active transport process, the ammonite emptied water out of these shell chambers. This enabled it to control the <!--del_lnk--> buoyancy of the shell and thereby rise or descend in the water column.<p>A primary difference between ammonites and nautiloids is that the siphuncle of ammonites (excepting Clymeniina) runs along the ventral periphery of the septa and camerae (i.e., the inner surface of the outer axis of the shell), while the siphuncle of nautiloids runs more or less through the centre of the septa and camerae.<p><a id="Sexual_dimorphism" name="Sexual_dimorphism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Sexual dimorphism</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16517.jpg.htm" title="Ammonite species, Jurassic era"><img alt="Ammonite species, Jurassic era" height="218" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammonite.jpg" src="../../images/165/16517.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16517.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Ammonite species, Jurassic era</div>
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<p>One feature found in shells of the modern Nautilus is the variation in the shape and size of the shell according to the <a href="../../wp/g/Gender.htm" title="Gender">gender</a> of the animal, the shell of the male being slightly smaller and wider than that of the female. This <!--del_lnk--> sexual dimorphism is thought to be an explanation to the variation in size of certain ammonite shells of the same species, the larger shell (called a <b>macroconch</b>) being female, and the smaller shell (called a <b>microconch</b>) being male. This is thought to be because the female required a larger body size for egg production. A good example of this sexual variation is found in <i>Bifericeras</i> from the early part of the <a href="../../wp/j/Jurassic.htm" title="Jurassic">Jurassic</a> period of <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>.<p>It is only in relatively recent years that the sexual variation in the shells of ammonites has been recognized. The <b>macroconch</b> and <b>microconch</b> of one species were often previously mistaken for two closely related but different species occurring in the same rocks. However, these "pairs" were so consistently found together that it became apparent that they were in fact sexual forms of the same species.<p><a id="Variations_in_shape" name="Variations_in_shape"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Variations in shape</span></h3>
<p>The majority of ammonites have a shell that is a planispiral flat coil, but some have a shell that is partially uncoiled, partially coiled and partially straight (as in <i>Australiceras</i>), nearly straight (as in <!--del_lnk--> baculites), or coiled helically - superficially like that of a large <!--del_lnk--> gastropod (as in <i>Turrilites</i> and <i>Bostrychoceras</i>). These partially uncoiled and totally uncoiled forms began to diversify mainly during the early part of the Cretaceous and are known as <b>heteromorphs</b>.<p>Perhaps the most extreme and bizarre looking example of a heteromorph is <i>Nipponites</i>, which appears to be a tangle of irregular whorls lacking any obvious symmetrical coiling. However, upon closer inspection the shell proves to be a three-dimensional network of connected "U" shapes. <i>Nipponites</i> occurs in rocks of the upper part of the Cretaceous in <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> USA.<p>Ammonites vary greatly in the ornamentation of their shells. Some may be smooth and relatively featureless, except for growth lines, and resemble that of the modern Nautilus. In others various patterns of spiral ridges and ribs or even spines are shown. This type of ornamentation of the shell is especially evident in the later ammonites of the Cretaceous.<p><a id="The_aptychus" name="The_aptychus"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The <!--del_lnk--> aptychus</span></h3>
<p>Like the modern nautilus, many ammonites were probably able to withdraw their body into the living chamber of the shell and developed either a single horny plate or a pair of calcitic plates with which they were able to close the opening of the shell. The opening of the shell is called the <i>aperture</i>. The plates are collectively termed the <i><!--del_lnk--> aptychus</i> or <i>aptychi</i> in the case of a pair of plates, and <i>anaptychus</i> in the case of a single plate. The aptychi were identical and equal in size.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16518.jpg.htm" title="Asteroceras, a Jurassic ammonite from England"><img alt="Asteroceras, a Jurassic ammonite from England" height="135" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ammonite_Asteroceras.jpg" src="../../images/165/16518.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16518.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Asteroceras, a Jurassic ammonite from England</div>
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<p>Anaptychi are relatively rare as fossils. They are found representing ammonites from the Devonian period through those of the Cretaceous period.<p>Calcified Aptychi only occur in ammonites from the <!--del_lnk--> Mesozoic era and are normally found detached from the shell and are rarely preserved in place. Still, sufficient numbers have been found closing the apertures of fossil ammonite shells as to leave no doubt as to their intended purpose. (This long-standing and wide-spread interpretation of the function of the aptychus has long been disputed. The latest studies suggest that the anaptychus may have in fact formed part of a special jaw apparatus).<p>Large numbers of detached aptychi occur in certain beds of rock (such as those from the Mesozoic in the <!--del_lnk--> Alps). These rocks are usually accumulated at great depths. The modern <i>Nautilus</i> lacks any calcitic plate for closing its shell, and only one extinct <!--del_lnk--> nautiloid genus is known to have borne anything similar. <i>Nautilus</i> does, however, have a leathery head shield (the hood) which it uses to cover the opening when it retreats inside.<p>There are many forms of aptychus, varying in shape and the sculpture of the inner and outer surfaces, but because they are so rarely found in position within the shell of the ammonite it is often unclear to which species of ammonite many aptychi belong. A number of aptychi have been given their own genus and even species names independent of their unknown owners' genus and species, pending future discovery of verified occurrences within ammonite shells.<p><a id="Size" name="Size"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Size</span></h2>
<p>Few of the ammonites occurring in the lower and middle part of the Jurassic period reach a size exceeding 23 centimetres (9 inches) in diameter. Much larger forms are found in the later rocks of the upper part of the Jurassic and the lower part of the Cretaceous, such as <i>Titanites</i> from the Portland Stone of Jurassic of southern England, which is often 53 centimetres (2 feet) in diameter, and <i>Pachydiscus seppenradensis</i> of the Cretaceous period of <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a>, which is one of the largest known ammonites, sometimes reaching 2 metres (6.5 feet) in diameter. The largest documented <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North American</a> ammonite is <i>Parapuzosia bradyi</i> from the Cretaceous with specimens measuring 137 centimetres (4.5 feet) in diameter, although a new British Columbian specimen appears to trump even the European champion.<p><a id="Distribution" name="Distribution"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Distribution</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16519.jpg.htm" title="A specimen of Hoploscaphites from the Pierre Shale of South Dakota. Much of the original shell has survived."><img alt="A specimen of Hoploscaphites from the Pierre Shale of South Dakota. Much of the original shell has survived." height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:HoloscaphitesAmmonite.jpg" src="../../images/165/16519.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16519.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A specimen of <i>Hoploscaphites</i> from the Pierre Shale of South Dakota. Much of the original shell has survived.</div>
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<p>Starting from the late Silurian, ammonoids were extremely abundant, especially as ammonites during the <!--del_lnk--> Mesozoic era. Many <!--del_lnk--> genera evolved and ran their course quickly, becoming extinct in a few million years. Due to their rapid <a href="../../wp/e/Evolution.htm" title="Evolution">evolution</a> and widespread distribution, ammonoids are used by <!--del_lnk--> geologists and <!--del_lnk--> paleontologists for <!--del_lnk--> biostratigraphy. They are excellent <!--del_lnk--> index fossils, and it is often possible to link the rock layer in which they are found to specific <!--del_lnk--> geological time periods.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16520.jpg.htm" title="An iridescent ammonite from Madagascar."><img alt="An iridescent ammonite from Madagascar." height="193" longdesc="/wiki/Image:IridescentAmmonite.jpg" src="../../images/165/16520.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16520.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An iridescent ammonite from Madagascar.</div>
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<p>Due to their <!--del_lnk--> free-swimming and/or <!--del_lnk--> free-floating habits, ammonites often happened to live directly above seafloor waters so poor in oxygen as to prevent the establishment of animal life on the seafloor. When upon death the ammonites fell to this seafloor and were gradually buried in accumulating sediment, bacterial decomposition of these corpses often tipped the delicate balance of local <!--del_lnk--> redox conditions sufficiently to lower the local solubility of minerals dissolved in the seawater, notably <!--del_lnk--> phosphates and <!--del_lnk--> carbonates. The resulting spontaneous concentric precipitation of minerals around a fossil is called a <!--del_lnk--> concretion and is responsible for the outstanding preservation of many ammonite fossils.<p>When ammonites are found in <a href="../../wp/c/Clay.htm" title="Clay">clays</a> their original <!--del_lnk--> mother-of-pearl coating is often preserved. This type of preservation is found in ammonites such as <i>Hoplites</i> from the Cretaceous <!--del_lnk--> Gault clay of Folkestone in Kent, <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a>.<p>The Cretaceous Pierre Shale formation of the United States and <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a> is well known for the abundant ammonite fauna it yields, including <i>Baculites</i>, <i>Placenticeras</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Scaphites</i>, <i>Hoploscaphites</i>, and <i>Jeletzkytes</i>, as well as many uncoiled forms. Many of these also have much or all of the original shell, as well as the complete body chamber, still intact. Many Pierre Shale ammonites, and indeed many ammonites throughout earth history, are found inside <!--del_lnk--> concretions.<p>Other fossils, such as many found in <a href="../../wp/m/Madagascar.htm" title="Madagascar">Madagascar</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Alberta (<a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>), display <!--del_lnk--> iridescence. These iridescent ammonites are often of gem quality (<i><a href="../../wp/a/Ammolite.htm" title="Ammolite">ammolite</a></i>) when polished. In no case would this iridescence have been visible during the animal's life; additional shell layers covered it.<p>The majority of ammonoid specimens, especially those of the <!--del_lnk--> Paleozoic era, are preserved only as internal molds; that it to say, the outer shell (composed of <!--del_lnk--> aragonite) has been lost through fossilization. It is only in these internal-moldic specimens that the suture lines can be observed; in life the sutures would have been hidden by the outer shell.<p>The ammonoids survived several major <!--del_lnk--> extinction events, with often only a few species surviving. Each time,however, this handful would diversify into a multitude of forms. Ammonite fossils became less abundant during the latter part of the <!--del_lnk--> Mesozoic, with none surviving into the <!--del_lnk--> Cenozoic era. The last surviving lines disappeared along with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago in the <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous-Tertiary_extinction_event.htm" title="Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event">Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event</a>. That no ammonites survived the <!--del_lnk--> extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous, while some nautiloid cousins survived, might be due to differences in <!--del_lnk--> ontogeny. If their extinction was due to an <a href="../../wp/m/Meteor.htm" title="Meteor">meteor</a> strike, <!--del_lnk--> plankton around the globe could have been severely diminished, thereby dooming ammonite reproduction during its planktonic stage.<p><a id="Trivia" name="Trivia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trivia</span></h2>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16521.jpg.htm" title="Fossilized ammonite from Morocco"><img alt="Fossilized ammonite from Morocco" height="224" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Fossilized_ammonite.jpg" src="../../images/165/16521.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16521.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Fossilized ammonite from Morocco</div>
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<p>In medieval times, ammonites were believed to be petrified <!--del_lnk--> snakes. They were frequently fitted with carved snake-like heads and sold to pilgrims. A famous example of this links the ammonite fossils common in the Jurassic sediments around <!--del_lnk--> Whitby, <!--del_lnk--> North Yorkshire with the legend that <!--del_lnk--> St. Hilda turned a plague of snakes into stone. Even today, tourists can buy ammonite fossils with heads carved onto them to make them look more snake-like.<p>It is said that the original discus used by the ancient Greeks in their <!--del_lnk--> Olympics was in fact a fossilized ammonite; a number of ammonite generic names include an explicit reference to the discus shape (e.g., <i>Sphenodiscus</i>).<p>In India, ammonite fossils are identified with the god <!--del_lnk--> Vishnu and are used in various ceremonies. They are mostly collected in Nepal, from the bed of the River Gandaki where it cuts through Jurassic sediments. These fossils are known as "shaligram shila"<!--del_lnk--> .<p>There is a <!--del_lnk--> Pokémon named after the ammonites. (<!--del_lnk--> Omanyte)<p><a id="Terminological_Note" name="Terminological_Note"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Terminological Note</span></h2>
<p>The words "ammonite" and "ammonoid" are both used quite loosely in common parlance to refer to any member of Subclass Ammonoidea. However, in stricter usage the term "ammonite" is reserved for members of Suborder Ammonitina (or sometimes even Order Ammonitida).<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonite"</div>
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Ammosaurus | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Ammosaurus</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Dinosaurs.htm">Dinosaurs</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><i><b>Ammosaurus</b></i><br />
<center><small>Fossil range: <!--del_lnk--> Early Jurassic</small></center>
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<th style="background: pink;"><b><a href="../../wp/s/Scientific_classification.htm" title="Scientific classification">Scientific classification</a></b></th>
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<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animalia">Animalia</a><br />
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<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Chordata<br />
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<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Sauropsida">Sauropsida</a><br />
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<td>Superorder:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Dinosauria<br />
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<td>Order:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/s/Saurischia.htm" title="Saurischia">Saurischia</a><br />
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<td>Suborder:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/s/Sauropodomorpha.htm" title="Sauropodomorpha">Sauropodomorpha</a><br />
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<td>Infraorder:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Prosauropoda<br />
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<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Anchisauridae<br />
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<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><b>Ammosaurus</b></i><br />
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<td>Species:</td>
<td><span style="white-space: nowrap"><i><b>A. major</b></i></span><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Marsh, <!--del_lnk--> 1889</small></td>
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<center><a href="../../wp/b/Binomial_nomenclature.htm" title="Binomial nomenclature">Binomial name</a></center>
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<td><i><b>Ammosaurus major</b></i><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Marsh, <!--del_lnk--> 1891</small></td>
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<center><!--del_lnk--> Synonyms</center>
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<p>(originally <i>Anchisaurus major</i>)</td>
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<p><i><b>Ammosaurus</b></i> (AM-o-SAWR-us; "sand lizard") is a <!--del_lnk--> genus of <!--del_lnk--> sauropodomorph <a href="../../wp/d/Dinosaur.htm" title="Dinosaur">dinosaur</a> from the <!--del_lnk--> Early Jurassic Period of <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a>. At 4 meters (13 feet) in length, it was small compared to some other members of its suborder, which included the <!--del_lnk--> largest animals ever to walk the <a href="../../wp/e/Earth.htm" title="Earth">Earth</a>. It was a versatile animal, able to move both <!--del_lnk--> bipedally and <!--del_lnk--> quadrupedally, and may have been <!--del_lnk--> omnivorous.<p>
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</script><a id="Naming" name="Naming"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Naming</span></h2>
<p>The generic name <i>Ammosaurus</i> is derived from the <!--del_lnk--> Greek words <i>ammos</i> ("sandy ground") and <i>sauros</i> ("lizard"), referring to the <!--del_lnk--> sandstone in which it was found and its reptilian nature. There is one currently valid species (<i>A. major</i>), which is so named because it is larger than <i>Anchisaurus</i>, of which it was originally considered a second species. Famous <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">American</a> <!--del_lnk--> paleontologist <!--del_lnk--> Othniel Charles Marsh created this specific name in <!--del_lnk--> 1889. In <!--del_lnk--> 1891, Marsh created the new genus <i>Ammosaurus</i> for this species and he subsequently named another species (<i>Ammosaurus solus</i>) in <!--del_lnk--> 1892, although scientists now consider it <!--del_lnk--> synonymous with <i>A. major</i>.<p><a id="Synonymy_with_Anchisaurus.3F" name="Synonymy_with_Anchisaurus.3F"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Synonymy with <i>Anchisaurus</i>?</span></h3>
<p>The relationships of <i>Ammosaurus</i> with other dinosaurs are highly uncertain at this time. It is an early member of the suborder <a href="../../wp/s/Sauropodomorpha.htm" title="Sauropodomorpha">Sauropodomorpha</a> and is most closely related to <i>Anchisaurus</i>, with which it may actually be synonymous. Different paleontologists consider <i>Anchisaurus</i> to be either a <!--del_lnk--> basal <!--del_lnk--> prosauropod (Galton & Upchurch, 2004) or a <!--del_lnk--> basal <!--del_lnk--> sauropod (Yates & Kitching, 2003; Yates, 2004).<p>Marsh originally described <i>Ammosaurus major</i> as <i>Anchisaurus major</i>, although he removed it to its own new genus only 2 years later. However, some recent studies have suggested that <i>Ammosaurus</i> and <i>Anchisaurus</i> are the same animal after all (Sereno, 1999; Yates, 2004). Other scientists prefer to keep the two genera separate due to anatomical differences in the <!--del_lnk--> pelvis and hind foot, although the two animals are still considered <!--del_lnk--> sister taxa (Galton & Upchurch, 2004).<p><a id="Fossil_discoveries" name="Fossil_discoveries"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Fossil discoveries</span></h2>
<p><a href="../../wp/f/Fossil.htm" title="Fossil">Fossils</a> of <i>Ammosaurus</i> were originally discovered in the <!--del_lnk--> Portland Formation of the <!--del_lnk--> Newark Supergroup in the U.S. state of <!--del_lnk--> Connecticut. This <!--del_lnk--> formation preserves an arid environment with strong wet and dry seasons, from the <!--del_lnk--> Pliensbachian through to <!--del_lnk--> Toarcian stages of the Early Jurassic Period, roughly 190 to 176 million years ago. The original specimens were recovered from a sandstone <!--del_lnk--> quarry, which was used in the construction of the <!--del_lnk--> South Manchester Bridge in Connecticut. In fact, the <!--del_lnk--> holotype specimen was discovered by quarry workers. Unfortunately, it consists of only the rear half of the skeleton, as the block containing the front half had already been installed in the bridge. In <!--del_lnk--> 1969, the bridge was <!--del_lnk--> demolished, and some <i>Ammosaurus</i> remains were recovered. Three other incomplete skeletons of different ages are also known from Connecticut, but there is no known <!--del_lnk--> skull (Weishampel & Young, 1996).<p><a id="Ammosaurus_outside_Connecticut" name="Ammosaurus_outside_Connecticut"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><i>Ammosaurus</i> outside Connecticut</span></h3>
<p><i>Ammosaurus</i> remains have been reported from other parts of North America, but may not represent the species <i>A. major</i>, if they represent the genus at all.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Navajo Sandstone of <!--del_lnk--> Arizona is the same age as the Portland Formation, and has produced prosauropod remains that have been referred to as <i>Ammosaurus</i> (Galton, 1971). However, it is possible that these actually belong to the genus <i><a href="../../wp/m/Massospondylus.htm" title="Massospondylus">Massospondylus</a></i>, otherwise known only from <a href="../../wp/s/South_Africa.htm" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> (Galton & Upchurch, 2004).<p>In the <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canadian</a> province of <!--del_lnk--> Nova Scotia, scientists have unearthed prosauropods from the <!--del_lnk--> McCoy Brook Formation, which is about 200 to 197 million years old, from the Early Jurassic <!--del_lnk--> Hettangian stage. The Nova Scotia material provides clues about the diet of these animals. A large number of <!--del_lnk--> gastroliths, stones swallowed to grind up plant material in the gut, were found in the <!--del_lnk--> abdomen, as well as bone from the skull of a small <!--del_lnk--> lizard, <i><!--del_lnk--> Clevosaurus</i>. This indicates that these dinosaurs were omnivorous, with a diet mainly consisting of plants but with an occasional supplement of meat (Shubin et al., 1994). However, these remains have never been fully described or illustrated and are only tentatively referred to <i>Ammosaurus</i>. Further study may either confirm or falsify this <!--del_lnk--> hypothesis.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammosaurus"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amsterdam</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.European_Geography.htm">European Geography</a></h3>
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<div class="townBox" style="border:1px solid #dddddd;margin-left:0.5em; width: 250px;">
<center><b>Amsterdam</b></center>
<p><a class="image" href="../../images/232/23215.jpg.htm" title="Canals of the Jordaan neighbourhood"><img alt="Canals of the Jordaan neighbourhood" height="132" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amsterdam_Canals_-_July_2006.jpg" src="../../images/232/23215.jpg" width="250" /></a><dl>
<dt>Location</dl>
<p><a class="image" href="../../images/232/23216.png.htm" title="Location of Amsterdam"><img alt="Location of Amsterdam" height="116" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LocatieAmsterdam.svg" src="../../images/232/23216.png" width="250" /></a><dl>
<dt>Flag</dl>
<p><a class="image" href="../../images/232/23217.png.htm" title="Flag of Amsterdam"><img alt="Flag of Amsterdam" height="167" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Amsterdam.svg" src="../../images/232/23217.png" width="250" /></a><dl>
<dt>Country<dd><a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a><dt>Province<dd><!--del_lnk--> North Holland<dt>Population<dd>741,329 (<!--del_lnk--> 1 August <!--del_lnk--> 2006)<dt><!--del_lnk--> Demonym<dd>Amsterdammer<dt>Coordinates<dd><span class="plainlinksneverexpand"><!--del_lnk--> 52°22′N 4°54′E</span><dt>Website<dd><!--del_lnk--> www.amsterdam.nl<dt><!--del_lnk--> Mayor<dd><!--del_lnk--> Job Cohen (<!--del_lnk--> PvdA)</dl>
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<p><b><span class="unicode audiolink"><!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam</span> </b>, the official <a href="../../wp/c/Capital.htm" title="Capital">capital</a> of the <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a>, lies on the banks of two bodies of water, the <!--del_lnk--> IJ bay and the <!--del_lnk--> Amstel river. Founded in the late <a href="../../wp/1/12th_century.htm" title="12th century">12th century</a> as a small fishing village on the banks of the <!--del_lnk--> Amstel, it is now the largest city in the country and is a financial and cultural centre. As of August 1, 2006, the population of the city proper is 741,329; the population of the official Greater Amsterdam area is approximately 1.5 million, but the real agglomeration is estimated at 2 to 2,5 million. Amsterdam is also one of the core urban centres of the greater metropolitan area called "<!--del_lnk--> Randstad" (Ring City) which encompasses other Dutch cities such as <!--del_lnk--> Haarlem, <!--del_lnk--> Utrecht, <!--del_lnk--> Leiden, <a href="../../wp/t/The_Hague.htm" title="The Hague">The Hague</a> and <a href="../../wp/r/Rotterdam.htm" title="Rotterdam">Rotterdam</a> and has a population of over 7.5 million.<p>Amsterdam has one of the largest historic city centres in <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>, dating largely from the 17th century. At this time, a series of concentric, semi-circular <a href="../../wp/c/Canal.htm" title="Canal">canals</a> ("grachten") were dug around the old city centre. Along the canals houses and warehouses were built. The canals still define Amsterdam's layout and appearance today. Many fine houses and mansions are situated along the canals. Some of the narrow brick houses are gradually sinking because they are built on wooden <!--del_lnk--> piles to cope with the marshy subsoil.<p>Although Amsterdam is officially designated as the capital of the Netherlands, it has never been (save a brief period between <!--del_lnk--> 1808 and <!--del_lnk--> 1810), the seat of the court, government, or parliament of the Netherlands, which are all located at <a href="../../wp/t/The_Hague.htm" title="The Hague">The Hague</a>. Amsterdam is also not the capital of the province in which it is located, <!--del_lnk--> North Holland, whose capital is located at <!--del_lnk--> Haarlem. for more information.<p>Amsterdam is famous for its free-spirited liberalism, diversity and tolerance.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
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<p>Amsterdam began as a fishing village in the in the late 12th century. According to legend Amsterdam was founded by two <!--del_lnk--> Frisian fishermen, who landed on the shores of the Amstel in a small boat with their dog. The damming of the river <!--del_lnk--> Amstel gave it its name (in Dutch: Amstelredam "Dam in the Amstel", turned into Amsterdam in the course of time). The traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam is October 27, 1275, when the inhabitants living around the Amstel dam were granted freedom from paying the <!--del_lnk--> tolls associated with the <!--del_lnk--> locks and bridges of Holland. It was given <!--del_lnk--> city rights in <!--del_lnk--> 1300 or <!--del_lnk--> 1301. From the <a href="../../wp/1/14th_century.htm" title="14th century">14th century</a> on, Amsterdam flourished, largely on the basis of trade with the cities of the <!--del_lnk--> Hanseatic League.<p>In the <a href="../../wp/1/16th_century.htm" title="16th century">16th century</a> the Dutch rebelled against <a href="../../wp/p/Philip_II_of_Spain.htm" title="Philip II of Spain">Philip II of Spain</a> and his successors. The revolt escalated into the <!--del_lnk--> Eighty Years' War which ultimately led to Dutch independence. After the break with Spain the Dutch Republic became known for its relative religious tolerance. <a href="../../wp/j/Jew.htm" title="Jew">Jews</a> from <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> and <a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portugal</a>, prosperous merchants from <a href="../../wp/a/Antwerp.htm" title="Antwerp">Antwerp</a> (economic and religious refugees from the part of the Low Countries still controlled by Spain), <!--del_lnk--> Huguenots from <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> (persecuted for their religion) sought safety in Amsterdam.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23219.jpg.htm" title="Dam Square in the late 17th century: painting by Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden)"><img alt="Dam Square in the late 17th century: painting by Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden)" height="128" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AmsterdamDamsquar.jpg" src="../../images/232/23219.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23219.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Dam Square in the late 17th century: painting by Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden)</div>
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<p>The <a href="../../wp/1/17th_century.htm" title="17th century">17th century</a> is considered Amsterdam's "Golden Age". In the early 17th century Amsterdam became one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a> and present-day <a href="../../wp/i/Indonesia.htm" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a> and <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> and formed the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the biggest share in the <!--del_lnk--> VOC and <!--del_lnk--> WIC. These companies acquired the overseas possessions which formed the seeds of the later Dutch colonies. Amsterdam was the most important point for the trans-shipment of goods in Europe and it was the leading financial centre of the world. Amsterdam's stock exchange was the first to trade continuously.<p>The population grew from slightly over 10,000 around 1500 to 30,000 around 1570, 60,000 around 1600, 105,000 in 1622 and almost 200,000 around 1700 (a twenty fold increase in 200 years). Thereafter, the population did not change much for another century and a half. During the century before <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a> it almost quadrupled to 800,000, but then remained fairly constant again to this day.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23220.jpg.htm" title="River Amstel by NightPainting by Koppelaar"><img alt="River Amstel by NightPainting by Koppelaar" height="160" longdesc="/wiki/Image:River_Amstel_by_Night_-_Frans_Koppelaar.jpg" src="../../images/232/23220.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23220.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> River Amstel by Night<br /><small>Painting by <!--del_lnk--> Koppelaar</small></div>
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<p>The 18th and early 19th centuries saw a decline in Amsterdam's prosperity. The wars of the Dutch Republic with the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> took their toll on Amsterdam. During the <a href="../../wp/n/Napoleonic_Wars.htm" title="Napoleonic Wars">Napoleonic Wars</a> Amsterdam's fortunes reached their lowest point. However, with the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in <!--del_lnk--> 1815, things slowly began to improve. In Amsterdam new developments were started by people like <!--del_lnk--> Samuel Sarphati who found their inspiration in Paris.<p>The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam's second Golden Age. New museums, a train station, and the Concertgebouw were built. At this time the <a href="../../wp/i/Industrial_Revolution.htm" title="Industrial Revolution">Industrial Revolution</a> reached Amsterdam. The <i><!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam-Rhine Canal</i> was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the <a href="../../wp/r/Rhine.htm" title="Rhine">Rhine</a> and the <i><!--del_lnk--> North Sea Canal</i> to give the port a shorter connection to the <a href="../../wp/n/North_Sea.htm" title="North Sea">North Sea</a>. Both projects improved communication with the rest of Europe and the world dramatically. <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Conrad gives a brief description of Amsterdam, seen from the sea at this period, in <!--del_lnk--> <i>The Mirror of the Sea</i> (1906).<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23221.jpg.htm" title="In 2005, 965,000 people visited the museum adjoining #263 Prinsengracht, better known as the Anne Frank House."><img alt="In 2005, 965,000 people visited the museum adjoining #263 Prinsengracht, better known as the Anne Frank House." height="136" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Annefrankmuseum.jpg" src="../../images/232/23221.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23221.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><font size="1">In 2005, 965,000 people visited the museum adjoining #263 Prinsengracht, better known as the <!--del_lnk--> Anne Frank House.</font></div>
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<p>Shortly before the <!--del_lnk--> First World War the city began expanding and new suburbs were built. During <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_I.htm" title="World War I">World War I</a>, the Netherlands remained neutral. Amsterdam suffered a food shortage and heating fuel became scarce. The shortages sparked riots in which several people were killed.<p>Germany invaded the Netherlands on <!--del_lnk--> 10 May <!--del_lnk--> 1940, taking control of the country after five days of fighting. The Germans installed a Nazi civilian government in Amsterdam that cooperated in the persecution of Jews. However, a minority of people in Amsterdam helped the Jews in hiding and suffered persecution themselves in doing so. More than 103, 000 to 105,000 <a href="../../wp/j/Jew.htm" title="Jew">Jews</a> were deported from the Netherlands to concentration camps, of whom perhaps the most famous was a young German girl, <a href="../../wp/a/Anne_Frank.htm" title="Anne Frank">Anne Frank</a>. Only 5,000 Dutch Jews survived the war. In the last months of the war, communication with the rest of the country broke down and food and fuel became scarce. Many inhabitants of the city had to travel to the countryside to collect food. Dogs, cats and raw sugar beets were consumed to stay alive. Most of the trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel and all the wood of the apartments from the Jewish people who were deported.<p><a id="Coat_of_arms" name="Coat_of_arms"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Coat of arms</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23222.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="110" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Wapen_van_Amsterdam_bewerkt.PNG" src="../../images/232/23222.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23222.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div>
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<p>The coat of arms of Amsterdam is composed of three <!--del_lnk--> St Andrew's crosses, aligned vertically. Historians believe they represent the three dangers which have traditionally plagued the city: flood, fire, and pestilence. The city's official motto, <i>Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig</i> ("Valiant, Resolute, Merciful") which is displayed on the coat of arms, was bestowed on it by <!--del_lnk--> Queen Wilhelmina in 1947 in recognition of the city's bravery during World War II. The lions were added in the sixteenth century.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Imperial Crown of Austria was awarded to the city in 1489 by <!--del_lnk--> Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, out of gratitude for services and loans. The crown was a sign of imperial protection and acted as a seal of approval for Amsterdam merchants abroad. The Westertoren also features the imperial crown.<p><a id="City_government" name="City_government"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">City government</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23223.jpg.htm" title="Lloyd building in Amsterdam"><img alt="Lloyd building in Amsterdam" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Lloyd333.jpg" src="../../images/232/23223.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23223.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Lloyd building in Amsterdam</div>
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<p>As all Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is governed by a <!--del_lnk--> mayor, his <!--del_lnk--> aldermen, and the <!--del_lnk--> municipal council. However, unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into fifteen <i>stadsdelen</i> (boroughs), a system that was implemented in the 1980s to improve local governance. The <i>stadsdelen</i> are responsible for many activities that previously had been run by the central city. Fourteen of these have their own council, chosen by a popular election. The fifteenth, Westpoort, covers the harbour of Amsterdam, has very few inhabitants, and is governed by the central municipal council. Local decisions are made at borough level, and only affairs pertaining to the whole city, such as major infrastructure projects, are handled by the central city council. <i>See also:</i> <!--del_lnk--> List of mayors of Amsterdam<p><a id="Tourist_attractions" name="Tourist_attractions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Tourist attractions</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23224.jpg.htm" title="Leaning buildings are common in Amsterdam"><img alt="Leaning buildings are common in Amsterdam" height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amsterdam_lean.jpg" src="../../images/232/23224.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23224.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Leaning buildings are common in Amsterdam</div>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23225.jpg.htm" title="One of many coffeeshops in Amsterdam. The coffeeshops are most famous for selling small amounts of cannabis"><img alt="One of many coffeeshops in Amsterdam. The coffeeshops are most famous for selling small amounts of cannabis" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amsterdam_%28265%29.jpg" src="../../images/232/23225.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23225.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> One of many coffeeshops in Amsterdam. The coffeeshops are most famous for selling small amounts of <!--del_lnk--> cannabis</div>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23226.jpg.htm" title="The red-light district of Amsterdam by night"><img alt="The red-light district of Amsterdam by night" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amsterdam_%28189%29.jpg" src="../../images/232/23226.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23226.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The red-light district of Amsterdam by night</div>
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<p>Amsterdam is noted for many outstanding museums, including the <!--del_lnk--> Rijksmuseum, the <!--del_lnk--> Stedelijk Museum, <!--del_lnk--> Rembrandt House Museum, and its world-class symphony orchestra, the <!--del_lnk--> Concertgebouworkest, whose home base is the <!--del_lnk--> Concertgebouw. The <!--del_lnk--> Van Gogh Museum houses the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world. <!--del_lnk--> Anne Frank House is also a popular tourist attraction.<p>Amsterdam is also famous for its <!--del_lnk--> red-light district, <i><!--del_lnk--> de Wallen</i>. Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands at specific places. The red-light district is located in the centre of the city along major canals and is clearly marked on maps. However, this is not unique to Amsterdam as other Dutch cities such as <!--del_lnk--> Utrecht, <a href="../../wp/t/The_Hague.htm" title="The Hague">The Hague</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Leeuwarden, <!--del_lnk--> Haarlem and <!--del_lnk--> Groningen also have "Hoerenbuurten" ("Hooker areas").<p>Centred around the Wallen, but also elsewhere in the city, <!--del_lnk--> coffee shops sell <!--del_lnk--> cannabis. This is not completely legal but is tolerated when small quantities of the drug (up to 5 grammes) are involved. There is also a festival held annually known as the Cannabis Cup. The event centers around high grade cannabis, mainly high quality marijuana grown under lights in Holland. Patrons of the festival can sample any of the various and numerous strains presented at the cup. At the end of the festival one of the strains presented is named the Cannabis Cup winner. Usually the cup winning strain becomes very sought after and well known.<p><a id="Nightlife" name="Nightlife"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Nightlife</span></h2>
<p>Amsterdam has a vibrant <!--del_lnk--> nightlife and is famous for its many (lounge) <!--del_lnk--> clubs. It is considered one of the best destinations to go out in Europe together with <a href="../../wp/p/Paris.htm" title="Paris">Paris</a>, <a href="../../wp/l/London.htm" title="London">London</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Madrid.htm" title="Madrid">Madrid</a> and <a href="../../wp/b/Berlin.htm" title="Berlin">Berlin</a>. Many youngsters from all over the country and even abroad visit Hotel Arena, Escape (Deluxe), Powerzone, Jimmy Woo, <!--del_lnk--> Supperclub, Club More, Chemistry, Panama, Melkweg, Paradiso or Club 11 - which are among the most famous. These clubs are located everywhere around, but there are concentrations around <!--del_lnk--> Rembrandtplein and <!--del_lnk--> Leidseplein, where you can also find many bars and restaurants.<p>Amsterdam has a vibrant <!--del_lnk--> gay scene centred around The Reguliersdwarsstraat next to Rembrandtplein. From 1989 till 1996 Europe's biggest gay-club 'iT' was settled in Amsterdam.<p><a id="Weather" name="Weather"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Weather</span></h2>
<p>Amsterdam enjoys a moderate temperate climate, with the weather patterns being strongly influenced by Amsterdam's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the prevailing westerly winds. Winters are mild and average above freezing, although frosts are not uncommon during periods of easterly or northeasterly winds that blow from the interior of the continent. Summers are warm but seldom hot. Although days with measurable precipitation are common, Amsterdam averages less than 760 mm of precipitation annually. Most of the rain falls as protracted drizzle or light rain. Cloudy and damp days are common, particularly in the cooler months.<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
<p>Amsterdam is the financial/business capital of the Netherlands and repeatedly chosen the fifth most important city in Europe to do business after London, Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels, but has reacently moved to a sixth place just behind Barcelona (Cushman and Wakefield). Many large Dutch corporations and banks have their headquarters in Amsterdam, like <!--del_lnk--> ABN Amro, <!--del_lnk--> Heineken, <!--del_lnk--> ING Group, <!--del_lnk--> Ahold, <!--del_lnk--> Delta Lloyd Group and <!--del_lnk--> Philips. <!--del_lnk--> KPMG International's global headquarter is located in Amsterdam, just as the European headquarter of <!--del_lnk--> Cisco Systems.<p>Because of the many large companies in Amsterdam, and the rest of the Netherlands, <!--del_lnk--> Reuters has a relatively large representation in the city.<p>Though many subsidiaries are located along the old canals, more and more companies decide to move to a newly built office tower outside the city centre. The <!--del_lnk--> South Axis (Dutch: <!--del_lnk--> Zuidas) is increasingly a banking area, and is intended to become the new business-face of the Netherlands. There the recently expanded <!--del_lnk--> World Trade Centre also has its location.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Stock Exchange (AEX) is part of <!--del_lnk--> Euronext, and is the oldest stock exchange on earth. Nowadays it still is one of the most important in Europe.<p><a id="Academia" name="Academia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Academia</span></h2>
<p>Amsterdam has two universities: the <!--del_lnk--> University of Amsterdam (Universiteit van Amsterdam), and the <!--del_lnk--> Free University (Vrije Universiteit). Other institutions for higher education include an art school, De Rietveldacademie, the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. Amsterdam's <!--del_lnk--> International Institute of Social History is one of the world's largest documentary and research institutions concerning social history, and especially the history of the labour movement. Amsterdam's <!--del_lnk--> Hortus Botanicus, founded in the early 1600s, is one of the oldest <!--del_lnk--> botanical gardens in the world, with many old and rare specimens, amongst which the coffee plant that served as the parent for the entire coffee culture in Central and South America.<p><a id="Public_transport" name="Public_transport"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Public transport</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23227.jpg.htm" title="NS double-decker train at Amsterdam Central Station"><img alt="NS double-decker train at Amsterdam Central Station" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:NS_train1.jpg" src="../../images/232/23227.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23227.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> NS double-decker train at Amsterdam Central Station</div>
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<p><a id="Current_situation" name="Current_situation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Current situation</span></h3>
<p>Public transport in Amsterdam, operated by <!--del_lnk--> Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf, <!--del_lnk--> Connexxion, <!--del_lnk--> Arriva, and <!--del_lnk--> Nederlandse Spoorwegen, consists of:<ul>
<li>national and international <a href="../../wp/t/Train.htm" title="Train">train</a> connections<li>3 <!--del_lnk--> metro lines, 1 <!--del_lnk--> light rail line and 1 more <!--del_lnk--> metro line under construction, together the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam metro<li>16 <!--del_lnk--> tram lines<li>An express tram line (IJtram)<li>55 local bus lines<li>regional bus lines<li>several <!--del_lnk--> ferries for pedestrians and cyclists across the <!--del_lnk--> IJ (free of charge)<li>a Fast Flying Ferry towards <!--del_lnk--> Velsen-Zuid on the North Sea shore<li>local night bus lines</ul>
<p>A new underground line, the <!--del_lnk--> North/South Line (<i>Noord/Zuidlijn</i>) is under construction. The estimated completion date is in 2012.(See also <!--del_lnk--> Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf, <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam metro, <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Centraal).<p>As of the start of 2006 most of the regional transport is handled by <!--del_lnk--> Arriva, <!--del_lnk--> Connexxion used to handle all of regional transport and still operates a few lines.<p><a id="History_2" name="History_2"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h3>
<p>During the construction of the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam metro, plans to demolish the entire former <a href="../../wp/j/Jew.htm" title="Jew">Jewish</a> neighbourhood near the <!--del_lnk--> Nieuwmarkt led to strong protests. The metro was still built (wall decorations at the Nieuwmarkt station are dedicated to the protests), but plans to build a highway through the neighbourhood in the centre of Amsterdam were abolished.<p><a id="Private_transport" name="Private_transport"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Private transport</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23228.jpg.htm" title="Many bikes parked in Amsterdam."><img alt="Many bikes parked in Amsterdam." height="131" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amsterdam_bicycle.jpg" src="../../images/232/23228.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23228.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Many bikes parked in Amsterdam.</div>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23229.jpg.htm" title="A few of the ubiquitous cyclists in Amsterdam"><img alt="A few of the ubiquitous cyclists in Amsterdam" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amster.jpg" src="../../images/232/23229.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23229.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A few of the ubiquitous cyclists in Amsterdam</div>
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<p>Amsterdam is known as one of the most <!--del_lnk--> bicycle-friendly cities in the world and is a centre of <!--del_lnk--> bicycle culture. Most main streets have bike paths. <!--del_lnk--> Bike racks are ubiquitous throughout the city. There are about 700,000 bicycles in the city. Each year, about 80,000 of them are stolen and 25,000 end up in the canals. In the city centre, driving a car is discouraged, parking fees are steep and a great number of streets are closed off for cars. The A10 <!--del_lnk--> Ringroad surrounds the city and provides connections to four major motorways: the A1, A2, A4 and A8, as well as quite a few exits to roads leading into the city (S101 through S118).<p><a id="Airport" name="Airport"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Airport</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, is less than 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam Central Station. It is the biggest airport in the Netherlands, the fourth largest in Europe and the tenth largest in the world. It handles about 42 million passengers a year and is home base to <!--del_lnk--> KLM, since 2004 part of <!--del_lnk--> Air France-KLM.<p><a id="Sports" name="Sports"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Sports</span></h2>
<p>Amsterdam is the home town of <!--del_lnk--> Ajax, a team in the <!--del_lnk--> Dutch Football League. Its home base is the modern stadium <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam ArenA, located in the south-east of the city. The team shares that facility with the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Admirals, an <a href="../../wp/a/American_football.htm" title="American football">American football</a> team.<p>In 1928, Amsterdam hosted the <!--del_lnk--> Games of the IXth Olympiad. The <!--del_lnk--> Olympic Stadium built for the occasion has been completely restored and is now used for cultural and sporting events.<p>Amsterdam also is home to a famous <!--del_lnk--> ice rink, the <!--del_lnk--> Jaap Eden baan. The <!--del_lnk--> Amstel Tijgers play in this arena in the Dutch <a href="../../wp/i/Ice_hockey.htm" title="Ice hockey">ice hockey</a> premier league. In <!--del_lnk--> speed skating many international championships have been fought in the 400-meter lane of this ice rink.<p>The city also has a <a href="../../wp/b/Baseball.htm" title="Baseball">baseball</a> team, the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Pirates who play in the Dutch Major League. Three <!--del_lnk--> field hockey teams, Amsterdam, Pinoké and Hurley who play their matches around the <!--del_lnk--> Wagener stadium. These teams are offently refered to as playing in Amsterdam. However, all of them (even Amsterdam) are playing their matches on the grounds of neighbourcity <!--del_lnk--> Amstelveen There is also a <a href="../../wp/b/Basketball.htm" title="Basketball">basketball</a> team, the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Astronauts who play in the Dutch premier division and play their games in the Sporthallen Zuid, near the Olympic Stadium.<p>Since <!--del_lnk--> 1999 the city of Amsterdam honours it's best sportsmen and -women at the <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Sports Awards. Boxer <!--del_lnk--> Raymond Joval and fieldhockey midfielder <!--del_lnk--> Carole Thate were the first to receive the awards in 1999.<p><a id="Periodic_events" name="Periodic_events"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Periodic events</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>April - <!--del_lnk--> Koninginnedag, <i>Queen's day</i>, <!--del_lnk--> 30 April, the former <!--del_lnk--> Queen's (<!--del_lnk--> Juliana) birthday, also the day Juliana transferred her title to her daughter Beatrix.<li>June - The <i>Amsterdam Roots</i> Festival, last week of June. International music festival<li>June - <!--del_lnk--> Holland Festival is an international festival for theatre, music, dance, opera, film and art, throughout the month of June.<li>August - <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Pride, first weekend of August, <!--del_lnk--> gay pride weekend<li>August - <!--del_lnk--> Hartjesdag, 3rd Weekend in August.<li>August - <!--del_lnk--> Uitmarkt, last weekend in August, the start of the cultural season<li>August - <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Tournament, late August, International Football-tournament hosted by <!--del_lnk--> AFC Ajax<li>August - <!--del_lnk--> Sail Amsterdam, a five-yearly event, when <!--del_lnk--> tall ships from all over the world can be visited. Next event 2010.<li>October - <!--del_lnk--> Amsterdam Marathon, mid-October<li>October – The <!--del_lnk--> Bokbier Beer Festival in the <i>Beurs van Berlage</i> (Old stock Exchange)<li>October – <i>Grachtenrace</i> (Canal Race), 25km rowing race, 2nd Saturday in October.<li>November - <!--del_lnk--> Shadow Festival of Documentary Film<li>November – December The <!--del_lnk--> IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam<li>November - <!--del_lnk--> Cannabis Cup, mid-November annual cannabis competition, hosted by <!--del_lnk--> High Times.<li>December – <!--del_lnk--> Sinterklaas</ul>
<p><a id="Demography" name="Demography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demography</span></h2>
<table class="wikitable" style="width:830px; text-align:center">
<caption><!--del_lnk--> Demographic evolution of Amsterdam between <!--del_lnk--> 1300 and <!--del_lnk--> 2006</caption>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1300</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1400</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1500</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1600</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1650</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1796</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1830</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1849</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1879</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1899</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 1925</th>
<th><!--del_lnk--> 2006</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1,000</td>
<td>3,000</td>
<td>12,000</td>
<td>60,000</td>
<td>140,000</td>
<td>200,600</td>
<td>202,400</td>
<td>224,000</td>
<td>317,000</td>
<td>510,900</td>
<td>714,200</td>
<td>743,905</td>
</tr>
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<p> <a id="Famous_Amsterdammers" name="Famous_Amsterdammers"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Famous Amsterdammers</span></h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="" style="background-color: transparent; width:">
<tr>
<td align="left" style="padding-left:;" valign="top" width="">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Karel Appel - painter<li><!--del_lnk--> Frits Bolkestein - Dutch politician and former EU commissioner<li><!--del_lnk--> George Hendrik Breitner - painter<li><!--del_lnk--> Simon Carmiggelt - writer and columnist<li><!--del_lnk--> Johan Cruijff - football player<li><a href="../../wp/a/Anne_Frank.htm" title="Anne Frank">Anne Frank</a> - Holocaust diarist<li><!--del_lnk--> Theo van Gogh - filmmaker and columnist<li><!--del_lnk--> André Hazes - singer</ul>
</td>
<td align="left" style="padding-left:;" valign="top" width="">
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Freddy Heineken - beer magnate<li><!--del_lnk--> Meindert Hobbema - painter<li><!--del_lnk--> Jozef Israëls - painter<li><!--del_lnk--> Wim Kok - former prime minister<li><!--del_lnk--> Harry Mulisch - writer<li><!--del_lnk--> Multatuli - writer<li><!--del_lnk--> Rembrandt - painter<li><a href="../../wp/b/Baruch_Spinoza.htm" title="Baruch Spinoza">Baruch Spinoza</a> - philosopher</ul>
</td>
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<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amtrak</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Design_and_Technology.Railway_transport.htm">Railway transport</a></h3>
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<th bgcolor="#CC9966" colspan="2" style="font-size: large; text-align:center"><b>Amtrak</b></th>
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<td align="center" colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="logo" height="32" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak_Logo.svg" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="300" /></td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Reporting marks</th>
<td>AMTK, AMTZ</td>
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<tr>
<th>Locale</th>
<td>Continental <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, as well as routes to <a href="../../wp/v/Vancouver.htm" title="Vancouver">Vancouver</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Toronto.htm" title="Toronto">Toronto</a>, and <a href="../../wp/m/Montreal.htm" title="Montreal">Montreal</a></td>
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<th>Dates of operation</th>
<td>1971 – present</td>
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<th><!--del_lnk--> Track gauge</th>
<td>4 <!--del_lnk--> ft 8½ <!--del_lnk--> in (1435 <!--del_lnk--> mm) (<!--del_lnk--> standard gauge)</td>
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<th>Headquarters</th>
<td><a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a></td>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16524.jpg.htm" title="Amtrak Cascades service with tilting Talgo trainsets in Seattle, Washington"><img alt="Amtrak Cascades service with tilting Talgo trainsets in Seattle, Washington" height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak_Cascades_cars.jpg" src="../../images/165/16524.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16525.jpg.htm" title="Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida"><img alt="Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida" height="206" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak_139_south_across_Central.jpg" src="../../images/165/16525.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><b>Amtrak</b> (<!--del_lnk--> AAR <!--del_lnk--> reporting mark <b>AMTK and AMTZ</b>) is the <!--del_lnk--> brand name of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>' <!--del_lnk--> intercity <!--del_lnk--> passenger train system created on <!--del_lnk--> May 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1971. Officially known as the <b>National Railroad Passenger Corporation</b>, the name "Amtrak" is a <!--del_lnk--> portmanteau of the words "American" and "track."<p>Amtrak is a quasi-governmental agency; all of its <!--del_lnk--> preferred stock is owned by the federal government. The members of Amtrak's <!--del_lnk--> board of directors are appointed by the <a href="../../wp/p/President_of_the_United_States.htm" title="President of the United States">President of the United States</a>, and are subject to confirmation by the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_Senate.htm" title="United States Senate">United States Senate</a>. Some <!--del_lnk--> common stock is held by the private railroads that transferred their passenger service to Amtrak in 1971. Though Amtrak stock does not pay <!--del_lnk--> dividends and is not routinely traded, a small number of private investors have purchased Amtrak stock from its original owners.<p>Amtrak employs over 19,000 people. The nationwide network of 22,000 miles (35,000 km) of routes serves 500 communities in 46 states of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>, with some of the routes serving communities in <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a>. In fiscal year 2005, Amtrak served over 25.3 million passengers, a company record.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p><a id="Passenger_rail_service_before_Amtrak" name="Passenger_rail_service_before_Amtrak"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Passenger rail service before Amtrak</span></h3>
<p>Between <!--del_lnk--> 1870 and <!--del_lnk--> 1916, the total track mileage of U.S. railroads grew from 53,000 to 245,000 miles (85,000 to 394,000 km); during the same period, key technological innovations (including <!--del_lnk--> standard gauge track, more powerful <!--del_lnk--> locomotives, <!--del_lnk--> air brakes, <!--del_lnk--> signaling systems, and <a href="../../wp/s/Steel.htm" title="Steel">steel</a> passenger cars) brought significant improvements in the safety and speed of rail travel. By <!--del_lnk--> 1910, railroads handled 95% of all intercity travel in the U.S. Peak volume of passenger rail travel was reached in <!--del_lnk--> 1920, when 1.2 billion passengers were carried.<p>Even in the 1920s, railroads faced increasing competition for rail passengers from automobiles and buses, which used an expanding network of paved roads, many built with governmental funding. By <!--del_lnk--> 1929, intercity rail transportation had declined by 18%. A major casualty was passenger service on branch lines, which were increasingly subject to abandonment as total track mileage began a long, steady decline. As automobiles and buses took the place of passenger trains on short- and medium-haul trips, railroads lost the feeder services that had formerly brought throngs of passengers to their intercity services.<p>Although passenger rail travel declined further during the <!--del_lnk--> Great Depression, new, diesel-powered <!--del_lnk--> streamliners, beginning with <!--del_lnk--> 1934's gleaming silver <i><!--del_lnk--> Pioneer Zephyr</i>, brought many travelers back to the rails; in <!--del_lnk--> 1939, when 90 streamliners were in operation nationally, passenger travel had increased 38% from the <!--del_lnk--> 1932 level.<p>During <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a>, restrictions on automobile fuel use and troop movements led to explosive growth in passenger rail travel. The railroad companies had to scramble to find enough equipment to meet the demand.<p>After the war, many railroad executives believed that — despite competition from automobiles and the then-nascent <!--del_lnk--> airline industry — a profitable market existed for intercity passenger rail travel. Thousands of gleaming, streamlined passenger cars were ordered, and a fleet of fast, beautiful, and often luxurious streamliners — epitomized by the <i><a href="../../wp/s/Super_Chief.htm" title="Super Chief">Super Chief</a></i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> California Zephyr</i> — inspired an impressive resurgence in passenger rail travel. In <!--del_lnk--> 1948, Santa Fe CEO <!--del_lnk--> Fred G. Gurley reported a "complete reversal of our passenger traffic picture," with <!--del_lnk--> 1947 revenues exceeding those of <!--del_lnk--> 1936 by 220%. Inspired by America's technological leadership in passenger train design, railroads in Europe and Japan launched new, high-speed streamlined services expressly modeled on American innovations.<p>The resurgence of passenger rail service in the U.S. proved to be short-lived. Although a few of the leading trains continued to generate modest profits through the 1950s and early 1960s, passengers disappeared in droves, and so did the trains. Between <!--del_lnk--> 1946 and <!--del_lnk--> 1964, the number of passengers carried per year declined from 770 to 298 million. In <!--del_lnk--> 1954, U.S. railroads operated more than 2,500 intercity (non-commuter) passenger trains; by <!--del_lnk--> 1969, there were fewer than 500. By <!--del_lnk--> 1970, with only a few exceptions, U.S. passenger rail service had declined to what can only be described as a miserable state: decrepit equipment, cavernous and nearly empty stations in dangerous urban centers, and management that seemed intent on driving away their few remaining customers. Even some of the most highly efficient private-sector railroads such as the <!--del_lnk--> Norfolk and Western Railway could not earn a profit or even recover the direct operating expenses for passenger service.<p>The rise of <!--del_lnk--> commercial aviation and the <!--del_lnk--> Interstate Highway System beginning in the 1950s, the former heavily subsidized by taxpayers and the latter funded by gas taxes, drew would-be passengers away. However, intercity bus services also saw declines in ridership despite the efficiencies of the new Interstate Highway System. For ground transportation, more and more Americans chose the flexibility, convenience and privacy of personal transportation by automobile over public transportation by rail or bus. The 1960s also saw the end of <a href="../../wp/r/Railway_post_office.htm" title="Railway post office">railway post office</a> revenues, which had helped some of the remaining trains break even despite the dearth of passengers.<p>At the same time, the U.S. Federal government maintained regulatory policies that were unfavorable for passenger service:<ul>
<li>In 1947, the U.S. <!--del_lnk--> Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ruled that passenger trains could not exceed 79 mph (127 km/h) without special in-cab signaling systems; railroads complained that such systems were not needed outside a few congested intercity corridors and that they would have to spend the equivalent of a half billion dollars to comply with the regulation. As a result, plans to develop high-speed intercity services were shelved.<li>A World War II-era excise tax of 15% on passenger rail travel was not repealed when the war ended; it survived until 1962.</ul>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) was formed in 1967 to lobby for government funding to assure the continuation of passenger trains. Its lobbying efforts were hampered somewhat by opposition of the <!--del_lnk--> Democratic Party to any sort of subsidies to the privately owned railroads, and <!--del_lnk--> Republican Party opposition to the <!--del_lnk--> nationalization of the railroad industry. The proponents were aided by the fact that few in the federal government wanted to be held responsible for the seemingly-inevitable extinction of the passenger train, which most regarded as tantamount to political suicide. The urgency of the need to solve the passenger train problem was heightened by the <!--del_lnk--> bankruptcy filing of the <!--del_lnk--> Penn Central, the dominant railroad in the <!--del_lnk--> Northeastern United States, on <!--del_lnk--> June 21, <!--del_lnk--> 1970.<p><a id="Rail_Passenger_Service_Act_of_1970" name="Rail_Passenger_Service_Act_of_1970"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970</span></h3>
<p>Under the <!--del_lnk--> Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, Congress created the <b>National Railroad Passenger Corporation</b> (NRPC) to subsidize and oversee the operation of intercity passenger trains. The Act provided that<ul>
<li>Any railroad operating intercity passenger service could contract with the NRPC, thereby joining the national system.<li>Participating railroads bought into the new corporation using a formula based on their recent intercity passenger losses. The purchase price could be satisfied either by cash or rolling stock; in exchange, the railroads received Amtrak common stock.<li>Any participating railroad was freed of the obligation to operate intercity passenger service after <!--del_lnk--> May 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1971, except for those services chosen by the Department of Transportation as part of a "basic system" of service and paid for by NRPC using its federal funds.<li>Railroads that chose not to join the Amtrak system were required to continue operating their existing passenger service until 1975 and thenceforth had to pursue the customary <!--del_lnk--> Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) approval process for any discontinuance or alteration to the service.</ul>
<p>While it appeared for some time that President <!--del_lnk--> Richard M. Nixon would veto the legislation, ultimately it was signed into law on <!--del_lnk--> October 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1970. The original working brand name for NRPC was <b>Railpax</b>, but shortly prior to the company's assumption of intercity rail passenger operations, the name was changed to <b>Amtrak</b>.<p>At the time, many Washington insiders, including President Nixon and his aides, viewed the corporation as a face-saving way for the President and Congress to give passenger trains the one "last hurrah" demanded by the public, but expected that the NRPC would quietly disappear in a few years as public interest waned. However, while Amtrak's political and financial support have often been shaky, popular and political support for Amtrak has allowed it to survive long past its expected lifetime.<p><a id="Early_days" name="Early_days"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Early days</span></h3>
<p>At Amtrak's startup, 20 out of the 26 eligible railroads had elected to join the Amtrak system:<ol>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway<li><!--del_lnk--> Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (no service until the <i><!--del_lnk--> West Virginian</i> began <!--del_lnk--> September 8, <!--del_lnk--> 1971)<li><!--del_lnk--> Burlington Northern Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Central of Georgia Railway (has never hosted Amtrak service)<li><!--del_lnk--> Chesapeake and Ohio Railway<li><!--del_lnk--> Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad<li><a href="../../wp/c/Chicago_and_North_Western_Railway.htm" title="Chicago and North Western Railway">Chicago and North Western Railway</a> (has never hosted Amtrak service)<li><!--del_lnk--> Delaware and Hudson Railway (no Amtrak service until the <i><!--del_lnk--> Adirondack</i> began <!--del_lnk--> August 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1974)<li><!--del_lnk--> Grand Trunk Western Railroad (no Amtrak service until the <i><!--del_lnk--> Blue Water Limited</i> began <!--del_lnk--> September 15, <!--del_lnk--> 1974)<li><!--del_lnk--> Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Illinois Central Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Louisville and Nashville Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Missouri Pacific Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Norfolk and Western Railway (no Amtrak service until the <i><!--del_lnk--> Mountaineer</i> began <!--del_lnk--> March 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1975)<li><!--del_lnk--> Northwestern Pacific Railroad (has never hosted Amtrak service)<li><!--del_lnk--> Penn Central Transportation<li><!--del_lnk--> Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Seaboard Coast Line Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Southern Pacific Railroad<li><!--del_lnk--> Union Pacific Railroad</ol>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, <!--del_lnk--> Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, <!--del_lnk--> Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, <!--del_lnk--> Georgia Railroad, <!--del_lnk--> Reading Company and <!--del_lnk--> Southern Railway continued to run their own intercity trains after the Amtrak startup date. The <!--del_lnk--> Alaska Railroad provided long-distance service, but was already owned by the federal government. In addition, the <a href="../../wp/c/Canadian_Pacific_Railway.htm" title="Canadian Pacific Railway">Canadian Pacific Railway</a>'s <i><!--del_lnk--> Atlantic</i>, taken over by <!--del_lnk--> VIA Rail in 1978, crossed northern Maine until 1994, and for a time another Canadian local service crossed part of northern Minnesota just south of the international border.<p>Amtrak began operations <!--del_lnk--> May 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1971 on a system about half the size of that operated the previous day. Several major corridors, including the <!--del_lnk--> New York Central Railroad's <!--del_lnk--> Water Level Route across <!--del_lnk--> Ohio and the <!--del_lnk--> Grand Trunk Western Railroad's <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>-<a href="../../wp/d/Detroit%252C_Michigan.htm" title="Detroit, Michigan">Detroit</a> line, became freight-only in favour of parallel lines. A 19-hour <!--del_lnk--> layover at <!--del_lnk--> Cincinnati was necessary for eastbound <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>-<!--del_lnk--> Newport News travelers on the <i><!--del_lnk--> James Whitcomb Riley</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> George Washington</i>. On the other hand, Amtrak's <i><!--del_lnk--> Coast Starlight</i> (named <!--del_lnk--> November 14) was a first, running along the west coast from <!--del_lnk--> San Diego to <a href="../../wp/s/Seattle%252C_Washington.htm" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle</a>, combining three separate trains operated by three railroads into one.<p>The first timetable was compiled from former <i><!--del_lnk--> Official Guide of the Railways</i> schedules with only minor changes. Former names were kept, and some trains were unnamed at first. By the <!--del_lnk--> July 12 timetable, service had returned to the Water Level Route with the <i><!--del_lnk--> Lake Shore</i> (named <!--del_lnk--> November 14), and the <!--del_lnk--> Northeast Corridor received an <i><!--del_lnk--> Inland Route</i> via <!--del_lnk--> Springfield, <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts, thanks to money from <!--del_lnk--> New York, <!--del_lnk--> Ohio and <!--del_lnk--> Massachusetts. Due to pressure from Senator <!--del_lnk--> Mike Mansfield of <!--del_lnk--> Montana, the <i><!--del_lnk--> North Coast Hiawatha</i> was implemented as a second route to the <!--del_lnk--> Pacific Northwest. The first all-new timetable was dated <!--del_lnk--> November 14, <!--del_lnk--> 1971, and included several name changes and names for most of the formerly unnamed trains. New numbers were also assigned to all trains. Another barrier, at <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>, was broken with the <!--del_lnk--> Milwaukee-<!--del_lnk--> St. Louis <i><!--del_lnk--> Abraham Lincoln</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Prairie State</i>.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16527.jpg.htm" title="Amtrak #928, a former PRR GG1, speeds through North Elizabeth, New Jersey in December, 1975."><img alt="Amtrak #928, a former PRR GG1, speeds through North Elizabeth, New Jersey in December, 1975." height="199" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak_No_928.jpg" src="../../images/165/16527.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16527.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amtrak #928, a former <a href="../../wp/p/PRR_GG1.htm" title="PRR GG1">PRR GG1</a>, speeds through North <!--del_lnk--> Elizabeth, New Jersey in December, 1975.</div>
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<p>The Southern joined on <!--del_lnk--> February 1, <!--del_lnk--> 1979, when its <i><!--del_lnk--> Southern Crescent</i> became Amtrak's <i><!--del_lnk--> Crescent</i>. The D&RGW last operated its <i><!--del_lnk--> Rio Grande Zephyr</i> <!--del_lnk--> April 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1983, and Amtrak's <i><!--del_lnk--> San Francisco Zephyr</i> was renamed the <i><!--del_lnk--> California Zephyr</i>. The <i>Zephyr</i>'s rerouting onto the scenic D&RGW was delayed by a <!--del_lnk--> mudslide at <!--del_lnk--> Thistle, Utah and did not take place until <!--del_lnk--> July 15, <!--del_lnk--> 1983. The bankrupt CRI&P ran its last intercity passenger trains (the <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>-<!--del_lnk--> Peoria <i><!--del_lnk--> Peoria Rocket</i> and the <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>-<!--del_lnk--> Rock Island <i><!--del_lnk--> Quad Cities Rocket</i>) on <!--del_lnk--> December 31, <!--del_lnk--> 1978. The last Georgia Railroad <!--del_lnk--> mixed train was operated <!--del_lnk--> May 6, <!--del_lnk--> 1983 by the <!--del_lnk--> Seaboard System Railroad. The Reading Philadelphia-<!--del_lnk--> Newark Penn Station service stayed around into <!--del_lnk--> Conrail and was discontinued in 1983. CSS&SB trains still operate, now by the <!--del_lnk--> Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. Both the Reading and CSS&SB operations qualified as intercity passenger service, but were fundamentally longer-than-average distance commuter train operations.<p>Except for the joining of routes through <!--del_lnk--> Oakland, <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a> to create the continuous <i><!--del_lnk--> Coast Starlight</i>, all Amtrak services on day one were continued from pre-Amtrak operations. The first all-new Amtrak route, in other words a route that had not been operated immediately prior to Amtrak, was the <i><!--del_lnk--> Montrealer</i>/<i><!--del_lnk--> Washingtonian</i>. That route was inaugurated <!--del_lnk--> September 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1972 along <!--del_lnk--> Boston and Maine Railroad and <!--del_lnk--> Canadian National Railway track that had last seen passenger service in 1966.<p>Amtrak did not own any track in its original conception. Following the bankruptcy declaration of several northeastern railroads in the early 1970s — particularly that of <!--del_lnk--> Penn Central, which owned and operated the <!--del_lnk--> Northeast Corridor, Congress passed the <!--del_lnk--> Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to create a consolidated, federally subsidized freight network called <!--del_lnk--> Conrail. As part of this legislation, the vital Northeast Corridor passenger route was transferred to Amtrak. In subsequent years, various short route segments needed for passenger operations but not for freight were transferred to Amtrak ownership. However, the majority of Amtrak's routes are hosted by private freight railroads, to which Amtrak pays the costs of adding its passenger trains.<p>The host railroads supplied the rolling stock and operating crews in 1971 when Amtrak commenced operations. Amtrak soon purchased the best of the railroad equipment and subsequently has purchased new equipment. Today, Amtrak trains are staffed by Amtrak employees but, other than on the routes that Amtrak owns outright, are dispatched by the host railroads on whose tracks these trains operate.<p>The fuel shortages of the mid-1970s discouraged travel on the nation's highways, and higher costs for aviation fuel increased air fares. Both these effects renewed interest in passenger rail travel. Given that railroads use fuel very efficiently, passenger rail travel no longer seemed quite so outmoded. Consequently, Amtrak's ridership began to increase. Another short-lived rebound in ridership occurred after the <a href="../../wp/s/September_11%252C_2001_attacks.htm" title="September 11, 2001 attacks">September 11, 2001 attacks</a>.<p><a id="Conflicting_goals" name="Conflicting_goals"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Conflicting goals</span></h3>
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<div style="width:277px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16528.jpg.htm" title="Amtrak Train at the Brattleboro, Vermont, station, 18 March 2004."><img alt="Amtrak Train at the Brattleboro, Vermont, station, 18 March 2004." height="196" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak_train.jpg" src="../../images/165/16528.jpg" width="275" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16528.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amtrak Train at the <!--del_lnk--> Brattleboro, Vermont, station, <!--del_lnk--> 18 March <!--del_lnk--> 2004.</div>
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<p>Amtrak was established to relieve railroads of their federally mandated responsibility to transport passengers as a priority over freight. This was causing increasingly large financial losses for the railroads as the networks of federally funded highways and airports expanded and rail ridership levels plunged. From the outset, Amtrak was expected to pursue conflicting goals: Amtrak was supposed to continue providing a national rail passenger service in the face of a continuing trend of significantly diminished demand and passenger revenue, while simultaneously operating as a self-supporting and theoretically profitable commercial enterprise.<p>Amtrak is in many ways dependent on freight railroads. As it owns little track, it must rely on maintenance done by the freight owners, and sometimes has to cancel service over routes taken out of service by the host freight railroad (as occurred with service to <!--del_lnk--> Phoenix, <!--del_lnk--> Arizona) or pay to maintain the tracks.<p><a id="Politically_appointed_leaders_and_congressional_funding" name="Politically_appointed_leaders_and_congressional_funding"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Politically appointed leaders and congressional funding</span></h3>
<p>Without a dedicated source of capital equipment and operating funding (except for competitive passenger fares and even less express income), Amtrak's continued operation has always been dependent upon the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government. Both congressional funding and appointments of Amtrak's leaders are subject to political considerations, which have varied widely during its existence through seven U.S. presidencies and major shifts of power in the U.S. Congress. Political pressures extend to Amtrak's very route structure. As with any federally supported activity, the more states and congressional districts served, the more political support in Congress.<p>Because Amtrak's board and president are all political appointees, some have had little or no experience with railroads. However, Amtrak has also benefited from both highly skilled and politically oriented leaders.<p>For example, in 1982, former U.S. <!--del_lnk--> Secretary of the Navy and retired <!--del_lnk--> Southern Railway head <!--del_lnk--> W. Graham Claytor Jr. brought his naval and railroad experience to the job. Claytor had served briefly as an acting U.S. <!--del_lnk--> Secretary of Transportation in the cabinet of President <a href="../../wp/j/Jimmy_Carter.htm" title="Jimmy Carter">Jimmy Carter</a> in 1979, and came out of retirement to lead Amtrak after the disastrous financial results during the Carter administration (1977-1981). He was recruited and strongly supported by <!--del_lnk--> John H. Riley, an attorney who was the highly skilled head of the <!--del_lnk--> Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under the Reagan Administration from 1983-1989. Secretary of Transportation <!--del_lnk--> Elizabeth Dole also tacitly supported Amtrak. Claytor seemed to enjoy a good relationship with the Congress for his 11 years in the position. Of course, politics aside, that may have also been because he did a good job. According to an article in <i><!--del_lnk--> Fortune</i> magazine, through vigorous cost cutting and aggressive marketing, within seven years under Claytor, Amtrak was generating enough cash to cover 72% of its $1.7 billion operating budget by 1989, up from 48% in 1981.<p><a id="Modern_history_.281980s_to_present.29" name="Modern_history_.281980s_to_present.29"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Modern history (1980s to present)</span></h3>
<p>Two of the leaders who followed Claytor lacked freight railroad or private-sector experience. Further, they each inherited the goal of making Amtrak <i>operationally self-sufficient</i>, an idea which began under <!--del_lnk--> David Stockman and his successors at the <!--del_lnk--> Office of Management and Budget (OMB) while Claytor was Amtrak's president (circa 1986).<p>Claytor's replacement was <!--del_lnk--> Thomas Downs. Downs had been city administrator of <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a>, and oversaw the <!--del_lnk--> Union Station project, which had experienced both massive delays and cost overruns. Under Downs, Amtrak began to claim that it could achieve operating self-sufficiency, and its leaders seemed to be increasingly misleading as to the prospects of achieving that goal when pressed by Congress and the media.<p>After Downs left Amtrak, <!--del_lnk--> George Warrington was appointed by the board as the company's next president. He had previously been in charge of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Business Unit. When he took the helm of Amtrak in January, 1998, self-sufficiency was still officially a stated goal, although it was becoming elusive in the eyes of Congress. Under Warrington's administration, Amtrak was mandated by the Administration and Congress to become totally self-sufficient within a five-year period, and all its management efforts were directed to that goal. Passengers became "guests" and there were expansions into express freight work. Finally, at the end of the 5-year period, it became clear that self-sufficiency was an unachievable goal, no matter how much additional express revenue was gained or how many cuts were made in Amtrak services.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16529.jpg.htm" title="A Michigan-bound Amtrak train passes through Porter, Indiana, after departing from Chicago in 1993."><img alt="A Michigan-bound Amtrak train passes through Porter, Indiana, after departing from Chicago in 1993." height="138" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AMTK_345_IN_Porter.jpg" src="../../images/165/16529.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16529.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A <!--del_lnk--> Michigan-bound Amtrak train passes through <!--del_lnk--> Porter, <!--del_lnk--> Indiana, after departing from <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a> in 1993.</div>
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<p>In fairness, while both Downs and Warrington had extensive experience in government, neither had the non-governmental cost accounting or practical experience in private-sector railroading that Claytor had. Claytor also enjoyed the benefit of serving during the Reagan Administration when increases in federal spending on military items were drawing much of the political attention in Congress.<p>The efforts to expand Amtrak's express income were unpopular with the host freight railroads, who did not want the additional Amtrak traffic it brought (or the competition). The express work also brought Amtrak new political enemies in the powerful <!--del_lnk--> trucking lobby before Congress. Warrington also had the burden of delays in implementation of the new <!--del_lnk--> Acela Express high-speed trainsets, which promised to be a strong source of income and favorable publicity along the <!--del_lnk--> Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington DC.<p>When <!--del_lnk--> David L. Gunn was selected as Amtrak president in April 2002, Amtrak self-sufficiency had largely fallen out of favour as a realistic short-term goal. Gunn came with a reputation as a strong, straightforward and experienced operating manager, but his blunt style sometimes put him in conflict with others. Years earlier, Gunn's refusal to "do politics" had put him at odds with the <!--del_lnk--> WMATA (Metro) board, which includes representatives from the District of Columbia and suburban jurisdictions in <!--del_lnk--> Maryland and <!--del_lnk--> Virginia during his tenure from 1991-1994. He drew experience from being General Manager and Chief Operations Officer, <!--del_lnk--> Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) from 1979 to 1984. In addition, his work as president of the <!--del_lnk--> New York City Transit Authority from 1984 to 1990 and as Chief General Manager of the <!--del_lnk--> Toronto Transit Commission in Canada from 1995-1999 earned him a great deal of operating credibility, despite a sometimes-rough relationship with politicians and labor unions. The two agencies were each the largest transit operations of their respective countries. Prior to 1974, Gunn also gained private-sector railroad experience with <!--del_lnk--> Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, the <!--del_lnk--> New York Central Railroad System (before their 1968 merger into <!--del_lnk--> Penn Central) and for the <!--del_lnk--> Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Before that, he had experience with the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Navy in the Naval Reserve. Supporters consider Gunn's credentials to be the strongest at the head of Amtrak since W. Graham Claytor came out of retirement by request in 1982.<p>Gunn was polite but direct in response to congressional criticism. He was also seen as more credible than some of his recent predecessors by Congress, the media, and many Amtrak supporters and employees. Perhaps more than any past president of Amtrak, Gunn seemed willing to publicly confront the policy and budget positions of the President of the United States who appointed the board at whose pleasure the Amtrak president serves.<p>In a departure from his recent predecessors' promises to make Amtrak self-sufficient in the short term, the Gunn administration took the stance that <b>no</b> form of mass passenger transportation in the United States is self-sufficient as the economy is currently structured, and that Amtrak should not be judged by different standards than other transport modes. Highways, airports, and air traffic control <i>all</i> require large government expenditures to build and operate, coming from The Highway Trust Fund and Aviation Trust Fund paid for by user fees, highway fuel and road taxes and in the case of The General Fund by people who own cars and do not. These expenditures are indirect subsidies unlike Amtrak's which fall under the watchful scrutiny of Congress when budget allocations are made yearly. Before a congressional hearing, Gunn answered a demand by leading Amtrak critic <!--del_lnk--> Arizona Senator <!--del_lnk--> John McCain to eliminate all operating subsidies by asking the Senator if he would also demand the same of the commuter <!--del_lnk--> airlines, upon whom the citizens of Arizona are dependent. McCain, usually not at a loss for words when debating Amtrak funding, did not reply.<p>Some of Gunn's actions have been seen by many as politically wise. He had been very proactive in reducing layers of management overhead and has eliminated almost all of the controversial express business. He had stated that continued <!--del_lnk--> deferred maintenance will become a safety issue which he will not tolerate. This improved labor relations to some extent, even as Amtrak's ranks of unionized and salaried workers have been reduced.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16530.jpg.htm" title="Acela 2038 tailing Acela 2030 en route to Washington, D.C. at Providence, RI in 2005"><img alt="Acela 2038 tailing Acela 2030 en route to Washington, D.C. at Providence, RI in 2005" height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak2038.jpg" src="../../images/165/16530.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16530.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Acela 2038 tailing Acela 2030 en route to <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> at <!--del_lnk--> Providence, RI in 2005</div>
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<p>On <!--del_lnk--> November 9, <!--del_lnk--> 2005, Amtrak's board of directors asked <!--del_lnk--> David L. Gunn to step down as president. He refused and was terminated. David Hughes, previously the Chief Engineer of Amtrak, was named as acting president and CEO until a permanent replacement could be appointed. <!--del_lnk--> David Laney, Amtrak's chairman, stated "Amtrak's future now requires a different type of leader who will aggressively tackle the company's financial, management and operational challenges. The need to bring fundamental change to Amtrak is greater and more urgent than ever before." The board envisions fundamental changes for the railroad including increasing competition and shared financial responsibilities with <a href="../../wp/u/U.S._state.htm" title="U.S. state">states</a>. Given the solid performance by Gunn, many Amtrak supporters have viewed Gunn's termination as the death knell for Amtrak.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> August 29, <!--del_lnk--> 2006, <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Kummant was named as the railroad company's new president and CEO effective <!--del_lnk--> September 12, <!--del_lnk--> 2006.<p><a id="Federal_funding" name="Federal_funding"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Federal funding</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16531.jpg.htm" title="Amtrak's Empire Builder train passing through the Columbia River Gorge enroute to Spokane, WA from Portland, OR in 2006"><img alt="Amtrak's Empire Builder train passing through the Columbia River Gorge enroute to Spokane, WA from Portland, OR in 2006" height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak_Wash.jpg" src="../../images/165/16531.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16531.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Amtrak's <!--del_lnk--> Empire Builder train passing through the <!--del_lnk--> Columbia River Gorge enroute to <!--del_lnk--> Spokane, WA from <!--del_lnk--> Portland, OR in 2006</div>
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<p>Amtrak's ongoing need for federal government funding leads to recurring debates over its possible elimination. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of <!--del_lnk--> September 11, <!--del_lnk--> 2001, during which Amtrak kept running while airlines were grounded, the value of a national passenger rail service was briefly acknowledged in Washington. But when Congress returned to work following the attacks, the airlines received a $15 billion bailout package, and inattention toward Amtrak resumed.<p>A stalemate in federal subsidization of Amtrak then led to cutbacks in services and routes as well as some deferred maintenance. In fiscal 2004 and 2005, Congress appropriated about $1.2 billion for Amtrak, $300 million more than President <a href="../../wp/g/George_W._Bush.htm" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a> had requested. However, the company's board has requested $1.8 billion through fiscal 2006, the majority of which (about $1.3 billion) would be used to bring infrastructure, rolling stock, and motive power back to a state of good repair. In Congressional testimony, the Department of Transportation's inspector-general confirmed that Amtrak would need at least $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2006 and $2 billion in fiscal 2007 just to maintain the status quo.<p>As has been the practice in most years, the current budget proposal from the U.S President to the Congress does not support Amtrak's continued existence in its current form. Hoping to spur Congress to overhaul the way Amtrak does business, the budget proposed by the Bush Administration for fiscal 2006 would eliminate Amtrak's operating subsidy and set aside $360 million to run trains along the Northeast Corridor once the railroad ceases operating.<p>Amtrak received just under $1.4 billion for fiscal year 2006, with a few conditions. Amtrak was required to reduce (but not to totally eliminate) food and sleeper service losses. The food service cuts were done through a more simplified dining service. The simplified dining service requires two fewer on-board service workers. The food will be prepared off train and then heated in convection ovens and served on high quality plastic plates with silverware.<p>Several states have entered into operating partnerships with Amtrak, notably <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania, <!--del_lnk--> Illinois, <!--del_lnk--> Michigan, <a href="../../wp/o/Oregon.htm" title="Oregon">Oregon</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Washington, <!--del_lnk--> North Carolina, <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma, and <!--del_lnk--> Vermont.<p><a id="Labor_dispute" name="Labor_dispute"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Labor dispute</span></h2>
<p>One problem associated with the federal funding is Amtrak's labor disputes. Many of Amtrak's employees have been working without a contract for over five years; the last contract signed in 1999 was mainly retroactive.<p><a id="Amtrak_routes_and_services" name="Amtrak_routes_and_services"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Amtrak routes and services</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16532.png.htm" title="Map of Acela Express service on the Northeast Corridor."><img alt="Map of Acela Express service on the Northeast Corridor." height="140" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amtrak_acela.png" src="../../images/165/16532.png" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16532.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Map of <!--del_lnk--> Acela Express service on the <!--del_lnk--> Northeast Corridor.</div>
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<p>As a general rule, even-numbered routes run north and east while odd numbered routes run south and west. However, some routes, such as the <i><!--del_lnk--> Pacific Surfliners</i>, use the exact opposite numbering system, which they inherited from the previous operators of similar routes, such as the <!--del_lnk--> Santa Fe Railroad. Amtrak gives each of its train routes a name. These names often reflect the rich and complex history of the route itself, or of the area traversed by the route.<p>The most popular and heavily-used routes in the Amtrak system are those on the <!--del_lnk--> Northeast Corridor, which include the <i><!--del_lnk--> Acela Express</i>, and <i><!--del_lnk--> Regional</i>. These routes serve <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston</a>,<a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Philadelphia, <a href="../../wp/b/Baltimore%252C_Maryland.htm" title="Baltimore, Maryland">Baltimore</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Washington, <a href="../../wp/r/Richmond%252C_Virginia.htm" title="Richmond, Virginia">Richmond</a> (Regional only), and many other smaller cities and towns between Boston and <!--del_lnk--> Newport News. Shuttle trains operating between <!--del_lnk--> Springfield, <!--del_lnk--> Hartford, and <!--del_lnk--> New Haven and connecting to the Northeast Corridor at New Haven are also classified as Northeast Corridor trains.<p>Other popular routes throughout the country that operate many times per day include:<p><b>Northeast</b><ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Empire Service</i> between <!--del_lnk--> Niagara Falls, <!--del_lnk--> Buffalo, <!--del_lnk--> Albany, and New York<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Keystone Service</i> between <!--del_lnk--> Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and New York<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Downeaster</i> between <!--del_lnk--> Portland and Boston</ul>
<p><b>Midwest</b><ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Hiawatha</i> between <!--del_lnk--> Milwaukee and <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a><li><i><!--del_lnk--> Wolverine</i> between Chicago, <a href="../../wp/d/Detroit%252C_Michigan.htm" title="Detroit, Michigan">Detroit</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> Pontiac</ul>
<p><b>West Coast</b><ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Pacific Surfliner</i> between <!--del_lnk--> San Luis Obispo, <!--del_lnk--> Santa Barbara, <a href="../../wp/l/Los_Angeles%252C_California.htm" title="Los Angeles, California">Los Angeles</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> San Diego<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Capitol Corridor</i> between <!--del_lnk--> Sacramento, <!--del_lnk--> Oakland, and <a href="../../wp/s/San_Jose%252C_California.htm" title="San Jose, California">San Jose</a><li><i><!--del_lnk--> San Joaquins</i> between Oakland, <!--del_lnk--> Stockton, and <!--del_lnk--> Bakersfield and between Sacramento, Stockton, and Bakersfield<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Amtrak Cascades</i> between <a href="../../wp/s/Seattle%252C_Washington.htm" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Portland, and <!--del_lnk--> Eugene</ul>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Schematic of Amtrak routes<p><a id="Amtrak.27s_Busiest_Stations_in_2005" name="Amtrak.27s_Busiest_Stations_in_2005"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Amtrak's Busiest Stations in 2005</span></h3>
<table class="wikitable">
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<th>
</th>
<th>City - Station Name</th>
<th>State</th>
<th>Passengers<br /> (thousands)</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> New York - Penn Station</td>
<td>NY</td>
<td>8,500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Philadelphia - 30th Street Station</td>
<td>PA</td>
<td>3,700</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Washington - Union Station</td>
<td>DC</td>
<td>3,700</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Chicago - Union Station</td>
<td>IL</td>
<td>2,500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Los Angeles - Union Station</td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>1,400</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>6</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Newark - Penn Station</td>
<td>NJ</td>
<td>1,200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>7</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Baltimore - Penn Station</td>
<td>MD</td>
<td>980</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>8</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Boston - South Station</td>
<td>MA</td>
<td>971</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>9</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Sacramento - I Street Station</td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>932</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Trenton</td>
<td>NJ</td>
<td>901</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/u/Union_Station_%2528San_Diego%2529.htm" title="Union Station (San Diego)">San Diego - Union Station</a></td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>839</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>12</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Wilmington</td>
<td>DE</td>
<td>779</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>13</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Princeton Junction</td>
<td>NJ</td>
<td>765</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>14</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Rensselaer (Albany-Rensselaer)</td>
<td>NY</td>
<td>734</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>15</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> New Haven - Union Station</td>
<td>CT</td>
<td>654</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>16</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Seattle - King Street Station</td>
<td>WA</td>
<td>605</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>17</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Linthicum (BWI Airport)</td>
<td>MD</td>
<td>579</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>18</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Irvine</td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>565</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>19</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Emeryville</td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>20</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Providence</td>
<td>RI</td>
<td>490</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>21</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Portland - Union Station</td>
<td>OR</td>
<td>479</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>22</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Milwaukee</td>
<td>WI</td>
<td>475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>23</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Fullerton</td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>402</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>24</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Solana Beach</td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>400</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>25</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Bakersfield</td>
<td>CA</td>
<td>370</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Source<p><a id="Gaps_in_service" name="Gaps_in_service"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Gaps in service</span></h3>
<p>The only states that are not served by Amtrak are <!--del_lnk--> Hawaii, <!--del_lnk--> Alaska (which is served by the <!--del_lnk--> Alaska Railroad) and <!--del_lnk--> South Dakota. <!--del_lnk--> Wyoming lost service in the 1997 cuts, but is still served by Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoaches. It should be noted, while operating in 47 states, Amtrak serves many states only nominally through stations along borders and/or away from major population areas.<p>Damage to railroad track caused by <a href="../../wp/h/Hurricane_Katrina.htm" title="Hurricane Katrina">Hurricane Katrina</a> took large portions of the Sunset Limited <a href="../../wp/t/Train.htm" title="Train">train</a> out of service. Originally the train departed from <!--del_lnk--> Orlando, Florida – but the <!--del_lnk--> aftermath of the <a href="../../wp/t/Tropical_cyclone.htm" title="Hurricane">hurricane</a> caused the train to now originate at <!--del_lnk--> New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.<p>In addition, several major cities and regional business centers (including four with more than a million residents) are not directly served by Amtrak, including:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Phoenix, <!--del_lnk--> Arizona (#14, metro pop 3.7M) (see below)<li><a href="../../wp/l/Las_Vegas%252C_Nevada.htm" title="Las Vegas, Nevada">Las Vegas</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Nevada (#32, pop 1.6M) (lost service in the 1997 cuts)<li><a href="../../wp/c/Columbus%252C_Ohio.htm" title="Columbus, Ohio">Columbus</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Ohio (#33, pop 1.5M)<li><a href="../../wp/n/Nashville%252C_Tennessee.htm" title="Nashville, Tennessee">Nashville</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Tennessee (#39, pop 1.3M)<li><a href="../../wp/l/Louisville%252C_Kentucky.htm" title="Louisville, Kentucky">Louisville</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Kentucky (#50, pop 1M) (lost service with the elimination of the <i><!--del_lnk--> Kentucky Cardinal</i> in 2003)<li><!--del_lnk--> Dayton, <!--del_lnk--> Ohio (#53, pop 950K)<li><!--del_lnk--> Tulsa, <!--del_lnk--> Oklahoma (#45 pop 986K)<li><!--del_lnk--> Fort Wayne, <!--del_lnk--> Indiana (pop 502K)<li><!--del_lnk--> Colorado Springs, <!--del_lnk--> Colorado (pop 500K)<li><!--del_lnk--> Boise, <!--del_lnk--> Idaho (pop 430K) (also ended in 1997)</ul>
<p>Other cities are not served directly due to inconvenient water barriers; they include <!--del_lnk--> Norfolk (#31) and <!--del_lnk--> Virginia Beach in the <!--del_lnk--> Hampton Roads area; <!--del_lnk--> San Francisco, where trains stop across the bay in <!--del_lnk--> Oakland and <!--del_lnk--> Emeryville; and <!--del_lnk--> St. Petersburg, Florida where trains stop across the bay in <!--del_lnk--> Tampa.<p><!--del_lnk--> Phoenix, Arizona is served via <!--del_lnk--> thruway motorcoach from the <i><!--del_lnk--> Southwest Chief</i> at <!--del_lnk--> Flagstaff, Arizona — or the nearby, yet remote due to a lack of any public transportation connection, <!--del_lnk--> Maricopa, Arizona, roughly thirty miles from the city. Phoenix lost service in June of 1996 when now-defunct Southern Pacific (now a part of Union Pacific) threatened to abandon the line from Phoenix to <!--del_lnk--> Yuma .<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Article on the missing markets that America's rail service doesn't serve. Analysis and charts.<li><!--del_lnk--> Chart showing U.S. population centers and Amtrak service.</ul>
<p><a id="Commuter_services" name="Commuter_services"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Commuter services</span></h3>
<p>Through various commuter services, Amtrak serves an additional 61.1 million passengers per year in conjunction with state and regional authorities in <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Washington, <!--del_lnk--> Maryland, <!--del_lnk--> Connecticut, and <!--del_lnk--> Virginia:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Caltrain (<!--del_lnk--> San Francisco and <a href="../../wp/s/San_Jose%252C_California.htm" title="San Jose, California">San Jose</a>)<li><!--del_lnk--> Sounder Commuter Rail (<a href="../../wp/s/Seattle%252C_Washington.htm" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle</a>, Washington and the <!--del_lnk--> Puget Sound area)<li><!--del_lnk--> San Diego Coaster (<!--del_lnk--> San Diego)<li><!--del_lnk--> MARC (<!--del_lnk--> Maryland)<li><!--del_lnk--> Shore Line East (<!--del_lnk--> Connecticut)<li><!--del_lnk--> Virginia Railway Express (VRE)</ul>
<p>In the past, Amtrak has operated <!--del_lnk--> Metrolink, and <!--del_lnk--> MBTA Commuter Rail.<p>Additionally, Amtrak's <i><!--del_lnk--> Pacific Surfliner</i> (formerly <i><a href="../../wp/s/San_Diegan.htm" title="San Diegan">San Diegan</a></i>) train service is mostly funded by <!--del_lnk--> Caltrans and not the Federal Government.<p><a id="Intermodal_connections" name="Intermodal_connections"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Intermodal connections</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Intermodal connections between Amtrak trains and other transportation are available at many stations. With few exceptions, Amtrak rail stations located in <!--del_lnk--> downtown areas have connections to local <!--del_lnk--> public transit.<p>Amtrak also <!--del_lnk--> code shares with <!--del_lnk--> Continental Airlines providing service between <!--del_lnk--> Newark Liberty International Airport (via <!--del_lnk--> its Amtrak station and <!--del_lnk--> AirTrain Newark) and <!--del_lnk--> Philadelphia 30th St, <!--del_lnk--> Wilmington, <!--del_lnk--> Stamford, and <!--del_lnk--> New Haven. In addition, Amtrak serves airport stations at <!--del_lnk--> Milwaukee and <!--del_lnk--> Baltimore.<p>Amtrak also coordinates <!--del_lnk--> Thruway Motorcoach service to extend many of its routes, particularly in <a href="../../wp/c/California.htm" title="California">California</a>.<p><a id="Guest_Rewards" name="Guest_Rewards"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Guest Rewards</span></h3>
<p>Amtrak operates a loyalty program called <b>Guest Rewards</b>, which is similar to the <!--del_lnk--> frequent flyer programs offered by many <!--del_lnk--> airlines. Guest Rewards members accumulate points by riding Amtrak and through other activities. Members can then redeem these points for free or discounted Amtrak tickets and other awards.<p><a id="Amtrak_in_comparison_to_other_transportation" name="Amtrak_in_comparison_to_other_transportation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Amtrak in comparison to other transportation</span></h2>
<p>Outside of the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak was a minor player in transportation markets. It since has added frequent-interval service in a number of corridors in the East, Midwest, California, and the Pacific Northwest. In 2003, Amtrak accounted for 0.1% of US intercity passenger miles (5,680 million out of 5,280,860 million total, of which private automobile travel makes up the vast majority). In fiscal year 2004, Amtrak routes served over 25 million passengers, while in calendar year 2004 commercial airlines served over 712 million passengers. Amtrak, however, serves many communities which have no air service or other public transportation.<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Mode</th>
<th>Revenue</th>
<th>Energy consumption</th>
<th>Safety</th>
<th>Reliability </th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Domestic airlines</td>
<td>12.0¢ per passenger mile</td>
<td>3,463 <!--del_lnk--> BTU per passenger mile</td>
<td>0.02 deaths per 100 million passenger miles</td>
<td>82%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Intercity buses</td>
<td>12.9¢ per passenger mile</td>
<td>3,496 <!--del_lnk--> BTU per passenger mile</td>
<td>0.05 deaths per 100 million passenger miles</td>
<td>N/A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Amtrak</td>
<td>26.0¢ per passenger mile</td>
<td>2,100 <!--del_lnk--> BTU per passenger mile</td>
<td>0.03 deaths per 100 million passenger miles</td>
<td>74%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Automobiles</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>3,570 <!--del_lnk--> BTU per passenger mile</td>
<td>0.80 deaths per 100 million passenger miles</td>
<td>N/A</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="Freight_services" name="Freight_services"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Freight services</span></h2>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Amtrak Express provides small package and less-than-truckload shipping services between more than 100 cities. Amtrak Express also offers station-to-station shipment of human remains to many express cities. At smaller stations, funeral directors must load and unload the shipment onto and off the train. Amtrak also hauled mail for the United States Postal Service as well as time sensitive freight shipments, but discontinued these services in October of 2004.<p>On most parts of the few lines that Amtrak owns, it has <!--del_lnk--> trackage rights agreements allowing freight railroads to use its trackage.<p><a id="Trains_and_tracks" name="Trains_and_tracks"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trains and tracks</span></h2>
<p>Most tracks are owned by freight railroads. Amtrak operates over all seven <!--del_lnk--> Class I railroads, as well as several short lines — the <!--del_lnk--> Guilford Rail System, <!--del_lnk--> New England Central Railroad and <!--del_lnk--> Vermont Railway. Other sections are owned by <!--del_lnk--> terminal railroads jointly controlled by freight companies or by <!--del_lnk--> commuter rail agencies.<p><a id="Tracks_owned_by_the_company" name="Tracks_owned_by_the_company"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Tracks owned by the company</span></h3>
<p>Along the NEC and in several other areas, Amtrak owns 730 route-miles of track (1175 km), including 17 tunnels consisting of 29.7 miles of track (47.8 km), and 1,186 bridges (including the famous <!--del_lnk--> Hell Gate Bridge) consisting of 42.5 miles (68.4 km) of track. Amtrak owns and operates the following lines.<p><a id="Northeast_Corridor" name="Northeast_Corridor"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Northeast Corridor</span></h4>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>The Northeast Corridor between <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> and <a href="../../wp/b/Boston%252C_Massachusetts.htm" title="Boston, Massachusetts">Boston</a> via <!--del_lnk--> Baltimore, <a href="../../wp/p/Philadelphia.htm" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a>, <a href="../../wp/n/Newark%252C_New_Jersey.htm" title="Newark, New Jersey">Newark</a> and <!--del_lnk--> New York is largely composed of Amtrak's own tracks. These are combined with those of several state and regional commuter agencies in what amounts to a cooperative arrangement. Amtrak's portion was acquired in 1976 as a result of the <!--del_lnk--> Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act.<ul>
<li>Boston to the Massachusetts/<a href="../../wp/r/Rhode_Island.htm" title="Rhode Island">Rhode Island</a> state line (operated and maintained by Amtrak but owned by the <!--del_lnk--> Commonwealth of Massachusetts)<li>118.3 miles (190.4 km), Massachusetts/Rhode Island state line to <!--del_lnk--> New Haven, Connecticut<li>240 miles (386 km), <!--del_lnk--> New Rochelle, New York to Washington, D.C.</ul>
<p><a id="Keystone_Corridor" name="Keystone_Corridor"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Keystone Corridor</span></h4>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>This line runs from Philadelphia to <!--del_lnk--> Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As a result of a successful investment partnership with the state of Pennsylvania, signal and track improvements were completed in October, 2006, and now allow all-electric service with a top speed of 110 mph (about 175 km/h) to run along the corridor.<ul>
<li>104 miles (167 km), Philadelphia to Harrisburg (<i><!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvanian</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Keystone Service</i>)</ul>
<p><a id="Empire_Corridor" name="Empire_Corridor"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Empire Corridor</span></h4>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>11 miles (18 km), <!--del_lnk--> New York Penn Station to <!--del_lnk--> Spuyten Duyvil, New York<li>35.9 miles (57.8 km), <!--del_lnk--> Stuyvesant to <!--del_lnk--> Schenectady, New York (operated and maintained by Amtrak, but owned by <!--del_lnk--> CSX)<li>8.5 miles (13.8 km), Schenectady to <!--del_lnk--> Hoffmans, New York</ul>
<p><a id="New_Haven-Springfield_Line" name="New_Haven-Springfield_Line"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">New Haven-Springfield Line</span></h4>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<ul>
<li>60.5 mi (97.4 km), <!--del_lnk--> New Haven to <!--del_lnk--> Springfield (<i><!--del_lnk--> Regional</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Vermonter</i>)</ul>
<p><a id="Other_tracks" name="Other_tracks"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Other tracks</span></h4>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Chicago-Detroit Line - 98 miles (158 km), <!--del_lnk--> Porter, Indiana to <!--del_lnk--> Kalamazoo, Michigan (<i><!--del_lnk--> Wolverine</i>)<li><!--del_lnk--> Chicago-Detroit Line - 4 miles (6 km) in <a href="../../wp/d/Detroit%252C_Michigan.htm" title="Detroit, Michigan">Detroit</a>, Michigan, <!--del_lnk--> CP Townline to <!--del_lnk--> CP West Detroit (<i><!--del_lnk--> Wolverine</i>)<li><!--del_lnk--> Post Road Branch - 12.42 miles (20 km), <!--del_lnk--> Post Road Junction to <!--del_lnk--> Rensselaer, New York (<i><!--del_lnk--> Lake Shore Limited</i>)</ul>
<p>Amtrak also owns station and yard tracks in: <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Hialeah (near <a href="../../wp/m/Miami%252C_Florida.htm" title="Miami, Florida">Miami</a>, <a href="../../wp/f/Florida.htm" title="Florida">Florida</a>) (leased from the State of Florida), <a href="../../wp/l/Los_Angeles%252C_California.htm" title="Los Angeles, California">Los Angeles</a>, <!--del_lnk--> New Orleans, <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Oakland (Kirkham Street Yard), <!--del_lnk--> Orlando, <!--del_lnk--> Portland, Oregon, <!--del_lnk--> Saint Paul, <a href="../../wp/m/Minnesota.htm" title="Minnesota">Minnesota</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Seattle%252C_Washington.htm" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Washington, DC<p>Amtrak wholly owns the <!--del_lnk--> Chicago Union Station Company (<!--del_lnk--> Chicago Union Station) and <!--del_lnk--> Penn Station Leasing (<!--del_lnk--> New York Penn Station). It has a 99.7% interest in the <!--del_lnk--> Washington Terminal Company (<!--del_lnk--> Washington Union Station) and 99% of <!--del_lnk--> 30th Street Limited (Philadelphia <!--del_lnk--> 30th Street Station). Also owned by Amtrak is <!--del_lnk--> Passenger Railroad Insurance.<p><a id="Motive_power_and_rolling_stock" name="Motive_power_and_rolling_stock"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Motive power and rolling stock</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/167/16746.jpg.htm" title="Amtrak Auto Train dining car awaits passengers next to auto carrier which will join it at rear of train (Lorton, VA, 2000). Photo courtesy of www.trainweb.com"><img alt="Amtrak Auto Train dining car awaits passengers next to auto carrier which will join it at rear of train (Lorton, VA, 2000). Photo courtesy of www.trainweb.com" height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aboard_auto_train.jpg" src="../../images/165/16534.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/167/16746.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>Amtrak Auto Train dining car awaits passengers next to auto carrier which will join it at rear of train (Lorton, VA, 2000). Photo courtesy of www.trainweb.com</i></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16535.jpg.htm" title="Connecting a private business car (formerly the D&RG 101) to the end of an Amtrak train"><img alt="Connecting a private business car (formerly the D&RG 101) to the end of an Amtrak train" height="189" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Abraham-Lincoln-behind-Amtrak.jpg" src="../../images/165/16535.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16535.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Connecting a private business car (formerly the <!--del_lnk--> D&RG 101) to the end of an Amtrak train</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Amtrak operates 425 <!--del_lnk--> locomotives (351 diesel and 74 electric).<p><b>Diesel Locomotives</b><table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Builder</th>
<th>Model</th>
<th>Locomotive Numbers</th>
<th>Years of Service</th>
<th>Notes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> GE</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> P42DC</td>
<td>1-207</td>
<td>1996-Present</td>
<td>Amtrak's main locomotives.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>GE</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> P40DC</td>
<td>800-843</td>
<td>1993-Present</td>
<td>Several of these units are stored, and the <!--del_lnk--> Connecticut Deptartment of Transportation has leased eight units.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>GE</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> P32-8WH (Dash 8)</td>
<td>500, 503-519;<br /> 2051, 2052 (<!--del_lnk--> Amtrak California)</td>
<td>1991-Present</td>
<td>Used as backup or for switching. The entire class is now undergoing overhaul. 501 & 502 were sold to the <!--del_lnk--> California Department of Transportation.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> F59PHI</td>
<td>450-470;<br /> 2001-2015 (Amtrak California)</td>
<td>1994-Present</td>
<td>Primarily used for trains on the west coast.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Diesel Switcher Locomotives</b><table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Builder</th>
<th>Model</th>
<th>Locomotive Numbers</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> SW1</td>
<td>737</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> SW1000R</td>
<td>790-799</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> SW1001</td>
<td>569</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> SSB1200</td>
<td>558-567</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> SW1500</td>
<td>540, 541</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> MP15</td>
<td>530-539</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> MPI</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> GP15D</td>
<td>570-579</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> RPI</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> GG20B</td>
<td>599</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> GP38</td>
<td>720-724</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD/<!--del_lnk--> Norfolk Southern</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> GP38H-3</td>
<td>520-527</td>
</tr>
</table>
<dl>
<dt>Former Diesel Locomotives</dl>
<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Builder</th>
<th>Model</th>
<th>Locomotive Numbers</th>
<th>Years of Service</th>
<th>Notes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> F40PH</td>
<td>200-415</td>
<td>1977-2003</td>
<td>Formerly Amtrak's main locomotives. Many are still used by several Amtrak as "<!--del_lnk--> cabbage cars", a <!--del_lnk--> hybrid baggage non-powered control unit (NPCU). Those that were not converted were retired and scrapped or sold off by 2003. A small number were also donated to museums.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> GP40TC</td>
<td>192-199 (Original)</td>
<td>1989-Present (rebuilt)</td>
<td>Ex-<!--del_lnk--> GO Transit locomotives. Currently the units are used for MOW service and have been rebuilt into "GP38-H3" units by <!--del_lnk--> Norfolk Southern.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> F69PHAC</td>
<td>450, 451</td>
<td>1990-1993</td>
<td>Experimental locomotives built in a joint venture between EMD and Siemens, and designed to test AC locomotive technology. Only two were constructed. They were returned to EMD in 1993. At least one, stripped of parts, exists in a scrapyard.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>GE</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> P30CH</td>
<td>700-724</td>
<td>1975-1991</td>
<td>Amtrak's second new locomotive. Based on the GE freight locomotive <!--del_lnk--> U30C. All have been scrapped.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> SDP40F</td>
<td>500-649</td>
<td>1973-1985</td>
<td>Amtrak's first new locomotive, originally designed for ready conversion to freight service in the event Amtrak did not survive. These locomotives were prone to derail at passenger train speeds on track that had not been maintained well. They were sold off, traded, or scrapped by 1985. One has been preserved.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<dl>
<dt>Former Diesel Locomotives Inherited from other Railroads</dl>
<p>These locomotives were inhereted from many of the Class 1 railroads that joined Amtrak. Several examples of each type survive.<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> EMD E9<li><!--del_lnk--> EMD E8<li><!--del_lnk--> EMD FP7<li><a href="../../wp/e/EMD_F7.htm" title="EMD F7">EMD F7</a><li><!--del_lnk--> EMD F3B</ul>
<dl>
<dt>Electric Locomotives</dl>
<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Builder</th>
<th>Model</th>
<th>Locomotive Numbers</th>
<th>Years of Service</th>
<th>Notes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>GE</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> P32ACDM</td>
<td>700-717</td>
<td>1995-Present</td>
<td>Diesel-electric locomotive</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Bombardier Transportation</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Acela <!--del_lnk--> HHP-8</td>
<td>650-664</td>
<td>1998-Present</td>
<td>High-speed train.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><!--del_lnk--> EMD</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> AEM-7</td>
<td>901-953</td>
<td>1979-Present</td>
<td>Rebuilt starting in 1999.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>Twenty <!--del_lnk--> Acela Express trainsets have been used to provide popular <!--del_lnk--> high-speed rail service along the <!--del_lnk--> Northeast Corridor between <!--del_lnk--> South Station in Boston and <!--del_lnk--> Union Station in Washington D.C. This service has been so popular, in fact, that supporters claim the Acela trains even cover their "above the rail" costs (operating expenses, but not capital to maintain infrastructure).<p>However, these trainsets have not been without problems. In April 2005, all were removed from service to repair cracked brake rotors. They returned to service by September of that year.<dl>
<dt>Former Electric Locomotives</dl>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> GE <!--del_lnk--> E60 - One example has been preserved.</ul>
<dl>
<dt>Former Electric Locomotives Inherited from other Railroads</dl>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> EMD FL9 - Most have been sold off to commuter lines.<li><!--del_lnk--> PRR E44 - These locomotives were inhereted from <!--del_lnk--> Penn Central.<li><a href="../../wp/p/PRR_GG1.htm" title="PRR GG1">PRR GG1</a> - These locomotives were inhereted from <!--del_lnk--> Penn Central. Several examples survive.</ul>
<dl>
<dt>Rolling Stock</dl>
<p>Amtrak's 2,141 <!--del_lnk--> railroad cars include several types of <!--del_lnk--> passenger cars (including 168 <!--del_lnk--> sleeper cars, 760 coach cars, 126 first class/business class cars, 66 dormitory/crew cars, 225 lounge/café/dinette cars, and 92 <!--del_lnk--> dining cars). These include:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Superliner I and II<li><!--del_lnk--> Amfleet I and II<li><!--del_lnk--> Horizon Fleet<li><!--del_lnk--> Viewliner<li><!--del_lnk--> Heritage Fleet<li><!--del_lnk--> California Cars<li><!--del_lnk--> Surfliner Cars<li><!--del_lnk--> Talgo Cars</ul>
<p>Baggage cars, <a href="../../wp/a/Autorack.htm" title="Autorack">autoracks</a> for <!--del_lnk--> Auto Train service, and <!--del_lnk--> maintenance of way rolling stock make up the remainder of the fleet.<p>Private railroad cars may also be hauled by Amtrak trains if suitably certified and equipped with <!--del_lnk--> Head End Power (HEP). Well organized groups such as the American Association for Private Rail Car Owners, Inc., (AAPRC) represent the interest of car owners in dealing with private and public organizations such as Amtrak. These private cars may be used by their owners or chartered by individuals for private travel behind regularly scheduled Amtrak trains.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Amur</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Geography_of_Asia.htm">Geography of Asia</a></h3>
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<table class="infobox" style="width: 300px; font-size: 90%;">
<tr>
<th colspan="2" style="font-size: larger; background-color: #CEDEFF;">Amur</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="line-height: 1.2; border-bottom: 1px solid #CEDEFF;">
<div style="border: 1px solid #CEDEFF;"><a class="image" href="../../images/6/672.png.htm" title="Amur watershed"><img alt="Amur watershed" height="288" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amur_watershed.png" src="../../images/6/672.png" width="288" /></a></div>
<center>Amur watershed</center>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Origin</b></td>
<td>The <!--del_lnk--> mountains of Northeastern <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Mouth</b></td>
<td>The <a href="../../wp/p/Pacific_Ocean.htm" title="Pacific Ocean">Pacific Ocean</a>, through the <!--del_lnk--> Tartar Strait</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Basin countries</b></td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>, <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a>, <a href="../../wp/m/Mongolia.htm" title="Mongolia">Mongolia</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Length</b></td>
<td>4,444 km (2,761 mi)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Basin area</b></td>
<td>1,855,000 km² (716,200 mi²)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The <b>Amur River</b> (<a href="../../wp/r/Russian_language.htm" title="Russian language">Russian</a>: Амур; <!--del_lnk--> Simplified Chinese: <span lang="zh-Hans" xml:lang="zh-Hans">黑龙江</span>; <!--del_lnk--> Traditional Chinese: <span lang="zh-Hant" xml:lang="zh-Hant">黑龍江</span>; <!--del_lnk--> pinyin: <i>Hēilóng Jiāng</i>, or "Black <!--del_lnk--> Dragon River"; <!--del_lnk--> Mongolian: Хара-Мурэн, <i>Khara-Muren</i> or "Black River"; <!--del_lnk--> Manchu: <i>Sahaliyan Ula</i>, literal meaning "Black River") is <a href="../../wp/e/Earth.htm" title="Earth">Earth</a>'s eighth longest <a href="../../wp/r/River.htm" title="River">river</a>, forming the border between the <!--del_lnk--> Russian Far East and <!--del_lnk--> Manchuria in China.<p>In many historical references these two geopolitical entities are known as <!--del_lnk--> Inner Manchuria; and <!--del_lnk--> Outer Manchuria (<!--del_lnk--> Russian Manchuria), respectively. The Chinese province of <!--del_lnk--> Heilongjiang on the south bank of the river is named after it, as is the Russian <!--del_lnk--> Amur Oblast on the north bank.<p>The Amur River is a very important symbol of — and an important geopolitical factor in — Chinese-Russian relations. The Amur was especially important in the period of time following the Sino-Soviet political split in the 1960s.<p>The name <!--del_lnk--> Black River was used by the <!--del_lnk--> Manchu and the <a href="../../wp/q/Qing_Dynasty.htm" title="Qing Dynasty">Qing Dynasty</a> who always regarded this river as sacred.<p>The economy of the Amur Basin includes manufacturing, <a href="../../wp/m/Metallurgy.htm" title="Metallurgy">metallurgy</a>, <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a> mining, <!--del_lnk--> non-ferrous metals, <a href="../../wp/g/Gold.htm" title="Gold">gold</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Coal.htm" title="Coal">coal</a>, <!--del_lnk--> hydroelectricity, <a href="../../wp/w/Wheat.htm" title="Wheat">wheat</a>, <!--del_lnk--> millet, <!--del_lnk--> soybeans, <a href="../../wp/f/Fishing.htm" title="Fishing">fishing</a>, <!--del_lnk--> timber and <!--del_lnk--> Chinese-Russian trade. The <!--del_lnk--> Daqing oilfield, which is the world's 4th-largest <!--del_lnk--> oilfield, is located near Daqing City in Heilongjiang, a few hundred kilometers from the river.<p>Flowing across northeast <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a> for over 4400 <!--del_lnk--> km (2,700 <!--del_lnk--> mi), from the <!--del_lnk--> mountains of northeastern <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a> to the <!--del_lnk--> Sea of Okhotsk (near <!--del_lnk--> Nikolayevsk-na-Amure), it drains a remarkable watershed that includes diverse landscapes of <a href="../../wp/d/Desert.htm" title="Desert">desert</a>, <!--del_lnk--> steppe, <!--del_lnk--> tundra, and <!--del_lnk--> taiga, eventually emptying into the Pacific Ocean through the <!--del_lnk--> Strait of Tartary, where the mouth of the river faces the northern end of the island of <!--del_lnk--> Sakhalin. The Amur has always been closely associated with Sakhalin, and most names for the island, even in the languages of the indigenous peoples of the region, are derived from the name of the river: "Sakhalin" derives from a <!--del_lnk--> Tungusic dialectal form cognate with Manchu <i>sahaliyan</i> ("black," as in <i>sahaliyan ula</i>, "Black River"), while Ainu and Japanese "Karaputo" or "<!--del_lnk--> Karafuto" is derived from the <!--del_lnk--> Ainu name of the Amur or its mouth.<p>The average annually discharge varies from 6000 m³/s (1980) - 12000 m³/s (1957), leading to an average 9819 m³/s or 310 km³ per year. The maximum runoff measured occurred in Oct 1951 with 30700 m³/s whereas the minimum discharge was recorded in March 1946 with a mere 514 m³/s. <!--del_lnk--> <p>The Amur proper is 2,874 km long after the junction of two rivers:<ul>
<li>Northern tributary: the <!--del_lnk--> Shilka, originating from the eastern slopes of <!--del_lnk--> Kente Mountain in <a href="../../wp/m/Mongolia.htm" title="Mongolia">Mongolia</a>.<li>Southern tributary: the <!--del_lnk--> Argun, originating on the western slopes of the <!--del_lnk--> Great Khingan Range (大興安嶺) in northeast <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">China</a>.</ul>
<p>The Shilka and the Argun join at Moguhe Village (洛古河村), in western Mohe County (漠河县) in Heilongjiang Province, China, and become the Amur proper.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/224/22463.jpg.htm" title="Khabarovsk Bridge across the Amur used to be the longest in Imperial Russia and Eurasia. Note: in 1999 the bridge was reconstructed and now looks completely different, than on that photo."><img alt="Khabarovsk Bridge across the Amur used to be the longest in Imperial Russia and Eurasia. Note: in 1999 the bridge was reconstructed and now looks completely different, than on that photo." height="149" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Amurbridge.jpg" src="../../images/224/22463.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/224/22463.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Khabarovsk Bridge across the Amur used to be the longest in <!--del_lnk--> Imperial Russia and <!--del_lnk--> Eurasia. Note: in 1999 the bridge was reconstructed and now looks completely different, than on that photo.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Major tributaries are:<ul>
<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Shilka,<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Argun,<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Zeya,<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Bureya,<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Sunggari,<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Ussuri,<li>the <!--del_lnk--> Amgun</ul>
<p>The Amur is bordered by <!--del_lnk--> Heilongjiang province of China in the south, and <!--del_lnk--> Amur Oblast, <!--del_lnk--> Jewish Autonomous Oblast, and <!--del_lnk--> Khabarovsk Krai of Russia in the north. The final stretch of the Amur passes through Khabarovsk Krai. It passes by the following cities:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Huma (China, south bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Blagoveshchensk (Russia, north bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Heihe (China, south bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Jiayin (China, south bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Tongjiang (China, south bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Fuyuan (China, south bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Khabarovsk (Russia, south bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Komsomolsk-na-Amure (Russia, north bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Amursk (Russia, north bank)<li><!--del_lnk--> Nikolayevsk-na-Amure (Russia, north bank)</ul>
<p><a id="Trivia" name="Trivia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trivia</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>A reference was made to this river in the 2003 film <i><!--del_lnk--> The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen</i>.<li>In a <!--del_lnk--> RPG game namely <!--del_lnk--> Suikoden III, Amur is one of the region in <!--del_lnk--> Grasslands.</ul>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amur"</div>
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Anaconda | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Science.Biology.Insects_Reptiles_and_Fish.htm">Insects, Reptiles and Fish</a></h3>
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<th style="background: pink;"><span style="position:relative; float:right; font-size:70%;"><!--del_lnk--> i</span><b>Anaconda</b></th>
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<td><a class="image" href="../../images/2/202.jpg.htm" title="Yellow Anaconda, Eunectes notaeus"><img alt="Yellow Anaconda, Eunectes notaeus" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Eunectes_notaeus.jpg" src="../../images/2/202.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align:center"><small>Yellow Anaconda, <i>Eunectes notaeus</i></small></div>
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<td>
<table cellpadding="2" style="margin:0 auto; text-align:left; background:white;">
<tr valign="top">
<td>Kingdom:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/a/Animal.htm" title="Animal">Animalia</a><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Phylum:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/c/Chordate.htm" title="Chordate">Chordata</a><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Class:</td>
<td><a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Reptile">Reptilia</a><br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Order:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Squamata<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Suborder:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Serpentes<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Family:</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Boidae<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Genus:</td>
<td><i><b>Eunectes</b></i><br /><small><!--del_lnk--> Wagler, <!--del_lnk--> 1830</small></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
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<tr bgcolor="pink">
<th>
<center>Species</center>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0 .5em;">
<p>4, see article.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b>Anacondas</b> (local names: <b>Jibóia</b> and <b>Sucuri</b>) are four <!--del_lnk--> species of aquatic <a href="../../wp/b/Boa.htm" title="Boa">boa</a> inhabiting the swamps and rivers of the dense forests of tropical <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a>. The Yellow Anaconda can be found as far south as <a href="../../wp/a/Argentina.htm" title="Argentina">Argentina</a>.<p>There are two possible origins for the word 'anaconda': It is perhaps an alteration of the <!--del_lnk--> Sinhalese word 'henakanday', meaning 'whip snake', or alternatively, the <a href="../../wp/t/Tamil_language.htm" title="Tamil language">Tamil</a> word 'anaikondran', which means 'elephant killer', as early <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spanish</a> settlers in South America referred to the anaconda as 'matatoro', or 'bull killer'. It is unclear how the name originated so far from the snake's native habitat; it is likely due to its vague similarity to the large <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asian</a> <!--del_lnk--> pythons.<sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup><p>
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</script><a id="Taxonomy_and_General_Characteristics" name="Taxonomy_and_General_Characteristics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Taxonomy and General Characteristics</span></h2>
<p>Two species are well-known:<ul>
<li>The <b>Green Anaconda</b> (<i><!--del_lnk--> Eunectes murinus</i>, from the Greek "ευνήκτης, eunectes", meaning "good swimmer"), which has been reported at over 10 meters (32.8 feet) in length (although most are considerably smaller). Although shorter than the longest recorded species, the <!--del_lnk--> Reticulated Python, it is considerably heavier. In fact, it is the heaviest <!--del_lnk--> snake species in existence. It can weigh 250 kg (551 pounds) and have a diameter of more than 30 cm (11.8 inches). Females are larger than males, averaging 22-26 feet and 12-16 feet respectively. These are found mainly in northern <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a>, in <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela.htm" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Colombia.htm" title="Colombia">Colombia</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Ecuador.htm" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a>, northern <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a>, northeast <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a>, <a href="../../wp/g/Guyana.htm" title="Guyana">Guyana</a>, and the <!--del_lnk--> Nariva Swamp in <!--del_lnk--> Trinidad where they are known as "Huille" (pronounced <i>Wheel</i>). Although charismatic, very little information was known about the anacondas until <!--del_lnk--> 1992 when the first study (and so far the only) was made on the field biology of this species in the Venezuelan <!--del_lnk--> llanos by Dr. Jesus Rivas. <sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></ul>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/203.jpg.htm" title="Green Anaconda, Eunectes murinus"><img alt="Green Anaconda, Eunectes murinus" height="147" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Eunectes_murinus2.jpg" src="../../images/2/203.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/203.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Green Anaconda, <i>Eunectes murinus</i></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/204.jpg.htm" title="A wild anaconda snake, Amazon basin, Peru."><img alt="A wild anaconda snake, Amazon basin, Peru." height="160" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Anacondatree.jpg" src="../../images/2/204.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/204.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A wild anaconda snake, Amazon basin, Peru.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/205.jpg.htm" title="An anaconda snake on a tree branch, waiting for its prey above the river, Amazon basin, Peru."><img alt="An anaconda snake on a tree branch, waiting for its prey above the river, Amazon basin, Peru." height="137" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Anacondatree2.jpg" src="../../images/2/205.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/2/205.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An anaconda snake on a tree branch, waiting for its prey above the river, Amazon basin, Peru.</div>
</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>The <b>Yellow Anaconda</b> (<i><!--del_lnk--> Eunectes notaeus</i>), which reaches a relatively smaller average adult length of 3 metres (9.8 feet). These live further south in Bolivia, <a href="../../wp/p/Paraguay.htm" title="Paraguay">Paraguay</a>, <a href="../../wp/u/Uruguay.htm" title="Uruguay">Uruguay</a>, western Brazil, and northeast Argentina.</ul>
<p>The two lesser known species are:<ul>
<li>The <b>Dark-Spotted</b> or <b>Deschauense's Anaconda</b> (<i><!--del_lnk--> Eunectes deschauenseei</i>) found in northeast Brazil.<li>The <b>Bolivian Anaconda</b> (<i><!--del_lnk--> Eunectes beniensis</i>) found in Bolivia, which was only identified in <!--del_lnk--> 2002 by <!--del_lnk--> Lutz Dirksen, and is still being studied.</ul>
<p><i>Eunectes murinus</i> (formerly called <i>Boa murina</i>) differs from <a href="../../wp/b/Boa.htm" title="Boa">Boa</a> by the snout being covered with shields instead of small <!--del_lnk--> scales, the inner of the three nasal shields being in contact with that of the other side. The general colour is dark olive-<!--del_lnk--> brown, with large oval <!--del_lnk--> black spots arranged in two alternating rows along the back, and with smaller white-eyed spots along the sides. The belly is whitish, spotted with black spots. The anaconda combines an arboreal with an aquatic life and is active mostly during the night. It lies submerged in the water, with only a small part of its head above the surface, waiting for any suitable prey, or it establishes itself upon the branches of a tree which overhangs the water or the track of game.<p>The anaconda has a large head and a thick neck. Its <a href="../../wp/e/Eye.htm" title="Eye">eyes</a> and <!--del_lnk--> nostrils are positioned on the top of the head, enabling the anaconda to breathe and to see its prey while its stocky body lies submerged under water. The extremely muscular anaconda is a <!--del_lnk--> constrictor and is not venomous; however, it still has teeth and powerful jaws that it utilizes to clench onto its prey. It grabs its victim and pulls it underwater, drowning the prey. The anaconda has a cavity called a cloaca which is where the intestinal and genito-urinary tracts empty, with spurs on either side of the cloaca, and a gland which emits a foul-smelling musk. <!--del_lnk--> <p>They typically feed on large <!--del_lnk--> rodents, <!--del_lnk--> tapirs, <!--del_lnk--> capybaras, <!--del_lnk--> deer, <!--del_lnk--> peccaries, <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fish</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Turtle.htm" title="Turtle">turtles</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Bird.htm" title="Bird">birds</a>, <!--del_lnk--> sheep, <a href="../../wp/d/Dog.htm" title="Dog">dogs</a> and aquatic <a href="../../wp/r/Reptile.htm" title="Reptile">reptiles</a> like <!--del_lnk--> caiman. They have been known to occasionally prey on <!--del_lnk--> jaguars and attacks on humans can be confirmed, although this is rare. Younger anacondas feed on <!--del_lnk--> mice, <!--del_lnk--> rats, <a href="../../wp/c/Chicken.htm" title="Chicken">chicks</a>, <a href="../../wp/f/Frog.htm" title="Frog">frogs</a> and <a href="../../wp/f/Fish.htm" title="Fish">fish</a>. Most local people kill these snakes on sight, out of the fear that they are man-eaters. In most instances, if an anaconda senses humans in the area, it will retreat in another direction. Human death by anaconda is quite rare. They themselves are preyed by jaguars, large caimans and by other anacondas. A wounded anaconda can also fall prey to <!--del_lnk--> piranhas.<p>Anacondas are usually coiled up in a murky, shallow pool or at the river's edge. They wait to ambush their unsuspecting prey when they come down for a drink. Anacondas bite their prey with their sharp teeth, hold on with their powerful jaws and pull them under water. The victim may drown first or it may be squeezed to death in the anaconda's muscular coils. Anacondas, true to the boa family, constrict their hapless victims to death. The snake squeezes tighter each time its prey breathes out, so the prey cannot breath in again. Suffocation does not take long. Anacondas swallow their prey whole, starting with the head. This is so the legs fold up and the prey goes down smoothly. The Anaconda can swallow prey much bigger than the size of its mouth since its <!--del_lnk--> jaw can unhinge and the jaw bones are loosely connected to the <!--del_lnk--> skull. While the snake eats, its muscles have wave-like contractions, crushing the prey even further and surging it downward with each bite.<p>Just about every species of snake on earth has <!--del_lnk--> teeth, but the anacondas' teeth are not used for chewing. Most snakes' teeth are used for holding onto their prey, preventing them from escaping. Some snakes have venom in two specially designed, extra long teeth which they use to kill their prey. Anacondas do have teeth, but their bites are neither fatal nor venomous. They rely on their enormous size and power to subdue their victims. It is possible to be bitten by an anaconda, but the bite itself would not be fatal. Like almost all boas, anacondas give birth to live young.<p><a id="Giant_Anacondas" name="Giant_Anacondas"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Giant Anacondas</span></h2>
<p>The largest known anaconda measured 10 meters (32.8 feet) long, but unverified reports of much larger snakes have occasionally been made. This is the famous Lamon-Dunn record, named for a geological survey expedition from 1944. The geologists who led the expedition found the gigantic snake by the water of the Orinoco river in East <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela.htm" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a>. Together with a platoon of soldiers of the Farc they shot the dangerous snake, and with the help of 20 men, carried it out on shore. The anaconda was measured with a special measuring device for geological purposes. Although this is probably the largest verified anaconda account, the animal was unfortunately not weighed because after shooting it, the workers went back to camp for lunch. When they returned, it was apparent that the snake was not dead as it had left and the trails indicated that it swam up the river.<p>An anaconda of 9 meters can weigh up to about 500 kg (1100 lb). The well-fed ones typically weigh about a hundred kilograms per meter of length. A snake this large can kill a large bull or <!--del_lnk--> tapir easily. Zoological research has shown trails of snakes on the dry riverbeds on the llanos in Venezuela that indicate extremely large snakes awaiting discovery, some of them were more than 0.50 m wide. Anacondas, like all large species of boas and pythons, continue to grow throughout their lives. Their growth speed reduces after reaching maturity but these snakes possibly reach 50 or 60 years of age, some maybe 80.<p>There are some exaggerated reports of early European explorers of the South American jungles seeing giant anacondas up to 60 feet long and some of the native peoples of the South American jungle have reported seeing anacondas up to 50 feet long. No one has caught and measured an anaconda anywhere near that size.<p>Another apparently exaggerated account was reported by adventurer <!--del_lnk--> Percy Fawcett. In <!--del_lnk--> 1906, Fawcett wrote that he had shot and wounded an anaconda in South America; he reported the snake measured some 18.9 meters (62 ft) from nose to tail. <p>Once publicized, Fawcett’s account of the giant snake was widely ridiculed, although he insisted his account was both truthful and accurate. <!--del_lnk--> Bernard Heuvelmans came to his defense arguing that Fawcett was generally honest and reliable when relating things. Furthermore, Heuvelmans noted that mainstream experts were repeatedly forced to revise their limits regarding the maximum size of snakes when confronted with specimens that defied the generally-accepted estimates. At one point in time, 6 meters (20 feet) in length was the widely-accepted maximum size of an anaconda. These giant snakes are one of the few that have documented, but not verified, cases of eating people. Given maximum size, it is possible, although likely exceedingly rare. When it sheds, an adult anaconda relieves itself of an average of 2 pounds of skin. An anaconda's skin can stretch up to 30% larger than the original size of the snake.<p><a id="In_captivity" name="In_captivity"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">In captivity</span></h2>
<p>Anacondas have a reputation for bad temperament; that plus the massive size of the green species mean that anacondas are comparatively less popular as pets than other boas, but they are fairly commonly available in the exotic pet trade.<p><a id="In_movies" name="In_movies"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">In movies</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>In <i><!--del_lnk--> Swiss Family Robinson</i>, Firtz and Ernst have a run-in with an Anaconda.</ul>
<ul>
<li>In the movies <i><!--del_lnk--> Anaconda</i> and its sequel <i><!--del_lnk--> Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid</i> the anaconda has the role of a giant man-eating snake. In the first film the anaconda is shown at an exceptionally exaggerated length and girth, clearly far larger than actual anacondas in the wild get. However, in the second film it is shown as a 'super snake', growing up to 70 feet long, supposedly because of the blood orchid. Even with extremely rare and old specimens, an anaconda anywhere near that size has never been recorded. Anacondas on average grow between 16-20.2 feet, but have been rumored to reach between 30 and 40 feet.</ul>
<ul>
<li>In <!--del_lnk--> Jackass: Number Two, <!--del_lnk--> Johnny Knoxville, <!--del_lnk--> Ryan Dunn, and <!--del_lnk--> Wee Man crawl around in a ball pit, trying to catch two anacondas that were let loose in the pit. Knoxville is bitten several times in the arms.</ul>
<ul>
<li>The <!--del_lnk--> Discovery Channel series <i><!--del_lnk--> Animal Face-Off</i> featured an episode wherein an Anaconda was pitted against a <!--del_lnk--> Jaguar in a computer simulation to determine which animal would win a battle between the two.</ul>
<p><a id="External_links" name="External_links"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaconda"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Analytical Marxism</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Religion.Philosophy.htm">Philosophy</a></h3>
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<p><b>Analytical Marxism</b> refers to a style of thinking about <a href="../../wp/m/Marxism.htm" title="Marxism">Marxism</a> that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s. It was mainly associated with the <!--del_lnk--> September Group of academics, so called because they have biennial meetings in varying locations every other September to discuss common interests. The group also dubbed itself "<b>Non-Bullshit Marxism</b>",<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Cohen1"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> and was characterized, in the words of <!--del_lnk--> David Miller, by "clear and rigorous thinking about questions that are usually blanketed by ideological fog."<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Miller"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> The most prominent members of the group were <!--del_lnk--> G. A. Cohen, <!--del_lnk--> John Roemer, <!--del_lnk--> Jon Elster, <!--del_lnk--> Adam Przeworski, <!--del_lnk--> Erik Olin Wright, <!--del_lnk--> Philippe van Parijs, and <!--del_lnk--> Robert van der Veen.<p>
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</script><a id="Beginnings" name="Beginnings"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Beginnings</span></h2>
<div class="floatright"><span><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="" height="197" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Karl_Marx%27s_Theory_of_History_%28Cohen%29.gif" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="130" /></span></div>
<p>Analytical Marxism is usually understood to have taken off with the publication of G. A. Cohen's <i>Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence</i> (1978). More broadly conceived, it might be seen as having originated in the post-war period in the work of political philosophers such as <a href="../../wp/k/Karl_Popper.htm" title="Karl Popper">Karl Popper</a>, <!--del_lnk--> H. B. Acton, and <!--del_lnk--> John Plamenatz, who employed the techniques of <!--del_lnk--> analytical philosophy in order to test the coherence and scientificity of Marxism as a theory of history and society.<p>Those thinkers were all hostile to Marxism. Cohen's book was, from the outset, intended as a defence of <!--del_lnk--> historical materialism. Cohen painstakingly reconstructed historical materialism through a close reading of Marx's texts, with the aim of providing the most logically coherent and parsimonious account. For Cohen, Marx's historical materialism is <!--del_lnk--> technologically deterministic theory, in which the economic <!--del_lnk--> relations of production are functionally explained by the material <!--del_lnk--> forces of production, and in which the political and legal institutions (the "superstructure") are functionally explained by the relations of production (the "base"). The transition from one <!--del_lnk--> mode of production to another is driven by the tendency of the productive forces to develop. Cohen accounts for this tendency by reference to the rational character of the human species: where there is the opportunity to adopt a more productive technology and thus reduce the burden of labour, human beings will tend to take it. Thus, human history can be understood as the gradual development of human productive power.<p><a id="Exploitation" name="Exploitation"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Exploitation</span></h2>
<p>At the same time as Cohen was working on <i>Karl Marx's Theory of History</i>, American economist John Roemer was employing neoclassical economics in order to try to defend the Marxist concepts of <!--del_lnk--> exploitation and <!--del_lnk--> class. In his <i>General Theory of Exploitation and Class</i> (1982), Roemer employed <!--del_lnk--> rational choice and <a href="../../wp/g/Game_theory.htm" title="Game theory">game theory</a> in order to demonstrate how exploitation and class relations may arise in the development of a market for labour. Roemer would go on to reject the idea that the <!--del_lnk--> labour theory of value was necessary for explaining exploitation and class. Value was in principle capable of being explained in terms of any class of commodity inputs, such as oil, wheat, etc., rather than being exclusively explained by embodied labour power. Roemer was led to the conclusion that exploitation and class were thus generated not in the sphere of production but of market exchange. Significantly, as a purely technical category, exploitation did not always imply a moral wrong [see §4 ["Justice"] below].<p><a id="Rational_Choice_Marxism" name="Rational_Choice_Marxism"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Rational Choice Marxism</span></h2>
<div class="floatleft"><span><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="" height="199" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Making_Sense_of_Marx_%28Elster%29.jpg" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="130" /></span></div>
<p>By the mid-1980s, "analytical Marxism" was being recognised as a "paradigm".<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Roemer"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> The September group had been meeting for several years, and a succession of texts by its members were published. Several of these appeared under the imprint of Cambridge University Press's series "Studies in Marxism and Social Theory". Included in this series were Jon Elster's <i>Making Sense of Marx</i> (1985) and Adam Przeworski's <i>Capitalism and Social Democracy</i> (1986). Elster's account was an exhaustive trawl through Marx's texts in order to ascertain what could be salvaged out of Marxism employing the tools of rational choice theory and <!--del_lnk--> methodological individualism (which Elster defended as the only form of explanation appropriate to the social sciences). His conclusion was that – contra Cohen – no general theory of history as the development of the productive forces could be saved. Like Roemer, he also rejected the labour theory of value and, going further, virtually all of Marx's economics. The "dialectical" method is savaged as a form of Hegelian obscurantism. The theory of ideology and revolution continued to be useful to a certain degree, but only once they had been purged of their tendencies to <!--del_lnk--> holism and <!--del_lnk--> functionalism and established on the basis of an individualist methodology and a causal or intentional explanation.<p>Przeworski's book uses rational choice and game theory in order to demonstrate that the revolutionary strategies adopted by socialists in the twentieth century were likely to fail, since it was in the rational interests of workers to strive for the reform of capitalism through the achievement of union recognition, improved wages and living conditions, rather than adopting the risky strategy of revolution. Przeworski's book is clearly influenced by economic explanations of political behaviour advanced by thinkers such as <!--del_lnk--> Anthony Downs (<i>An Economic Theory of Democracy, 1957</i>) and <!--del_lnk--> Mancur Olson (<i>The Logic of Collective Action</i>, 1971).<p><a id="Justice" name="Justice"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Justice</span></h2>
<p>The analytical (and rational choice) Marxists held a variety of leftist political sympathies, ranging from <a href="../../wp/c/Communism.htm" title="Communism">communism</a> to reformist <!--del_lnk--> social democracy. Through the 1980s, most of them began to recognise that Marxism as a theory capable of explaining revolution in terms of the economic dynamics of capitalism and the class interests of the proletariat had been seriously compromised. They were largely in agreement that the transformation of capitalism was an ethical project. During the 1980s, a debate had developed within Anglophone academic Marxism on whether Marxism could accommodate a theory of justice. This debate was clearly linked to the revival of normative political philosophy after the publication of <!--del_lnk--> John Rawls's <i><!--del_lnk--> A Theory of Justice</i> (1971). While analytic <!--del_lnk--> moral philosophy holds that one is free in all situations to make a moral judgement that is in the interests of all equally, some commentators remained hostile to the idea of a Marxist theory of justice, arguing that Marx saw "justice" as little more than a bourgeois ideological construct designed to justify exploitation by reference to reciprocity in the wage contract.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Wood"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> The analytical Marxists, however, largely rejected this point of view. Led by G. A. Cohen (a moral philosopher by training), they argued that a Marxist theory of justice had to focus on <!--del_lnk--> egalitarianism. For Cohen, this meant an engagement with moral and political philosophy in order to demonstrate the injustice of market exchange, and the construction of an appropriate egalitarian metric. This argument is pursued in Cohen's most recent books, <i>Self-Ownership, Freedom and Equality</i> (1995) and <i>If You're an Egalitarian How Come You're So Rich?</i> (2000b).<p>In contrast to traditional Marxism, Cohen rejects the argument that <a href="../../wp/c/Capitalism.htm" title="Capitalism">capitalism</a> is unjust because under it workers experience <!--del_lnk--> alienation, or a lack of self-fulfilment as workers. For Cohen, this thesis is based on an untenable <!--del_lnk--> metaphysical account of <!--del_lnk--> human nature: the claim that all persons have one purpose and aim toward one end, productive labour. Because such a claim cannot be inferred from <!--del_lnk--> a priori truths of <a href="../../wp/l/Logic.htm" title="Logic">logic</a> or from experience, it is not justifiable by the restricted means available to analytic philosophy.<p>Cohen further departs from previous Marxists by arguing that capitalism is a system characterised by unjust <!--del_lnk--> exploitation not because the labour of workers is "stolen" by employers, but because it is a system wherein "<!--del_lnk--> autonomy" is infringed and which results in a distribution of benefits and burdens that is "unfair". In the traditional account, exploitation and injustice occur because non-workers appropriate the value produced by the labour of workers, something that would be overcome in a <!--del_lnk--> socialist society wherein no class would own the <!--del_lnk--> means of production and be in a position to appropriate the value produced by labourers. Cohen argues that underpinning this account is the assumption that workers have "rights of <!--del_lnk--> self-ownership" over themselves and thus, should "own" what is produced by their labour. Because the worker is paid a wage less than the value he or she creates through work, the capitalist is said to extract a <!--del_lnk--> surplus-value from the worker's labour, and thus to steal part of what the worker produces, the time of the worker and the worker's powers.<p>Cohen argues that the concept of self-ownership is favourable to Rawls's difference principle as it acknowledges "each person's rights over his being and powers"<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Cohen2"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>, but also highlights that its centrality provides for an area of common ground between the Marxist account of justice and the <!--del_lnk--> right-wing <a href="../../wp/l/Libertarianism.htm" title="Libertarianism">libertarianism</a> of <!--del_lnk--> Robert Nozick. However, much as Cohen criticises Rawls for treating people's personal powers as just another external resource for which no individual can claim merit, so does he charge Nozick with moving beyond the <i>concept</i> of self-ownership to his own right-wing "thesis" of self-ownership. In Cohen's view, Nozick's mistake is to endow people's claims to legitimately acquire external resources with the same moral quality that belongs to people's ownership of themselves. In other words, libertarianism allows inequalities to arise from differences in talent and differences in external resources, but it does so because it assumes that the world is "up for grabs"<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Cohen3"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span>, i.e. to be appropriated as private property.<p><a id="Criticisms" name="Criticisms"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Criticisms</span></h2>
<p>Analytical Marxism came under fire from a number of different quarters, both Marxist and non-Marxist.<p><a id="Method" name="Method"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Method</span></h3>
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<p>A number of critics argued that analytical Marxism proceeded from the wrong methodological and epistemological premises. While the analytical Marxists dismissed dialectically oriented Marxism as "bullshit", many Marxists would maintain that the distinctive character of Marxist philosophy is lost if it is understood non-dialectically. The crucial feature of Marxist philosophy is that it is not a reflection in thought of the world, a crude materialism, but rather an intervention in the world concerned with human <!--del_lnk--> praxis. According to this view, analytical Marxism wrongly characterises intellectual activity as occurring in isolation from the struggles constitutive of its social and political conjuncture, and at the same time does little to intervene in that conjuncture. For dialectical Marxists, analytical Marxism eviscerated Marxism, turning it from a systematic doctrine of revolutionary transformation into a set of discrete theses that stand or fall on the basis of their logical consistency and empirical validity.<p>Analytical Marxism's non-Marxist critics also objected to its methodological weaknesses. Against Elster and the rational choice Marxists, it was argued that methodological individualism was not the only form of valid explanation in the social sciences, that functionalism in the absence of micro-foundations could remain a convincing and fruitful mode of inquiry, and that rational choice and game theory were far from being universally accepted as sound or useful ways of modelling social institutions and processes.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Carver"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span><p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h3>
<p>Cohen's defence of a technological determinist interpretation of historical materialism was, in turn, quite widely criticised, even by analytical Marxists. Together with Andrew Levine, Wright argued that in attributing primacy to the productive forces (the development thesis), Cohen overlooked the role played by class actors in the transition between modes of production. For the authors, it was forms of class relations (the relations of production) that had primacy in terms of how the productive forces were employed and the extent to which they developed. It was not evident, they claimed, that the relations of production become "fetters" once the productive forces are capable of sustaining a different set of production relations.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Levine"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> Other non-Marxist critics argued that Cohen, in line with the Marxist tradition, underestimated the role played by the legal and political superstructure in shaping the character of the economic base. Finally, Cohen's anthropology was judged dubious: whether human beings adopt new and more productive technology is not a function of an ahistorical rationality, but depends on the extent to which these forms of technology are compatible with pre-existing beliefs and social practices.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Hirst"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> Cohen recognised and accepted some, though not all, of these criticisms in his <i>History, Labour, and Freedom</i> (1988).<p><a id="Justice_and_Power" name="Justice_and_Power"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Justice and Power</span></h3>
<p>Many Marxists would argue that Marxism cannot be understood as a theory of justice in the rather narrow sense intended by the analytical Marxists. The question of justice cannot be seen in isolation from questions of power, or from the balance of class forces in any specific conjuncture. Non-Marxists may employ a similar criticism in their critique of liberal theories of justice in the Rawlsian tradition. Most of these theories fail to address problems about the configuration of power relations in the contemporary world, and by so doing appear as little more than exercises in logic. "Justice", on this view, is whatever is produced by the assumptions of the theory. It has little to do with the actual distribution of power and resources in the world.<p><a id="Denouement" name="Denouement"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Denouement</span></h2>
<p>As a project, analytical Marxism had largely disappeared by the end of the 1990s. Most of its practitioners agreed that the <a href="../../wp/m/Marxism.htm" title="Marxism">Marxism</a> that in the beginning they had set out to interrogate and, to an extent, defend, was not theoretically or politically defensible. They concluded that as a theory for a the explanation of human action, Marxism was a failure on both theoretical and practical grounds.<p>The leading lights of analytical marxism now focus their energies in other areas – moral and political philosophy (Cohen, van Parijs), <!--del_lnk--> democratic theory employing economic models (Roemer, Elster).<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytical_Marxism"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Anarchism</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Religion.Philosophy.htm">Philosophy</a></h3>
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<p>Part of the <a href="../../wp/p/Politics.htm" title="Politics">Politics</a> series on<br /><span style="font-size: 150%"><b><strong class="selflink">Anarchism</strong></b></span><br />
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<td style="font-size: 95%; color:black; background-color:white; border: 1px solid #755A57"><b>Schools of thought</b></td>
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<p><a href="../../wp/a/Anarcho-capitalism.htm" title="Anarcho-capitalism">Capitalist</a> • <!--del_lnk--> Christian<br /><!--del_lnk--> Collectivist • <!--del_lnk--> Communist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Eco • <!--del_lnk--> Feminist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Green • <!--del_lnk--> Individualist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Mutualist • <!--del_lnk--> Primitivist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Social • <!--del_lnk--> Syndicalist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Without adjectives<br />
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<td style="font-size: 95%; color:black; background-color:white; border: 1px solid #755A57"><b>Anarchist theory</b></td>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Origins • <!--del_lnk--> Economics<br /><!--del_lnk--> Anarchism and capitalism<br /><!--del_lnk--> Anarchism and Marxism<br /><!--del_lnk--> Symbolism • <!--del_lnk--> Post-left<br /><!--del_lnk--> Propaganda of the deed<br />
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Africa • <!--del_lnk--> Austria • <!--del_lnk--> China<br /><!--del_lnk--> English Tradition • <!--del_lnk--> France<br /><!--del_lnk--> Greece • <!--del_lnk--> Mexico • <!--del_lnk--> Russia<br /><!--del_lnk--> Spain • <!--del_lnk--> Sweden • <!--del_lnk--> Ukraine<br /><!--del_lnk--> United States<br />
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<p><b>Anarchism</b> is the name of a <a href="../../wp/p/Political_philosophy.htm" title="Political philosophy">political philosophy</a> or a group of doctrines and attitudes that are centered on rejection of any form of compulsory <a href="../../wp/g/Government.htm" title="Government">government</a> ("<!--del_lnk--> state") and supporting its elimination. The term "anarchism" is <!--del_lnk--> derived from the <!--del_lnk--> Greek <i><!--del_lnk--> αναρχία</i> ("without <!--del_lnk--> archons" or "without rulers"). Thus "anarchism," in its most general meaning, is the belief that all forms of <!--del_lnk--> rulership are undesirable and should be abolished.<p>There is a variety of types and traditions of anarchism with various points of difference. Other than being opposed to the state, "there is no single defining position that all anarchists hold, and those considered anarchists at best share a certain family resemblance." Preferred economic arrangements are one of the many areas of disagreement for anarchists.<p>
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</script><a id="Origins" name="Origins"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Origins</span></h2>
<p><a id="Pre-Nineteenth_Century" name="Pre-Nineteenth_Century"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Pre-Nineteenth Century</span></h3>
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<p>Opposition to the state and hierarchical authority had a long history prior to the formation of the anarchist movement in nineteenth century Europe. Some claim that anarchist themes can be detected in works as old as those of the <!--del_lnk--> Taoist sage <a href="../../wp/l/Laozi.htm" title="Laozi">Lao Tzu</a>, though this is a controversial topic. <!--del_lnk--> Zeno of Citium, the founder of <a href="../../wp/s/Stoicism.htm" title="Stoicism">Stoicism</a> also introduced topics which contain anarchist themes.<p>Anarchism in the modern sense, however, has its roots in the secular political thought of the <!--del_lnk--> Enlightenment, particularly <!--del_lnk--> Rousseau's arguments for the moral centrality of freedom. The word "anarchist" was originally used as a term of <!--del_lnk--> abuse, but by the <a href="../../wp/f/French_Revolution.htm" title="French Revolution">French Revolution</a> some groups such as the <i>Enragés</i> had started to use the term in a positive sense, seeing the <!--del_lnk--> Jacobin concept of a "revolutionary government" as an oxymoron. It was in this political climate that <!--del_lnk--> William Godwin would develop his philosophy, which is considered by many to be the first expression of modern anarchist thought.<p><a id="William_Godwin" name="William_Godwin"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">William Godwin</span></h3>
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<div style="width:132px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/676.jpg.htm" title="William Godwin"><img alt="William Godwin" height="169" longdesc="/wiki/Image:WilliamGodwin.jpg" src="../../images/6/676.jpg" width="130" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/676.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> William Godwin</div>
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<p>According to <!--del_lnk--> Peter Kropotkin, <!--del_lnk--> William Godwin, in his <i>Enquiry Concerning Political Justice</i> (2 vols., 1793), was "the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his work." Charles A. Madison writes, "The first modern systematic exponent of anarchism was William Godwin. . . . Strongly influenced by the sentiments of the French Revolution, he argued that since man is a rational being he must not be hampered in the exercise of his pure reason. Moreover, since all forms of government have irrational foundations and are consequently tyrannical in nature, they must be swept away."<p>Godwin felt that the evil of man was the result of societal corruption, and his view was that government would become unnecessary as the human race is perfected. "Above all we should not forget, that government is an evil, an usurpation upon the private judgment and individual conscience of mankind; and that, however we may be obliged to admit it as a necessary evil for the present, it behoves us, as the friends of reason and the human species, to admit as little of it as possible, and carefully to observe whether, in consequence of the gradual illumination of the human mind, that little may not hereafter be diminished." Godwin felt that discrimination on any grounds besides ability was intolerable. Godwin is also well known for marrying the feminist <!--del_lnk--> Mary Wollstonecraft. Their daughter, <!--del_lnk--> Mary Shelley, achieved fame as the author of <i><a href="../../wp/f/Frankenstein.htm" title="Frankenstein">Frankenstein</a></i>.<p><a id="Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon" name="Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Pierre-Joseph Proudhon</span></h3>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is the first self-proclaimed anarchist, a label which he adopted in his 1840 treatise <i><!--del_lnk--> What is Property?</i>. It is for this reason that some declare Proudhon the founder of modern anarchist theory. He developed the theory of <!--del_lnk--> spontaneous order in society, whereby organization emerges without any central authority, a "positive anarchy" in which order arises from every individual "doing what he wishes and only what he wishes." He saw anarchy as:<blockquote>
<p>"a form of government or constitution in which public and private consciousness, formed through the development of science and law, is alone sufficient to maintain order and guarantee all liberties. In it, as a consequence, the institutions of the police, preventive and repressive methods, officialdom, taxation, etc., are reduced to a minimum. In it, more especially, the forms of monarchy and intensive centralization disappear, to be replaced by federal institutions and a pattern of life based on the commune."</blockquote>
<p>His opposition to capitalism, the state, and organized religion inspired subsequent anarchists and made him one of the leading socialist theorists of his time. However, he was also opposed to "communism, whether of the utopian or the Marxist variety, [the criticism being] that it destroyed freedom by taking away from the individual control over his means of production." <p><a id="Schools_of_Anarchist_Thought" name="Schools_of_Anarchist_Thought"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Schools of Anarchist Thought</span></h2>
<p><a id="Mutualism" name="Mutualism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Mutualism</span></h3>
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<p>While <!--del_lnk--> mutualism as a body of economic ideas began in English and French labor movements of the 18th century, it later took on an anarchist form mostly associated with <!--del_lnk--> Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Proudhon was the first to call himself and his politics anarchist. In his landmark book <i><!--del_lnk--> What is Property?</i> (<i>Qu'est-ce que la propriété?</i>, published in 1840), he criticized existing theories of private property and expounded an economic theory based on a <!--del_lnk--> labor theory of value, stating that, "The price of every product in demand should be its cost in time and outlay—neither more nor less. . ." However, "every product not in demand is a loss to the producer—a commercial non-value." According to Proudhon, "It is labor, labor alone, that produces all the elements of wealth... according to a law of variable, but certain, proportionality." He was also careful to advise, however, that "The value of labor is a figurative expression, an anticipation of effect from cause." Mutualist economics is characterised by a dedication to free association, a democratically run mutualist bank, and voluntary contract/federation.<p>Many mutualists believe that a market without government intervention would result in prices paid for labor to align with its true worth, as determined by the labor theory of value, because firms would be forced to compete over workers just as workers compete over firms, which would raise wages. As <!--del_lnk--> William B. Greene put it:<dl>
<dd>"Under the mutual system, each individual will receive the just and exact pay for his work; services equivalent in cost being exchangeable for services equivalent in cost, without profit or discount; and so much as the individual laborer will then get over and above what he has earned will come to him as his share in the general prosperity of the community of which he is an individual member."</dl>
<p>Proudhon's mutualism, introduced into the United States in 1848 by Charles A. Dana, supplemented a native American form already worked out by <!--del_lnk--> Josiah Warren. Proudhon's mutualism was adapted to American conditions by <!--del_lnk--> Greene, who introduced it to <!--del_lnk--> Benjamin R. Tucker. Unlike the American individualist anarchists, Proudhon emphasises associations amongst producers; thus, some see mutualism as being situated somewhere between individualism and collectivism. This sense seems confirmed by the mutualists' own writings. In <i>What Is Property?</i>, Proudhon develops a concept of "liberty," equivalent to "anarchy," which is the dialectical "synthesis of communism and property." Greene, influenced by <!--del_lnk--> Pierre Leroux, sought mutualism in the synthesis of three philosophies—communism, capitalism and socialism. Although later individualist anarchists used the term mutualism to describe their economic philosophy, they retained little if any of this emphasis on synthesis.<p><a id="Collectivist_Anarchism" name="Collectivist_Anarchism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Collectivist Anarchism</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/254/25431.jpg.htm" title="Mikhail Bakunin"><img alt="Mikhail Bakunin" height="258" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Bakuninfull.jpg" src="../../images/254/25431.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Collectivist anarchism is most commonly associated with <!--del_lnk--> Mikhail Bakunin and the anti-authoritarian section of the <!--del_lnk--> First International (1864-1876). Unlike mutualists, collectivist anarchists oppose all private ownership of the means of production, instead advocating that ownership be collectivized. Workers would be compensated for their work on the basis of the amount of time they contributed to production, rather than goods being distributed "according to need" as in anarcho-communism. By the early 1880s, most of the European anarchist movement had adopted an <!--del_lnk--> anarcho-communist position, advocating the abolition of wage labour and distribution according to need rather than labor, although the <!--del_lnk--> early anarchist movement in Spain is sometimes associated with collectivism. Although the <!--del_lnk--> collectivist anarchists advocated compensation for labor, they held out the possibility of a post-revolutionary transition to a communist system of distribution according to need. Collective anarchism arose contemporary with <a href="../../wp/m/Marxism.htm" title="Marxism">Marxism</a> but was opposed to it, despite Marxism striving for a collectivist stateless society, because of an opposition to the Marxist <!--del_lnk--> dictatorship of the proletariat.<p><a id="Anarchist_communism" name="Anarchist_communism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Anarchist communism</span></h3>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Joseph Déjacque was an early anarchist communist and the first person to describe himself as "<!--del_lnk--> socialist libertarian". Unlike Proudhon, he argued that "it is not the product of his or her labor that the worker has a right to, but to the satisfaction of his or her needs, whatever may be their nature." Other important anarchist communists include <!--del_lnk--> Peter Kropotkin, <!--del_lnk--> Emma Goldman, <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Berkman and <!--del_lnk--> Errico Malatesta. Many in the anarcho-syndicalist movements (see below) saw anarchist communism as their objective. <!--del_lnk--> Isaac Puente's 1932 <i><!--del_lnk--> El comunismo libertario</i> was adopted by the Spanish CNT as its manifesto for a post-revolutionary society.<p>Anarchist communists propose that a society composed of a number of <!--del_lnk--> self-governing <!--del_lnk--> communes with <!--del_lnk--> collective ownership of the <!--del_lnk--> means of production, ruled by <!--del_lnk--> direct democracy, and related to other communes through <!--del_lnk--> federation would be the freest form of social organisation. In anarchist communism, individuals would not receive direct compensation for labour (through share of profits, payment or any other compensation), but would instead have free access to the resources of the commune. Some commentators believe that this would require an essentially communitarian human nature, but, according to the view developed by Kropotkin and later by <!--del_lnk--> Murray Bookchin, the members of such a society will spontaneously perform all necessary labour because they will recognize the benefits of communal enterprise and mutual aid. It is often characterised as <!--del_lnk--> Utopianism, a claim some do not deny, but anarchist communism is portrayed by its supporters as an achievable goal, if not an inevitability, rather than an impossible ideal.<p><a id="Peter_Kropotkin" name="Peter_Kropotkin"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Peter Kropotkin</span></h4>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Peter Kropotkin, often seen as the most important theorist of anarchist communism, outlined his economic ideas in <i><!--del_lnk--> The Conquest of Bread</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Fields, Factories and Workshops</i>. Kropotkin felt that co-operation is more beneficial than competition, arguing in <i><!--del_lnk--> Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution</i> that this was illustrated in nature. He advocated the abolition of private property through the "expropriation of the whole of social wealth" by the people themselves, and for the economy to be co-ordinated through a horizontal network of voluntary associations where goods are distributed according to the physical needs of the individual, rather than according to labor. He further argued that these "needs," as society progressed, would not merely be physical needs but "[a]s soon as his material wants are satisfied, other needs, of an artistic character, will thrust themselves forward the more ardently. Aims of life vary with each and every individual; and the more society is civilized, the more will individuality be developed, and the more will desires be varied." <p>He maintained that, in anarcho-communism:<blockquote>
<p>"...houses, fields, and factories will no longer be private property, and that they will belong to the commune or the nation and money, wages, and trade would be abolished."</blockquote>
<p>Individuals and groups would use and control whatever resources they needed, as the aim of anarchist-communism was to place "the product reaped or manufactured at the disposal of all, leaving to each the liberty to consume them as he pleases in his own home." He supported the expropriation of property to ensure that everyone would have access to what they needed without being forced to sell their labour to get it.<blockquote>
<p>"We do not want to rob any one of his coat, but we wish to give to the workers all those things the lack of which makes them fall an easy prey to the exploiter, and we will do our utmost that none shall lack aught, that not a single man shall be forced to sell the strength of his right arm to obtain a bare subsistence for himself and his babes. This is what we mean when we talk of Expropriation..."</blockquote>
<p>He said that a "peasant who is in possession of just the amount of land he can cultivate," and "a family inhabiting a house which affords them just enough space... considered necessary for that number of people" and the artisan "working with their own tools or handloom" would not be interfered with, arguing that "[t]he landlord owes his riches to the poverty of the peasants, and the wealth of the capitalist comes from the same source."<p><a id="Platformism" name="Platformism"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Platformism</span></h4>
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<p>Platformism is a tendency within the wider anarchist communist movement which shares an affinity with organising in the tradition of Nestor Makhno's Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft). The Platform came from the experiences of Russian anarchists in the 1917 <!--del_lnk--> October Revolution, which lead eventually to the victory of <!--del_lnk--> Bolshevik party dictatorship rather than workers' and peasants' self-management. It argued for the "vital need of an organization which, having attracted most of the participants in the anarchist movement, would establish a common tactical and political line for anarchism and thereby serve as a guide for the whole movement."<p><a id="Anarcho-syndicalism" name="Anarcho-syndicalism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Anarcho-syndicalism</span></h3>
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<p>The early twentieth century saw the rise of <!--del_lnk--> anarcho-syndicalism as a distinct school of thought within the anarchist tradition. More heavily focused on the labour movement than previous forms of anarchism, syndicalism posits trade unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society that is democratically self-managed by workers. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class divisions. Three important principles of syndicalism are workers' solidarity, <!--del_lnk--> direct action (such as <!--del_lnk--> general strikes and <!--del_lnk--> workplace recuperations), and <!--del_lnk--> workers' self-management. Anarcho-syndicalism and other communitarian branches of anarchism are not mutually exclusive: anarcho-syndicalists often subscribe to communist or collectivist schools of anarchism. Its advocates propose labour organization as a means to create the foundations of a non-hierarchical anarchist society within the current system and bring about social revolution.<p><!--del_lnk--> Rudolf Rocker was one of the most popular voices in the anarcho-syndicalist movement. He outlined a view of the origins of the movement, what it sought, and why it was important to the future of labour in his 1938 pamphlet <i>Anarchosyndicalism</i>. Although more frequently associated with labor struggles of the early twentieth century (particularly in <!--del_lnk--> France and <!--del_lnk--> Spain), many syndicalist organizations are active today.<p><a id="Individualist_anarchism" name="Individualist_anarchism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Individualist anarchism</span></h3>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Individualist anarchism is an anarchist philosophical tradition that has a strong emphasis on <a href="../../wp/l/Liberalism.htm" title="Liberalism">equality of liberty</a> and <!--del_lnk--> individual sovereignty, drawing much from the tradition of <!--del_lnk--> classical liberalism. Individualist anarchists believe that "individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest should not be constrained by any collective body or public authority." Individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy but refers to a group of individualistic philosophies; there are "several traditions of individualist anarchism." Some individualists are <!--del_lnk--> market anarchists, which are individualists that believe that security of individuals and their property should be provided by the market itself (such as by supplying private police and courts).<p><a id="Egoism" name="Egoism"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Egoism</span></h4>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Max Stirner was the author of a form of individualist anarchism called "Egoism." Stirner's "name appears with familiar regularity in historically-orientated surveys of anarchist thought as one of the earliest and best-known exponents of <!--del_lnk--> individualist anarchism." In 1844, Max Stirner's <i><!--del_lnk--> The Ego and Its Own</i> (sometimes translated as "The Individual and His Property") was published, which is considered to be "a founding text in the tradition of individualist anarchism." Stirner believed that most commonly accepted social institutions—including the concept of the state, property as a right, natural rights, and the very notion of society—were mere illusions or <i>ghosts</i> in the mind, saying of society that "the individuals are its reality." He advocated egoism and a form of amoralism, in which individuals would unite in "associations of egoists" only when it was in their self interest to do so. For him, property simply comes about through might: "Whoever knows how to take, to defend, the thing, to him belongs property." And, "What I have in my power, that is my own. So long as I assert myself as holder, I am the proprietor of the thing."<p>Stirner never called himself an anarchist; he accepted only the label "egoist". Nevertheless, he is considered by most to be an anarchist because of his rejection of the state, law, and government. Also, his ideas influenced many anarchists, although interpretations of his thought are diverse. Anarchists including <!--del_lnk--> Benjamin Tucker, <!--del_lnk--> Federica Montseny, and the <!--del_lnk--> Bonnot Gang claimed him as an influence, while <!--del_lnk--> Emma Goldman gave lectures on his thought.<p><a id="Individualist_anarchism_in_the_United_States" name="Individualist_anarchism_in_the_United_States"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Individualist anarchism in the United States</span></h4>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/695.jpg.htm" title="Josiah Warren is generally considered "the first American anarchist.""><img alt="Josiah Warren is generally considered "the first American anarchist."" height="275" longdesc="/wiki/Image:JosiahWarren.jpg" src="../../images/6/695.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/695.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Josiah Warren is generally considered "the first American anarchist."</div>
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<p>Individualist anarchism in the American tradition began with nineteenth century figures such as <!--del_lnk--> Josiah Warren, <!--del_lnk--> William B. Greene, <!--del_lnk--> Lysander Spooner, <!--del_lnk--> Benjamin Tucker, <!--del_lnk--> Stephen Pearl Andrews, <!--del_lnk--> Victor Yarros, and <a href="../../wp/h/Henry_David_Thoreau.htm" title="Henry David Thoreau">Henry David Thoreau</a>. Thoreau's individualist anarchism proclaimed "the inevitability of self-government accompanied by atrophy of the State" and argued that the state had no power other than what individuals accede to it, but included no practical program for social change. Other individualist anarchists pursued a more comprehensive theory and practice.<p>Also known as the "Boston anarchists," the nineteenth century individualists supported private property and a free market, also advocating that protection of liberty and property should be provided by private contractors voluntarily funded in a <!--del_lnk--> free market rather than by the state. <!--del_lnk--> Victor Yarros explained the understanding of the word "anarchism" of the <!--del_lnk--> market anarchists such as Tucker, himself, and others:<dl>
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<p>Unlike anarcho-communists, they supported the exchange of labor for wages. Benjamin Tucker said, "Not to abolish wages, but to make every man dependent upon wages and secure to every man his whole wages is the aim of Anarchistic Socialism." (Note that Tucker used the word "socialism" in a non-standard sense; he supported private ownership of the means of production.) They argued that the state prevents true free competition in the market, which they thought prevented labor from receiving its true value in exchange. Spooner, however, argued that "each man should be his own employer, or work directly for himself, and not for another for wages; because, in the latter case, a part of the fruits of his labor go to his employer, instead of coming to himself" while Dyer Lum argued that a free market would see the end of wage labour by co-operatives. They accepted a labor theory of value, believing that free-market competition would cause what they believed to be non-labor income (profit, rent and interest) to disappear. They believed that unregulated "free banking" and the use of local, mutual currencies would cause interest rates to decline to a nominal rate, as a result of intensified competition in lending.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/6/697.jpg.htm" title="Benjamin Tucker"><img alt="Benjamin Tucker" height="200" longdesc="/wiki/Image:BenjaminTucker.jpg" src="../../images/6/697.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Benjamin Tucker, who was one of the most prominent individualist anarchists, opposed what he called four "monopolies": the <i><!--del_lnk--> money monopoly</i> (state control over currency, credit, and banks); the <i>land monopoly</i> of land-titles that remained in effect if individuals were not using their land; <i><!--del_lnk--> patents</i>, which prohibit competition; <i><!--del_lnk--> tariffs</i>, which restrict competition in favour of established firms. There was also agreement among the early American individualists on the permissibility of employment ("wage labour"). The nineteenth century individualists disagreed on various things, so there is not one philosophy of "individualist anarchism." For example, Spooner supported intellectual property rights and permitted absentee ownership of land. <!--del_lnk--> Steven T. Byington also opposed Tucker's ideas on occupancy and use requirements for land titles.<p><a id="Anarcho-capitalism" name="Anarcho-capitalism"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Anarcho-capitalism</span></h4>
<p>Anarcho-capitalism (also known as <i>private property anarchism</i> or <i>market anarchism</i>) is a form of individualist anarchism lying outside the mainstream of anti-capitalistic anarchism, which has a significant following in the United States. Like their predecessors, anarcho-capitalists would like for all services, including law enforcement and security, to be performed by multiple private providers all competing for business, rather than by a monopolist state agency funded by taxation. Anarcho-capitalism's leading proponents are <!--del_lnk--> Murray Rothbard, <!--del_lnk--> David Friedman and <!--del_lnk--> Hans-Hermann Hoppe. It has been influenced by libertarians such as <!--del_lnk--> Gustave de Molinari, <!--del_lnk--> Frederic Bastiat, <!--del_lnk--> Ayn Rand and <!--del_lnk--> Robert Nozick.<p>Although anarcho-capitalism was also influenced by <!--del_lnk--> Tucker and <!--del_lnk--> Spooner, it rejects their <!--del_lnk--> labor theory of value in favour of the modern neo-classical <!--del_lnk--> marginalist view. Thus, anarcho-capitalists, like modern economists, do not believe that prices in a free market are, or would be, proportional to labor times (nor do they think that "usury," "exploitation," or "profit" is taking place if that does not happen). Economically-inclined anarcho-capitalists, such as Rothbard, believe that different prices of goods and services in a market, whether completely free or not, are the result of individuals making subjective judgements on the <!--del_lnk--> marginal utility of goods and services rather than on the amounts of labor embodied in them. Also anarcho-capitalists disagree with Tucker that interest would disappear with unregulated banking and money issuance. Rothbard believed that people in general do not wish to lend their money to others without compensation, so there is no reason why this would change just because banking is unregulated (nor does he agree that unregulated banking would increase the supply of money in the first place). Anarcho-capitalism has a theory of <!--del_lnk--> legitimacy that supports private property as long as it was obtained by labor, trade, or gift. Most anarcho-capitalists believe that in the absence of aggression, including the instutionalized aggression carried on by the state, free capitalism would naturally and inevitably develop. Hence, Rothbard's statement that "capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism."<p><a id="Anarchism_without_adjectives" name="Anarchism_without_adjectives"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Anarchism without adjectives</span></h3>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/700.gif.htm" title="Voltairine de Cleyre"><img alt="Voltairine de Cleyre" height="210" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cleyere.gif" src="../../images/7/700.gif" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><i>Anarchism without adjectives</i>, in the words of historian George Richard Esenwein, "referred to an <!--del_lnk--> unhyphenated form of anarchism, that is, a doctrine without any qualifying labels such as <!--del_lnk--> communist, <!--del_lnk--> collectivist, <!--del_lnk--> mutualist, or <!--del_lnk--> individualist. For others, ... [it] was simply understood as an attitude that tolerated the coexistence of different anarchist schools." . It arose as the result of being troubled by the "bitter debates" between the different movements and was a call for more tolerance. <i>Anarchism without adjectives</i> emphasizes harmony between various anarchist factions and attempts to unite them around their shared anti-authoritarian beliefs. The expression was coined by <a href="../../wp/c/Cuba.htm" title="Cuba">Cuban</a>-born <!--del_lnk--> Fernando Tarrida del Marmol, who used it in November <!--del_lnk--> 1889 in <a href="../../wp/b/Barcelona.htm" title="Barcelona">Barcelona</a>.<p>To these anarchists, economic preferences are considered to be of secondary importance to abolishing all coercive authority. <!--del_lnk--> Rudolf Rocker, who was one of these anarchists, said that the different types of anarchism presented "only different methods of economy, the practical possibilities of which have yet to be tested, and that the first objective is to secure the personal and social freedom of men no matter upon which economics basis this is to be accomplished."<p><!--del_lnk--> Voltairine de Cleyre was one of the most prominent "anarchists without adjectives". Although she initially identified herself as an individualist anarchist, she later espoused a collectivist form of anarchism, while refusing to identify herself with any of the contemporary schools. She commented that "Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom." In The Making of an Anarchist, she wrote, "I no longer label myself otherwise than as 'Anarchist' simply."<p><!--del_lnk--> Errico Malatesta was another proponent of anarchism-without-adjectives, stating that "[i]t is not right for us, to say the least, to fall into strife over mere hypotheses."<p><a id="Anarchism_as_a_Social_Movement" name="Anarchism_as_a_Social_Movement"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Anarchism as a Social Movement</span></h2>
<p>Individualist anarchism does not represent the majority of anarchists; most anarchists favour some form of communitarianism or collectivism. Advocacy of collectivism and violent revolution dominated mainstream anarchism from the days of the <!--del_lnk--> First International until the destruction of anarchism as a mass movement at the end of the <!--del_lnk--> Spanish Civil War.<p><a id="The_First_International" name="The_First_International"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The First International</span></h3>
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<p>In Europe, harsh reaction followed the <!--del_lnk--> revolutions of 1848. Twenty years later in 1864 the <!--del_lnk--> International Workingmen's Association, sometimes called the 'First International', united some diverse European revolutionary currents, including French followers of <!--del_lnk--> Proudhon, <!--del_lnk--> Blanquists, English trade unionists, <!--del_lnk--> socialists and <!--del_lnk--> social democrats. Due to its genuine links to active workers' movements, the International became a significant organization.<p><a href="../../wp/k/Karl_Marx.htm" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a> became a leading figure in the International and a member of its General Council. Proudhon's followers, the <!--del_lnk--> Mutualists, opposed Marx's <!--del_lnk--> state socialism, advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings. <!--del_lnk--> Mikhail Bakunin joined in 1868, allying with the anti-authoritarian socialist sections of the International, who advocated the revolutionary overthrow of the state and the collectivization of property. At first, the <!--del_lnk--> collectivists worked with the Marxists to push the First International in a more revolutionary socialist direction. Subsequently, the International became polarized into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads.<p>Bakunin characterised Marx's ideas as <!--del_lnk--> authoritarian and predicted that, if a Marxist party came to power, its leaders would simply take the place of the <!--del_lnk--> ruling class they had fought against. In 1872, the conflict climaxed with a final split between the two groups, when, at the <!--del_lnk--> Hague Congress, Marx engineered the expulsion of Bakunin and <!--del_lnk--> James Guillaume from the International and had its headquarters transferred to New York. In response, the anti-authoritarian sections formed their own International at the <!--del_lnk--> St. Imier Congress, adopting a revolutionary anarchist program.<p><a id="Anarchism_and_organized_labor" name="Anarchism_and_organized_labor"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Anarchism and organized labor</span></h3>
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<div style="width:177px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/702.jpg.htm" title="CNT poster from April 2004. Reads: Don't let the politicians rule our lives/ You vote and they decide/ Don't allow it/ Unity, Action, Self-management."><img alt="CNT poster from April 2004. Reads: Don't let the politicians rule our lives/ You vote and they decide/ Don't allow it/ Unity, Action, Self-management." height="233" longdesc="/wiki/Image:CNT_tu_votar_y_ellos_deciden.jpg" src="../../images/7/702.jpg" width="175" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/702.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> CNT poster from April 2004. Reads: Don't let the politicians rule our lives/ You vote and they decide/ Don't allow it/ Unity, Action, Self-management.</div>
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<p>The anti-authoritarian sections of the First International were the precursors of the anarcho-syndicalists, seeking to "replace the privilege and authority of the State" with the "free and spontaneous organization of labor."<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labour, CGT), formed in France in 1895, was the first major anarcho-syndicalist movement, but it had been preceded by the Spanish Workers Federation in 1881. Anarchist trade union federations were of special importance in Spain. The most successful was the <!--del_lnk--> Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labour: CNT), founded in 1910. Before the 1940s, the CNT was the major force in Spanish working class politics and played a major role in the <!--del_lnk--> Spanish Civil War. The CNT was affiliated with the International Workers Association, a federation of anarcho-syndicalist trade unions founded in 1922, with delegates representing two million workers from 15 countries in Europe and Latin America.<p>The largest organised anarchist movement today is in Spain, in the form of the <!--del_lnk--> Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) and the <!--del_lnk--> CNT. CGT membership was estimated to be around 100,000 for the year 2003. Other active syndicalist movements include the US <!--del_lnk--> Workers Solidarity Alliance and the UK <!--del_lnk--> Solidarity Federation. The revolutionary industrial unionist <!--del_lnk--> Industrial Workers of the World, claiming 2,000 paying members, and the <!--del_lnk--> International Workers Association, an anarcho-syndicalist successor to the <!--del_lnk--> First International, also remain active.<p><a id="The_Russian_Revolution" name="The_Russian_Revolution"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The Russian Revolution</span></h3>
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<p>Anarchists participated alongside the <!--del_lnk--> Bolsheviks in both February and October revolutions, many anarchists initially supporting the Bolshevik coup. However, the Bolsheviks soon turned against the anarchists and other left-wing opposition, a conflict that culminated in the 1921 <!--del_lnk--> Kronstadt rebellion. Anarchists in central Russia were either imprisoned or driven underground or joined the victorious Bolsheviks. In the <a href="../../wp/u/Ukraine.htm" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a>, anarchists fought in the <!--del_lnk--> civil war against Whites and then the Bolsheviks as part of the Makhnovshchina peasant army led by <!--del_lnk--> Nestor Makhno.<p>Expelled American anarchists <!--del_lnk--> Emma Goldman and <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Berkman were amongst those agitating in response to Bolshevik policy and the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising, before they left Russia. Both wrote classic accounts of their experiences in Russia, aiming to expose the reality of Bolshevik control. For them, <!--del_lnk--> Bakunin's predictions about the consequences of Marxist rule had proved all too true.<p>The victory of the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution and the resulting Russian Civil War did serious damage to anarchist movements internationally. Many workers and activists saw Bolshevik success as setting an example; Communist parties grew at the expense of anarchism and other socialist movements. In France and the US, for example, the major syndicalist movements of the <!--del_lnk--> CGT and <!--del_lnk--> IWW began to realign themselves away from anarchism and towards the <!--del_lnk--> Communist International.<p>In Paris, the <!--del_lnk--> Dielo Truda group of Russian anarchist exiles, which included <!--del_lnk--> Nestor Makhno, concluded that anarchists needed to develop new forms of organisation in response to the structures of Bolshevism. Their 1926 manifesto, called the <!--del_lnk--> Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) , was supported by some communist anarchists, though opposed by many others. Platformist groups today include the <!--del_lnk--> Workers Solidarity Movement in Ireland and the <!--del_lnk--> North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists of North America.<p><a id="The_fight_against_fascism" name="The_fight_against_fascism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The fight against fascism</span></h3>
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<p>In the 1920s and 1930s, the familiar dynamics of anarchism's conflict with the state were transformed by the rise of <a href="../../wp/f/Fascism.htm" title="Fascism">fascism</a> in Europe. Italy saw the first struggles between anarchists and fascists. Anarchists played a key role in the anti-fascist organisation <b>Arditi del Popolo.</b> This group was strongest in areas with anarchist traditions and marked up numerous successful victories, including driving back <!--del_lnk--> Blackshirts in the anarchist stronghold of Parma in August 1922.<p>In France, where the fascists came close to insurrection in the February 1934 riots, anarchists divided over a 'united front' policy. In Spain, the <!--del_lnk--> CNT initially refused to join a popular front electoral alliance and abstention by CNT supporters led to a right wing election victory. But in 1936, the CNT changed its policy and anarchist votes helped bring the popular front back to power. Months later, the ruling class responded with an attempted coup, and the <!--del_lnk--> Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was underway.<p>In response to the army rebellion, an <!--del_lnk--> anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of <a href="../../wp/b/Barcelona.htm" title="Barcelona">Barcelona</a> and of large areas of rural Spain where they <!--del_lnk--> collectivized the land. But even before the eventual fascist victory in 1939, the anarchists were losing ground in a bitter struggle with the <!--del_lnk--> Stalinists. The CNT leadership often appeared confused and divided, with some members controversially entering the government. According to <!--del_lnk--> George Orwell and other foreign observers, Stalinist-led troops suppressed the collectives and persecuted both <!--del_lnk--> dissident Marxists and anarchists.<p><a id="Issues_in_anarchism" name="Issues_in_anarchism"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Issues in anarchism</span></h2>
<p><a id="Ends_and_means" name="Ends_and_means"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ends and means</span></h3>
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<p>Generally, anarchists advocate <!--del_lnk--> direct action and <!--del_lnk--> oppose voting in elections. Most anarchists feel that real change is not possible through voting. Further, many argue that voting is equivalent to condoning the state, while others advocate a more pragmatic approach, including voting in referendums.<p>Direct action may be violent or non-violent. Although some anarchists believe that violence is justified in overthrowing existing authority, most anarchists reject <a href="../../wp/t/Terrorism.htm" title="Terrorism">terrorism</a> as authoritarian. <!--del_lnk--> Mikhail Bakunin and <!--del_lnk--> Errico Malatesta, for example, wrote of violence as necessary in revolutionary settings, but denounced terrorism as counter-revolutionary.<p>Anarchists have often been portrayed as dangerous and violent, due mainly to a number of high-profile violent acts, including <!--del_lnk--> riots, <!--del_lnk--> assassinations, <!--del_lnk--> insurrections, and <a href="../../wp/t/Terrorism.htm" title="Terrorism">terrorism</a> by some anarchists, as well as persistently negative media portrayals. Many anarchists do not see the destruction of property as a violent act. Anarchists see war, however, as an activity in which the state seeks to gain and consolidate power, both domestically and in foreign lands, and subscribe to <!--del_lnk--> Randolph Bourne's view that "war is the health of the state."<p>Many anarchists participate in subversive organizations as a means to undermine the Establishment, such as <!--del_lnk--> Food Not Bombs, <!--del_lnk--> radical labor unions, <!--del_lnk--> alternative media, and <!--del_lnk--> radical social centers. This is in accordance with the anarchist concept of <!--del_lnk--> Dual Power: creating the structures for a new anti-authoritarian society in the shell of the old, hierarchical one.<p><a id="Capitalism" name="Capitalism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Capitalism</span></h3>
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<p>Most anarchist traditions not only seek rejection of the <!--del_lnk--> state, but also of <a href="../../wp/c/Capitalism.htm" title="Capitalism">capitalism</a>, which they perceive as authoritarian, coercive, and exploitative.<p>The American individualist anarchists were <i>"fervent anti-capitalists"</i> who <i>"saw no contradiction between their individualist stance and their rejection of capitalism."</i> However, this opposition did not include opposition to the product of labor or capital goods ("means of production") run by individuals, but only "<!--del_lnk--> usury", i.e. rent, interest, and profit from other's labor (profit being defined as labor not receiving its "full product" under the labor theory of value). Such individualist anarchists support free trade, free competition, and varying levels of private property, like in <!--del_lnk--> mutualism and <!--del_lnk--> homesteading. As Anarcho-capitalists support free-market capitalism without a state, which Murray Rothbard defines as "peaceful voluntary exchange" as opposed to state capitalism which he calls "violent expropriation."<p>Non-individualist anarchists, in contrast, follow <!--del_lnk--> Proudhon in opposing ownership of workplaces by capitalists and aim to replace <!--del_lnk--> wage labour by workers associations. These anarchists agree with Kropotkin's comment that <i>"the origin of the anarchist inception of society"</i> lies in <i>"the criticism . . . of the hierarchical organisations and the authoritarian conceptions of society"</i> rather than simply opposition to the state or government. They argue that wage labour is hierarchical and authoritarian in nature and, consequently, capitalism cannot be anarchist. Such anarchists would agree with scholar Jeremy Jennings when he argues that it is <i>"hard not to conclude that these ideas [i.e. anarcho-capitalism] -- with roots deep in classical liberalism -- are described as anarchist only on the basis of a misunderstanding of what anarchism is."'</i> <p>In <i>Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism</i>, Peter Marshall argues that "few anarchists would accept the 'anarcho-capitalists' into the anarchist camp since they do not share a concern for <!--del_lnk--> economic equality and <!--del_lnk--> social justice. . . Anarcho-capitalists, even if they do reject the State, might therefore best be called right-wing libertarians rather than anarchists." <p><a id="Globalization" name="Globalization"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Globalization</span></h3>
<p>The majority of anarchists oppose <!--del_lnk--> neoliberal <a href="../../wp/g/Globalization.htm" title="Globalization">globalization</a> as an attempt to use coercion on a global scale, carried out through institutions such as the <!--del_lnk--> World Bank, <a href="../../wp/w/World_Trade_Organization.htm" title="World Trade Organization">World Trade Organization</a>, <!--del_lnk--> G8 and <!--del_lnk--> World Economic Forum. Anarchist groups, such as <!--del_lnk--> Reclaim the Streets, were among the instigators of the so-called <!--del_lnk--> anti-globalization movement. The <!--del_lnk--> Carnival Against Capitalism on <!--del_lnk--> 18 June <!--del_lnk--> 1999 is generally regarded as the first of the major anti-globalization protests. Anarchists, such as the <!--del_lnk--> WOMBLES, often played a major role in planning, organising and participating in the subsequent protests. The protests tended to be organised on anarchist <!--del_lnk--> direct action principles with a general tolerance for a range of different activities ranging from those who engage in <!--del_lnk--> tactical frivolity to the <!--del_lnk--> black blocs.<p><a id="Communism" name="Communism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Communism</span></h3>
<p>While communism is proposed as a form of social and economic organisation by many anarchists, other anarchists consider it a danger to the liberty and free development of the individual. Individualist anarchists oppose communism in all its forms. Individualist such as Benjamin Tucker, Victor Yarros, and Henry Appleton have denied that <!--del_lnk--> anarcho-communism is a genuine form of anarchism. They rejected its strategies and argued that it is inherently authoritarian. The socialist <!--del_lnk--> Proudhon also opposed communism, "whether of the utopian or the Marxist variety, [the criticism being] that it destroyed freedom by taking away from the individual control over his means of production." Anarchist communists reject the criticism, pointing to the principle of <!--del_lnk--> voluntary association that underpins the theory.<p><a id="Gender" name="Gender"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Gender</span></h3>
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<p>Anarcha-feminism is a kind of <!--del_lnk--> radical feminism that espouses the belief that <!--del_lnk--> patriarchy is a fundamental problem in society. However, it was not explicitly formulated as <i>anarcha-feminism</i> until early 1970s, during the <!--del_lnk--> second-wave feminist movement. Anarcha-feminism views <!--del_lnk--> patriarchy as the first manifestation of hierarchy in human history; thus, the first form of oppression occurred in the dominance of male over female.<p><a id="Race" name="Race"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Race</span></h3>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Black anarchism opposes the existence of a state, capitalism, and subjugation and domination of people of colour, and favours a non-hierarchical organization of society. Theorists include <!--del_lnk--> Ashanti Alston, <!--del_lnk--> Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, and <!--del_lnk--> Sam Mbah.<p>Since the late 1970s some anarchists have been involved in fighting the rise of <!--del_lnk--> neo-fascist groups. In Germany and <a href="../../wp/g/Great_Britain.htm" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a> some anarchists worked within <!--del_lnk--> militant <!--del_lnk--> anti-fascist groups alongside members of the <!--del_lnk--> Marxist left. They advocated directly combating fascists with physical force rather than relying on the state. Since the late 1990s, a similar tendency has developed within US anarchism.<p><a id="The_environment" name="The_environment"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The environment</span></h3>
<p>The environment and sustainability have been an issue for anarchists from at least as far back as Kropotkin's '<!--del_lnk--> Fields, Factories and Workshops, but since the late 1970s anarchists in <!--del_lnk--> Anglosphere and European countries have been agitating for the natural environment. <!--del_lnk--> Eco-anarchists or <!--del_lnk--> green anarchists believe in <!--del_lnk--> deep ecology. This is a worldview that embraces <a href="../../wp/b/Biodiversity.htm" title="Biodiversity">biodiversity</a> and <!--del_lnk--> sustainability. Eco-anarchists often use <!--del_lnk--> direct action against what they see as earth-destroying institutions. Of particular importance is the <!--del_lnk--> Earth First! movement, that takes action such as <!--del_lnk--> tree sitting. The more militant <!--del_lnk--> Earth Liberation Front, which grew out of Earth First!, also has connections with the anarchist movement. Another important component is <!--del_lnk--> ecofeminism, which sees the domination of nature as a metaphor for the domination of women.<p><!--del_lnk--> Anarcho-Primitivism is a predominantly Western philosophy that advocates a return to a pre-industrial and usually pre-agricultural society. It develops a critique of industrial civilization. In this critique <a href="../../wp/t/Technology.htm" title="Technology">technology</a> and <!--del_lnk--> development have <!--del_lnk--> alienated people from the natural world. This philosophy develops themes present in the political action of the <!--del_lnk--> Luddites and the writings of <a href="../../wp/j/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau.htm" title="Jean-Jacques Rousseau">Jean-Jacques Rousseau</a>. Some primitivists advocate a complete process of '<!--del_lnk--> rewilding' and a return to <!--del_lnk--> nomadic <!--del_lnk--> hunter-gatherer lifestyles while others only wish to see an end to industrial society and do not oppose <!--del_lnk--> domestication or <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agriculture</a>. Key theorists in the former category include <!--del_lnk--> Derrick Jensen and <!--del_lnk--> John Zerzan while the 'Unabomber' <!--del_lnk--> Theodore Kaczynski belongs in the latter. Today there is much conflict between primitivists and followers of more traditional forms of <!--del_lnk--> class struggle anarchism, such as the <!--del_lnk--> social ecology of <!--del_lnk--> Murray Bookchin.<p><a id="Religion" name="Religion"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Religion</span></h3>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/69/6978.jpg.htm" title="The novelist and Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy"><img alt="The novelist and Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy" height="210" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LeoTolstoy.jpg" src="../../images/7/738.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>From <!--del_lnk--> Proudhon and <!--del_lnk--> Bakunin to the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists, Anarchists have traditionally been skeptical about and opposed to <!--del_lnk--> organized religion, believing that most organized religions are <!--del_lnk--> hierarchical in nature and, more often than not, aligned with contemporary power structures like <!--del_lnk--> state and <!--del_lnk--> capital. Nonetheless, there are those who reconcile anarchism with religion.<p><!--del_lnk--> Christian anarchists believe that there is no higher authority than <a href="../../wp/g/God.htm" title="God">God</a>, and oppose earthly authority such as <a href="../../wp/g/Government.htm" title="Government">government</a> and established churches. They believe that Jesus' teachings and the practice of the <!--del_lnk--> early church were clearly anarchistic, but were corrupted when "Christianity" was declared the official religion of Rome. Though he did not call himself an anarchist because he applied the term to those who wanted to change society through violence, <a href="../../wp/l/Leo_Tolstoy.htm" title="Leo Tolstoy">Leo Tolstoy</a> is considered to be the most famous Christian anarchist whose '<!--del_lnk--> The Kingdom of God Is Within You' is considered a key Christian anarchist text. The <!--del_lnk--> Catholic Worker Movement is a modern Christian anarchist organisation.<p><!--del_lnk--> Buddhist anarchism originated in the <!--del_lnk--> Chinese Anarchist movement of the 1920s. <!--del_lnk--> Taixu, one of the leading thinkers and writers of this school, was deeply influenced by the work of christian anarchists like <a href="../../wp/l/Leo_Tolstoy.htm" title="Leo Tolstoy">Tolstoy</a> and by the ancient Chinese <!--del_lnk--> well-field system. A much more recent incarnation of this school of thought was popularized by <a href="../../wp/j/Jack_Kerouac.htm" title="Jack Kerouac">Jack Kerouac</a> in his book <i><!--del_lnk--> The Dharma Bums</i>.<p>In the late 1800's the <!--del_lnk--> Ghadar movement in India (see <!--del_lnk--> Har Dayal), influenced by <a href="../../wp/b/Buddhism.htm" title="Buddhism">Buddhist</a> thought and by <!--del_lnk--> Swami Dayananda Saraswati (founder of <!--del_lnk--> Arya Samaj), saw anarchism as a way of propagating the ancient culture of the <!--del_lnk--> Arya. (Not to be confused with the much later appropriation of "Aryan" identity by <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">German</a> <!--del_lnk--> Fascists). .<p><a id="Recent_Developments_within_Anarchism" name="Recent_Developments_within_Anarchism"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Recent Developments within Anarchism</span></h2>
<p>Anarchism generates many eclectic and syncretic philosophies and movements. Since the Western social ferment in the 1960's and 1970's a number of new movements and schools have appeared. Most of these stances are limited to even smaller numbers than the schools and movements listed above.<ul>
<li><b>Especifismo</b> - <!--del_lnk--> Especifismo emerged out of nearly 50 years of anarchist experiences in South America starting with the Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU), founded in 1956 by anarchists who saw the need for an organization which was specifically anarchist. It has been summmarised as;</ul>
<p>"The need for specifically anarchist organization built around a unity of ideas and praxis. The use of the specifically anarchist organization to theorize and develop strategic political and organizing work. Active involvement in and building of autonomous and popular social movements, which is described as the process of "social insertion." Other organisations that hold to Especifismo include Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (FAG), the Federação Anarquista Cabocla (FACA), and the Federação Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro (FARJ) (all in Brazil), and the Argentinean organization Auca (Rebel). Especifismo is considered to have come to broadly similar conclusions to the Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) leading to the argument that it is properly considered a new form of <!--del_lnk--> Platformism<ul>
<li><b>Post-left anarchy</b> - <!--del_lnk--> Post-left anarchy seeks to distance itself from the traditional "left" - communists, socialists, social democrats, etc. - and to escape the confines of <!--del_lnk--> ideology in general. Post-leftists argue that anarchism has been weakened by its long attachment to contrary "leftist" movements and single issue causes (<!--del_lnk--> anti-war, <!--del_lnk--> anti-nuclear, etc.). It calls for a synthesis of anarchist thought and a specifically anti-authoritarian revolutionary movement outside of the leftist milieu. Important groups and individuals associated with Post-left anarchy include: <!--del_lnk--> CrimethInc, the magazine <!--del_lnk--> Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed and its editor <!--del_lnk--> Jason McQuinn, <!--del_lnk--> Bob Black, <!--del_lnk--> Hakim Bey and others.<li><b>Post-Anarchism</b> - The term <!--del_lnk--> post-anarchism was originated by <!--del_lnk--> Saul Newman, first receiving popular attention in his book <i><!--del_lnk--> From Bakunin to Lacan</i> to refer to a theoretical move towards a synthesis of classical anarchist theory and <!--del_lnk--> poststructuralist thought. Subsequent to Newman's use of the term, however, it has taken on a life of its own and a wide range of ideas including <!--del_lnk--> autonomism, <!--del_lnk--> post-left anarchy, <!--del_lnk--> situationism, <!--del_lnk--> post-colonialism and Zapatismo. By its very nature post-anarchism rejects the idea that it should be a coherent set of doctrines and beliefs. As such it is difficult, if not impossible, to state with any degree of certainty who should or should not be grouped under the rubric. Nonetheless key thinkers associated with post-anarchism include <!--del_lnk--> Saul Newman, <!--del_lnk--> Todd May, <!--del_lnk--> Gilles Deleuze and <!--del_lnk--> Félix Guattari.<li><b>Insurrectionary anarchism</b> - <!--del_lnk--> Insurrectionary anarchism is a form of revolutionary anarchism critical of formal anarchist labor unions and federations. Insurrectionary anarchists advocate informal organization, including small affinity groups, carrying out acts of resistance in various struggles, and mass organizations called base structures, which can include exploited individuals who are not anarchists. Proponents include <!--del_lnk--> Wolfi Landstreicher and <!--del_lnk--> Alfredo M. Bonanno, author of works including "Armed Joy" and "The Anarchist Tension". This tendency is represented in the US in magazines such as <!--del_lnk--> Willful Disobedience and <!--del_lnk--> Killing King Abacus.<li><b>Small 'a' anarchism</b> - Small 'a' anarchism is a term used in two different, but not unconnected contexts. Dave Neal posited the term in opposition to big 'A' Anarchism in the article <!--del_lnk--> Anarchism: Ideology or Methodology?. While big 'A' Anarchism referred to ideological Anarchists, small 'a' anarchism was applied to their methodological counterparts; those who viewed anarchism as "a way of acting, or a historical tendency against illegitimate authority." As an anti-ideological position, small 'a' anarchism shares some similarities with <!--del_lnk--> post-left anarchy. <!--del_lnk--> David Graeber and <!--del_lnk--> Andrej Grubacic offer an alternative use of the term, applying it to groups and movements organising according to or acting in a manner consistent with anarchist principles of decentralisation, voluntary association, mutual aid, the network model, and crucially, "the rejection of any idea that the end justifies the means, let alone that the business of a revolutionary is to seize state power and then begin imposing one's vision at the point of a gun."</ul>
<p><a id="Criticisms_of_anarchism" name="Criticisms_of_anarchism"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Criticisms of anarchism</span></h2>
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<p>The theory and practice of anarchism has been controversial since it came to prominence in the 19th century. Some of the criticisms made of anarchism come from the interests it opposes, such as governments. Other criticisms have been made internally of other anarchists or by political movements that appear to share similar goals, such as <a href="../../wp/m/Marxism.htm" title="Marxism">Marxism</a>. Many question the idealist nature of anarchism, and have misgivings about its practical application in the real world. Some point to anarchism's inability to establish a viable anti-state. Some social scientists note that hierarchies appear to be synonymous with human civilization, although others note that many indigenous societies have been largely egalitarian.<p><a id="Cultural_phenomena" name="Cultural_phenomena"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Cultural phenomena</span></h2>
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<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/267/26789.jpg.htm" title="Noam Chomsky (1928–)"><img alt="Noam Chomsky (1928–)" height="174" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Noam_chomsky_cropped.jpg" src="../../images/7/740.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>The kind of anarchism that is most easily encountered in popular culture is represented by well-known figures who publicly identify themselves as anarchists. The following figures are examples of prominent publicly self-avowed anarchists:<ul>
<li>the <!--del_lnk--> MIT professor of <a href="../../wp/l/Linguistics.htm" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a> <a href="../../wp/n/Noam_Chomsky.htm" title="Noam Chomsky">Noam Chomsky</a><li>the social historian <!--del_lnk--> Howard Zinn<li>author <!--del_lnk--> Edward Abbey<li>author and speaker <!--del_lnk--> Murray Bookchin<li>author and philosopher <!--del_lnk--> Robert Anton Wilson<li><a href="../../wp/g/Graphic_novel.htm" title="Graphic novel">graphic novelist</a> <!--del_lnk--> Alan Moore<li><!--del_lnk--> UFC fighter and champion <!--del_lnk--> Jeff Monson<li><!--del_lnk--> feminist, author and critic <!--del_lnk--> Germaine Greer<li><!--del_lnk--> Hans Alfredson, actor, film director, writer and comedian.<li>Hip Hop musician <!--del_lnk--> Emcee Lynx</ul>
<p>In <a href="../../wp/d/Denmark.htm" title="Denmark">Denmark</a>, the <!--del_lnk--> Freetown Christiania was created in downtown <a href="../../wp/c/Copenhagen.htm" title="Copenhagen">Copenhagen</a>. The housing and employment crisis in most of <!--del_lnk--> Western Europe led to the formation of <!--del_lnk--> communes and squatter movements like the one still thriving in <a href="../../wp/b/Barcelona.htm" title="Barcelona">Barcelona</a>, in <!--del_lnk--> Catalonia. Although not always explicitly anarchist, militant <!--del_lnk--> resistance to neo-Nazi groups in places like Germany, and the uprisings of <!--del_lnk--> autonomous Marxism, <!--del_lnk--> situationist, and <!--del_lnk--> Autonomist groups in France and Italy also helped to give popularity to anti-authoritarian, non-capitalist ideas.<p>In various musical styles, anarchism rose in popularity. Most famous for the linking of anarchist ideas and music has been <!--del_lnk--> punk rock, although in the <!--del_lnk--> modern age, <!--del_lnk--> hip hop, and <a href="../../wp/f/Folk_music.htm" title="Folk music">folk music</a> are also becoming important mediums for the spreading of the anarchist message. In the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">UK</a> this was associated with the <!--del_lnk--> punk movement; the band <!--del_lnk--> Crass are celebrated for their anarchist and <!--del_lnk--> pacifist ideas, while <!--del_lnk--> Chumbawamba are the arguably the best known UK anarchist band, having made some inroads into the realms of '<!--del_lnk--> popular chart music' with the single <!--del_lnk--> Tubthumping and the album <!--del_lnk--> Tubthumper. The <!--del_lnk--> post-rock, <!--del_lnk--> modern classical band <!--del_lnk--> Godspeed You! Black Emperor has often associated itself with anarchism proved by their dislike of people trying to claim one or another member the band's leader. <i></i><p>Recent technological developments have made the transmission of anarchist ideas accessible to a wider public. Many people use the Internet to form on-line communities. <!--del_lnk--> Intellectual property has been undermined to some extent and a gift-culture supported by <!--del_lnk--> sharing music files, collaborative software development, and <!--del_lnk--> free software (<!--del_lnk--> also called <!--del_lnk--> open-source software) has arisen. These cyber-communities include those that support <a href="../../wp/g/GNU.htm" title="GNU">GNU</a>, <a href="../../wp/l/Linux.htm" title="Linux">Linux</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Indymedia, and <!--del_lnk--> Wikis. Others use technology to remain anonymous, communicate securely using <!--del_lnk--> public key cryptography, and maintain financial privacy through <!--del_lnk--> digital currency. <i>See also</i>: <!--del_lnk--> Crypto-anarchism and <!--del_lnk--> Cypherpunk.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Anarcho-capitalism</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Citizenship.Politics_and_government.htm">Politics and government</a></h3>
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<p>Part of the <a href="../../wp/p/Politics.htm" title="Politics">Politics</a> series on<br /><span style="font-size: 150%"><b><a href="../../wp/a/Anarchism.htm" title="Anarchism">Anarchism</a></b></span><br />
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<p><strong class="selflink">Capitalist</strong> • <!--del_lnk--> Christian<br /><!--del_lnk--> Collectivist • <!--del_lnk--> Communist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Eco • <!--del_lnk--> Feminist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Green • <!--del_lnk--> Individualist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Mutualist • <!--del_lnk--> Primitivist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Social • <!--del_lnk--> Syndicalist<br /><!--del_lnk--> Without adjectives<br />
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Religion • <!--del_lnk--> Society • <!--del_lnk--> Arts<br /><!--del_lnk--> History • <!--del_lnk--> Criticism<br />
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Origins • <!--del_lnk--> Economics<br /><!--del_lnk--> Anarchism and capitalism<br /><!--del_lnk--> Anarchism and Marxism<br /><!--del_lnk--> Symbolism • <!--del_lnk--> Post-left<br /><!--del_lnk--> Propaganda of the deed<br />
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Africa • <!--del_lnk--> Austria • <!--del_lnk--> China<br /><!--del_lnk--> English Tradition • <!--del_lnk--> France<br /><!--del_lnk--> Greece • <!--del_lnk--> Mexico • <!--del_lnk--> Russia<br /><!--del_lnk--> Spain • <!--del_lnk--> Sweden • <!--del_lnk--> Ukraine<br /><!--del_lnk--> United States<br />
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<p><b>Anarcho-capitalism</b> (also known by other names, such as <b>free market anarchism</b>) is an <!--del_lnk--> individualist <a href="../../wp/p/Political_philosophy.htm" title="Political philosophy">political philosophy</a> that advocates the provision of all <!--del_lnk--> goods and services—including law enforcement, courts, and national defence—by competitors in a <!--del_lnk--> free market. Anarcho-capitalists argue for a society based in voluntary trade of <!--del_lnk--> private property and services in order to maximize individual liberty and prosperity, but also recognize <!--del_lnk--> charity and communal arrangements as part of the same voluntary ethic. Though anarcho-capitalists are known for asserting a right to private property, common property can also exist in an anarcho-capitalist society. For them, what is important is how property was acquired and transferred; they believe the only just way to acquire property is through voluntary <!--del_lnk--> trade, gift, or labor-based <!--del_lnk--> original appropriation, rather than through aggression or fraud.<p>Anarcho-capitalism rejects the state, based on the belief that states are aggressive entities which steal property (through <!--del_lnk--> taxation and <!--del_lnk--> expropriation), initiate <!--del_lnk--> physical force, use their coercive powers to benefit some businesses and individuals at the expense of others, create monopolies, and restrict <!--del_lnk--> trade. This embrace of unfettered <a href="../../wp/c/Capitalism.htm" title="Capitalism">capitalism</a> leads to considerable tension between anarcho-capitalists and those <a href="../../wp/a/Anarchism.htm" title="Anarchism">anarchists</a> who believe that capitalism is inherently authoritarian and hence incompatible with anarchism.<p>The first well-known version of anarcho-capitalism was developed by <!--del_lnk--> Austrian School <!--del_lnk--> economist and <!--del_lnk--> libertarian <!--del_lnk--> Murray Rothbard in the mid-20th century, synthesizing elements from the <!--del_lnk--> Austrian School of economics, <!--del_lnk--> classical liberalism, and 19th century <!--del_lnk--> American individualist anarchism. He defines free-market capitalism as "peaceful voluntary exchange," in contrast to state capitalism which he says is "violent expropriation." Central to Rothbard's theory of anarcho-capitalism is the <!--del_lnk--> sovereignty of the individual and the <!--del_lnk--> principle of non-aggression. However, various theorists have differing, though similar, philosophies which they label anarcho-capitalism. While Rothbard bases his philosophy on <!--del_lnk--> rationalist <!--del_lnk--> natural law, others, such as <!--del_lnk--> David Friedman, take a pragmatic <!--del_lnk--> consequentialist (<a href="../../wp/u/Utilitarianism.htm" title="Utilitarianism">utilitarianist</a>) approach by appealing to what satisfies the greatest number of people rather than addressing moral concerns. In Rothbard's form, a legal code is implemented that forbids aggressive coercion. However, in Friedman's anarcho-capitalism, market forces determine the content of the law. <!--del_lnk--> Hans-Hermann Hoppe, meanwhile, uses "<!--del_lnk--> argumentation ethics" for his foundation of "private property anarchism," and is closer to Rothbard's natural law approach.<p>
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</script><a id="Philosophy" name="Philosophy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Philosophy</span></h2>
<p><a id="The_nonaggression_axiom" name="The_nonaggression_axiom"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The nonaggression axiom</span></h3>
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<p>The term <i>anarcho-capitalism</i> was most likely coined in the mid-1950s by the economist <!--del_lnk--> Murray Rothbard. Other terms sometimes used for this philosophy, though not necessarily outside of anarcho-capitalist circles, include:<ul>
<li>anti-state capitalism<li>anti-state marketism<li>anarcho-liberalism<li>capitalist anarchism<li>free market anarchism<li>private-property anarchy<li>radical capitalism<li>right-anarchism<li>stateless capitalism<li>stateless liberalism<li>the private-law society<li>individualist anarchism</ul>
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<p>Anarcho-capitalism, as formulated by Rothbard and others, holds strongly to the central <!--del_lnk--> libertarian <i>nonaggression axiom</i>:<dl>
<dd>[...] The basic axiom of libertarian political theory holds that every man is a <!--del_lnk--> self owner, having absolute jurisdiction over his own body. In effect, this means that no one else may justly invade, or aggress against, another's person. It follows then that each person justly owns whatever previously unowned resources he appropriates or "mixes his labor with." From these twin axioms — self-ownership and "<!--del_lnk--> homesteading" — stem the justification for the entire system of property rights titles in a free-market society. This system establishes the right of every man to his own person, the right of donation, of bequest (and, concomitantly, the right to receive the bequest or inheritance), and the right of contractual exchange of property titles.</dl>
<p>Rothbard's defense of the self-ownership principle stems from his falsification of all other alternatives, namely that either a group of people can own another group of people, or the other alternative, that no single person has full ownership over one's self. Rothbard dismisses these two cases on the basis that they cannot result in an <!--del_lnk--> universal ethic, i.e., a just <!--del_lnk--> natural law that can govern all people, independent of place and time. The only alternative that remains to Rothbard is self-ownership, which he believes is both axiomatic and universal.<p>In general, the nonaggression axiom can be said to be a prohibition against the initiation of force, or the threat of force, against persons (i.e., direct violence, <!--del_lnk--> assault, <!--del_lnk--> murder) or property (i.e., fraud, <!--del_lnk--> burglary, theft, taxation). The initiation of force is usually referred to as <!--del_lnk--> aggression or <!--del_lnk--> coercion. The difference between anarcho-capitalists and other libertarians is largely one of the degree to which they take this axiom. <!--del_lnk--> Minarchist libertarians, such as most people involved in <!--del_lnk--> Libertarian political parties, would retain the state in some smaller and less invasive form, retaining at the very least public <a href="../../wp/p/Police.htm" title="Police">police</a>, <!--del_lnk--> courts and <!--del_lnk--> military; others, however, might give further allowance for other government programs. In contrast, anarcho-capitalists reject any level of state intervention, defining the state as a coercive monopoly and, as the only entity in human society that derives its income from legal aggression, an entity that inherently violates the central axiom of libertarianism.<p>Some anarcho-capitalists, such as Rothbard, accept the nonaggression axiom on an intrinsic moral or <!--del_lnk--> natural law basis. It is in terms of the non-aggression principle that Rothbard defined <a href="../../wp/a/Anarchism.htm" title="Anarchism">anarchism</a>; he defined "anarchism as a system which provides no legal sanction for such aggression ['against person and property']" and said that "what anarchism proposes to do, then, is to abolish the State, i.e. to abolish the regularized institution of aggressive coercion." In an interview with <i>New Banner</i>, Rothbard said that "capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism." Alternatively, others, such as Friedman, take a <!--del_lnk--> consequentialist or <!--del_lnk--> egoist approach; rather than maintaining that aggression is intrinsically immoral, they maintain that a law against aggression can only come about by contract between self-interested parties who agree to refrain from initiating coercion against each other.<p><a id="Property" name="Property"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Property</span></h3>
<p><a id="Private_property" name="Private_property"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Private property</span></h4>
<p>Central to anarcho-capitalism are the concepts of <!--del_lnk--> self-ownership and <!--del_lnk--> original appropriation:<blockquote>
<p>Everyone is the proper owner of his own physical body as well as of all places and nature-given goods that he occupies and puts to use by means of his body, provided only that no one else has already occupied or used the same places and goods before him. This ownership of "originally appropriated" places and goods by a person implies his right to use and transform these places and goods in any way he sees fit, provided only that he does not change thereby uninvitedly the physical integrity of places and goods originally appropriated by another person. In particular, once a place or good has been first appropriated by, in <a href="../../wp/j/John_Locke.htm" title="John Locke">John Locke</a>'s phrase, 'mixing one's labor' with it, ownership in such places and goods can be acquired only by means of a voluntary — contractual — transfer of its property title from a previous to a later owner.</blockquote>
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<p>Anarcho-capitalism uses the following terms in ways that may differ from common usage or various anarchist movements.<ul>
<li><b>Anarchism:</b> any philosophy that opposes all forms of initiatory coercion (includes opposition to the State)<li><b>Contract:</b> a voluntary binding agreement between persons<li><b>Coercion:</b> physical force or threat of such against persons or property<li><b>Capitalism:</b> economic system where the means of production are privately owned, and where investments, production, distribution, income, and prices are determined through the operation of a free market rather than by government<li><b>Free market:</b> a market where all decisions regarding transfer of money, goods (including capital goods), and services are voluntary<li><b>Fraud:</b> inducing one to part with something of value through the use of dishonesty<li><b>State:</b> an organization that taxes and engages in regularized and institutionalized aggressive coercion<li><b>Voluntary:</b> any action not influenced by coercion or fraud perpetrated by any human agency</ul>
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<p>This is the root of anarcho-capitalist <!--del_lnk--> property rights, and where they differ from <!--del_lnk--> collectivist forms of anarchism such as <!--del_lnk--> anarcho-communism where the product of labor is collectivized in a pool of goods and distributed "according to need." Anarcho-capitalists advocate <i>individual</i> ownership of the product of labor regardless of what the individual "needs" or does not need. As Rothbard says, "if every man has the right to own his own body and if he must use and transform material natural objects in order to survive, then he has the right to own the product that he has made." After property is created through labor it may then only exchange hands legitimately by trade or gift; forced transfers are considered illegitimate. Original appropriation allows an individual to claim any "unused" property, including land, and by improving or otherwise using it, own it with the same "absolute right" as his own body. According to Rothbard, property can only come about through labor, therefore original appropriation of land is not legitimate by merely claiming it or building a fence around it; it is only by <i>using</i> land — by mixing one's labor with it — that original appropriation is legitimized: "Any attempt to claim a new resource that someone does not use would have to be considered invasive of the property right of whoever the first user will turn out to be." As a practical matter, in terms of the ownership of land, anarcho-capitalists recognize that there are few (if any) parcels of land left on Earth whose ownership was not at some point in time obtained in violation of the homestead principle, through seizure by the state or put in private hands with the assistance of the state. Rothbard says in "Justice and Property Right" that "any identifiable owner (the original victim of theft or his heir) must be accorded his property." In the case of slavery, Rothbard says that in many cases "the old plantations and the heirs and descendants of the former slaves can be identified, and the reparations can become highly specific indeed." He believes slaves rightfully own any land they were forced to work on under the "<!--del_lnk--> homestead principle." If property is held by the state, Rothbard advocates its confiscation and return to the private sector: "any property in the hands of the State is in the hands of thieves, and should be liberated as quickly as possible." For example, he proposes that <!--del_lnk--> State universities be seized by the students and faculty under the homestead principle. Rothbard also supports expropriation of nominally "private property" if it is the result of state-initiated force, such as businesses who receive grants and subsidies. He proposes that businesses who receive at least 50% of their funding be confiscated by the workers. He says, "What we libertarians object to, then, is not government per se but crime, what we object to is unjust or criminal property titles; what we are for is not "private" property per se but just, innocent, non-criminal private property." Likewise, Karl Hess says, "libertarianism wants to advance <i>principles</i> of property but that it in no way wishes to defend, willy nilly, all property which now is called private...Much of that property is stolen. Much is of dubious title. All of it is deeply intertwined with an immoral, coercive state system." By accepting an axiomatic definition of private property and property rights, anarcho-capitalists deny the legitimacy of a state on principle:<dl>
<dd>"For, apart from ruling out as unjustified all activities such as murder, homicide, <!--del_lnk--> rape, trespass, robbery, burglary, theft, and fraud, the <a href="../../wp/e/Ethics.htm" title="Ethics">ethics</a> of private property is also incompatible with the existence of a state defined as an agency that possesses a compulsory territorial monopoly of ultimate decision-making (jurisdiction) and/or the right to tax."</dl>
<p><a id="Common_property" name="Common_property"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Common property</span></h4>
<p>Though anarcho-capitalists assert a right to private property, some anarcho-capitalists also point out that common property can exist by right in an anarcho-capitalist system. Just as an individual comes to own that which was unowned by mixing his labor with it or using it regularly, many people can come to own a thing in commmon by mixing their labor with it collectively, meaning that no individual may appropriate it as his own. This may apply to roads, parks, rivers, and portions of oceans. Anarcho-capitalist theorist <!--del_lnk--> Roderick Long gives the following example:<dl>
<dd>"Consider a village near a lake. It is common for the villagers to walk down to the lake to go fishing. In the early days of the community it's hard to get to the lake because of all the bushes and fallen branches in the way. But over time the way is cleared and a path forms - not through any coordinated efforts, but simply as a result of all the individuals walking by that way day after day. The cleared path is the product of labor - not any individual's labor, but all of them together. If one villager decided to take advantage of the now-created path by setting up a gate and charging tolls, he would be violating the collective property right that the villagers together have earned."</dl>
<p>Similarly, an established ocean route would be common property unavailable for private appropriation because it is in regular common use. Nevertheless, since property which is owned collectively tends to lose the level of accountibility found in individual ownership - or make such accountibility proportionately more complex, anarcho-capitalists generally distrust and seek to avoid such arrangements unless they arise unintentionally or are unavoidable as in the preceeding examples.<p><a id="The_contractual_society" name="The_contractual_society"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The contractual society</span></h3>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/741.jpg.htm" title="A postage stamp celebrating the thousandth anniversary of the Icelandic parliament. According to a theory associated with the economist David Friedman, medieval Icelandic society had some features of anarcho-capitalism. Chieftaincies could be bought and sold, and were not geographical monopolies; individuals could voluntarily choose membership in any chieftain's clan."><img alt="A postage stamp celebrating the thousandth anniversary of the Icelandic parliament. According to a theory associated with the economist David Friedman, medieval Icelandic society had some features of anarcho-capitalism. Chieftaincies could be bought and sold, and were not geographical monopolies; individuals could voluntarily choose membership in any chieftain's clan." height="151" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Althing-stamp.jpg" src="../../images/7/741.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/741.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> A postage stamp celebrating the thousandth anniversary of the <!--del_lnk--> Icelandic parliament. According to a theory associated with the economist <!--del_lnk--> David Friedman, <!--del_lnk--> medieval Icelandic society had some features of anarcho-capitalism. Chieftaincies could be bought and sold, and were not geographical monopolies; individuals could voluntarily choose membership in any chieftain's clan.</div>
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<p>The society envisioned by anarcho-capitalists has been called the <i>Contractual Society</i> — "... a society based purely on voluntary action, entirely un­hampered by violence or threats of violence." — in which anarcho-capitalists claim the system relies on voluntary agreements (<!--del_lnk--> contracts) between individuals as the legal framework. It is difficult to predict precisely what the particulars of this society will look like because of the details and complexities of contracts.<p>One particular ramification is that transfer of property and services must be considered voluntary on the part of <i>both</i> parties. No external entities can force an individual to accept or deny a particular transaction. An employer might offer <!--del_lnk--> insurance and <!--del_lnk--> death benefits to <!--del_lnk--> same-sex couples; another might refuse to recognize any union outside his or her own faith. Individuals are free to enter into or reject contractual agreements as they see fit.<p>One social structure that is not permissible under anarcho-capitalism is one that attempts to claim greater <!--del_lnk--> sovereignty than the individuals that form it. The state is a prime example, but another is the current incarnation of the <a href="../../wp/c/Corporation.htm" title="Corporation">corporation</a> — defined as a legal entity that exists under a different legal code than individuals as a means to shelter the individuals who own and run the corporation from possible legal consequences of acts by the corporation. It is worth noting that Rothbard allows a narrower definition of a corporation: "Corporations are not at all monopolistic privileges; they are free associations of individuals pooling their capital. On the purely free market, such men would simply announce to their creditors that their liability is limited to the capital specifically invested in the corporation ...." However, this is a very narrow definition that only shelters owners from debt by creditors that specifically agree to the arrangement; it also does not shelter other <!--del_lnk--> liability, such as from malfeasance or other wrongdoing.<p>There are limits to the right to contract under some interpretations of anarcho-capitalism. Rothbard himself asserts that the right to contract is based in <!--del_lnk--> inalienable human rights and therefore any contract that implicitly violates those rights can be voided at will, which would, for instance, prevent a person from permanently selling himself or herself into unindentured <a href="../../wp/s/Slavery.htm" title="Slavery">slavery</a>. Other interpretations conclude that banning such contracts would in itself be an unacceptably invasive interference in the right to contract.<p><a id="Law_and_order_and_the_use_of_violence" name="Law_and_order_and_the_use_of_violence"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Law and order and the use of violence</span></h3>
<p>Different anarcho-capitalists propose different forms of anarcho-capitalism, and one area of disagreement is in the area of law. Morris and Linda Tannehill, in <i>The Market for Liberty</i>, object to any <!--del_lnk--> statutory law whatsoever. They assert that all one has to do is ask if one is aggressing against another (see <!--del_lnk--> tort and <!--del_lnk--> contract law) in order to decide if an act is right or wrong. However, Murray Rothbard, while also supporting a natural prohibition on force and fraud, supports a centralized <!--del_lnk--> libertarian legal code.<p>Unlike both the Tannehills and Rothbard who see an <!--del_lnk--> ideological commonality of <a href="../../wp/e/Ethics.htm" title="Ethics">ethics</a> and <!--del_lnk--> morality as a requirement, David Friedman proposes that "the systems of law will be produced for profit on the open market, just as books and bras are produced today. There could be competition among different brands of law, just as there is competition among different brands of cars." Friedman says whether this would lead to a libertarian society "remains to be proven." He says it is a possibility that very unlibertarian laws may result, such as laws against drugs. But, he thinks this would be rare. He reasons that "if the value of a law to it supporters is less than its cost to its victims, that law...will not survive in an anarcho-capitalist society."<p>Anarcho-capitalists only accept collective defense of individual liberty (i.e., courts, military or police forces) insofar as such groups are formed and paid for on an explicitly voluntary basis. According to Molinari, "Under a regime of liberty, the natural organization of the security industry would not be different from that of other industries." Proponents point out that private systems of justice and defense <i>already</i> exist, naturally forming where the market is allowed to compensate for the failure of the state: private arbitration, security guards, neighbourhood watch groups, and so on. These private courts and police are sometimes referred to generically as <!--del_lnk--> Private Defense Agencies (PDAs.)<p>The defense of those unable to pay for such protection might be financed by charitable organizations relying on voluntary donation rather than by state institutions relying on coercive taxation, or by cooperative self-help by groups of individuals.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:242px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/742.jpg.htm" title="Many anarcho-capitalists admire the American Revolution and believe it is the only U.S. war that can be justified."><img alt="Many anarcho-capitalists admire the American Revolution and believe it is the only U.S. war that can be justified." height="155" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Bunkertrumbull.jpg" src="../../images/7/742.jpg" width="240" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/742.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Many anarcho-capitalists admire the American Revolution and believe it is the only U.S. war that can be justified.</div>
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<p>Like classical liberalism, and unlike <!--del_lnk--> pacifism, anarcho-capitalism permits the use of force, as long as it is in the defense of persons or property. The permissible extent of this defensive use of force is an arguable point among anarcho-capitalists. <!--del_lnk--> Retributive justice, meaning retaliatory force, is often a component of the contracts imagined for an anarcho-capitalist society. Some believe <!--del_lnk--> prisons or <!--del_lnk--> indentured servitude would be justifiable institutions to deal with those who violate anarcho-capitalist property relations, while others believe <!--del_lnk--> exile or forced <!--del_lnk--> restitution are sufficient.<p>One difficult application of defensive aggression is the act of revolutionary violence against tyrannical regimes. Many anarcho-capitalists admire <!--del_lnk--> the American Revolution as the legitimate act of individuals working together to fight against <!--del_lnk--> tyrannical restrictions of their liberties. In fact, according to Murray Rothbard, the American Revolutionary War was the only war involving the United States that could be justified;. Anarcho-capitalists, i.e. <!--del_lnk--> Samuel Edward Konkin III also feel that violent revolution is counter-productive and prefer voluntary forms of <!--del_lnk--> economic secession to the extent possible.<p><a id="History_and_influences" name="History_and_influences"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History and influences</span></h2>
<p><a id="Classical_liberalism" name="Classical_liberalism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Classical liberalism</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/743.jpg.htm" title="Gustave de Molinari (1819–1912)."><img alt="Gustave de Molinari (1819–1912)." height="214" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Molinari.jpg" src="../../images/7/743.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/743.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Gustave de Molinari (1819–1912).</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Classical liberalism is the primary influence with the longest history on anarcho-capitalist theory. Classical liberals have had two main themes since <a href="../../wp/j/John_Locke.htm" title="John Locke">John Locke</a> first expounded the philosophy: the liberty of man, and limitations of state power. The liberty of man was expressed in terms of <!--del_lnk--> natural rights, while limiting the <!--del_lnk--> state was based (for Locke) on a <!--del_lnk--> consent theory.<p>In the 19th century, classical liberals led the attack against statism. One notable was <!--del_lnk--> Frederic Bastiat (<i>The Law</i>), who wrote, "The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else." <a href="../../wp/h/Henry_David_Thoreau.htm" title="Henry David Thoreau">Henry David Thoreau</a> wrote, "I heartily accept the motto, 'That government is best which governs least'; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, 'That government is best which governs not at all'; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have."<p>The early liberals believed that the state should confine its role to protecting individual liberty and property, and opposed all but the most minimal economic regulations. The "normative core" of classical liberalism is the idea that in an environment of <!--del_lnk--> laissez-faire, a <!--del_lnk--> spontaneous order of cooperation in exchanging goods and services emerges that satisfies human wants. Some individualists came to realize that the liberal state itself takes property forcefully through taxation in order to fund its protection services, and therefore they it seemed logically inconsistent to oppose theft while also supporting a tax-funded protector. So, they advocated what may be seen as classical liberalism taken to the extreme by only supporting voluntarily funded defense by competing private providers. One of the first liberals to discuss the possibility of privatizing protection of individual liberty and property was France's <!--del_lnk--> Jakob Mauvillon in the 18th century. Later, in the 1840s, <!--del_lnk--> Julius Faucher and <!--del_lnk--> Gustave de Molinari advocated the same. Molinari, in his essay <i>The Production of Security</i>, argued, "No government should have the right to prevent another government from going into competition with it, or to require consumers of security to come exclusively to it for this commodity." Molinari and this new type of anti-state liberal grounded their reasoning on liberal ideals and classical economics. Historian and libertarian <!--del_lnk--> Ralph Raico asserts what that these liberal philosophers "had come up with was a form of individualist anarchism, or, as it would be called today, anarcho-capitalism or market anarchism." Unlike the liberalism of Locke, which saw the state as evolving from society, the anti-state liberals saw a fundamental conflict between the voluntary interactions of people — society — and the institutions of force — the State. This <i>society versus state</i> idea was expressed in various ways: natural society vs. artificial society, liberty vs. authority, society of contract vs. society of authority, and industrial society vs. militant society, just to name a few. The anti-state liberal tradition in Europe and the United States continued after Molinari in the early writings of <!--del_lnk--> Herbert Spencer, as well as in thinkers such as <!--del_lnk--> Paul Émile de Puydt and <!--del_lnk--> Auberon Herbert.<p>Ulrike Heider, in discussing the "anarcho-capitalists family tree," notes <!--del_lnk--> Max Stirner as the "founder of individualist anarchism" and "ancestor of laissez-faire liberalism." According to Heider, Stirner wants to "abolish not only the state but also society as an institution responsible for its members" and "derives his identity solely from property" with the question of property to be resolved by a 'war of all against all'." Stirner argued against the existence of the state in a fundamentally anti-collectivist way, to be replaced by a "Union of Egoists" but was not more explicit than that in his book <i><!--del_lnk--> The Ego and Its Own</i> published in 1844.<p>Later, in the early 20th century, the mantle of anti-state liberalism was taken by the "<!--del_lnk--> Old Right". These were minarchist, antiwar, anti-imperialist, and (later) anti-<!--del_lnk--> New Dealers. Some of the most notable members of the Old Right were <!--del_lnk--> Albert Jay Nock, <!--del_lnk--> Rose Wilder Lane, <!--del_lnk--> Isabel Paterson, <!--del_lnk--> Frank Chodorov, <!--del_lnk--> Garet Garrett, and <!--del_lnk--> H. L. Mencken. In the 1950s, the new "fusion conservatism", also called "<a href="../../wp/c/Cold_War.htm" title="Cold war">cold war</a> conservatism", took hold of the right wing in the U.S., stressing anti-communism. This induced the libertarian Old Right to split off from the right, and seek alliances with the (now left-wing) antiwar movement, and to start specifically libertarian organizations such as the (U.S.) Libertarian Party.<p><a id="Nineteenth_century_individualist_anarchism_in_the_United_States" name="Nineteenth_century_individualist_anarchism_in_the_United_States"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Nineteenth century individualist anarchism in the United States</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/744.jpg.htm" title="Lysander Spooner (1808–87)."><img alt="Lysander Spooner (1808–87)." height="275" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LysanderSpooner.jpg" src="../../images/7/744.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/744.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Lysander Spooner (1808–87).</div>
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<p>Rothbard was influenced by the work of the 19th-century American individualist anarchists (who were also influenced by classical liberalism), and anarcho-capitalism is regarded as a form of individualist anarchism by many scholars.<!--del_lnk--> *. Rothbard said in 1965: "Lysander Spooner and Benjamin T. Tucker were unsurpassed as political philosophers and nothing is more needed today than a revival and development of the largely forgotten legacy they left to political philosophy." However, he thought they had a faulty understanding of economics. The 19th century individualists had a labor theory of value, as influenced by the <!--del_lnk--> classical economists, but Rothbard was a student of <!--del_lnk--> neoclassical economics which does not agree with the labor theory of value. So, Rothbard sought to meld 19th century individualists' advocacy of free markets and private defense with the principles of Austrian economics: "There is, in the body of thought known as 'Austrian economics', a scientific explanation of the workings of the free market (and of the consequences of government intervention in that market) which individualist anarchists could easily incorporate into their political and social Weltanschauung". Rothbard held that the economic consequences of their political system they advocate would not result in an economy with people being paid in proportion to labor amounts, nor would profit and interest disappear as they expected. Tucker thought that unregulated banking and money issuance would cause increases in the money supply so that interest rates would drop to zero or near to it. Rothbard, disagreed with this, as he explains in <i>The Spooner-Tucker Doctrine: An Economist's View</i>. He says that first of all Tucker was wrong to think that that would cause the money supply to increase, because he says that the money supply in a free market would be self-regulating. If it were not, then inflation would occur, so it is not necessarily desirable to increase the money supply in the first place. Secondly, he says that Tucker is wrong to think that interest would disappear regardless, because people in general do not wish to lend their money to others without compensation so there is no reason why this would change just because banking was unregulated. Also, Tucker held a labor theory of value. As a result, he thought that in a free market that people would be paid in proportion to how much labor they exerted and that if they were not then exploitation or "usury" was taking place. As he explains in <i>State Socialism and Anarchism</i>, his theory was that unregulated banking would cause more money to be available and that this would allow proliferation of new businesses, which would in turn raise demand for labor. This led him to believe that the labor theory of value would be vindicated, and equal amounts of labor would receive equal pay. Again, as a neoclassical economist, Rothbard did not agree with the labor theory. He believed that prices of goods and services are proportional to <!--del_lnk--> marginal utility rather than to labor amounts in free market. And he did not think that there was anything exploitative about people receiving an income according to how much others subjectiely value their labor or what that labor produces, even if it means people laboring the same amount receive different incomes.<p><!--del_lnk--> Benjamin Tucker opposed vast concentrations of <!--del_lnk--> wealth, which he believed were made possible by government intervention and state protected monopolies. He believed the most dangerous state intervention was the requirement that individuals obtain charters in order to operate banks and what he believed to be the illegality of issuing private money, which he believed caused capital to concentrate in the hands of a privileged few which he called the "banking monopoly." He believed anyone should be able to engage in banking that wished, without requiring state permission, and issue private money. Though he was supporter of laissez-faire, late in life he said that State intervention had allowed some extreme concentrations of resources to such a degree that even if laissez-faire were instituted, it would be too late for competition to be able to release those resources (he gave Standard Oil as an example).. Anarcho-capitalists also oppose governmental restrictions on banking. They, like all Austrian economists, believe that monopoly can only come about through government intervention. Individualists anarchists have long argued that monopoly on credit and land interferes with the functioning of a free market economy. Although anarcho-capitalists disagree on the critical topics of <!--del_lnk--> profit, social egalitarianism, and the proper scope of private property, both schools of thought agree on other issues. Of particular importance to anarcho-capitalists and the individualists are the ideas of "sovereignty of the individual", a market economy, and the opposition to <!--del_lnk--> collectivism. A defining point that they agree on is that defense of liberty and property should be provided in the free market rather than by the State. Tucker said, "[D]efense is a service like any other service; that it is labor both useful and desired, and therefore an economic commodity subject to the law of supply and demand; that in a free market this commodity would be furnished at the cost of production; that, competition prevailing, patronage would go to those who furnished the best article at the lowest price; that the production and sale of this commodity are now monopolized by the State; and that the State, like almost all monopolists, charges exorbitant prices." But, again, since anarcho-capitalists disagree with Tucker's labor theory of value, they disagree that free market competition would cause protection (or anything else) to be provided "at cost." Like the individualists, anarcho-capitalists believe that land may be originally appropriated by, and only by, occupation or use; however, most individualists believe it must <i>continually</i> be in use to retain title. Lysander Spooner was an exception from those who believed in the "occupation and use" theory, and believed in full private property rights in land, like Rothbard.<p><a id="The_Austrian_School" name="The_Austrian_School"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The Austrian School</span></h3>
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<p>The Austrian School of economics was founded with the publication of <!--del_lnk--> Carl Menger's 1871 book <i><!--del_lnk--> Principles of Economics</i>. Members of this school approach economics as an <i>a priori</i> system like logic or mathematics, rather than as an empirical science like geology. It attempts to discover axioms of human action (called "<!--del_lnk--> praxeology" in the Austrian tradition) and make deductions therefrom. Some of these praxeological axioms are:<dl>
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<li>humans act purposefully;<li>humans prefer more of a good to less;<li>humans prefer to receive a good sooner rather than later; and<li>each party to a trade benefits <i><!--del_lnk--> ex ante</i>.</ul>
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<p>Even in the early days, Austrian economics was used as a theoretical weapon against socialism and statist socialist policy. <!--del_lnk--> Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, a colleague of Menger, wrote one of the first critiques of socialism ever written in his treatise <i>The Exploitation Theory of Socialism-Communism</i>. Later, <!--del_lnk--> Friedrich Hayek wrote <i><!--del_lnk--> The Road to Serfdom</i>, asserting that a <!--del_lnk--> command economy destroys the information function of prices, and that authority over the economy leads to <!--del_lnk--> totalitarianism. Another very influential Austrian economist was <!--del_lnk--> Ludwig von Mises, author of the praxeological work <i>Human Action</i>.<p>Murray Rothbard, a student of Mises, is the man who attempted to meld Austrian economics with classical liberalism and individualist anarchism, and is credited with coining the term "anarcho-capitalism". He wrote his first paper advocating "private property anarchism" in 1949, and later came up with the alternative name "anarcho-capitalism." He was probably the first to use "libertarian" in its current (U.S.) pro-capitalist sense. He was a trained economist, but also knowledgeable in history and political philosophy. When young, he considered himself part of the <!--del_lnk--> Old Right, an anti-statist and anti-<!--del_lnk--> interventionist branch of the <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Republican party. When interventionist <!--del_lnk--> cold warriors of the <i><!--del_lnk--> National Review</i>, such as <!--del_lnk--> William Buckley, gained influence in the Republican party in the 1950s, Rothbard quit that group and formed an alliance with <!--del_lnk--> left-wing <!--del_lnk--> antiwar groups, noting an antiwar tradition among a number of self-styled left-wingers and to a degree closer to the <!--del_lnk--> Old Right conservatives. He believed that the cold warriors were more indebted in theory to the left and imperialist progressives, especially in regards to <!--del_lnk--> Trotskyist theory.". Later, Rothbard was a founder of the U.S. Libertarian Party. In the late 1950s, Rothbard was briefly involved with <!--del_lnk--> Ayn Rand's <!--del_lnk--> Objectivism, but later had a falling out. Rothbard's books, such as <i><!--del_lnk--> Man, Economy, and State</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Power and Market</i>, <i>The Ethics of Liberty</i>, and <i>For a New Liberty</i>, are considered by some to be classics of natural law libertarian thought.<p>
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<p><a id="Real_world_examples_similar_to_anarcho-capitalism" name="Real_world_examples_similar_to_anarcho-capitalism"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Real world examples similar to anarcho-capitalism</span></h2>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/745.jpg.htm" title="19th century interpretation of the Althing in the Icelandic Commonwealth, which authors such as David Friedman and Roderick Long believe to have some features of anarcho-capitalist society."><img alt="19th century interpretation of the Althing in the Icelandic Commonwealth, which authors such as David Friedman and Roderick Long believe to have some features of anarcho-capitalist society." height="387" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Law_speaker.jpg" src="../../images/7/745.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/7/745.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> 19th century interpretation of the <!--del_lnk--> Althing in the <!--del_lnk--> Icelandic Commonwealth, which authors such as <!--del_lnk--> David Friedman and <!--del_lnk--> Roderick Long believe to have some features of anarcho-capitalist society.</div>
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<p>To the extent that anarcho-capitalism is thought of as a theory or <!--del_lnk--> ideology - rather than a civilizing process - critics say that it is unlikely ever to be more than a <!--del_lnk--> utopian ideal. Some, however, point to actual situations where protection of individual liberty and property has been voluntarily-funded rather than being provided by a state through taxation.<p><a id="Medieval_Iceland" name="Medieval_Iceland"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Medieval Iceland</span></h3>
<p>According to <!--del_lnk--> David Friedman, "<!--del_lnk--> Medieval Icelandic institutions have several peculiar and interesting characteristics; they might almost have been invented by a mad economist to test the lengths to which market systems could supplant government in its most fundamental functions." While not directly labeling it anarcho-capitalist, he argues that the Icelandic Commonwealth between 930 and 1262 had "some features" of an anarcho-capitalist society — while there was a single legal system, enforcement of law was entirely private and highly capitalist; and so provides some evidence of how such a society would function. "Even where the Icelandic legal system recognized an essentially "public" offense, it dealt with it by giving some individual (in some cases chosen by lot from those affected) the right to pursue the case and collect the resulting fine, thus fitting it into an essentially private system."<p><a id="The_American_Old_West" name="The_American_Old_West"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The American Old West</span></h3>
<p>According to the research of Terry L. Anderson and P. J. Hill, the Old West in the United States in the period of 1830 to 1900 was similar to anarcho-capitalism in that "private agencies provided the necessary basis for an orderly society in which property was protected and conflicts were resolved," and that the common popular perception that the Old West was chaotic with little respect for property rights is incorrect.<p><a id="Conflicts_within_anarcho-capitalist_theory" name="Conflicts_within_anarcho-capitalist_theory"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Conflicts within anarcho-capitalist theory</span></h2>
<p>The only significant dispute within the anarcho-capitalist movement concerns whether an anarcho-capitalist society is based on <!--del_lnk--> deontological or <!--del_lnk--> consequentialist grounds. Natural-law anarcho-capitalism (such as that advocated by Rothbard) holds that a universal system of rights can be determined through natural law. Consequentialists such as Friedman disagree, maintaining that rights are merely human constructs that rational humans create through contracts and individual relationships, resulting in the system that leads to the best consequences for all parties.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> The Machinery of Freedom, Friedman describes an economic approach to anarcho-capitalist legal systems. His description differs with Rothbard's because it does not use moral arguments — i.e., it does not appeal to a theory of <!--del_lnk--> natural rights to justify itself. In Friedman's work, the economic argument is sufficient to derive the principles of anarcho-capitalism. Private defense or protection agencies and courts not only defend legal rights but supply the actual content of these rights and all claims on the market. People will have the law system they pay for, and because of <!--del_lnk--> economic efficiency considerations resulting from individuals' utility functions, such law will tend to be libertarian in nature but will differ from place to place and from agency to agency depending on the tastes of the people who buy the law. Also unlike other anarcho-capitalists, most notably Rothbard, Friedman has never tried to deny the theoretical cogency of the neoclassical literature on "market failure," nor has he been inclined to attack economic efficiency as a normative benchmark.<p><a id="Criticisms_of_anarcho-capitalism" name="Criticisms_of_anarcho-capitalism"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Criticisms of anarcho-capitalism</span></h2>
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<p>Criticisms of anarcho-capitalism fall into several categories: practical criticisms which claim that anarcho-capitalism is unworkable in practice; critiques that claim that capitalism requires a coercive state to exist and that a society can be anarchist or capitalist, but not both; general critiques of the morality of capitalism and liberalism, which also apply to anarcho-capitalism; and a utilitarian critique, which claims that anarcho-capitalism would not maximize utility.<p><!--del_lnk--> Objectivists argue that, in the absence of a state, an anarcho-capitalist society would degenerate into a "war of all against all". Other critics argue that the <!--del_lnk--> free rider problem makes the provision of protection services in an anarcho-capitalist society impractical.<p><a id="That_anarcho-capitalism_is_not_a_legitimate_form_of_anarchism" name="That_anarcho-capitalism_is_not_a_legitimate_form_of_anarchism"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">That anarcho-capitalism is not a legitimate form of anarchism</span></h3>
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<p>Although <!--del_lnk--> several scholars see anarcho-capitalism as a form of anarchism, many anarchists strongly argue that anarcho-capitalism is not a form of anarchism, since they believe capitalism to be inherently authoritarian. In particular, many anarchists and socialists argue that certain capitalist transactions are not voluntary, and that maintaining the capitalist character of a society requires coercion, which is incompatible with an anarchist society. Moreover, capitalistic market activity is essentially dependent on the imposititon of private ownership and a particular form of exchange of goods where selling and buying is usually mandatory (due to the division of ownership of the capital, and consequently, value).<p>According to <!--del_lnk--> The Anarchist International, for example, capitalism is an economic <!--del_lnk--> plutocracy that includes its own <!--del_lnk--> hierarchy. They place anarcho-capitalism outside of the anarchist movement and into the classical liberal tradition: "<!--del_lnk--> Plutarchy without statism = liberalism." <!--del_lnk--> American individualist anarchism is sometimes regarded as a form of "liberal-anarchism."<p><a id="Anarcho-capitalist_literature" name="Anarcho-capitalist_literature"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Anarcho-capitalist literature</span></h2>
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<p><a id="Nonfiction" name="Nonfiction"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Nonfiction</span></h3>
<p>The following is a partial list of notable nonfiction works discussing anarcho-capitalism.<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Murray Rothbard Father of modern anarcho-capitalism: <ul>
<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Man, Economy, and State</i> The ultimate Austrian economics book,<li><i><!--del_lnk--> Power and Market</i> Classification of State economic interventions,<li><i><!--del_lnk--> The Ethics of Liberty</i> Moral justification of a free society</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Frederic Bastiat, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Law</i> Radical classical liberalism<li>Davidson & Rees-Mogg, <i>The Sovereign Individual</i> Historians look at technology & implications<li><!--del_lnk--> David D. Friedman, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Machinery of Freedom</i> Classic consequentialist defense of anarchism<li><!--del_lnk--> Auberon Herbert, <i><!--del_lnk--> The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Albert Jay Nock, <i><!--del_lnk--> Our Enemy the State</i> Oppenheimer's thesis applied to early US history<li>Juan Lutero Madrigal, <i><!--del_lnk--> anarcho-capitalism: principles of civilization</i><li><!--del_lnk--> Franz Oppenheimer, <i><!--del_lnk--> The State</i> Analysis of State; political means vs. economic means<li><!--del_lnk--> Robert Nozick, <i>Anarchy, State, and Utopia</i> Academic philosopher on libertarianism<li><!--del_lnk--> Herbert Spencer, <i><!--del_lnk--> Social Statics</i> Includes the essay "The Right to Ignore the State"<li>Morris & Linda Tannahill, <i>The Market for Liberty</i> Classic on PDAs (private defense agencies)</ul>
<p><a id="Fiction" name="Fiction"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Fiction</span></h3>
<p>Anarcho-capitalism has been examined in certain works of literature, particularly <!--del_lnk--> science fiction. an example being <!--del_lnk--> Robert A. Heinlein's 1966 novel <i><!--del_lnk--> The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress</i>, where he explores what he terms "rational anarchism". It is particularly influential in the work of <a href="../../wp/c/Cyberpunk.htm" title="Cyberpunk">cyberpunk</a> and <!--del_lnk--> post-cyberpunk authors. Several stories of <!--del_lnk--> Vernor Vinge, including <i><!--del_lnk--> Marooned in Realtime</i>, are set in an effectively anarcho-capitalist future, as are <!--del_lnk--> Neal Stephenson's <i><!--del_lnk--> Snow Crash,</i> <!--del_lnk--> Max Barry's <!--del_lnk--> Jennifer Government, and <!--del_lnk--> Cory Doctorow's <!--del_lnk--> Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. It should be noted that many of these works are highly critical of anarcho-capitalism. Authors such as Neal Stephenson and Max Barry use the literary genre of Science Fiction to critique the ideology arguing that anarcho-capitalism leads to a greater degree of tyranny, not a decrease.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism"</div>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/178/17868.jpg.htm" title="Anatomical drawing of the human muscles from the Encyclopédie."><img alt="Anatomical drawing of the human muscles from the Encyclopédie." height="383" longdesc="/wiki/Image:ENC_plate_1-143_750px.jpeg" src="../../images/178/17868.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/232/23231.jpg.htm" title="Anatomical chart from the Cyclopaedia, 1728"><img alt="Anatomical chart from the Cyclopaedia, 1728" height="226" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Anatomical_chart%2C_Cyclopaedia%2C_1728%2C_volume_1%2C_between_pages_84_and_85.jpg" src="../../images/232/23231.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><b>Anatomy</b> (from the <!--del_lnk--> Greek <i><span class="polytonic" lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ἀνατομία</span> anatomia</i>, from <i><span class="polytonic" lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ἀνατέμνειν</span> anatemnein</i>, to cut up, cut open), is the branch of <a href="../../wp/b/Biology.htm" title="Biology">biology</a> that deals with the <!--del_lnk--> structure and organization of living things. It can be divided into animal anatomy (<!--del_lnk--> zootomy) and <!--del_lnk--> plant anatomy (phytotomy). Furthermore, anatomy can be covered either regionally or systemically, that is, studying anatomy by bodily regions such as the head and chest for the former, or studying by specific systems, such as the nervous or respiratory systems for the latter. Major branches of anatomy include <!--del_lnk--> comparative anatomy, <!--del_lnk--> histology and <!--del_lnk--> human anatomy.<p><a id="Human_anatomy" name="Human_anatomy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Human anatomy</span></h2>
<p>From a utilitarian point of view the study of <a href="../../wp/h/Human.htm" title="Human">humans</a> is the most important division of special anatomy, and this human anatomy may be approached from different points of view.<p>From that of Medicine it consists of a knowledge of the exact form, position, size and relationship of the various structures of the healthy human body, and to this study the term descriptive or topographical human anatomy is given, though it is often, less happily, spoken of as <i>anthropotomy</i>.<p>So intricate is the <!--del_lnk--> human body that only a small number of professional human anatomists, after years of patient observation, are masters of its details; most of them specialize on certain parts, such as the brain or viscera, contenting themselves with a good working knowledge of the rest.<p><!--del_lnk--> Topographical anatomy must be learned by repeated dissection and inspection of dead human bodies. It is no more a <a href="../../wp/s/Science.htm" title="Science">science</a> than a pilot's knowledge is, and, like that knowledge, must be exact and available in moments of emergency.<p>From the morphological point of view, however, human anatomy is a scientific and fascinating study, having for its object the discovery of the <!--del_lnk--> causes which have brought about the existing structure of humans, and needing a knowledge of the allied sciences of <!--del_lnk--> embryology or <!--del_lnk--> developmental biology, <!--del_lnk--> phylogeny, and <!--del_lnk--> histology.<p><i><!--del_lnk--> Pathological anatomy</i> (or <i>morbid anatomy</i>) is the study of <!--del_lnk--> diseased <!--del_lnk--> organs, while sections of normal anatomy, applied to various purposes, receive special names such as medical, surgical, gynaecological, artistic and superficial anatomy. The comparison of the anatomy of different <a href="../../wp/r/Race.htm" title="Race">races</a> of humans is part of the science of physical anthropology or anthropological anatomy. In the present edition of this work the subject of anatomy is treated systematically rather than topographically. Each anatomical article contains first a description of the structures of an organ or system (such as <!--del_lnk--> nerves, <!--del_lnk--> arteries, <!--del_lnk--> heart, and so forth), as it is found in humans; this is followed by an account of the development (embryology) and comparative anatomy (morphology), as far as <a href="../../wp/v/Vertebrate.htm" title="Vertebrate">vertebrate animals</a> are concerned; but only those parts of the lower animals which are of interest in explaining human body structure are here dealt with. The articles have a twofold purpose; first, to give enough details of structure to make the articles on physiology, surgery, medicine and pathology intelligible; and, second, to give the non-expert inquirer, or the worker in some other branch of science, the chief theories on which the modern scientific groundwork of anatomy is built......<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy"</div>
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Ancient_Egypt | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15068.jpg.htm" title="Khafre's Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c.2500 BC or perhaps earlier)"><img alt="Khafre's Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c.2500 BC or perhaps earlier)" height="263" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Egypt.Giza.Sphinx.01.jpg" src="../../images/150/15068.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p><b>Ancient Egypt</b> was a long-lived <a href="../../wp/c/Civilization.htm" title="Civilization">civilization</a> in <a href="../../wp/n/North_Africa.htm" title="North Africa">north</a>-<a href="../../wp/e/East_Africa.htm" title="East Africa">eastern</a> <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a>. It was concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the <!--del_lnk--> Nile River, reaching its greatest extension during the second millennium <!--del_lnk--> BC, which is referred to as the <!--del_lnk--> New Kingdom period. It reached broadly from the <!--del_lnk--> Nile Delta in the north, as far south as <!--del_lnk--> Jebel Barkal at the <!--del_lnk--> Fourth Cataract of the Nile. Extensions to the geographical range of ancient Egyptian civilization included, at different times, areas of the southern <!--del_lnk--> Levant, the Eastern Desert and the <a href="../../wp/r/Red_Sea.htm" title="Red Sea">Red Sea</a> coastline, the <!--del_lnk--> Sinai Peninsula and the <!--del_lnk--> Western Desert (focused on the several <!--del_lnk--> oases)<p>Ancient Egypt developed over at least three and a half <!--del_lnk--> millennia. It began with the incipient unification of Nile Valley polities around <!--del_lnk--> 3150 BC and is conventionally thought to have ended in <!--del_lnk--> 31 BC when the early <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> conquered and absorbed <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemaic Egypt as a state. This last, however, did not represent the first period of foreign domination; the Roman period was to witness a marked, if gradual transformation in the political and religious life of the Nile Valley, effectively marking the termination of independent civilizational development.<p>The civilization of ancient Egypt was based on a finely balanced control of natural and human resources, characterised primarily by controlled <a href="../../wp/i/Irrigation.htm" title="Irrigation">irrigation</a> of the fertile Nile Valley; the mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions; the early development of an independent <a href="../../wp/w/Writing.htm" title="Writing">writing system</a> and <a href="../../wp/l/Literature.htm" title="Literature">literature</a>; the organization of collective projects; <!--del_lnk--> trade with surrounding regions in east / central Africa and the eastern <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean">Mediterranean</a>; finally, <!--del_lnk--> military ventures that exhibited strong characteristics of imperial hegemony and territorial domination of neighbouring cultures at different periods. Motivating and organising these activities were a socio-political and economic <!--del_lnk--> elite that achieved social consensus by means of an elaborate system of <a href="../../wp/r/Religion.htm" title="Religion">religious belief</a> under the figure of a (semi)-divine ruler (usually male) from a succession of ruling <!--del_lnk--> dynasties and which related to the larger world by means of <!--del_lnk--> polytheistic beliefs.<p>
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<td style="border-bottom:1px solid #ddd; background:#eee;"><b>Dynasties of <!--del_lnk--> Pharaohs<br /> in <strong class="selflink">ancient Egypt</strong></b></td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Predynastic Egypt</b></td>
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<td><b><!--del_lnk--> Protodynastic Period</b></td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Early Dynastic Period</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 1st <!--del_lnk--> 2nd</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Old Kingdom</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 3rd <!--del_lnk--> 4th <!--del_lnk--> 5th <!--del_lnk--> 6th</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> First Intermediate Period</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 7th <!--del_lnk--> 8th <!--del_lnk--> 9th <!--del_lnk--> 10th</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 11th (<i><!--del_lnk--> Thebes only</i>)</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Middle Kingdom</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 11th (<i>All <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>)</i></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 12th <!--del_lnk--> 13th <!--del_lnk--> 14th</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Second Intermediate Period</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 15th <!--del_lnk--> 16th <!--del_lnk--> 17th</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> New Kingdom</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 18th <!--del_lnk--> 19th <!--del_lnk--> 20th</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Third Intermediate Period</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 21st <!--del_lnk--> 22nd <!--del_lnk--> 23rd <!--del_lnk--> 24th <!--del_lnk--> 25th</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Late Period</b></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 26th <!--del_lnk--> 27th <!--del_lnk--> 28th</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> 29th <!--del_lnk--> 30th <!--del_lnk--> 31st</td>
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<td style="border-top: 1px solid #ddd;"><b>Graeco-Roman Period</b></td>
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<td><a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a></td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Ptolemaic dynasty</td>
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<td><!--del_lnk--> Roman</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a href="../../wp/a/Archaeology.htm" title="Archaeology">Archaeological</a> evidence indicates that a developed Egyptian <a href="../../wp/s/Society.htm" title="Society">society</a> extends far into <!--del_lnk--> prehistory (see <!--del_lnk--> Predynastic Egypt). The <a href="../../wp/n/Nile.htm" title="Nile">Nile</a> River, around which much of the population of the country clusters, has been the lifeline for Egyptian culture since nomadic hunter-gatherers began living along the Nile during the <!--del_lnk--> Pleistocene. Traces of these early peoples appear in the form of artifacts and rock carvings along the terraces of the Nile and in the oases.<p>Along the <a href="../../wp/n/Nile.htm" title="Nile">Nile</a>, in the <!--del_lnk--> 10th millennium BC, a <a href="../../wp/c/Cereal.htm" title="Cereal">grain</a>-<!--del_lnk--> grinding <a href="../../wp/c/Culture.htm" title="Culture">culture</a> using the earliest type of <!--del_lnk--> sickle blades had been replaced by another culture of <!--del_lnk--> hunters, <a href="../../wp/f/Fishing.htm" title="Fishing">fishers</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> gathering peoples using <!--del_lnk--> stone tools. Evidence also indicates human habitation in the southwestern corner of Egypt, near the <a href="../../wp/s/Sudan.htm" title="Sudan">Sudan</a> border, before <!--del_lnk--> 8000 BC. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around <!--del_lnk--> 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, eventually forming the <a href="../../wp/s/Sahara.htm" title="Sahara">Sahara</a> (c.<!--del_lnk--> 2500 BC), and early tribes naturally migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agricultural</a> <!--del_lnk--> economy and more centralized <a href="../../wp/s/Society.htm" title="Society">society</a>. There is evidence of <!--del_lnk--> pastoralism and cultivation of cereals in the East Sahara in the <!--del_lnk--> 7th millennium BC.<p>By about <!--del_lnk--> 6000 BC, organized agriculture and large building construction had appeared in the Nile Valley. At this time, Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were <!--del_lnk--> herding cattle and also <!--del_lnk--> constructing large buildings. <!--del_lnk--> Mortar was in use by <!--del_lnk--> 4000 BC. The <!--del_lnk--> Predynastic Period continues through this time, variously held to begin with the <!--del_lnk--> Naqada culture. Some authorities however place the start of the Predynastic Period earlier, in the <!--del_lnk--> Lower Paleolithic.<p>Between 5500 and 3100 BC, during Egypt's Predynastic Period, small settlements flourished along the Nile. By <!--del_lnk--> 3300 BC, just before the first Egyptian dynasty, Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as <!--del_lnk--> Upper Egypt (<i>Ta Shemau</i>) and <!--del_lnk--> Lower Egypt (<i>Ta Mehu</i>). The dividing line was drawn roughly in the area of modern Cairo.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> history of ancient Egypt proper starts with Egypt as a unified state, which occurred sometime around <!--del_lnk--> 3150 BC. <!--del_lnk--> Menes, who unified Upper and Lower Egypt, was the first king. Egyptian culture was remarkably stable and changed little over a period of nearly 3000 years. This includes religion, customs, art expression, architecture and social structure.<p><!--del_lnk--> Egyptian chronology, which involves <!--del_lnk--> regnal years, began around this time. The <!--del_lnk--> conventional Egyptian chronology is the chronology accepted during the 20th century, but it does not include any of the major revision proposals that have also been made in that time. Even within a single work, often archeologists will offer several possible dates or even several whole chronologies as possibilities. Consequently, there may be discrepancies between dates shown here and in articles on particular rulers. Often there are also several possible spellings of the names. Typically, Egyptologists divide the history of pharaonic civilization using a schedule laid out first by <!--del_lnk--> Manetho's <i>Aegyptaica</i> (History of Egypt).<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> List of pharaohs</b>: The time of the Pharaohs stretches from before <!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC to about <!--del_lnk--> 30 BC.<li><b>Dynasties</b> (see also: <!--del_lnk--> List of Egyptian dynasties): <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Early Dynastic Period of Egypt (1st to 2nd Dynasties; until ca. <!--del_lnk--> 27th century BC)<li><!--del_lnk--> Old Kingdom (3rd to 6th Dynasties; 27th to 22nd centuries <a href="../../wp/a/Anno_Domini.htm" title="Anno Domini">BC</a>)<li><!--del_lnk--> First Intermediate Period (7th to 11th Dynasties)<li><!--del_lnk--> Middle Kingdom of Egypt (11th to 14th Dynasties; 20th to 17th centuries BC)<li><!--del_lnk--> Second Intermediate Period (14th to 17th Dynasties) <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Hyksos (15th to 16th Dynasties, c. 1674 BC to 1548 BC)</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> New Kingdom of Egypt (18th to 20th Dynasties; 16th to 11th centuries BC)<li><!--del_lnk--> Third Intermediate Period (21st to 25th Dynasties; 11th to 7th centuries BC)<li><!--del_lnk--> Late Period of Ancient Egypt (26th to 31st Dynasties; <!--del_lnk--> 7th century BC to <!--del_lnk--> 332 BC) <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Achaemenid Dynasty</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Graeco-Roman Egypt (<!--del_lnk--> 332 BC to AD <!--del_lnk--> 639) <ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Macedonian Kings (<!--del_lnk--> 332 BC to <!--del_lnk--> 305 BC)<li><!--del_lnk--> Ptolemaic Dynasty (<!--del_lnk--> 305 BC to <!--del_lnk--> 30 BC)<li><a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> (<!--del_lnk--> 30 BC to 639 AD)</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<p><a id="People" name="People"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">People</span></h2>
<p>A 2006 bioanthropological study on the dental morphology of ancient Egyptians shows dental traits most characteristic of indigenous <a href="../../wp/n/North_Africa.htm" title="North Africa">North Africans</a> and to a lesser extent <!--del_lnk--> Near Eastern populations. The study also establishes biological continuity from the <!--del_lnk--> predynastic to the post-pharaonic periods. Among the samples included is skeletal material from the <!--del_lnk--> Hawara tombs of Fayum, which was found to most closely resemble the <!--del_lnk--> Badarian series of the predynastic. A study based on stature and body proportions also suggests that <!--del_lnk--> Nilotic or tropical body characteristics were also present in some later groups, as the Egyptian empire expanded southward during the <!--del_lnk--> New Kingdom.<p><!--del_lnk--> Genetics analysis of modern <!--del_lnk--> Egyptians reveals that they are characterized by <!--del_lnk--> paternal lineages common to <!--del_lnk--> North Africans primarily, and to some <!--del_lnk--> Near Eastern peoples. These lineages spread during the <!--del_lnk--> Neolithic and were maintained by the predynastic period. Studies based on the <!--del_lnk--> maternal lineages also show that Egyptians are related to people from the <a href="../../wp/h/Horn_of_Africa.htm" title="Horn of Africa">Horn of Africa</a>.<p><!--del_lnk--> Champollion the Younger, who deciphered the <a href="../../wp/r/Rosetta_Stone.htm" title="Rosetta Stone">Rosetta Stone</a>, claimed in <i>Expressions et Termes Particuliers</i> that <i>kmt</i> referred to a 'negroid' population. Modern day professional Egyptologists, anthropologists, and linguists, however, overwhelmingly agree that the term referred to the dark soil of the Nile Valley rather than the people, which contrasted with <i>dSrt</i> or the "red land" of the <a href="../../wp/s/Sahara.htm" title="Sahara">Sahara</a> desert, a claim denied by <!--del_lnk--> Afrocentrists who contend that the term refers to the people.<p>In c. 450 BC, <a href="../../wp/h/Herodotus.htm" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a> wrote, "the Colchians are Egyptians... on the fact that they are dark-skinned (<i>melanchrôs</i>) and wooly-haired (<i>oulothrix</i>)" (Histories Book 2:104). <i>Melanchros</i> was also used by <a href="../../wp/h/Homer.htm" title="Homer">Homer</a> to describe the sunburnt complexion of <a href="../../wp/o/Odysseus.htm" title="Odysseus">Odysseus</a> (Od. 16.176).<p>Although analyzing the hair of ancient Egyptian <a href="../../wp/m/Mummy.htm" title="Mummy">mummies</a> from the Late <!--del_lnk--> Middle Kingdom has revealed evidence of a stable diet, mummies from circa <!--del_lnk--> 3200 BC show signs of severe <a href="../../wp/a/Anemia.htm" title="Anemia">anaemia</a> and <!--del_lnk--> hemolytic disorders.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15069.jpg.htm" title="18 m (59 ft) high sandstone statues of Amenhotep III, flanking the entrance to his mortuary temple in Western Thebes - erroneously identified as the Colossi of Memnon by Greek travellers in antiquity"><img alt="18 m (59 ft) high sandstone statues of Amenhotep III, flanking the entrance to his mortuary temple in Western Thebes - erroneously identified as the Colossi of Memnon by Greek travellers in antiquity" height="236" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Memnon2.jpg" src="../../images/150/15069.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15069.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> 18 m (59 ft) high sandstone statues of <!--del_lnk--> Amenhotep III, flanking the entrance to his mortuary temple in Western <!--del_lnk--> Thebes - erroneously identified as the <!--del_lnk--> Colossi of Memnon by Greek travellers in antiquity</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a id="Administration_and_taxation" name="Administration_and_taxation"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Administration and taxation</span></h2>
<p>For administrative purposes, ancient Egypt was divided into <!--del_lnk--> nomes (the Greek word for "district"; they were called <i>sepat</i> in ancient Egyptian). The division into nomes can be traced back to the Predynastic Period (before 3100 BC), when the nomes originally existed as autonomous city-states. The nomes remained in place for more than three millennia, with the area of the individual nomes and their order of numbering remaining remarkably stable. Under the system that prevailed for most of pharaonic Egypt's history, the country was divided into 42 nomes: 20 comprising <!--del_lnk--> Lower Egypt, whilst Upper Egypt was divided into 22. Each nome was governed by a <!--del_lnk--> nomarch, a provincial governor who held regional authority. The position of the nomarch was at times <!--del_lnk--> hereditary, at times appointed by the pharaoh.<p>The ancient Egyptian government imposed a number of different <!--del_lnk--> taxes upon its people. As there was no known form of <a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">currency</a> during that time period, taxes were paid for "in kind" (with produce or work). The <!--del_lnk--> Vizier (ancient Egyptian: <i>tjaty</i>) controlled the taxation system through the departments of state. The departments had to report daily on the amount of stock available, and how much was expected in the future. Taxes were paid for depending on a person's craft or duty. Landowners paid their taxes in <a href="../../wp/c/Cereal.htm" title="Grain">grain</a> and other produce grown on their <a href="../../wp/p/Property.htm" title="Property">property</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Craftsmen paid their taxes in the goods that they produced. Hunters and fishermen paid their taxes with produce from the river, marshes, and desert. One person from every household was required to pay a <i><!--del_lnk--> corvée</i> or labor tax by doing public work for a few weeks every year, such as digging canals or mining. However, a richer <!--del_lnk--> noble could hire a poorer man to fulfill his labor tax.<p><a id="Language" name="Language"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Language</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Ancient Egyptian constitutes an independent part of the <!--del_lnk--> Afro-Asiatic language <!--del_lnk--> phylum. Its closest relatives are the <a href="../../wp/b/Berber_languages.htm" title="Berber languages">Berber</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Semitic, and <!--del_lnk--> Beja groups of languages. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about <!--del_lnk--> 3200 BC, making it one of the oldest and longest documented languages. Scholars group Egyptian into six major chronological divisions:<ul>
<li><b>Archaic Egyptian</b> (before 3000 BC)</ul>
<dl>
<dd>Consists of inscriptions from the late <!--del_lnk--> Predynastic and <!--del_lnk--> Early Dynastic period. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian <!--del_lnk--> hieroglyphic writing appears on <!--del_lnk--> Naqada II pottery vessels.</dl>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Old Egyptian</b> (3000–2000 BC)</ul>
<dl>
<dd>The language of the <!--del_lnk--> Old Kingdom and <!--del_lnk--> First Intermediate Period. The <!--del_lnk--> Pyramid Texts are the largest body of literature written in this phase of the language. Tomb walls of elite Egyptians from this period also bear autobiographical writings representing Old Egyptian. One of its distinguishing characteristics is the tripling of <!--del_lnk--> ideograms, phonograms, and determinatives to indicate the plural. Overall, it does not differ significantly from the next stage.</dl>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Middle Egyptian</b> (2000–1300 BC)</ul>
<dl>
<dd>Often dubbed <b>Classical Egyptian</b>, this stage is known from a variety of textual evidence in <!--del_lnk--> hieroglyphic and <!--del_lnk--> hieratic scripts dated from about the <!--del_lnk--> Middle Kingdom. It includes funerary texts inscribed on <!--del_lnk--> sarcophagi such as the <!--del_lnk--> Coffin Texts; wisdom texts instructing people on how to lead a life that exemplified the ancient Egyptian philosophical worldview (see the <!--del_lnk--> Ipuwer papyrus); tales detailing the adventures of a certain individual, for example the <!--del_lnk--> Story of Sinuhe; medical and scientific texts such as the <!--del_lnk--> Edwin Smith Papyrus and the <!--del_lnk--> Ebers papyrus; and poetic texts praising a god or a <!--del_lnk--> pharaoh, such as the Hymn to the Nile. The Egyptian <!--del_lnk--> vernacular already began to change from the written language as evidenced by some Middle Kingdom hieratic texts, but classical Middle Egyptian continued to be written in formal contexts well into the Late Dynastic period (sometimes referred to as Late Middle Egyptian).</dl>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Late Egyptian</b> (1300–700 BC)</ul>
<dl>
<dd>Records of this stage appear in the second part of the <!--del_lnk--> New Kingdom. It contains a rich body of religious and secular literature, comprising such famous examples as the <!--del_lnk--> Story of Wenamun and the Instructions of Ani. It was also the language of <!--del_lnk--> Ramesside administration. Late Egyptian is not totally distinct from Middle Egyptian, as many "classicisms" appear in historical and literary documents of this phase. However, the difference between Middle and Late Egyptian is greater than that between Middle and Old Egyptian. It's also a better representative than Middle Egyptian of the spoken language in the New Kingdom and beyond. Hieroglyphic <!--del_lnk--> orthography saw an enormous expansion of its <!--del_lnk--> graphemic inventory between the Late Dynastic and <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemaic periods.</dl>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Demotic Egyptian</b> (7th century BC–4th century AD)</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<ul>
<li><b><!--del_lnk--> Coptic</b> (3rd–17th century AD)</ul>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15070.jpg.htm" title="An Obelisk with Egyptian writing."><img alt="An Obelisk with Egyptian writing." height="455" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Obelisk4.jpg" src="../../images/150/15070.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15070.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> An <!--del_lnk--> Obelisk with Egyptian writing.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a id="Writing" name="Writing"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Writing</span></h3>
<p>For many years, the earliest known hieroglyphic inscription was the <!--del_lnk--> Narmer Palette, found during excavations at <!--del_lnk--> Hierakonpolis (modern Kawm al-Ahmar) in the <!--del_lnk--> 1890s, which has been dated to c.<!--del_lnk--> 3150 BC. However recent <a href="../../wp/a/Archaeology.htm" title="Archaeology">archaeological</a> findings reveal that symbols on <!--del_lnk--> Gerzean pottery, <i>c.</i><!--del_lnk--> 3250 BC, resemble the traditional hieroglyph forms. Also in 1998 a German archeological team under <!--del_lnk--> Günter Dreyer excavating at <!--del_lnk--> Abydos (modern <!--del_lnk--> Umm el-Qa'ab) uncovered tomb <!--del_lnk--> U-j, which belonged to a <!--del_lnk--> Predynastic ruler, and they recovered three hundred clay labels inscribed with <!--del_lnk--> proto-hieroglyphics dating to the <!--del_lnk--> Naqada IIIA period, circa <!--del_lnk--> 33rd century BC.<p>Egyptologists refer to Egyptian writing as <b><!--del_lnk--> hieroglyphs</b>, today standing as the world's earliest known <!--del_lnk--> writing system. The hieroglyphic script was partly <!--del_lnk--> syllabic, partly <!--del_lnk--> ideographic. <b><!--del_lnk--> Hieratic</b> is a cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphs and was first used during the First Dynasty (c. 2925 BC – c. 2775 BC). The term <b><!--del_lnk--> Demotic</b>, in the context of Egypt, came to refer to both the script and the language that followed the Late Ancient Egyptian stage, i.e. from the <!--del_lnk--> Nubian <!--del_lnk--> 25th dynasty until its marginalization by the Greek <!--del_lnk--> Koine in the early centuries AD. After the conquest of <!--del_lnk--> Amr ibn al-A'as in the 7th century AD, the <!--del_lnk--> Coptic language survived as a spoken language into the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>. Today, it continues to be the liturgical language of the <!--del_lnk--> Christian minority.<p>Beginning from around <!--del_lnk--> 2700 BC, Egyptians used <!--del_lnk--> pictograms to represent <!--del_lnk--> vocal sounds -- both <a href="../../wp/v/Vowel.htm" title="Vowel">vowel</a> and <!--del_lnk--> consonant vocalizations (see <!--del_lnk--> Hieroglyph: Script). By <!--del_lnk--> 2000 BC, 26 <!--del_lnk--> pictograms were being used to represent 24 (known) main <!--del_lnk--> vocal sounds. The world's <!--del_lnk--> oldest known alphabet (c. <!--del_lnk--> 1800 BC) is only an <!--del_lnk--> abjad system and was derived from these <!--del_lnk--> uniliteral signs as well as other <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian hieroglyphs.<p>The hieroglyphic script finally fell out of use around the <a href="../../wp/4/4th_century.htm" title="4th century">4th century</a> AD. Attempts to decipher it in the <!--del_lnk--> West began after the <a href="../../wp/1/15th_century.htm" title="15th century">15th century</a>, though earlier attempts by <!--del_lnk--> Muslim scholars are attested (see <i><!--del_lnk--> Hieroglyphica</i>).<p><a id="Literature" name="Literature"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Literature</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1800 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Story of Sinuhe and <!--del_lnk--> Ipuwer papyrus<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1600 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Westcar Papyrus<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1400 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Tulli Papyrus<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1300 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Ebers papyrus<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1180 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Papyrus Harris I<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1000 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Story of Wenamun</ul>
<p><a id="Culture" name="Culture"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Culture</span></h2>
<p>The Egyptian religion, embodied in <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian mythology, is a succession of beliefs held by the people of Egypt, as early as <!--del_lnk--> predynastic times and all the way until the coming of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> and <a href="../../wp/i/Islam.htm" title="Islam">Islam</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> Graeco-Roman and <!--del_lnk--> Arab eras. These were conducted by Egyptian <!--del_lnk--> priests or <!--del_lnk--> magicians, but the use of <!--del_lnk--> magic and <!--del_lnk--> spells is questioned.<p>Every animal portrayed and worshipped in ancient Egyptian art, writing and religion is indigenous to <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a>, all the way from the <!--del_lnk--> predynastic until the <!--del_lnk--> Graeco-Roman eras, over 3000 years. The <!--del_lnk--> Dromedary, <!--del_lnk--> domesticated first in <!--del_lnk--> Arabia, first appears in Egypt (and North Africa) beginning in the 2nd millennium BC.<p>The temple was a sacred place where only priests and priestesses were allowed. On special occasions people were allowed into the temple courtyard.<p>
<br /> The religious nature of ancient Egyptian civilization influenced its contribution to the <!--del_lnk--> arts of the ancient world. Many of the great works of ancient Egypt depict gods, goddesses, and pharaohs, who were also considered divine. <!--del_lnk--> Ancient Egyptian art in general is characterized by the idea of order.<p>Evidence of <!--del_lnk--> mummies and <!--del_lnk--> pyramids outside ancient Egypt indicate reflections of ancient Egyptian belief values on other <!--del_lnk--> prehistoric cultures, transmitted in one way over the <!--del_lnk--> Silk Road. Ancient Egypt's <!--del_lnk--> foreign contacts included <!--del_lnk--> Nubia and <!--del_lnk--> Punt to the south, the <!--del_lnk--> Aegean and <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">ancient Greece</a> to the north, the <!--del_lnk--> Levant and other regions in the <!--del_lnk--> Near East to the east, and also <!--del_lnk--> Libya to the west.<p>Some scholars have speculated that Egypt's art pieces are sexually <!--del_lnk--> symbolic.<p><a id="Ancient_achievements" name="Ancient_achievements"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Ancient achievements</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15071.jpg.htm" title="Louvre Museum antiquity"><img alt="Louvre Museum antiquity" height="179" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Egypte_louvre_316.jpg" src="../../images/150/15071.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15071.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Louvre Museum antiquity</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>See <!--del_lnk--> Predynastic Egypt for inventions and other significant achievements in the <!--del_lnk--> Sahara region before the <!--del_lnk--> Protodynastic Period.<p>The art and science of <a href="../../wp/e/Engineering.htm" title="Engineering">engineering</a> was present in Egypt, such as accurately determining the position of points and the distances between them (known as <!--del_lnk--> surveying). These skills were used to outline <a href="../../wp/p/Pyramid.htm" title="Pyramid">pyramid</a> bases. The <a href="../../wp/e/Egyptian_pyramids.htm" title="Egyptian pyramids">Egyptian pyramids</a> took the geometric shape formed from a polygonal base and a point, called the apex, by triangular faces. <!--del_lnk--> Hydraulic cement was first invented by the Egyptians. The <!--del_lnk--> Al Fayyum <a href="../../wp/i/Irrigation.htm" title="Irrigation">Irrigation</a> (water works) was one of the main agricultural breadbaskets of the ancient world. There is evidence of ancient Egyptian Pharaohs of the <!--del_lnk--> twelfth dynasty using the natural lake of the Fayyum as a reservoir to store surpluses of water for use during the dry seasons. From the time of the <!--del_lnk--> First dynasty or before, the Egyptians <a href="../../wp/m/Mining.htm" title="Mining">mined</a> <a href="../../wp/t/Turquoise.htm" title="Turquoise">turquoise</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> Sinai Peninsula.<p>One of the more extreme claims of recent years is that the ancient "tet" or "djed" has been experimentally identified as an ancient battery. If true this technology would anticipate by thousands of years its rediscovery in the 19th century. The sarcophagus found in the great pyramid has been recently re-examined. According to the author Nigel Appleby ('Hall of the Gods') the holes drilled in the sides were considered to have been drilled at a speed and bore rate that cannot be reproduced today. Independent published corroboration by scientists and engineers is awaited for both of these claims.<p>The earliest evidence (circa <!--del_lnk--> 1600 BC) of traditional <a href="../../wp/e/Empiricism.htm" title="Empiricism">empiricism</a> is credited to Egypt, as evidenced by the <!--del_lnk--> Edwin Smith and <!--del_lnk--> Ebers papyri. The roots of the <!--del_lnk--> scientific method may be traced back to the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians created their own alphabet (however, it is debated as to whether they were the first to do this because of the margin of error on carbon dated tests), <!--del_lnk--> decimal system and complex <!--del_lnk--> mathematical formularizations, in the form of the <!--del_lnk--> Moscow and <!--del_lnk--> Rhind Mathematical Papyri. The <!--del_lnk--> golden ratio seems to be reflected in many constructions, such as the <a href="../../wp/e/Egyptian_pyramids.htm" title="Egyptian pyramids">Egyptian pyramids</a>, however this may be the consequence of combining the use of knotted ropes with an intuitive sense of proportion and harmony.<p>Glass making was highly developed in ancient Egypt, as is evident from the glass beads, jars, figures and ornaments discovered in the tombs. Recent archeology has uncovered the remains of an ancient Egyptian glass factory.<p><a id="Timeline" name="Timeline"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Timeline</span></h2>
<p><i>(All dates are approximate; see <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian chronology for a detailed discussion.)</i><p><a id="Predynastic" name="Predynastic"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Predynastic</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> 3500 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Senet, world's oldest (confirmed) <a href="../../wp/b/Board_game.htm" title="Board game">board game</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 3500 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Faience, world's earliest known earthenware</ul>
<p><a id="Dynastic" name="Dynastic"></a><h3><span class="mw-headline">Dynastic</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/147/14780.jpg.htm" title="The Great Pyramid of Giza."><img alt="The Great Pyramid of Giza." height="133" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Pyramide_Kheops.JPG" src="../../images/150/15072.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/147/14780.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> The Great Pyramid of Giza.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15073.jpg.htm" title="Egypt was first to create glass objects. [citation needed]"><img alt="Egypt was first to create glass objects. [citation needed]" height="143" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Egyptian_Glass.jpg" src="../../images/150/15073.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15073.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Egypt was first to create glass objects. <div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="image" href="../../images/87/8723.png.htm" title="3D red_cyan glasses recommended for your viewing pleasure"><img alt="3D red_cyan glasses recommended for your viewing pleasure" height="10" longdesc="/wiki/Image:3d_glasses_red_cyan.svg" src="../../images/87/8723.png" width="37" /></a></div>
</div>
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<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> 3300 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Bronze works (see <!--del_lnk--> Bronze Age)<li><!--del_lnk--> 3200 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian hieroglyphs fully developed (see <!--del_lnk--> First dynasty of Egypt)<li><!--del_lnk--> 3200 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Narmer Palette, world's earliest known <!--del_lnk--> historical document<li><!--del_lnk--> 3100 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Decimal system, world's earliest (confirmed) use<li><!--del_lnk--> 3100 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Wine cellars, world's earliest known<li><!--del_lnk--> 3050 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Shipbuilding in <!--del_lnk--> Abydos<li><!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Exports from <a href="../../wp/n/Nile.htm" title="Nile">Nile</a> to <!--del_lnk--> Palestine and <!--del_lnk--> Levant: <a href="../../wp/w/Wine.htm" title="Wine">wine</a> (see <!--del_lnk--> Narmer)<li><!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC: <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">Copper</a> <!--del_lnk--> plumbing (see <!--del_lnk--> Copper: History)<li><!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Papyrus, world's earliest known <!--del_lnk--> paper<li><!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Medical Institutions<li><!--del_lnk--> 2900 BC: possible <a href="../../wp/s/Steel.htm" title="Steel">steel</a>: <a href="../../wp/c/Carbon.htm" title="Carbon">carbon</a>-containing <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 2700 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Surgery, world's earliest known<li><!--del_lnk--> 2700 BC: precision <!--del_lnk--> Surveying<li><!--del_lnk--> 2700 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Uniliteral signs, forming basis of world's <!--del_lnk--> earliest known alphabet<li><!--del_lnk--> 2600 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Sphinx, still today the world's largest single-stone <!--del_lnk--> statue<li><!--del_lnk--> 2600s–<!--del_lnk--> 2500 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Shipping expeditions: <!--del_lnk--> King Sneferu and <!--del_lnk--> Pharaoh Sahure. See also,<li><!--del_lnk--> 2600 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Barge transportation, stone blocks (see <!--del_lnk--> Egyptian pyramids: Construction)<li><!--del_lnk--> 2600 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Pyramid of Djoser, world's earliest known large-scale stone building<li><!--del_lnk--> 2600 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Menkaure's Pyramid & <!--del_lnk--> Red Pyramid, world's earliest known works of carved <a href="../../wp/g/Granite.htm" title="Granite">granite</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 2600 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Red Pyramid, world's earliest known "true" smooth-sided pyramid; solid <a href="../../wp/g/Granite.htm" title="Granite">granite</a> work<li><!--del_lnk--> 2580 BC: <a href="../../wp/g/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza.htm" title="Great Pyramid of Giza">Great Pyramid of Giza</a>, the <!--del_lnk--> world's tallest structure until <!--del_lnk--> AD 1300<li><!--del_lnk--> 2500 BC: <a href="../../wp/b/Beekeeping.htm" title="Beekeeping">Beekeeping</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 2400 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Astronomical Calendar, used even in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> for its <a href="../../wp/m/Mathematics.htm" title="Mathematics">mathematical</a> regularity<li><!--del_lnk--> 2200 BC: <a href="../../wp/b/Beer.htm" title="Beer">Beer</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 1860 BC: possible <a href="../../wp/s/Suez_Canal.htm" title="Suez Canal">Nile-Red Sea Canal</a> (<!--del_lnk--> Twelfth dynasty of Egypt)<li><!--del_lnk--> 1800 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Alphabet, world's oldest known<li><!--del_lnk--> 1800 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, generalized formula for volume of <!--del_lnk--> frustum<li><!--del_lnk--> 1650 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Rhind Mathematical Papyrus: <a href="../../wp/g/Geometry.htm" title="Geometry">geometry</a>, <!--del_lnk--> cotangent analogue, <!--del_lnk--> algebraic equations, <!--del_lnk--> arithmetic series, <!--del_lnk--> geometric series<li><!--del_lnk--> 1600 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Edwin Smith papyrus, medical tradition traces as far back as c. <!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC<li><!--del_lnk--> 1550 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Ebers Medical Papyrus, traditional <a href="../../wp/e/Empiricism.htm" title="Empiricism">empiricism</a>; world's earliest known documented <!--del_lnk--> tumors (see <!--del_lnk--> History of medicine)<li><!--del_lnk--> 1500 BC: <a href="../../wp/g/Glass.htm" title="Glass">Glass-making</a>, world's earliest known<li><!--del_lnk--> 1300 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Berlin Mathematical Papyrus, 19th dynasty - 2nd order <!--del_lnk--> algebraic equations<li><!--del_lnk--> 1258 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Peace treaty, world's earliest known (see <!--del_lnk--> Ramesses II)<li><!--del_lnk--> 1160 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Turin papyrus, world's earliest known <a href="../../wp/g/Geology.htm" title="Geology">geologic</a> and <!--del_lnk--> topographic map<li><!--del_lnk--> 1000 BC: <!--del_lnk--> Petroleum tar used in <a href="../../wp/m/Mummy.htm" title="Mummy">mummification</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 5th–<!--del_lnk--> 4th century BC (or perhaps earlier): battle games <i>petteia</i> and <i>seega</i>; possible precursors to <a href="../../wp/c/Chess.htm" title="Chess">Chess</a> (see <!--del_lnk--> Origins of chess)</ul>
<p><a id="Open_problems" name="Open_problems"></a><h2><span class="mw-headline">Open problems</span></h2>
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<dd>
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<p>There is a question as to the sophistication of ancient Egyptian technology, and there are several <!--del_lnk--> open problems concerning real and alleged ancient Egyptian achievements. Certain artifacts and records do not fit with conventional technological development systems. It is not known why there seems to be no neat progression to an Egyptian <a href="../../wp/i/Iron_Age.htm" title="Iron Age">Iron Age</a> nor why the historical record shows the Egyptians possibly taking a long time to begin using <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a>. A study of the rest of Africa could point to the reasons: Sub-Saharan Africa confined their use of the metal to agricultural purposes for many centuries. The ancient Egyptians had a much easier form of agriculture with the annual Nile floods and fertile sediment delivery. They thus had no impetus for the development of agricultural implements that would have spurred the adoption of iron. It is unknown how the Egyptians shaped and worked <a href="../../wp/g/Granite.htm" title="Granite">granite</a>. A clue is found in the exquisite granite carvings of the Yoruba in West Africa. For years researchers could not fathom how they were carved so smoothly until contemporary workmen demonstrated the simple system of rubbing the quartz with sand and water. The exact date the Egyptians started producing <a href="../../wp/g/Glass.htm" title="Glass">glass</a> is debated.<p>There is some question whether the Egyptians were capable of long distance <!--del_lnk--> navigation in their <a href="../../wp/b/Boat.htm" title="Boat">boats</a> and when they became knowledgeable sailors. It is also contentiously disputed as to whether or not the Egyptians had some understanding of <a href="../../wp/e/Electricity.htm" title="Electricity">electricity</a> and if the Egyptians used <!--del_lnk--> engines or <!--del_lnk--> batteries. The <!--del_lnk--> relief at Dendera is interpreted in various ways by scholars. The topic of the <!--del_lnk--> Saqqara Bird is controversial, as is the extent of the Egyptians' understanding of <!--del_lnk--> aerodynamics. It is unknown for certain if the Egyptians had <!--del_lnk--> kites or <!--del_lnk--> gliders.<p><a href="../../wp/b/Beekeeping.htm" title="Beekeeping">Beekeeping</a> is known to have been particularly well developed in Egypt, as accounts are given by several <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Roman</a> writers — <a href="../../wp/v/Virgil.htm" title="Virgil">Virgil</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Gaius Julius Hyginus, <!--del_lnk--> Varro and <!--del_lnk--> Columella. It is unknown whether Egyptian <a href="../../wp/b/Beekeeping.htm" title="Beekeeping">beekeeping</a> developed independently or as an import from <!--del_lnk--> Southern Asia.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Ancient Greece</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Ancient_History_Classical_History_and_Mythology.htm">Ancient History, Classical History and Mythology</a></h3>
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<table style="margin-left:1em; border:1px solid #000000; background-color:#f2f2f2; padding:2px; float:right; clear:right; font-size:85%;">
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<td colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="text-align: center; background-color: #ffffff;"><a class="image" href="../../images/60/6014.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="49" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Coat_of_arms_of_Greece.png" src="../../images/24/2484.png" width="50" /></a><p>This article is part of the series on:<p><b><a href="../../wp/h/History_of_Greece.htm" title="History of Greece">History of Greece</a></b></td>
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<td style="padding: 0 5px; background: #ccf; text-align: center;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Prehistory of Greece</b></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Cycladic Civilization</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Minoan Civilization</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Mycenaean Civilization</td>
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<td style="padding: 0 5px; background: #ccf;text-align: center;"><b><strong class="selflink">Ancient Greece</strong></b></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><strong class="selflink">Ancient Greece</strong></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="../../wp/h/Hellenistic_Greece.htm" title="Hellenistic Greece">Hellenistic Greece</a></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Greece.htm" title="Roman Greece">Roman Greece</a></td>
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<td style="padding: 0 5px; background: #ccf; text-align: center;"><b><a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Medieval Greece</a></b></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Ottoman Greece</td>
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<td style="padding: 0 5px; background: #ccf; text-align: center;"><b><!--del_lnk--> Modern Greece</b></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="../../wp/g/Greek_War_of_Independence.htm" title="Greek War of Independence">Greek War of Independence</a></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Kingdom of Greece</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Axis Occupation of Greece</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Greek Civil War</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> Military Junta</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><!--del_lnk--> The Hellenic Republic</td>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15074.png.htm" title="The Ancient Greek world, circa 550 BC"><img alt="The Ancient Greek world, circa 550 BC" height="115" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Location_greek_ancient.png" src="../../images/150/15074.png" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">The Ancient Greek world, circa <!--del_lnk--> 550 BC</div>
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<p><b>Ancient Greece</b> is the period in <!--del_lnk--> Greek history which lasted for around one thousand years and ended with the rise of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a>. It is considered by some historians to be one of the foundational cultures of <!--del_lnk--> Western Civilization. <!--del_lnk--> Greek culture was a powerful influence in the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>, which carried a version of it to many parts of <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>. The civilization of the Ancient Greeks has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, and arts, fuelling the <a href="../../wp/r/Renaissance.htm" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a> in Western Europe and again resurgent during various <a href="../../wp/n/Neoclassicism.htm" title="Neoclassicism">neo-Classical</a> revivals in <a href="../../wp/1/18th_century.htm" title="18th century">18th</a> and <a href="../../wp/1/19th_century.htm" title="19th century">19th century</a> Europe and the <!--del_lnk--> Americas.<p><b>Ancient Greece</b> is also the term used to describe the <!--del_lnk--> Greek-speaking world in ancient times. It refers not only to the modern <a href="../../wp/c/Continent.htm" title="Continent">continental</a> <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a>, but also to areas of <!--del_lnk--> Hellenic culture that were settled in ancient times by Greeks: <a href="../../wp/c/Cyprus.htm" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> and the Aegean islands, the <!--del_lnk--> Aegean <!--del_lnk--> coast of <!--del_lnk--> Anatolia (then known as <!--del_lnk--> Ionia), <!--del_lnk--> Sicily and southern <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> (known as <!--del_lnk--> Magna Graecia), and the scattered Greek settlements on the coasts of <!--del_lnk--> Colchis, <!--del_lnk--> Illyria, <!--del_lnk--> Thrace, <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Cyrenaica, southern <!--del_lnk--> Gaul, east and northeast of the <!--del_lnk--> Iberian peninsula, <!--del_lnk--> Iberia and <!--del_lnk--> Taurica.<p>
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</script><a id="Chronology" name="Chronology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Chronology</span></h2>
<p>There are no fixed or universally agreed upon dates for the beginning or the end of the Ancient Greek period. In common usage it refers to all Greek history before the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>, but historians use the term more precisely. Some writers include the periods of the Greek-speaking <!--del_lnk--> Mycenaean civilization that collapsed about <!--del_lnk--> 1150 BC, though most would argue that the influential <a href="../../wp/m/Minoan_civilization.htm" title="Minoan civilization">Minoan</a> was so different from later Greek cultures that it should be classed separately.<p>In the modern Greek school-books, "ancient times" is a period of about 900 years, from the catastrophe of <!--del_lnk--> Mycenae until the conquest of the country by the <!--del_lnk--> Romans, that is divided in four periods, based on styles of art as much as culture and politics. The historical line starts with <!--del_lnk--> Greek Dark Ages (<!--del_lnk--> 1100–<!--del_lnk--> 800 BC). In this period artists use geometrical schemes such as squares, circles, lines to decorate <!--del_lnk--> amphoras and other pottery. The <!--del_lnk--> archaic period (<!--del_lnk--> 800–<!--del_lnk--> 500 BC) represents those years when the artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, hieratic poses with the dreamlike "archaic smile". In the <!--del_lnk--> classical period (500–<!--del_lnk--> 323 BC) artists perfected the style that since has been taken as exemplary: "classical", such as the <a href="../../wp/p/Parthenon.htm" title="Parthenon">Parthenon</a>. In the <a href="../../wp/h/Hellenistic_Greece.htm" title="Hellenistic Greece">Hellenistic</a> years that followed the conquests of <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander</a> (323–<!--del_lnk--> 146 BC), also known as <!--del_lnk--> Alexandrian, aspects of Hellenic civilization expanded to Egypt and <!--del_lnk--> Bactria.<p>Traditionally, the Ancient Greek period was taken to begin with the date of the first recorded <a href="../../wp/o/Olympic_Games.htm" title="Olympic Games">Olympic Games</a> in <!--del_lnk--> 776 BC, but many historians now extend the term back to about <!--del_lnk--> 1000 BC. The traditional date for the end of the Ancient Greek period is the death of <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a> in 323 BC. The following period is classed <a href="../../wp/h/Hellenistic_Greece.htm" title="Hellenistic Greece">Hellenistic</a> or the integration of Greece into the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic in 146 BC.<p>These dates are historians' conventions and some writers treat the Ancient Greek civilization as a continuum running until the advent of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> in the <a href="../../wp/3/3rd_century.htm" title="3rd century">3rd century</a>.<p><a id="Origins" name="Origins"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Origins</span></h2>
<p>The Greeks are believed to have migrated southward into the Balkan peninsula in several waves beginning in the late <!--del_lnk--> 3rd millennium BC, the last being the <!--del_lnk--> Dorian invasion. <!--del_lnk--> Proto-Greek is assumed to date to some time between the 23rd and 17th centuries BC. The period from <!--del_lnk--> 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is described in <!--del_lnk--> History of Mycenaean Greece known for the reign of <!--del_lnk--> King Agamemnon and the wars against Troy as narrated in the epics of <a href="../../wp/h/Homer.htm" title="Homer">Homer</a>. The period from 1100 BC to the <!--del_lnk--> 8th century BC is a "<!--del_lnk--> Dark Age" from which no primary texts survive, and only scant archaeological evidence remains. Secondary and tertiary texts such as <a href="../../wp/h/Herodotus.htm" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a>' <i>Histories</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Pausanias' <i>Description of Greece</i>, <!--del_lnk--> Diodorus' <i>Bibliotheca</i>, and <!--del_lnk--> Jerome's <i><!--del_lnk--> Chronicon</i> contain brief chronologies and king lists for this period. The history of Ancient Greece is often taken to end with the reign of <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a>, who died in <!--del_lnk--> 323 BC. Subsequent events are described in <a href="../../wp/h/Hellenistic_Greece.htm" title="Hellenistic Greece">Hellenistic Greece</a>.<p>Any history of Ancient Greece requires a cautionary note on sources. Those Greek historians and political writers whose works have survived, notably <a href="../../wp/h/Herodotus.htm" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Thucydides.htm" title="Thucydides">Thucydides</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Xenophon, <a href="../../wp/d/Demosthenes.htm" title="Demosthenes">Demosthenes</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Plato.htm" title="Plato">Plato</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>, were mostly either <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athenian</a> or pro-Athenian. That is why we know far more about the history and politics of Athens than of any other city, and why we know almost nothing about some cities' histories. These writers, furthermore, concentrate almost wholly on political, military and diplomatic history, and ignore economic and social history. All histories of Ancient Greece have to contend with these limits in their sources.<p><a id="The_rise_of_Greece" name="The_rise_of_Greece"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The rise of Greece</span></h2>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/269/26942.jpg.htm" title="The Temple to Athena, the Parthenon."><img alt="The Temple to Athena, the Parthenon." height="133" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ac.parthenon5.jpg" src="../../images/150/15075.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/269/26942.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Temple to <a href="../../wp/a/Athena.htm" title="Athena">Athena</a>, the <a href="../../wp/p/Parthenon.htm" title="Parthenon">Parthenon</a>.</div>
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<p>In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. Literacy had been lost and the Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks created the <!--del_lnk--> Greek alphabet, most likely by modifying the <!--del_lnk--> Phoenician. From about 800 BC written records begin to appear. Greece was divided into many small self-governing communities, the latter being a pattern dictated by Greek geography, where every island, valley and plain is cut off from its neighbours by the sea or mountain ranges.<p><!--del_lnk--> Population grew beyond the capacity of its limited <a href="../../wp/a/Arable_land.htm" title="Arable land">arable land</a> (according to Mogens Herman Hansen, the population of Ancient Greece increased by a factor larger than ten during the period from 800 BC to 350 BC, increasing from a population of 700,000 to a total estimated population of 8 to 10 million) . From about <!--del_lnk--> 750 BC the Greeks began 250 years of expansion, settling colonies in all directions. To the east, the <!--del_lnk--> Aegean coast of <!--del_lnk--> Asia Minor was colonized first, followed by <!--del_lnk--> Cyprus and the coasts of <!--del_lnk--> Thrace, the <!--del_lnk--> Sea of Marmara and south coast of the <a href="../../wp/b/Black_Sea.htm" title="Black Sea">Black Sea</a>. Eventually Greek colonization reached as far north-east as present day <a href="../../wp/u/Ukraine.htm" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a>. To the west the coasts of <!--del_lnk--> Illyria, <!--del_lnk--> Sicily and southern <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> were settled, followed by the south coast of France, <!--del_lnk--> Corsica, and even northeastern <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>. Greek colonies were also founded in <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Egypt</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Libya. Modern <!--del_lnk--> Syracuse, <!--del_lnk--> Naples, <a href="../../wp/m/Marseille.htm" title="Marseille">Marseille</a> and <a href="../../wp/i/Istanbul.htm" title="Istanbul">Istanbul</a> had their beginnings as the Greek colonies Syracusae <i>(Συρακούσαι)</i>, Neapolis <i>(Νεάπολις)</i>, Massalia <i>(Μασσαλία)</i> and <!--del_lnk--> Byzantion <i>(Βυζάντιον)</i>.<p>By the <!--del_lnk--> 6th century BC the Greek world had become a cultural and linguistic area much larger than the geographical area of present Greece. Greek colonies were not politically controlled by their founding cities, although they often retained religious and commercial links with them. The Greeks both at home and abroad organized themselves into independent communities, and the city (<i><!--del_lnk--> polis</i>) became the basic unit of Greek government.<p>In this period a huge economic development occurred in Greece and its overseas colonies, with the growth of commerce and manufacture. There also was a large improvement in the living standards of the population. Some studies estimate that the average size of the Greek household, in the period from <!--del_lnk--> 800 BC to <!--del_lnk--> 300 BC, increased five times, which indicates a large increase in the average income of the population.<p>At its economic height, in the 4th century BC, Ancient Greece was the most advanced economy in the world. According to some economic historians, it was one of the most advanced pre-industrial economies. This is demonstrated by the average daily wage of the Greek worker, it was, in terms of grain (about 13 kg), more than 4 times the average daily wage of the Egyptian (about 3kg).<p><a id="Social_and_political_conflict" name="Social_and_political_conflict"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Social and political conflict</span></h2>
<p>The Greek cities were originally monarchies, although many of them were very small and the term "King" (<i><!--del_lnk--> basileus</i>) for their rulers is misleadingly grand. In a country always short of farmland, power rested with a small class of landowners, who formed a warrior <!--del_lnk--> aristocracy fighting frequent petty inter-city wars over land and rapidly ousting the monarchy. About this time the rise of a mercantile class (shown by the introduction of <!--del_lnk--> coinage in about <!--del_lnk--> 680 BC) introduced class conflict into the larger cities. From <!--del_lnk--> 650 BC onwards, the aristocracies had to fight not to be overthrown and replaced by <!--del_lnk--> populist leaders called <!--del_lnk--> tyrants (<i>tyrranoi</i>), a word which did not necessarily have the modern meaning of oppressive dictators.<p>By the <!--del_lnk--> 6th century BC several cities had emerged as dominant in Greek affairs: <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Sparta, <!--del_lnk--> Corinth, and <!--del_lnk--> Thebes. Each of them had brought the surrounding rural areas and smaller towns under their control, and Athens and Corinth had become major maritime and mercantile powers as well. Athens and Sparta developed a rivalry that dominated Greek politics for generations.<p>In Sparta, the <!--del_lnk--> landed aristocracy retained their power, and the constitution of <!--del_lnk--> Lycurgus (about <!--del_lnk--> 650 BC) entrenched their power and gave Sparta a permanent militarist regime under a dual monarchy. Sparta dominated the other cities of the <!--del_lnk--> Peloponnese, with the sole exceptions of <!--del_lnk--> Argus and <!--del_lnk--> Achaia.<p>In Athens, by contrast, the monarchy was abolished in <!--del_lnk--> 683 BC, and reforms of <!--del_lnk--> Solon established a moderate system of aristocratic government. The aristocrats were followed by the tyranny of <!--del_lnk--> Pisistratus and his sons, who made the city a great naval and commercial power. When the Pisistratids were overthrown, <!--del_lnk--> Cleisthenes established the world's first <!--del_lnk--> democracy (<!--del_lnk--> 500 BC), with power being held by an assembly of all the male citizens. But it must be remembered that only a minority of the male inhabitants were citizens, excluding slaves, freedmen and non-Athenians.<p><a id="The_Persian_Wars" name="The_Persian_Wars"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The Persian Wars</span></h2>
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<p>In <!--del_lnk--> Ionia (the modern Aegean coast of <a href="../../wp/t/Turkey.htm" title="Turkey">Turkey</a>) the Greek cities, which included great centres such as <!--del_lnk--> Miletus and <!--del_lnk--> Halicarnassus, were unable to maintain their independence and came under the rule of the <a href="../../wp/p/Persian_Empire.htm" title="Persian Empire">Persian Empire</a> in the mid 6th century BC. In <!--del_lnk--> 499 BC the Greeks rose in the <!--del_lnk--> Ionian Revolt, and Athens and some other Greek cities went to their aid.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 490 BC the Persian Great King, <!--del_lnk--> Darius I, having suppressed the Ionian cities, sent a fleet to punish the Greeks. The Persians landed in <!--del_lnk--> Attica, but were defeated at the <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Marathon.htm" title="Battle of Marathon">Battle of Marathon</a> by a Greek army led by the Athenian general <!--del_lnk--> Miltiades. The burial mound of the Athenian dead can still be seen at Marathon.<p>Ten years later Darius' successor, <!--del_lnk--> Xerxes I, sent a much more powerful force by land. After being delayed by the Spartan King <!--del_lnk--> Leonidas I at <!--del_lnk--> Thermopylae, Xerxes advanced into Attica, where he captured and burned Athens. But the Athenians had evacuated the city by sea, and under <!--del_lnk--> Themistocles they defeated the Persian fleet at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Salamis. A year later, the Greeks, under the Spartan <!--del_lnk--> Pausanius, defeated the Persian army at <!--del_lnk--> Plataea.<p>The Athenian fleet then turned to chasing the Persians out of the Aegean Sea, and in <!--del_lnk--> 478 BC they captured <!--del_lnk--> Byzantium. In the course of doing so Athens enrolled all the island states and some mainland allies into an alliance, called the <!--del_lnk--> Delian League because its treasury was kept on the sacred island of <!--del_lnk--> Delos. The Spartans, although they had taken part in the war, withdrew into isolation after it, allowing Athens to establish unchallenged naval and commercial power.<p><a id="Dominance_of_Athens" name="Dominance_of_Athens"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Dominance of Athens</span></h2>
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<p>The Persian Wars ushered in a century of Athenian dominance of Greek affairs. Athens was the unchallenged master of the sea, and also the leading commercial power, although Corinth remained a serious rival. The leading statesman of this time was <a href="../../wp/p/Pericles.htm" title="Pericles">Pericles</a>, who used the tribute paid by the members of the Delian League to build the <a href="../../wp/p/Parthenon.htm" title="Parthenon">Parthenon</a> and other great monuments of classical Athens. By the mid 5th century the League had become an <!--del_lnk--> Athenian Empire, symbolized by the transfer of the League's treasury from Delos to the Parthenon in <!--del_lnk--> 454 BC.<p>The wealth of Athens attracted talented people from all over Greece, and also created a wealthy leisure class who became patrons of the arts. The Athenian state also sponsored learning and the arts, particularly architecture. Athens became the centre of Greek literature, philosophy (see <!--del_lnk--> Greek philosophy) and the arts (see <!--del_lnk--> Greek theatre). Some of the greatest names of Western cultural and intellectual history lived in Athens during this period: the dramatists <!--del_lnk--> Aeschylus, <!--del_lnk--> Aristophanes, <!--del_lnk--> Euripides, and <!--del_lnk--> Sophocles, the philosophers <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Plato.htm" title="Plato">Plato</a>, and <a href="../../wp/s/Socrates.htm" title="Socrates">Socrates</a>, the historians <a href="../../wp/h/Herodotus.htm" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Thucydides.htm" title="Thucydides">Thucydides</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> Xenophon, the poet <!--del_lnk--> Simonides and the sculptor <!--del_lnk--> Pheidias. The city became, in Pericles's words, "the school of Hellas".<p>The other Greek states at first accepted Athenian leadership in the continuing war against the Persians, but after the fall of the conservative politician <!--del_lnk--> Cimon in <!--del_lnk--> 461 BC, Athens became an increasingly open imperialist power. After the Greek victory at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of the Eurymedon in <!--del_lnk--> 466 BC, the Persians were no longer a threat, and some states, such as <!--del_lnk--> Naxos, tried to secede from the League, but were forced to submit. The new Athenian leaders, <a href="../../wp/p/Pericles.htm" title="Pericles">Pericles</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Ephialtes, let relations between Athens and Sparta deteriorate, and in <!--del_lnk--> 458 BC war broke out. After some years of inconclusive war a 30-year peace was signed between the <!--del_lnk--> Delian League and the <!--del_lnk--> Peloponnesian League (Sparta and her allies). This coincided with the last battle between the Greeks and the Persians, a sea battle off <!--del_lnk--> Salamis in <a href="../../wp/c/Cyprus.htm" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a>, followed by the <!--del_lnk--> Peace of Callias (<!--del_lnk--> 450 BC) between the Greeks and Persians.<p><a id="The_Peloponnesian_War" name="The_Peloponnesian_War"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The Peloponnesian War</span></h2>
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<p>In 431 BC war broke out again between Athens and Sparta and its allies. The immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War vary from account to account. However, three causes are fairly consistent among the ancient historians, namely <a href="../../wp/t/Thucydides.htm" title="Thucydides">Thucydides</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Plutarch. Prior to the war, Corinth and one of its colonies, <!--del_lnk--> Corcyra (modern-day <!--del_lnk--> Corfu), got into a dispute in which Athens intervened. Soon after, Corinth and Athens argued over control of <!--del_lnk--> Potidaea (near modern-day <!--del_lnk--> Nea Potidaia), eventually leading to an Athenian siege of Potidaea. Finally, Athens issued a series of economic decrees known as the <!--del_lnk--> "Megarian Decrees" that placed economic sanctions on the Megarian people. Athens was accused by the Peloponnesian allies of violating the <!--del_lnk--> Thirty Years Peace through all of the aforementioned actions, and Sparta formally declared war on Athens.<p>It should be noted that many historians consider these simply to be the immediate causes of the war. They would argue that the underlying cause was the growing resentment of Sparta and its allies at the dominance of Athens over Greek affairs. The war lasted 27 years, partly because Athens (a naval power) and Sparta (a land-based military power) found it difficult to come to grips with each other.<p>Sparta's initial strategy was to invade <!--del_lnk--> Attica, but the Athenians were able to retreat behind their walls. An outbreak of <!--del_lnk--> plague in the city during the siege caused heavy losses, including Pericles. At the same time the Athenian fleet landed troops in the Peloponnese, winning battles at <!--del_lnk--> Naupactus (429 BC) and <!--del_lnk--> Pylos (425 BC). But these tactics could bring neither side a decisive victory. After several years of inconclusive campaigning, the moderate Athenian leader <!--del_lnk--> Nicias concluded the <!--del_lnk--> Peace of Nicias (421 BC).<p>In 418 BC, however, hostility between Sparta and the Athenian ally <!--del_lnk--> Argos led to a resumption of fighting. At <!--del_lnk--> Mantinea Sparta defeated the combined armies of Athens and her allies. The resumption of fighting brought the war party, led by <a href="../../wp/a/Alcibiades.htm" title="Alcibiades">Alcibiades</a>, back to power in Athens. In 415 BC Alcibiades persuaded the Athenian Assembly to launch a major expedition against <!--del_lnk--> Syracuse, a Peloponnesian ally in <!--del_lnk--> Sicily. Though Nicias was a skeptic about the <!--del_lnk--> Sicilian Expedition, he was appointed along with Alcibiades to lead the expedition. Due to accusations against him, Alcibiades fled to Sparta where he persuaded Sparta to send aid to Syracuse. As a result, the expedition was a complete disaster and the whole expeditionary force was lost. Nicias was executed by his captors.<p>Sparta had now built a fleet (with the help of the Persians) to challenge Athenian naval supremacy, and had found a brilliant military leader in <!--del_lnk--> Lysander, who seized the strategic initiative by occupying the <!--del_lnk--> Hellespont, the source of Athens' grain imports. Threatened with starvation, Athens sent its last remaining fleet to confront Lysander, who decisively defeated them at <!--del_lnk--> Aegospotami (405 BC). The loss of her fleet threatened Athens with bankruptcy. In 404 BC Athens sued for peace, and Sparta dictated a predictably stern settlement: Athens lost her city walls, her fleet, and all of her overseas possessions. The totalitarian party took power in Athens with Spartan support.<p><a id="Spartan_and_Theban_dominance" name="Spartan_and_Theban_dominance"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Spartan and Theban dominance</span></h2>
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<p>The end of the Peloponnesian War left Sparta the master of Greece, but the narrow outlook of the Spartan warrior elite did not suit them to this role. Within a few years the democratic party regained power in Athens and other cities. In <!--del_lnk--> 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Argos, <!--del_lnk--> Thebes, and <!--del_lnk--> Corinth, the latter two formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the <a href="../../wp/c/Corinthian_War.htm" title="Corinthian War">Corinthian War</a>, which ended inconclusively in <!--del_lnk--> 387 BC. That same year Sparta shocked Greek opinion by concluding the <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of Antalcidas with Persia, by which they surrendered the Greek cities of Ionia and Cyprus; thus they reversed a hundred years of Greek victories against Persia. Sparta then tried to further weaken the power of Thebes, which led to a war where Thebes formed an alliance with the old enemy, Athens.<p>Then the Theban generals <a href="../../wp/e/Epaminondas.htm" title="Epaminondas">Epaminondas</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Pelopidas won a decisive victory at <!--del_lnk--> Leuctra (<!--del_lnk--> 371 BC). The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of Theban dominance, but Athens herself recovered much of her former power because the supremacy of Thebes was short-lived. With the death of Epaminondas at <!--del_lnk--> Mantinea (<!--del_lnk--> 362 BC) the city lost its greatest leader, and his successors blundered into an ineffectual ten-year war with <!--del_lnk--> Phocis. In <!--del_lnk--> 346 BC the Thebans appealed to <!--del_lnk--> Philip II of Macedon to help them against the Phocians, thus drawing <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedon</a> into Greek affairs for the first time.<p><a id="The_rise_of_Macedon" name="The_rise_of_Macedon"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The rise of Macedon</span></h2>
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<p>The Kingdom of <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedon</a> was formed in the 7th century BC. They played little part in Greek politics before the 5th century BC. In the beginning of the 4th century BC, King Philip of Macedon, an ambitious man who had been educated in Thebes, wanted to play a larger role. In particular, he wanted to be accepted as the new leader of Greece in recovering the freedom of the Greek cities of Asia from Persian rule. By seizing the Greek cities of <!--del_lnk--> Amphipolis, <!--del_lnk--> Methone and <!--del_lnk--> Potidaea, he gained control of the gold and silver mines of Macedonia. This gave him the resources to realize his ambitions.<div class="thumb tright">
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<p>Philip established Macedonian dominance over <!--del_lnk--> Thessaly (<!--del_lnk--> 352 BC) and <!--del_lnk--> Thrace, and by <!--del_lnk--> 348 BC he controlled everything north of <!--del_lnk--> Thermopylae. He used his great wealth to bribe Greek politicians, creating a "Macedonian party" in every Greek city. His intervention in the war between Thebes and Phocis brought him great recognition, and gave him his opportunity to become a power in Greek affairs. Against him the Athenian leader <a href="../../wp/d/Demosthenes.htm" title="Demosthenes">Demosthenes</a>, in a series of famous speeches (<!--del_lnk--> philippics) roused the Athenians to resist Philip's advance.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 339 BC Thebes and Athens formed an alliance to resist Philip's growing influence. Philip struck first, advancing into Greece and defeating the allies at <!--del_lnk--> Chaeronea in <!--del_lnk--> 338 BC. This traditionally marks the start of the decline of the city-state institution, though they mostly survived as independent states until <!--del_lnk--> Roman times.<p><!--del_lnk--> Philip tried to win over the Athenians by flattery and gifts, but these efforts met with limited success. He organized the cities into the <!--del_lnk--> League of Corinth, and announced that he would lead an invasion of Persia to liberate the Greek cities and avenge the Persian invasions of the previous century. But before he could do so he was assassinated (<!--del_lnk--> 336 BC).<p><a id="The_conquests_of_Alexander" name="The_conquests_of_Alexander"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The conquests of Alexander</span></h2>
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<div style="width:187px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8440.jpg.htm" title="The statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki sea front."><img alt="The statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki sea front." height="247" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Ac_alexanderstatue.jpg" src="../../images/150/15079.jpg" width="185" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Philip was succeeded by his 20-year-old son <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander</a>, who immediately set out to carry out his father's plans. When he saw that Athens had fallen, he wanted to bring back the tradition of Athens by destroying the Persian King. He travelled to Corinth where the assembled Greek cities recognized him as leader of the Greeks, then set off north to assemble his forces. The core structure of his army was the hardy Macedonian mountain-fighter, but he bolstered his numbers and diversified his army with levies from all corners of Greece. He enriched his tactics and formation with Greek strategem ranging from Theban cavalry structure to Spartan guerilla tactics. His engineering and manufacturing were largely derived of Greek origin – involving everything from Archimedal siege-weaponry to Ampipholian ship-reinforcement. But while Alexander was campaigning in Thrace, he heard that the Greek cities had rebelled. He swept south again, captured Thebes, and razed the city to the ground. He left only one building standing, the house of Pindar, a poet who had written in favour of Alexander's ancestor, Alexander the First. This acted as a symbol and warning to the Greek cities that his power could no longer be resisted, whilst reminding them he would preserve and respect their culture if they were obedient.<p>In <!--del_lnk--> 334 BC Alexander crossed into Asia, and defeated the Persians at the river <!--del_lnk--> Granicus. This gave him control of the Ionian coast, and he made a triumphal procession through the liberated Greek cities. After settling affairs in <!--del_lnk--> Anatolia, he advanced south through <!--del_lnk--> Cilicia into <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a>, where he defeated <!--del_lnk--> Darius III at <!--del_lnk--> Issus (<!--del_lnk--> 333 BC). He then advanced through <!--del_lnk--> Phoenicia to <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, which he captured with little resistance, the Egyptians welcoming him as a liberator from Persian oppression, and the prophesized son of <!--del_lnk--> Amun.<p>Darius was now ready to make peace and Alexander could have returned home in triumph, but Alexander was determined to conquer Persia and make himself the ruler of the world. He advanced north-east through Syria and <a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a>, and defeated Darius again at <!--del_lnk--> Gaugamela (<!--del_lnk--> 331 BC). Darius fled and was killed by his own followers, and Alexander found himself the master of the Persian Empire, occupying <!--del_lnk--> Susa and <!--del_lnk--> Persepolis without resistance.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/84/8441.jpg.htm" title="Map of Alexander the Great's Greek empire."><img alt="Map of Alexander the Great's Greek empire." height="120" longdesc="/wiki/Image:MacedonEmpire.jpg" src="../../images/150/15080.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Meanwhile the Greek cities were making renewed efforts to escape from Macedonian control. At <!--del_lnk--> Megalopolis in <!--del_lnk--> 331 BC, Alexander's regent <!--del_lnk--> Antipater defeated the Spartans, who had refused to join the Corinthian League or recognize Macedonian supremacy.<p>Alexander pressed on, advancing through what are now <a href="../../wp/a/Afghanistan.htm" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> and <a href="../../wp/p/Pakistan.htm" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> to the <!--del_lnk--> Indus river valley, and by <!--del_lnk--> 326 BC he had reached <!--del_lnk--> Punjab. He might well have advanced down the <!--del_lnk--> Ganges to <!--del_lnk--> Bengal had not his army, convinced they were at the end of the world, refused to go any further. Alexander reluctantly turned back, and died of a fever in <!--del_lnk--> Babylon in <!--del_lnk--> 323 BC.<p>Alexander's empire broke up soon after his death, but his conquests permanently changed the Greek world. Thousands of Greeks travelled with him or after him to settle in the new Greek cities he had founded as he advanced, the most important being <!--del_lnk--> Alexandria in <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>. Greek-speaking kingdoms in Egypt, Syria, Persia and Bactria were established. The knowledge and cultures of east and west began to permeate and interact. The <!--del_lnk--> Hellenistic age had begun.<p><a id="Society" name="Society"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Society</span></h2>
<p>The distinguishing features of Ancient Greek society were the division between free and slave, the differing roles of men and women, the relative lack of status distinctions based on birth, and the importance of religion. The way of life of the Athenians was common in the Greek world compared to Sparta's special system.<p><a id="Social_Structure" name="Social_Structure"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Social Structure</span></h3>
<p>Only free people could be citizens entitled to the full protection of the law in a <!--del_lnk--> city-state. In most city-states, unlike <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Rome</a>, social prominence did not allow special rights. For example, being born in a certain family generally brought no special privileges. Sometimes families controlled public religious functions, but this ordinarily did not give any extra power in the government. In <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a>, the population was divided into four social classes based on wealth. People could change classes if they made more money. In <!--del_lnk--> Sparta, all male citizens were given the title of "equal" if they finished their education. However, Spartan kings, who served as the city-state's dual military and religious leaders, came from two families. <!--del_lnk--> Slaves had no power or status. They had the right to have a family and own property, however they had no political rights. By <!--del_lnk--> 600 BC <!--del_lnk--> chattel slavery had spread in <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a>. By the <!--del_lnk--> 5th century BC slaves made up one-third of the total population in some city-states. Slaves outside of Sparta almost never revolted because they were made up of too many nationalities and were too scattered to organize.<p>Most families owned slaves as household servants and labourers, and even poor families might have owned a few slaves. Owners were not allowed to beat or kill their slaves. Owners often promised to free slaves in the future to encourage slaves to work hard. Unlike in Rome, slaves who were freed did not become citizens. Instead, they were mixed into the population of <i><!--del_lnk--> metics</i>, which included people from foreign countries or other city-states who were officially allowed to live in the state.<p>City-states also legally owned slaves. These public slaves had a larger measure of independence than slaves owned by families, living on their own and performing specialized tasks. In Athens, public slaves were trained to look out for counterfeit coinage, while temple slaves acted as servants of the temple's deity.<p>Sparta had a special type of slaves called <i><!--del_lnk--> helots</i>. Helots were Greek war captives owned by the state and assigned to families. Helots raised food and did household chores so that women could concentrate on raising strong children while men could devote their time to training as <!--del_lnk--> hoplites. Their masters treated them harshly and helots often revolted.<p><a id="Way_of_Life" name="Way_of_Life"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Way of Life</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15081.jpg.htm" title="A Nubian slave of Ptolemaic Egypt (Louvre museum)"><img alt="A Nubian slave of Ptolemaic Egypt (Louvre museum)" height="360" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Black_slave_Louvre_Br361.jpg" src="../../images/150/15081.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>For a long time, the way of life in the Greek city-states remained the same. People living in cities resided in low <!--del_lnk--> apartment buildings or single-family homes, depending on their wealth. Residences, public buildings, and temples were situated around the <!--del_lnk--> agora. Citizens also lived in small villages and farmhouses scattered across the state's countryside. In Athens, more people lived outside the city walls than inside (it is estimated that from a total population of four hundred thousand people, 160,000 people lived inside the city, which is a large rate of urbanization for a pre-industrial society).<p>A common Greek household was simple if compared to a modern one, containing bedrooms, storage rooms, and a kitchen situated around a small inner courtyard. Its average size, about 230 square metres in the 4th century, was much larger than the houses of other ancient civilizations.<p>A household consisted of a single set of parents and their children, but generally no relatives. Men were responsible for supporting the family by work or investments in land and commerce. Women were responsible for managing the household's supplies and overseeing slaves, who fetched water in jugs from public <!--del_lnk--> fountains, cooked, cleaned, and looked after babies. Men kept separate rooms for entertaining guests because male visitors were not permitted in rooms where women and children spent most of their time. Wealthy men would sometimes invite friends over for a <i><!--del_lnk--> symposium</i>. Light came from <a href="../../wp/o/Olive_oil.htm" title="Olive oil">olive</a> <!--del_lnk--> oil lamps, while heat came from <!--del_lnk--> charcoal <!--del_lnk--> braziers. Furniture was simple and sparse, which included wooden chairs, tables, and beds.<p>The majority of Greeks worked in <!--del_lnk--> agriculture, probably 80% of the entire population, which is similar to all pre-industrial civilizations. The soil in Greece is poor and rainfall is very unpredictable. Research suggests the climate has changed little since ancient times, so frequent weeding and turning of soil was needed. Oxen might have helped with ploughing, however most tasks would have been done by hand. The Greek farmer would ideally plan for a surplus of crops to contribute to feasts and to buy pottery, fish, salt and metals.<p>Ancient Greek food was simple as well. Poor people mainly ate <a href="../../wp/b/Barley.htm" title="Barley">barley</a> <!--del_lnk--> porridge flavoured with <a href="../../wp/o/Onion.htm" title="Onion">onions</a>, <!--del_lnk--> vegetables, and <a href="../../wp/c/Cheese.htm" title="Cheese">cheese</a> or olive oil. Few people ever ate meat regularly, except for the free distributions from <!--del_lnk--> animal sacrifices at state festivals. Sheep when eaten was mutton: "<!--del_lnk--> Philochorus [3rd c.] relates that a prohibition was issued at Athens against anyone tasting lamb which had not been shorn. Bakeries sold fresh <a href="../../wp/b/Bread.htm" title="Bread">bread</a> daily, while small stands offered snacks. <a href="../../wp/w/Wine.htm" title="Wine">Wine</a> diluted with <a href="../../wp/w/Water.htm" title="Water">water</a> was a favoured beverage.<p>Greek clothing changed little over time. Both men and women wore loose <!--del_lnk--> peplos and <!--del_lnk--> chitons. The tunics often had colourful designs and were worn cinched with a belt. People wore cloaks and hats in cold weather, and in warm weather <!--del_lnk--> sandals replaced <!--del_lnk--> leather <!--del_lnk--> boots. Women wore <a href="../../wp/j/Jewellery.htm" title="Jewellery">jewellery</a> and <!--del_lnk--> cosmetics - especially powdered lead, which gave them a pale complexion. Men grew beards until <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a> created a vogue for <!--del_lnk--> shaving.<p>Medicine in Ancient Greece was limited if compared to modern medicine. <a href="../../wp/h/Hippocrates.htm" title="Hippocrates">Hippocrates</a> helped separate superstition from medical treatment in the 5th century BC. Herbal remedies were used to reduce pain, and doctors were able to perform some surgery. But they had no cure for infections, so even healthy people could die quickly from disease at any age.<p>To keep fit and to be ready for <!--del_lnk--> military service, men exercised daily. Almost every city-state had at least one <!--del_lnk--> gymnasium, a combination exercise building, running track, bathing facility, lecture hall, and park. In most cities (other than Sparta) gymnasia were open only to males, and exercise was taken in the <!--del_lnk--> nude. City-state <!--del_lnk--> festivals provided great amounts of entertainment. Gods were honoured with competitions in <a href="../../wp/m/Music.htm" title="Music">music</a>, <a href="../../wp/d/Drama.htm" title="Drama">drama</a>, and <a href="../../wp/p/Poetry.htm" title="Poetry">poetry</a>. Athenians boasted that their city hosted a festival nearly every other day. Huge Panhellenic festivals were held at <!--del_lnk--> Olympia, <!--del_lnk--> Delphi, <!--del_lnk--> Nemea and <!--del_lnk--> Isthmia. Athletes and musicians who won these competitions became rich and famous. The most popular and expensive competition was <!--del_lnk--> chariot racing.<p><a id="Education" name="Education"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Education</span></h3>
<p>For most of Greek history, education was private, except in Sparta. During the <!--del_lnk--> Hellenistic period, some city-states established public schools. Only wealthy families could afford a teacher. Boys learned how to read, write and quote literature. They also learned to sing and play one musical instrument and were trained as athletes for military service. They studied not for a job but to become an effective citizen. Girls also learned to read, write and do simple <a href="../../wp/a/Arithmetic.htm" title="Arithmetic">arithmetic</a> so they could manage the household. They almost never received education after childhood.<p>A small number of boys continued their education after childhood, one example is the Spartans (with military education). A crucial part of a wealthy teenager's education was a <!--del_lnk--> loving mentor relationship with an elder. The teenager learned by watching his mentor talking about politics in the <i>agora</i>, helping him perform his public duties, exercising with him in the gymnasium and attending symposia with him. The richest students continued their education to <!--del_lnk--> college, and went to a <a href="../../wp/u/University.htm" title="University">university</a> in a large city. These universities were organized by famous teachers. Some of Athens' greatest universities included the <!--del_lnk--> Lyceum and the <!--del_lnk--> Academy.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Ancient Rome</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.Ancient_History_Classical_History_and_Mythology.htm">Ancient History, Classical History and Mythology</a></h3>
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<div style="width:402px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15082.jpg.htm" title="The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed."><img alt="The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed." height="153" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Forum_Romanum_panorama_2.jpg" src="../../images/150/15082.jpg" width="400" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15082.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed.</div>
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<p><b>Ancient Rome</b> was a <a href="../../wp/c/Civilization.htm" title="Civilization">civilization</a> that grew from a humble city-state founded on the <!--del_lnk--> Italian Peninsula circa the <!--del_lnk--> 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean. In its twelve-century existence, the Roman civilization shifted from a <a href="../../wp/m/Monarchy.htm" title="Monarchy">monarchy</a> to an <a href="../../wp/o/Oligarchy.htm" title="Oligarchy">oligarchic</a> <!--del_lnk--> republic to a vast <!--del_lnk--> empire. It came to dominate <!--del_lnk--> Western Europe and the entire area surrounding the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a> through <a href="../../wp/i/Invasion.htm" title="Invasion">conquest</a> and <!--del_lnk--> assimilation. Nonetheless, a number of factors led to the eventual <!--del_lnk--> decline of the Roman Empire. The <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Roman_Empire.htm" title="Western Roman Empire">western half of the empire</a>, including <!--del_lnk--> Hispania, <!--del_lnk--> Gaul, and Italy, eventually broke into independent kingdoms in the <a href="../../wp/5/5th_century.htm" title="5th century">5th century</a>; the eastern empire, governed from <!--del_lnk--> Constantinople, is usually referred to as the <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a> after <!--del_lnk--> 476, the traditional date for the "fall of Rome" and for the subsequent onset of the <!--del_lnk--> Early Middle Ages, also known as the <a href="../../wp/d/Dark_Ages.htm" title="Dark Ages">Dark Ages</a>.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15083.gif.htm" title="Area under Roman control ██ Roman Republic ██ Roman Empire ██ Western Empire ██ Eastern Empire "><img alt="Area under Roman control ██ Roman Republic ██ Roman Empire ██ Western Empire ██ Eastern Empire " height="171" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Roman_Republic_Empire_map.gif" src="../../images/150/15083.gif" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15083.gif.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Area under Roman control <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#a64; color:#a64;">██</span> <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic</span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#a6a; color:#a6a;">██</span> <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a></span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#48a; color:#48a;">██</span> <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Roman_Empire.htm" title="Western Roman Empire">Western Empire</a></span> <span style="margin:0px; font-size:90%; display:block;"><span style="border:none; background-color:#bc4; color:#bc4;">██</span> <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Eastern Roman Empire">Eastern Empire</a></span></div>
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<p>Roman civilization is often grouped into "<!--del_lnk--> classical antiquity" with <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">ancient Greece</a>, a civilization that inspired much of the <!--del_lnk--> culture of ancient Rome. Ancient Rome contributed greatly to the development of <a href="../../wp/l/Law.htm" title="Law">law</a>, <a href="../../wp/w/War.htm" title="War">war</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Art.htm" title="Art">art</a>, <a href="../../wp/l/Literature.htm" title="Literature">literature</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Architecture.htm" title="Architecture">architecture</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Technology.htm" title="Technology">technology</a> and <a href="../../wp/l/Language.htm" title="Language">language</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> Western world, and its <!--del_lnk--> history continues to have a major influence on the world today. Due to the momentous advances it achieved, as well as the tremendous legacy it left, Rome is widely viewed as one of the greatest civilizations in history.<p>
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</script><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<p><a id="Legend" name="Legend"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Legend</span></h3>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/114/11439.jpg.htm" title="According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf."><img alt="According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf." height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:She-wolf_suckles_Romulus_and_Remus.jpg" src="../../images/150/15084.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/114/11439.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> According to legend, <!--del_lnk--> Rome was founded in <!--del_lnk--> 753 BC by <!--del_lnk--> Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.</div>
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<p>In Roman legend, Rome was <!--del_lnk--> founded on <!--del_lnk--> April 21, <!--del_lnk--> 753 BC by twin descendants of the <!--del_lnk--> Trojan prince <!--del_lnk--> Aeneas, <!--del_lnk--> Romulus and Remus. Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over which of them was to reign and became the first of seven <!--del_lnk--> Kings of Rome, as well as the source of the city's name.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Livy1"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines.<p><a id="Monarchy" name="Monarchy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Monarchy</span></h3>
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<p>The city of <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a> grew from settlements around a ford on the river <!--del_lnk--> Tiber, a crossroads of traffic and trade. According to <a href="../../wp/a/Archaeology.htm" title="Archaeology">archaeological</a> evidence, the village of Rome was probably founded sometime in the <!--del_lnk--> 9th century BC by members of two central Italian tribes, the <!--del_lnk--> Latins and the <!--del_lnk--> Sabines, on the <!--del_lnk--> Palatine, <!--del_lnk--> Capitoline, and <!--del_lnk--> Quirinal Hills. The <!--del_lnk--> Etruscans, who had previously settled to the north in <!--del_lnk--> Etruria, seem to have established political control in the region by the late <!--del_lnk--> 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic and monarchial elite. The Etruscans apparently lost power in the area by the late <!--del_lnk--> 6th century BC, and at this point, the original Latin and Sabine tribes reinvented their government by creating a <!--del_lnk--> republic, with much greater restraints on the ability of rulers to exercise power.<p><a id="Republic" name="Republic"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Republic</span></h3>
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<div style="width:231px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15085.jpg.htm" title="Marius, a Roman general and politician who dramatically reformed the Roman military."><img alt="Marius, a Roman general and politician who dramatically reformed the Roman military." height="298" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Marius_Carthage.jpg" src="../../images/150/15085.jpg" width="229" /></a><div class="thumbcaption"><!--del_lnk--> Marius, a Roman general and politician who dramatically reformed the <!--del_lnk--> Roman military.</div>
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<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic was established around <!--del_lnk--> 509 BC, according to later writers such as <!--del_lnk--> Livy, when the last of the seven kings of Rome, <!--del_lnk--> Tarquin the Proud, was deposed, and a system based on annually-elected <!--del_lnk--> magistrates and various representative assemblies was established. The most important magistrates were the two <!--del_lnk--> consuls, who together exercised executive authority in the form of <i><!--del_lnk--> imperium</i>, or military command. The consuls had to contend with the <!--del_lnk--> Senate, which was initially an advisory council of the ranking nobility, or <!--del_lnk--> patricians, but grew in size and power over time. Other magistracies in the Republic include praetors, aediles, and quaestors. The magistracies were originally restricted to patricians, but were later opened to common people, or <!--del_lnk--> plebeians.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Livy2"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> Republican voting assemblies included the <i>comitia centuriata</i> and the <i>comitia tributa</i>.<p>The Romans gradually subdued the other peoples on the Italian peninsula, including the <!--del_lnk--> Etruscans. The last threat to Roman <!--del_lnk--> hegemony in Italy came when <!--del_lnk--> Tarentum, a major <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greek</a> colony, enlisted the aid of <!--del_lnk--> Pyrrhus of Epirus in <!--del_lnk--> 282 BC, but this effort failed as well. The Romans secured their conquests by founding Roman colonies in strategic areas, establishing stable control over the region.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Tuomisto1"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> In the second half of the <!--del_lnk--> 3rd century BC, Rome clashed with <!--del_lnk--> Carthage in the first of three <!--del_lnk--> Punic Wars. These wars resulted in Rome's first overseas conquests, of <!--del_lnk--> Sicily and <!--del_lnk--> Hispania, and the rise of Rome as a significant imperial power. After defeating the <a href="../../wp/m/Macedon.htm" title="Macedon">Macedonian</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Seleucid Empires in the <!--del_lnk--> 2nd century BC, the Romans became the dominant people of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a>.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Bagnall"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span><p>But foreign dominance led to internal strife. Senators became rich at the <!--del_lnk--> provinces' expense, but soldiers, who were mostly small farmers, were away from home longer and could not maintain their land, and the increased reliance on foreign <!--del_lnk--> slaves reduced the availability of paid work. Income from war booty, <a href="../../wp/m/Mercantilism.htm" title="Mercantilism">mercantilism</a> in the new provinces, and <!--del_lnk--> tax farming created new economic opportunity and wealth among the lower classes, forming a new class of <!--del_lnk--> merchants, the <!--del_lnk--> equestrians. Though the equestrians had vast financial resources at their disposal, they still found themselves counted among the lower-class <!--del_lnk--> plebeians, and therefore severely restricted in terms of political power. The Senate squabbled perpetually, repeatedly blocking important <!--del_lnk--> land reforms and refusing to give the equestrian class a larger say in the government. Violent gangs of the urban unemployed, controlled by rival Senators, intimidated the electorate through violence. The situation came to a head in the late <!--del_lnk--> 2nd century BC under the <!--del_lnk--> Gracchi brothers, a pair of <!--del_lnk--> tribunes who attempted to pass land reform legislation that would redistribute the major patrician landholdings among the plebeians. Both brothers were killed, but the Senate passed some of their reforms in an attempt to placate the growing unrest of the plebeian and equestrian classes. The denial of <!--del_lnk--> Roman citizenship to allied Italian cities led to the <!--del_lnk--> Social War of <!--del_lnk--> 91–<!--del_lnk--> 88 BC. The military reforms of <!--del_lnk--> Marius resulted in soldiers often having more loyalty to their commander than to the city, and a powerful general could hold the city and Senate ransom. This culminated in <!--del_lnk--> Sulla's brutal <!--del_lnk--> dictatorship of <!--del_lnk--> 81-<!--del_lnk--> 79 BC. <span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Scullard1"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span><p>In the mid-<a href="../../wp/1/1st_century_BC.htm" title="1st century BC">1st century BC</a>, three men, <a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Pompey, and <!--del_lnk--> Crassus, formed a secret pact—the <!--del_lnk--> First Triumvirate—to control the Republic. After Caesar's <!--del_lnk--> conquest of Gaul, a stand-off between Caesar and the Senate led to <!--del_lnk--> civil war, with Pompey leading the Senate's forces. Caesar emerged victorious, and was made <!--del_lnk--> dictator for life.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_meier"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> In <!--del_lnk--> 44 BC, Caesar was <!--del_lnk--> assassinated by senators fearing that Caesar sought to restore the <!--del_lnk--> monarchy, and a <!--del_lnk--> Second Triumvirate, consisting of Caesar's designated heir, <a href="../../wp/a/Augustus.htm" title="Augustus">Augustus</a>, and his former supporters, <a href="../../wp/m/Mark_Antony.htm" title="Mark Antony">Mark Antony</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Lepidus, took power. However, this alliance soon descended into a struggle for dominance. Lepidus was <!--del_lnk--> exiled, and when Augustus defeated Antony and <a href="../../wp/c/Cleopatra_VII.htm" title="Cleopatra VII of Egypt">Cleopatra</a> of <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Actium in <!--del_lnk--> 31 BC, he became the undisputed ruler of Rome.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Scullard2"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span><p><a id="Empire" name="Empire"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Empire</span></h3>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15086.png.htm" title="The Roman Empire under Trajan (98 - 117)."><img alt="The Roman Empire under Trajan (98 - 117)." height="240" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Roman_Empire_Map.png" src="../../images/150/15086.png" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15086.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> under <!--del_lnk--> Trajan (98 - 117).</div>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15087.png.htm" title="The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent in year 116."><img alt="The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent in year 116." height="175" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LocationRomanEmpire.png" src="../../images/150/15087.png" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15087.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> reached its greatest extent in year 116.</div>
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<p>With his enemies defeated, <a href="../../wp/a/Augustus.htm" title="Augustus">Augustus</a> assumed almost absolute power, retaining only a pretense of the Republican form of government. His designated successor, <!--del_lnk--> Tiberius, took power without bloodshed, establishing the <!--del_lnk--> Julio-Claudian dynasty, which lasted until the death of <!--del_lnk--> Nero in <!--del_lnk--> 68. The territorial expansion of what was now the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> continued, and the state remained secure, despite a series of emperors widely viewed as depraved and corrupt. Their rule was followed by the <!--del_lnk--> Flavian dynasty.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_suetonius"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> During the reign of the "<!--del_lnk--> Five Good Emperors" (<!--del_lnk--> 96–<!--del_lnk--> 180), the Empire reached its territorial, economic, and cultural <!--del_lnk--> zenith. The state was secure from both internal and external threats, and the Empire prospered during the <!--del_lnk--> Pax Romana ("Roman Peace"). With the conquest of <!--del_lnk--> Dacia during the reign of <!--del_lnk--> Trajan, the Empire reached the peak of its territorial expansion; Rome's dominion now spanned 2.5 million square miles (6.5 million <!--del_lnk--> km²).<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Atlas1"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span><p>The period between <!--del_lnk--> 180 and <!--del_lnk--> 235 was dominated by the <!--del_lnk--> Severan dynasty, and saw several incompetent rulers, such as <a href="../../wp/e/Elagabalus.htm" title="Elagabalus">Elagabalus</a>. This and the increasing influence of the army on imperial succession led to a long period of imperial collapse known as the <!--del_lnk--> Crisis of the Third Century. The crisis was ended by the more competent rule of <!--del_lnk--> Diocletian, who in <!--del_lnk--> 293 divided the Empire into an eastern and western half ruled by a <!--del_lnk--> tetrarchy of two co-emperors and their two junior colleagues. The various co-rulers of the Empire competed and fought for supremacy for more than half a century. In <!--del_lnk--> 330, Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Constantine I firmly established the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire in <!--del_lnk--> Byzantium, and the Empire was permanently divided into the Eastern Roman Empire (later known as the <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a>) and the <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Roman_Empire.htm" title="Western Roman Empire">Western Roman Empire</a> in <!--del_lnk--> 364.<p>The Western Empire was constantly harassed by <!--del_lnk--> barbarian invasions, and the gradual <!--del_lnk--> decline of the Roman Empire continued over the centuries. Rome was eventually 'taken hostage' by barbarians, after they had been promised land. Their initial plan was to stop anything and anyone entering or leaving the city until they were given land to settle in. However, after several betrayals, they grew angry and took the city for their own. In <!--del_lnk--> 410, the city of Rome itself was sacked, and on <!--del_lnk--> September 4, <!--del_lnk--> 476, the Germanic chief <!--del_lnk--> Odoacer forced the last Roman emperor in the west, <a href="../../wp/r/Romulus_Augustus.htm" title="Romulus Augustus">Romulus Augustus</a>, to abdicate. Having lasted for approximately 1200 years, the rule of Rome in the <!--del_lnk--> West came to an end.<p><a id="Society" name="Society"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Society</span></h2>
<p>Life in ancient Rome revolved around the city of <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a>, located on <!--del_lnk--> seven hills. The city had a vast number of <!--del_lnk--> monumental <!--del_lnk--> structures like the <!--del_lnk--> Colosseum, the <!--del_lnk--> Forum of Trajan and the <!--del_lnk--> Pantheon. It had <!--del_lnk--> fountains with fresh drinking-water supplied by hundreds of miles of <!--del_lnk--> aqueducts, <!--del_lnk--> theaters, <!--del_lnk--> gymnasiums, <!--del_lnk--> bath complexes complete with <!--del_lnk--> libraries and shops, marketplaces, and functional sewers. Throughout the territory under the control of ancient Rome, <!--del_lnk--> residential <a href="../../wp/a/Architecture.htm" title="Architecture">architecture</a> ranged from very modest <a href="../../wp/h/House.htm" title="House">houses</a> to <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_villa.htm" title="Roman villa">country villas</a>. In the <!--del_lnk--> capital city of Rome, there were <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">imperial</a> <!--del_lnk--> residences on the elegant <!--del_lnk--> Palatine Hill, from which the word "palace" is derived. The low and middle classes lived in the city centre, packed into <!--del_lnk--> apartments, which were almost like modern <!--del_lnk--> ghettos.<p>The imperial city of Rome was the largest urban centre of its time, with a population well in excess of one million people (about the size of London in the early 19th century, when London was the largest city in the world), with some high-end estimates of 3.5 million and low-end estimates of 450,000. The public spaces in Rome resounded with such a din of hooves and clatter of iron <!--del_lnk--> chariot wheels that <a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a> had once proposed a ban on chariot traffic at night. Historical estimates indicate that around 20 percent of population under the jurisdiction of the ancient Rome (32% in Roman Italy) lived in innumerable urban centers, with population of 10,000 and more and several military settlements, a very high rate of urbanization by pre-industrial standards. Most of these centers had a <!--del_lnk--> forum and temples and same type of buildings, on a smaller scale, as found in Rome.<p><a id="Government" name="Government"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Government</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/76/7620.jpg.htm" title="Bust of Julius Caesar, whose rise to power and assassination set the stage for Augustus to establish himself as the first Princeps."><img alt="Bust of Julius Caesar, whose rise to power and assassination set the stage for Augustus to establish himself as the first Princeps." height="333" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Julius_caesar.jpg" src="../../images/150/15088.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/76/7620.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Bust of <a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a>, whose rise to power and assassination set the stage for <a href="../../wp/a/Augustus.htm" title="Augustus">Augustus</a> to establish himself as the first <i><!--del_lnk--> Princeps</i>.</div>
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<p>Initially, Rome was ruled by elected <!--del_lnk--> kings. The exact nature of the king's power is uncertain. He may have held near-absolute power, or may also have merely been the <!--del_lnk--> chief executive of the <!--del_lnk--> Senate and the people. At least in military matters, the king's authority (<i><!--del_lnk--> Imperium</i>) was likely absolute. He was also the head of the <!--del_lnk--> state religion. In addition to the authority of the King, there were three administrative assemblies: the <!--del_lnk--> Senate, which acted as an advisory body for the King; the <!--del_lnk--> Comitia Curiata, which could endorse and ratify <a href="../../wp/l/Law.htm" title="Law">laws</a> suggested by the King; and the <!--del_lnk--> Comitia Calata, which was an assembly of the priestly college which could assemble the people in order to bear witness to certain acts, hear proclamations, and declare the <!--del_lnk--> feast and holiday schedule for the next month.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> class struggles of the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic resulted in an unusual mixture of <a href="../../wp/d/Democracy.htm" title="Democracy">democracy</a> and <a href="../../wp/o/Oligarchy.htm" title="Oligarchy">oligarchy</a>. Roman laws traditionally could only be passed by a vote of the Popular assembly (<!--del_lnk--> Comitia Tributa). Likewise, candidates for public positions had to run for election by the people. However, the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Senate represented an oligarchic <!--del_lnk--> institution, which acted as an advisory body.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Tuomisto2"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> In the Republic, the Senate held great authority (<i>auctoritas</i>), but no actual legislative power; it was technically only an advisory council. However, as the Senators were individually very influential, it was difficult to accomplish anything against the collective will of the Senate. New Senators were chosen from among the most accomplished <!--del_lnk--> patricians by <!--del_lnk--> Censors (<i>Censura</i>), who could also remove a Senator from his office if he was found "morally corrupt"; a charge that could include <!--del_lnk--> bribery or, as under <!--del_lnk--> Cato the Elder, embracing one's wife in public. Later, under the reforms of the dictator <!--del_lnk--> Sulla, <!--del_lnk--> Quaestors were made automatic members of the Senate, though most of his reforms did not survive.<p>The Republic had no fixed <!--del_lnk--> bureaucracy, and collected <!--del_lnk--> taxes through the practice of <!--del_lnk--> tax farming. Government positions such as <!--del_lnk--> quaestor, <!--del_lnk--> aedile, or <!--del_lnk--> praefect were funded from the office-holder's private finances. In order to prevent any citizen from gaining too much power, new <!--del_lnk--> magistrates were elected annually and had to share power with a colleague. For example, under normal conditions, the highest authority was held by two <!--del_lnk--> consuls. In an emergency, a temporary <!--del_lnk--> dictator could be appointed.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Tuomisto3"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> Throughout the Republic, the administrative system was revised several times to comply with new demands. In the end, it proved inefficient for controlling the ever-expanding dominion of Rome, contributing to the establishment of the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>.<p>In the early Empire, the pretense of a republican form of government was maintained. The <!--del_lnk--> Roman Emperor was portrayed as only a '<!--del_lnk--> princeps', or "first citizen", and the Senate gained legislative power and all legal authority previously held by the popular assemblies. However, the rule of the emperors became increasingly <!--del_lnk--> autocratic over time, and the Senate was reduced to an advisory body appointed by the emperor. The Empire did not inherit a set bureaucracy from the Republic, since the Republic did not have any permanent governmental structures apart from the Senate. The Emperor appointed assistants and advisers, but the state lacked many institutions, such as a centrally-planned <!--del_lnk--> budget. Some historians have cited this as a significant reason for the <!--del_lnk--> decline of the Roman Empire.<p>The territory of the Empire was divided into <!--del_lnk--> provinces. The number of provinces increased with time, both as new territories were conquered and as provinces were divided into smaller units to discourage <!--del_lnk--> rebellions by powerful local rulers.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Atlas2"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> Upon the rise of <a href="../../wp/a/Augustus.htm" title="Augustus">Augustus</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> Principate, the provinces were divided into imperial and senatorial provinces, depending on which institution had the right to select the governor. During the <!--del_lnk--> Tetrarchy, the provinces of the empire were divided into 12 <!--del_lnk--> dioceses, each headed by a <i><!--del_lnk--> praetor vicarius</i>. The civilian and military authority were separated, with civilian matters still administered by the governor, but with military command transferred to a <i><!--del_lnk--> dux</i>.<p><a id="Law" name="Law"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Law</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>The roots of the legal principles and practices of the ancient Romans may be traced to the law of the <!--del_lnk--> twelve tables (from <!--del_lnk--> 449 BC) to the <!--del_lnk--> codification of Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Justinian I (around <!--del_lnk--> 530). Roman law as preserved in Justinian's codes continued into the <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a>, and formed the basis of similar codifications in continental <!--del_lnk--> Western Europe. Roman law continued, in a broader sense, to be applied throughout most of Europe until the end of the <a href="../../wp/1/17th_century.htm" title="17th century">17th century</a>.<p>The major divisions of the law of ancient Rome, as contained within the Justinian and Theodosian law codes, consisted of <i>Ius Civile</i>, <i>Ius Gentium</i>, and <i>Ius Naturale</i>. The <i>Ius Civile</i> ("Citizen law") was the body of common laws that applied to Roman citizens. The <!--del_lnk--> <i>Praetores Urbani</i> (<i>sg. Praetor Urbanus</i>) were the individuals who had jurisdiction over cases involving citizens. The <i>Ius Gentium</i> ("Law of nations") was the body of common laws that applied to foreigners, and their dealings with Roman citizens. The <!--del_lnk--> <i>Praetores Peregrini</i> (<i>sg. Praetor Peregrinus</i>) were the individuals who had jurisdiction over cases involving citizens and foreigners. <i>Ius Naturale</i> encompassed natural law, the body of laws that were considered common to all beings.<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15089.jpg.htm" title="A Roman denarius, a standardized silver coin."><img alt="A Roman denarius, a standardized silver coin." height="178" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Maximinus_denarius.jpg" src="../../images/150/15089.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">A <!--del_lnk--> Roman <!--del_lnk--> denarius, a standardized <a href="../../wp/s/Silver.htm" title="Silver">silver</a> coin.</div>
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<p>Ancient Rome commanded a vast area of land, with tremendous natural and <a href="../../wp/h/Human.htm" title="Human">human</a> resources. As such, Rome's economy remained focused on <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agriculture</a> and <!--del_lnk--> trade. Agricultural <!--del_lnk--> free trade changed the Italian landscape, and by the <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century_BC.htm" title="1st century BC">1st century BC</a>, vast <!--del_lnk--> grape and <!--del_lnk--> olive estates had supplanted the <!--del_lnk--> yeoman farmers, who were unable to match the imported grain price. The <!--del_lnk--> annexation of <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Sicily and <a href="../../wp/t/Tunisia.htm" title="Tunisia">Tunisia</a> in <a href="../../wp/n/North_Africa.htm" title="North Africa">North Africa</a> provided a continuous supply of grains. In turn, <a href="../../wp/o/Olive_oil.htm" title="Olive oil">olive oil</a> and <a href="../../wp/w/Wine.htm" title="Wine">wine</a> were Italy's main <!--del_lnk--> exports. Two-tier <!--del_lnk--> crop rotation was practiced, but farm productivity was overall low, around 1 ton per <!--del_lnk--> hectare.<p><a href="../../wp/i/Industry.htm" title="Industry">Industrial</a> and <a href="../../wp/m/Manufacturing.htm" title="Manufacturing">manufacturing</a> activities were smaller. The largest such activity were the <a href="../../wp/m/Mining.htm" title="Mining">mining</a> and <!--del_lnk--> quarrying of stones, which provided basic construction materials for the buildings of that period. In manufacturing, production was on a relatively small scale, and generally consisted of workshops and small factories that employed at most dozens of workers. However, some <!--del_lnk--> brick factories employed hundreds of workers.<p>Some economic historians (like <!--del_lnk--> Peter Temin) argue that the economy of the Early Roman Empire was a market economy and one of the most advanced agricultural economies to have existed (in terms of productivity, urbanization and development of capital markets), comparable to the most advanced economies of the world before the <!--del_lnk--> industrial revolution, the economies of <!--del_lnk--> 18th-century <a href="../../wp/e/England.htm" title="England">England</a> and <!--del_lnk--> 17th-century <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a>. There were markets for every type of good, for land, for cargo ships; there was even an insurance market.<p>The economy of the early Republic was largely based on smallholding and paid labor. However, foreign wars and conquests made <!--del_lnk--> slaves increasingly cheap and plentiful, and by the late Republic, the economy was largely dependent on slave labor for both skilled and unskilled work. Slaves are estimated to have constituted around 20% of the Roman Empire's population at this time and 40% in the city of Rome. Only in the Roman Empire, when the conquests stopped and the prices of slaves increased, did hired labor become more economical than slave ownership.<p>Although <!--del_lnk--> barter was used in ancient Rome, and often used in tax collection, Rome had a very developed <!--del_lnk--> coinage system, with <!--del_lnk--> brass, <!--del_lnk--> bronze, and <!--del_lnk--> precious metal coins in circulation throughout the Empire and beyond—some have even been discovered in <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>. Before the <!--del_lnk--> 3rd century BC, <a href="../../wp/c/Copper.htm" title="Copper">copper</a> was traded by weight, measured in unmarked lumps, across central Italy. The original copper coins (<i><!--del_lnk--> as</i>) had a face value of one <!--del_lnk--> Roman pound of copper, but weighed less. Thus, Roman money's utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its <!--del_lnk--> intrinsic value as metal. After <!--del_lnk--> Nero began debasing the silver <!--del_lnk--> denarius, its <!--del_lnk--> legal value was an estimated one-third greater than its intrinsic.<p><a href="../../wp/h/Horse.htm" title="Horse">Horses</a> were too expensive, and other <!--del_lnk--> pack animals too slow, for mass trade on the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_road.htm" title="Roman road">Roman roads</a>, which connected military posts rather than markets, and were rarely designed for wheels. As a result, there was little transport of <!--del_lnk--> commodities between Roman regions until the rise of <!--del_lnk--> Roman maritime trade in the 2nd century BC. During that period, a trading vessel took less than a month to complete a trip from <!--del_lnk--> Gades to <!--del_lnk--> Alexandria via <!--del_lnk--> Ostia, spanning the entire length of the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean</a>.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_Atlas3"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> Transport by sea was around 60 times cheaper than by land, so the volume for such trips was much larger.<p><a id="Class_structure" name="Class_structure"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Class structure</span></h3>
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<dd>
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<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:262px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15090.png.htm" title="A Roman clad in a toga, the distinctive garb of ancient Rome."><img alt="A Roman clad in a toga, the distinctive garb of ancient Rome." height="480" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Toga_Illustration.png" src="../../images/150/15090.png" width="260" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">A Roman clad in a <!--del_lnk--> toga, the distinctive garb of ancient Rome.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Roman society was strictly <!--del_lnk--> hierarchical, with <!--del_lnk--> slaves (<i>servī</i>) at the bottom, <!--del_lnk--> freedmen (<i>liberī</i>) above them, and free-born citizens (<i>civēs</i>) at the top. Free citizens were themselves also divided by class. The broadest, and earliest, division was between the <!--del_lnk--> patricians, who could trace their ancestry to one of the 100 Patriarchs at the founding of the city, and the <!--del_lnk--> plebeians, who could not. This became less important in the later Republic, as some plebeian families became wealthy and entered politics, and some patrician families fell on hard times. Anyone, patrician or plebeian, who could count a consul as his ancestor was a <!--del_lnk--> noble (<i>nobilis</i>); a man who was the first of his family to hold the consulship, such as <!--del_lnk--> Marius or <!--del_lnk--> Cicero, was known as a <i><!--del_lnk--> novus homo</i> ("new man") and ennobled his descendents. Patrician ancestry, however, still conferred considerable prestige, and many religious offices remained restricted to patricians.<p>A class division originally based on military service became more important. Membership of these classes was determined periodically by the <!--del_lnk--> Censors, according to property. The wealthiest were the Senatorial class, who dominated politics and command of the army. Next came the <!--del_lnk--> equestrians (<i>equites</i>, sometimes translated "knights"), originally those who could afford a warhorse, who formed a powerful mercantile class. Several further classes, originally based on what military equipment their members could afford, followed, with the <i>proletarii</i>, citizens who had no property at all, at the bottom. Before the reforms of Marius they were ineligible for military service and are often described as being just barely above freed slaves in terms of wealth and prestige.<p>Voting power in the Republic was dependent on class. Citizens were enrolled in voting "tribes", but the tribes of the richer classes had fewer members than the poorer ones, all the <i>proletarii</i> being enrolled in a single tribe. Voting was done in class order and stopped as soon as a majority of the tribes had been reached, so the poorer classes were often unable even to cast their votes.<p>Allied foreign cities were often given the <!--del_lnk--> Latin Right, an intermediary level between full citizens and foreigners (<i>peregrini</i>), which gave their citizens rights under Roman law and allowed their leading magistrates to become full Roman citizens. While there were varying degrees of Latin rights, the main division was between those <i>con suffrage</i> ("with vote"; enrolled in a Roman tribe and able to take part in the <i>comitia tributa</i>) and <i>sans suffrage</i> (without vote; unable to take part in Roman politics). Some of Rome's Italian allies were given full citizenship after the <!--del_lnk--> Social War of <!--del_lnk--> 91–<!--del_lnk--> 88 BC, and full <!--del_lnk--> Roman citizenship was extended to all free-born men in the Empire by <!--del_lnk--> Caracalla in <!--del_lnk--> 212. Women shared some basic rights with their male counterparts, but were not fully regarded as citizens and were thus not allowed to vote or participate in politics.<p><a id="Family" name="Family"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Family</span></h3>
<p>The basic units of Roman society were <!--del_lnk--> households and <a href="../../wp/f/Family.htm" title="Family">families</a>. Households included the head of the household, <i><!--del_lnk--> paterfamilias</i> (father of the family), his wife, children, and other relatives. In the upper classes, slaves and servants were also part of the household. The head of the household had great power (<i>patria potestas</i>, "father's power") over those living with him: He could force marriage and divorce, sell his children into slavery, claim his dependents' property as his own, and possibly even had the right to kill family members.<p><i>Patria potestas</i> even extended over adult sons with their own households: A man was not considered a <i>paterfamilias</i> while his own father lived. A daughter, when she married, usually fell under the authority of the <i>paterfamilias</i> of her husband's household, although this was not always the case, as she could choose to continue recognizing her father's family as her true family. However, as Romans reckoned <!--del_lnk--> descent through the male line, any children she had would belong to her husband's family.<p>Groups of related households formed a family (<!--del_lnk--> gens). Families were based on blood ties (or <!--del_lnk--> adoption), but were also political and economic alliances. Especially during the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic, some powerful families, or <i><!--del_lnk--> Gentes Maiores</i>, came to dominate political life.<p><!--del_lnk--> Ancient Roman marriage was often regarded more as a financial and political alliance than as a romantic association, especially in the upper classes. Fathers usually began seeking husbands for their daughters when they reached an age between twelve and fourteen. The husband was almost always older than the bride. While upper class girls married very young, there is evidence that lower class women often married in their late teens or early twenties.<p><a id="Education" name="Education"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Education</span></h3>
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<dd>
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<p>In the early Republic, boys were taught to read and write by their father, or by educated slaves, usually of <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greek</a> origin; the ultimate aim of Roman education was to produce men who could speak effectively. Village schools were also established. Later, around <!--del_lnk--> 200 BC, boys and some girls at the age of 7 were sent to a school outside the home called a <i>ludus</i>. Basic Roman education included reading, writing, and counting, and their materials consisted of <!--del_lnk--> scrolls and books. At the age of 13, students learned about <!--del_lnk--> Greek and <!--del_lnk--> Roman literature. At the age of 16, some students went on to <!--del_lnk--> rhetoric school. Poorer people were usually taught by their parents as school was not free. <a href="../../wp/p/Pupil.htm" title="Pupil">Pupils</a> went to school every day, except religious festivals and market days. There was also a summer holiday.<p><a id="Demographic_outlines_in_the_6th_century_BC.E2.80.941st_century_AD_.28the_city_of_Rome_area.29" name="Demographic_outlines_in_the_6th_century_BC.E2.80.941st_century_AD_.28the_city_of_Rome_area.29"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Demographic outlines in the 6th century BC—1st century AD (the city of Rome area)</span></h3>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5" class="wikitable" style="text-align:center">
<tr>
<th width="70">Census</th>
<th width="90">Population</th>
<th width="130">Economic crises</th>
<th width="80">Wars</th>
<th width="90">Epidemics</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>508 BC</td>
<td>130,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>505-504 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>503 BC</td>
<td>120,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>499 or 496 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>498 BC</td>
<td>150,700</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>493 BC</td>
<td>110,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>492-491 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>486 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>474 BC</td>
<td>103,000</td>
<td>474 BC</td>
<td>474 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>465 BC</td>
<td>104,714</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>459 BC</td>
<td>117,319</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>456 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>454 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>454 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>440-439 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>433 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>433 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>428 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>428 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>412 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>412 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>400 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>396 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>392 BC</td>
<td>152,573</td>
<td>392 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>392 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>390 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>390 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>386 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>383 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>383 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>343-341 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>340 BC</td>
<td>165,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>340-338 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>326-304 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>323 BC</td>
<td>150,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>299 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>298-290 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>294 BC</td>
<td>262,321</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>293/292 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>289 BC</td>
<td>27,200</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>281 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>280 BC</td>
<td>287,222</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>280-275 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>276 BC</td>
<td>271,224</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>276 BC?</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>265 BC</td>
<td>292,234</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>264-241 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>252 BC</td>
<td>297,797</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>250 BCE</td>
<td>250 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>247 BC</td>
<td>241,712</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>241 BC</td>
<td>260,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>234 BC</td>
<td>270,713</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>216 BC</td>
<td>216 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>211-210 BC</td>
<td>211-210 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>209 BC</td>
<td>137,108</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>204 BC</td>
<td>214,000</td>
<td>204 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>203 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>201 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>200 BC</td>
<td>200-195 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>194 BC</td>
<td>143,704</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>192-188 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>189 BC</td>
<td>258,318</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>187 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>182-180 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>179 BC</td>
<td>258,318</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>176-175 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>174 BC</td>
<td>269,015</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>171-167 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>169 BC</td>
<td>312,805</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>165 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>164 BC</td>
<td>337,022</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>159 BC</td>
<td>328,316</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>154 BC</td>
<td>324,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>153 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>147 BC</td>
<td>322,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>142 BC</td>
<td>322,442</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>142 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>138 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>136 BC</td>
<td>317,933</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>131 BC</td>
<td>318,823</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>125 BC</td>
<td>394,736</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>123 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>115 BC</td>
<td>394,336</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>104 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>87 BC</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>86 BC</td>
<td>463,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>75 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>70 BC</td>
<td>910,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>67 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>65 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>54 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>49-46 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>43 BC</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>28 BC</td>
<td>4,063,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>23-22</td>
<td>23-22</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>8 BC</td>
<td>4,233,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>5-6</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>14 AD</td>
<td>4,937,000</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Culture</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p><a id="Language" name="Language"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Language</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:217px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/197/19702.jpg.htm" title="The Duenos inscription, a Latin text from circa the 6th century BC, is the earliest known example of Roman writing."><img alt="The Duenos inscription, a Latin text from circa the 6th century BC, is the earliest known example of Roman writing." height="222" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Duenos_inscription.jpg" src="../../images/150/15091.jpg" width="215" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/197/19702.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> Duenos inscription, a <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> text from circa the <!--del_lnk--> 6th century BC, is the earliest known example of Roman writing.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The native language of the Romans was <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a>, an <!--del_lnk--> Italic language the <!--del_lnk--> grammar of which relies little on word order, conveying meaning through a system of <!--del_lnk--> affixes attached to <!--del_lnk--> word stems. Its <a href="../../wp/a/Alphabet.htm" title="Alphabet">alphabet</a>, the <a href="../../wp/l/Latin_alphabet.htm" title="Latin alphabet">Latin alphabet</a>, is ultimately based on the <!--del_lnk--> Greek alphabet. Although surviving <!--del_lnk--> Latin literature consists almost entirely of <!--del_lnk--> Classical Latin, an artificial and highly stylized and polished <!--del_lnk--> literary language from the <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century_BC.htm" title="1st century BC">1st century BC</a>, the actual spoken language of the Roman Empire was <a href="../../wp/v/Vulgar_Latin.htm" title="Vulgar Latin">Vulgar Latin</a>, which significantly differed from Classical Latin in <!--del_lnk--> grammar and <!--del_lnk--> vocabulary, and eventually in pronunciation.<p>While Latin remained the main written language of the Roman Empire, <!--del_lnk--> Greek came to be the language spoken by the well-educated elite, as most of the literature studied by Romans was written in Greek. In the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which later became the <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a>, Greek eventually supplanted Latin as both the written and spoken language. The expansion of the Roman Empire spread Latin throughout Europe, and over time Vulgar Latin evolved and <!--del_lnk--> dialectized in different locations, gradually shifting into a number of distinct <!--del_lnk--> Romance languages.<p>Although Latin is an <!--del_lnk--> extinct language with very few remaining fluent speakers, it remains in use in many ways, such as through <!--del_lnk--> Ecclesiastical Latin, the traditional language of the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Catholic_Church.htm" title="Roman Catholic Church">Roman Catholic Church</a> and the official language of the <a href="../../wp/v/Vatican_City.htm" title="Vatican City">Vatican City</a>. Additionally, even after fading from common usage Latin maintained a role as western Europe's <i><!--del_lnk--> lingua franca</i>, an international language of <!--del_lnk--> academia and <!--del_lnk--> diplomacy. Although eventually supplanted in this respect by <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a> in the <a href="../../wp/1/19th_century.htm" title="19th century">19th century</a> and <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English</a> in the <a href="../../wp/2/20th_century.htm" title="20th century">20th</a>, Latin continues to see heavy use in religious, legal, and scientific terminology—it has been estimated that 80% of all scholarly English words derive directly or indirectly from Latin.<p><a id="Religion" name="Religion"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Religion</span></h3>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>Archaic <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_mythology.htm" title="Roman mythology">Roman mythology</a>, at least concerning the gods, was made up not of <!--del_lnk--> narratives, but rather of complex interrelations between gods and humans. Unlike in <a href="../../wp/g/Greek_mythology.htm" title="Greek mythology">Greek mythology</a>, the gods were not personified, but were vaguely-defined sacred spirits called <i><!--del_lnk--> numina</i>. Romans also believed that every person, place or thing had its own <i><!--del_lnk--> genius</i>, or divine soul. During the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic, <!--del_lnk--> Roman religion was organized under a strict system of priestly offices, which were held by men of senatorial rank. The College of Pontifices was uppermost body in this hierarchy, and its chief priest, the <i><!--del_lnk--> Pontifex Maximus</i>, was the head of the state religion. <!--del_lnk--> Flamens took care of the cults of various gods, while <!--del_lnk--> augurs were trusted with taking the <!--del_lnk--> auspices. The <!--del_lnk--> sacred king took on the religious responsibilities of the deposed kings. In the Roman empire, emperors were held to be gods, and the formalized <!--del_lnk--> imperial cult became increasingly prominent.<p>As contact with the <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greeks</a> increased, the old Roman gods became increasingly associated with Greek gods. Thus, <a href="../../wp/j/Jupiter_%2528mythology%2529.htm" title="Jupiter (mythology)">Jupiter</a> was perceived to be the same deity as <a href="../../wp/z/Zeus.htm" title="Zeus">Zeus</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Mars became associated with <!--del_lnk--> Ares, and Neptune with <!--del_lnk--> Poseidon. The Roman gods also assumed the attributes and mythologies of these Greek gods. The transferral of <!--del_lnk--> anthropomorphic qualities to Roman Gods, and the prevalence of <!--del_lnk--> Greek philosophy among well-educated Romans, brought about an increasing neglect of the old rites, and in the <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century_BC.htm" title="1st century BC">1st century BC</a>, the religious importance of the old priestly offices declined rapidly, though their civic importance and political influence remained. Roman religion in the empire tended more and more to centre on the imperial house, and several emperors were <!--del_lnk--> deified after their deaths.<p>Under the empire, numerous foreign <!--del_lnk--> cults grew popular, such as the worship of the Egyptian <a href="../../wp/i/Isis.htm" title="Isis">Isis</a> and the <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Persian</a> <!--del_lnk--> Mithras. Beginning in the 2nd century, <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> began to spread in the Empire, despite initial <!--del_lnk--> persecution. It became an officially supported religion in the Roman state under <!--del_lnk--> Constantine I, and all religions except Christianity were prohibited in <!--del_lnk--> 391 by an edict of Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Theodosius I.<p><a id="Art.2C_Music_and_literature" name="Art.2C_Music_and_literature"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Art, Music and literature</span></h3>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15092.jpg.htm" title="Roman sculpture was at its most original in the production of strongly characterized portraits such as this bust of Cato the Elder."><img alt="Roman sculpture was at its most original in the production of strongly characterized portraits such as this bust of Cato the Elder." height="279" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cato.jpeg" src="../../images/150/15092.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15092.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Roman sculpture was at its most original in the production of strongly characterized <!--del_lnk--> portraits such as this <!--del_lnk--> bust of <!--del_lnk--> Cato the Elder.</div>
</div>
</div>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>Most early Roman painting styles show <!--del_lnk--> Etruscan influences, particularly in the practice of political painting. In the 3rd century BC, Greek art taken as treasure from wars became popular, and many Roman homes were decorated with landscapes by Greek artists. Evidence from the remains at <a href="../../wp/p/Pompeii.htm" title="Pompeii">Pompeii</a> shows diverse influence from cultures spanning the Roman world. Portrait sculpture during the period utilized youthful and classical proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism. During the <!--del_lnk--> Antonine and <!--del_lnk--> Severan periods, more ornate hair and bearding became prevalent, created with deeper cutting and drilling. Advancements were also made in <!--del_lnk--> relief sculptures, usually depicting Roman victories.<p><!--del_lnk--> Latin literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest extant works are of historical <!--del_lnk--> epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began to produce <a href="../../wp/p/Poetry.htm" title="Poetry">poetry</a>, <!--del_lnk--> comedy, <a href="../../wp/h/History.htm" title="History">history</a>, and <!--del_lnk--> tragedy.<p><a id="Games_and_activities" name="Games_and_activities"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Games and activities</span></h3>
<p>The ancient city of Rome had a place called <i>Campus</i>, a sort of <!--del_lnk--> drill ground for Roman soldiers, which was located near the <!--del_lnk--> Tiber river. Later, the <i>Campus</i> became Rome's <!--del_lnk--> track and field playground, which even <a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Augustus.htm" title="Augustus">Augustus</a> were said to have frequented. Imitating the Campus in Rome, similar grounds were developed in several other urban centers and military settlements.<p>In the campus, the youth assembled to play and exercise, which included <!--del_lnk--> jumping, <a href="../../wp/w/Wrestling.htm" title="Wrestling">wrestling</a>, <!--del_lnk--> boxing and <!--del_lnk--> racing. <!--del_lnk--> Riding, throwing, and <!--del_lnk--> swimming were also preferred physical activities. In the countryside, pastimes also included <a href="../../wp/f/Fishing.htm" title="Fishing">fishing</a> and <!--del_lnk--> hunting. <!--del_lnk--> Women did not participate in these activities. Ball-playing was a popular sport, and ancient Romans had several ball games, which included <!--del_lnk--> Handball (<i>Expulsim Ludere</i>), <!--del_lnk--> field hockey, <!--del_lnk--> catch, and some form of <a href="../../wp/f/Football.htm" title="Football">football</a>.<p>A popular form of entertainment were <!--del_lnk--> gladiatorial combats. Gladiators fought either to the death, or to "first blood" with a variety of weapons and in a variety of different scenarios. These fights achieved their height of popularity under the emperor <a href="../../wp/c/Claudius.htm" title="Claudius">Claudius</a>, who placed the final outcome of the combat firmly in the hands of the emperor with a hand gesture. Contrary to popular representations in film the gesture for death was not "thumbs down". The emperor would signify "death" by holding a raised fist to the winning combatant and then extending his thumb laterally. "Mercy" was indicated by a raised fist with no extended thumb. Animal shows were also popular with the Romans, where foreign animals were either displayed for the public or combined with gladiatorial combat. A prisoner or gladiator, armed or unarmed, was thrown into the arena and an animal was released. Gladiators fought in games held only ten days per year, and could earn the ancient Roman equivalent of 500,000 EUR for competing in a single fight to the death.<p>The <i><!--del_lnk--> Circus Maximus</i>, another popular site in Rome, was primarily used for <!--del_lnk--> horse and <!--del_lnk--> chariot racing, although it was also used in many other events. It could hold up to 385,000 people; people all over Rome would visit it. Two temples, one with seven large eggs and one with seven dolphins, laid in the middle of the track of Circus Maximus, and whenever the racers made a lap, one of each would be removed. This was done to keep the spectators and the racers informed on the race statistics. Other than sports, the Circus Maximus was also an area of <!--del_lnk--> marketing and <!--del_lnk--> gambling. Higher authorities, like the emperor, also attended games in the Circus Maximus, as it was rude not to. They, knights, and many other people who were involved with the race sat in reserved seats located above everyone else. It was also found rude for emperors to root for a team. The Circus Maximus was created in 600 BC and hosted the last horse racing game in 549, lasting for over a millennium.<p><a id="Technology" name="Technology"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Technology</span></h2>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/177/17704.jpg.htm" title="The Roman abacus, the first portable calculating device, helped speed up the use of Roman arithmetic."><img alt="The Roman abacus, the first portable calculating device, helped speed up the use of Roman arithmetic." height="239" longdesc="/wiki/Image:RomanAbacusRecon.jpg" src="../../images/150/15093.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">The <!--del_lnk--> Roman abacus, the first portable calculating device, helped speed up the use of <!--del_lnk--> Roman arithmetic.</div>
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<p>Ancient Rome boasted the most impressive technological feats of its day, utilizing many advancements that would be lost in the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> and not be rivaled again until the <a href="../../wp/1/19th_century.htm" title="19th century">19th</a> and <a href="../../wp/2/20th_century.htm" title="20th century">20th centuries</a>. However, though adept at adopting and synthesizing other cultures' technologies, the Roman civilization was not especially innovative or progressive. Many practical Roman innovations were adopted from earlier Greek designs. The development of new ideas was rarely encouraged; Roman society considered the articulate soldier who could wisely govern a large household the ideal, and <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_law.htm" title="Roman law">Roman law</a> made no provisions for <!--del_lnk--> intellectual property or the promotion of invention. The concept of "scientists" and "engineers" did not yet exist, and advancements were often divided based on craft, with groups of <!--del_lnk--> artisans jealously guarding new technologies as <!--del_lnk--> trade secrets. Nevertheless, a number of vital technological breakthroughs were spread and thoroughly utilized by Rome, contributing to an enormous degree to Rome's dominance and lasting influence in Europe.<p><a id="Engineering_and_architecture" name="Engineering_and_architecture"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Engineering and architecture</span></h3>
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<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/21/2169.jpg.htm" title="Pont du Gard in France is a Roman aqueduct built in ca. 19 BC. It is one of France's top tourist attractions and a World Heritage Site."><img alt="Pont du Gard in France is a Roman aqueduct built in ca. 19 BC. It is one of France's top tourist attractions and a World Heritage Site." height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Pont_du_gard.jpg" src="../../images/150/15094.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/21/2169.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Pont du Gard in <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> is a <!--del_lnk--> Roman aqueduct built in ca. <!--del_lnk--> 19 BC. It is one of France's top tourist attractions and a <a href="../../wp/w/World_Heritage_Site.htm" title="World Heritage Site">World Heritage Site</a>.</div>
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<p><!--del_lnk--> Roman engineering constituted a large portion of Rome's technological superiority and legacy, and contributed to the construction of hundreds of roads, bridges, aqueducts, baths, theaters and arenas. Many monuments, such as the <!--del_lnk--> Colosseum, <!--del_lnk--> Pont du Gard, and <!--del_lnk--> Pantheon, still remain as testaments to Roman engineering and culture.<p>The Romans were particularly renowned for their <!--del_lnk--> architecture, which is grouped with Greek traditions into "<!--del_lnk--> Classical architecture". However, for the course of the Roman Republic, Roman architecture remained stylistically almost identical to <!--del_lnk--> Greek architecture. Although there were many differences between Roman and Greek building types, Rome borrowed heavily from Greece in adhering to strict, formulaic building designs and proportions. Aside from two new <!--del_lnk--> orders of columns, <!--del_lnk--> composite and <!--del_lnk--> Tuscan, and from the <!--del_lnk--> dome, which was derived from the <!--del_lnk--> Etruscan <!--del_lnk--> arch, Rome had relatively few architectural innovations until the end of the Roman Republic.<p>It was at this time, in the <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century_BC.htm" title="1st century BC">1st century BC</a>, that Romans started to widely use <!--del_lnk--> concrete (which was invented in the late <!--del_lnk--> 3rd century BC), a powerful <!--del_lnk--> cement derived from <!--del_lnk--> pozzolana which soon supplanted <!--del_lnk--> marble as the chief Roman building material and allowed for numerous daring architectural schemata. Also in the 1st century BC, <!--del_lnk--> Vitruvius wrote <i><!--del_lnk--> De architectura</i>, possibly the first complete treatise on architecture in history. In the late <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century_BC.htm" title="1st century BC">1st century BC</a>, Rome also began to make use of <!--del_lnk--> glassblowing soon after its invention in <a href="../../wp/s/Syria.htm" title="Syria">Syria</a>, which occurred about 50 BC, and <a href="../../wp/m/Mosaic.htm" title="Mosaic">mosaics</a> took the Empire by storm after samples were retrieved during <!--del_lnk--> Sulla's campaigns in Greece. <!--del_lnk--> Article on history of Roman concrete<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15095.jpg.htm" title="The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting the city of Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today."><img alt="The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting the city of Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today." height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:RomaViaAppiaAntica03.JPG" src="../../images/150/15095.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15095.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The <!--del_lnk--> Appian Way (<i>Via Appia</i>), a road connecting the city of <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a> to the southern parts of <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>, remains usable even today.</div>
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<p>Concrete made possible the paved, durable <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_road.htm" title="Roman road">Roman roads</a>, many of which were still in use a thousand years after the fall of Rome. The construction of a vast and efficient travel network throughout the Roman Empire dramatically increased Rome's power and influence. Originally constructed for military purposes, to allow <!--del_lnk--> Roman legions to be rapidly deployed, these highways had enormous economic significance, solidifying Rome's role as a trading crossroads—the origin of the phrase "all roads lead to Rome". The Roman government maintained way stations which provided refreshments to travelers at regular intervals along the roads, constructed bridges where necessary, and established a system of horse relays for <!--del_lnk--> couriers that allowed a dispatch to travel up to 800 km (500 miles) in 24 hours.<p>The Romans constructed numerous <!--del_lnk--> aqueducts to supply water to cities and industrial sites and to assist in <!--del_lnk--> their agriculture. The city of Rome itself was supplied by eleven aqueducts with a combined length of 350 km (260 miles).<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_frontinus"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span> Most aqueducts were constructed below the surface, with only small portions above ground supported by arches. Powered entirely by <a href="../../wp/g/Gravitation.htm" title="Gravity">gravity</a>, the aqueducts transported very large amounts of water with an efficiency that remained unsurpassed for two thousand years. Sometimes, where depressions deeper than 50 miles had to be crossed, <!--del_lnk--> inverted siphons were used to force water uphill.<span class="reference plainlinksneverexpand" id="ref_waterhistory"><sup><!--del_lnk--> </sup></span><p>The Romans also made major advancements in <!--del_lnk--> sanitation. Romans were particularly famous for their public <!--del_lnk--> baths, called <i><!--del_lnk--> thermae</i>, which were used for both hygienic and social purposes. Many Roman houses came to have <!--del_lnk--> flush toilets and <!--del_lnk--> indoor plumbing, and a complex <!--del_lnk--> sewer system, the <i><!--del_lnk--> Cloaca Maxima</i>, was used to drain the local <!--del_lnk--> marshes and carry waste into the Tiber river. Some historians have speculated that the use of <a href="../../wp/l/Lead.htm" title="Lead">lead</a> pipes in sewer and plumbing systems led to widespread <!--del_lnk--> lead poisoning which contributed to the decline in <!--del_lnk--> birth rate and general decay of Roman society leading up to the <!--del_lnk--> fall of Rome. However, lead content would have been minimized because the flow of water from aqueducts could not be shut off, it ran continuously through public and private outlets into the drains, only a small number of taps were in use.<p><a id="Great_Roman_Buildings" name="Great_Roman_Buildings"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Great Roman Buildings</span></h2>
<p><a id="Colosseum" name="Colosseum"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Colosseum</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/114/11443.jpg.htm" title="The Colosseum"><img alt="The Colosseum" height="119" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Colosseum_at_night.jpg" src="../../images/150/15096.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/114/11443.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><i>The Colosseum</i></div>
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<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Colosseum is an immense stadium, constructed circa CE 70-72, that remains a world-famous landmark today. At 48 meters high, 188 meters long, and 156 meters wide, it could seat 50,000 people. Upon its completion, a 100-day celebration was held. During these feasts, 11,000 Jews, Christians, slaves and over 5,000 animals were killed. <p>In the centre of the Colosseum was a wooden stage, covered with about 15 cm of sand to soak up blood. The walls had 80 entrance arches, called <i>vomitoria</i>. There were four entrances specifically for emperors. <p><a id="Circus_Maximus" name="Circus_Maximus"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Circus Maximus</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Circus Maximus was a building used mostly for <!--del_lnk--> chariot racing, but sometimes for hunts or mock battles. It was 600m long, 225m wide, and could seat up to 300,000 people. It was built in the 6th century B.C. It burned down twice, and the stands collapsed on at least two occasions, killing many people.<p>The Circus Maximus was oval shaped, with a long barrier in the middle that contained statues, columns, along with two temples. On one temple there were seven egg shaped objects, and atop the other, seven dolphin shaped objects. Each time an individual completed a lap, an egg or a dolphin was removed, to keep track of the remaining laps.<p>Unlike in most Roman buildings, men and women could sit together. The emperor had a reserved seat, as did the senators, and other dignitaries.<p><a id="Pantheon" name="Pantheon"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Pantheon</span></h3>
<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Pantheon was a beautiful building in honour of the Olympic gods. It is the most well-preserved building in ancient Rome. The original Pantheon was built in 27 B.C. It was rebuilt in 609 A.D., most likely because of a fire. Pope Boniface received it as a gift from the emperor. The interior of the Pantheon is a circle, 43 m in both directions. It has a hemispheric dome with a skylight, or oculus, on the top, measuring 8.9 m in diameter.<p><a id="Forum_Romanum" name="Forum_Romanum"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline"><!--del_lnk--> Forum Romanum</span></h2>
<p><a id="Via_Sacra" name="Via_Sacra"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Via Sacra</span></h3>
<p>The Via Sacra, or the Sacred Way was the main and widest street in the Forum. This was the place of triumphs, religious festivals, and the way of victorious generals.<p><a id="Lapis_Niger" name="Lapis_Niger"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Lapis Niger</span></h3>
<p>This old, strange monument was the place of the oldest Latin inscription (writing) known. The “rock” was made up of an altar, a column with the inscription on it. According to legend this building was thought to be, and perhaps is, the tomb of Romulus, the first king of Rome.<p><a id="Curia" name="Curia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Curia</span></h3>
<p>The Curia was the first Senate house, furnished with simple, wooden benches, desks and a chair for the speaker. Later the Curia was destroyed by a group of protesting people.<p><a id="Basilica_Aemilia" name="Basilica_Aemilia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Basilica Aemilia</span></h3>
<p>The basilica was built in 179 B.C. It was beatified and restored by the families of the basilica.<p><a id="Temple_of_Antoninus_and_Faustina" name="Temple_of_Antoninus_and_Faustina"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Temple of Antoninus and Faustina</span></h3>
<p>After the death of the wife of emperor Antoninus Puis, he had this temple constructed in her honour, and when Antoninus died, it was rededicated for both of them. The temple was turned into a church in the middle ages. Much of the temple is well preserved.<p><a id="Arch_of_Titus" name="Arch_of_Titus"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Arch of Titus</span></h3>
<p>This arch is the most celebrated arch of Rome. It was built by the popular Emperor Titus, who suddenly died in plague A.D. 81. The brother of Titus reconstructed the arch, including beautiful carvings.<p><a id="Temple_of_Venus_and_Roma" name="Temple_of_Venus_and_Roma"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Temple of Venus and Roma</span></h3>
<p>This was an enormous temple built for the gods Venus and Roma to be honored. The part dedicated to Roma faced the Forum, and the one for Venus faced the amphitheatre.<p><a id="Temple_of_Julius_Caesar" name="Temple_of_Julius_Caesar"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Temple of Julius Caesar</span></h3>
<p>The original name is Templum Divi Juli. Only a few parts remain from it today. Caesar's body was burned in front of the temple, and it is thought that his remains were placed on an alter, in the centre of the building.<p><a id="Temple_of_Castor_and_Pollux" name="Temple_of_Castor_and_Pollux"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Temple of Castor and Pollux</span></h3>
<p>This temple was built in the honour of Castor and Pollux, the twin sons of Jupiter. The legend says that two young men helped win a battle against the Latins. Then they went to watch the sunset in the Forum, and they were never seen again after that.<p><a id="Basilica_Constantine" name="Basilica_Constantine"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Basilica Constantine</span></h3>
<p>The Basilica was begun in 306-310 and was finished in 312-337. Today only three huge arches are left. For Romans it was the centre of justice.<p><a id="Basilica_Julia" name="Basilica_Julia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Basilica Julia</span></h3>
<p>In 54 B.c. Julius Caesar began building the basilica, but was not able to finish it. But when completed it became one of the favorite places of the Roman people.<p><a id="Temple_of_Saturn" name="Temple_of_Saturn"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Temple of Saturn</span></h3>
<p>The legend says that there was an altar for the god Saturn on the Capitoline hill, and the building was built around it.<p><a id="Tabularium" name="Tabularium"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Tabularium</span></h3>
<p>The Tabularium was a beautiful building for storing state papers, such as important deeds, laws, treaties (state agreements) and papers of the Senate.<p><a id="Temple_of_Vespasian" name="Temple_of_Vespasian"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Temple of Vespasian</span></h3>
<p>The emperor Vespasian was the father of Titus. He was the only Roman, who we know about, having a sense of humor on deathbed. His word were something like this: “I think I’m becoming a god now.” This was considered funny at that time, because emperors considered themselves gods during their whole lifetime, and emperor’s were usually very dramatical, when they were dying. There is not much remaining from this temple, but it is thought that it was very decorative.<p><a id="Temple_of_Concordia" name="Temple_of_Concordia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Temple of Concordia</span></h3>
<p>More than 2000 years ago, when the normal people (the plebeians) with struggling against the higher ranked people, (the patricians) for an equal share of rights. An old man stood on the steps of the Senate-house and said: “besought (ask) the gods that they would bring these troubles to a happy conclusion”. Then he vowed to build a temple, the temple of concord, which made peace amongst the people. Concordia was the goddess of agreement in Roman mythology.<p><a id="Lacus_Curtius" name="Lacus_Curtius"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Lacus Curtius</span></h3>
<p>The Lacus Curtius is a simple monument, with a horse and a soldier riding it. There are three stories about this stone. 1. lightning struck into the place, and the consul Curtius closed the area with a fence in 445 B.C., and this is what’s left of it. 2. that a chasm, a gap suddenly appeared in the forum. Soothsayers (people who told about the future) said that it could be only closed if someone leapt into it. The brave Curtius jumped into the crack, which then closed. 3. Mettius Curtius rode his horse into a swamp to escape Romulus.<p><a id="Rostra" name="Rostra"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Rostra</span></h3>
<p>The Rostra was a platform for speakers. Many famous Roman speeches were delivered here on this flat building. It was well decorated with statues and carved pictures. Next to the rostra Augustus set up a sculpture covered with gold, that had the names of the major cities in rome. This was called “Miliarium aereum”.<p><a id="Arch_of_Septimus_Severus" name="Arch_of_Septimus_Severus"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Arch of Septimus Severus</span></h3>
<p>This arch was built in 203 A.D. in honour of the victory of emperor Septimus Severus, and his sons, Caracalla and Geta. When the emperor died the two sons were ruling together. In public they pretended to love each other, but in reality they hated each other. Carcalla trapped his brother and killed him.<p><a id="Columna_Phocae" name="Columna_Phocae"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Columna Phocae</span></h3>
<p>This was a column, in the forum made from white marble. The monument was built for the emperor Phocae.<p><a id="Lacus_Juturnae" name="Lacus_Juturnae"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Lacus Juturnae</span></h3>
<p>This was a spring or well in the forum, dedicated to the young girl, Juturna, according to the mythology. It was thought that the water in the well was healing.<p><a id="Porticus_Deorum" name="Porticus_Deorum"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Porticus Deorum</span></h3>
<p>This was the holy place of the twelwe main gods and goddesses of rome. The gods were: Jupiter-Juno, Neptune-Minerva, Apollo-Diana, Mars-Venus, Vulcan-Vesta, and Mercyry-Ceres. There were eight open rooms in the Porticus Deorum, and the sculptures of the gods were put into these rooms in twos.<p><a id="Carcer" name="Carcer"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Carcer</span></h3>
<p>The Carcer was a prison. The upper part was where prisoners were sentenced. The underground section where executions were carried out was called the Tallianum. <!--del_lnk--> St. Peter and <a href="../../wp/p/Paul_of_Tarsus.htm" title="Paul of Tarsus">Paul</a> were kept there in the time of <!--del_lnk--> Nero. According to legend St. Peter asked for some water, and baptized the jailers.<p><a id="Military" name="Military"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Military</span></h2>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15098.jpg.htm" title="Roman soldiers on the cast of Trajan's Column in the Victoria and Albert museum, London."><img alt="Roman soldiers on the cast of Trajan's Column in the Victoria and Albert museum, London." height="229" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cornicen_on_Trajan%27s_column.JPG" src="../../images/150/15098.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15098.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Roman soldiers on the cast of <!--del_lnk--> Trajan's Column in the Victoria and Albert museum, London.</div>
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<p>The early Roman army was, like those of other contemporary city-states, a citizen force in which the bulk of the troops fought as a type of <!--del_lnk--> phalanx. The soldiers were required to supply their own weapons, and returned to civilian life once their service was ended.<p>The first of the great army reformers, <!--del_lnk--> Camillus, reorganized the army to adopt <!--del_lnk--> manipular tactics and divided the infantry into three lines: <i><!--del_lnk--> hastati</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> principes</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> triarii</i>.<p>The small landholders had traditionally been the backbone of the Roman army, but by the end of the <!--del_lnk--> 2nd century BC, the self-owning farmer had largely disappeared as a social class. Faced with acute manpower problems, <!--del_lnk--> Gaius Marius transformed the army into a volunteer force and accepted recruits from the lower classes, providing arms and armor for these troops out of his own pocket.<p>The Roman army was a marvel of discipline, which arguably made it one of the best armies of its time. Over the course of history, Rome faced many enemies who had more skilled warriors than the Roman Legionary, and some of these enemies even had the advantage of superior numbers; yet the Roman legions won through. The Roman army owed much of its success to its brilliant generals, but no general can command an army that doesn't obey him.<p>Roman legionaries had comparatively less skill at fighting than most of their opponents, but they also had less of the impetuous spirit that made their Celtic enemies so fearsome. With their little swords and unwieldy shields they could defeat all but the most fearsome and determined of barbarian tribes.<p>Roman discipline was brutal; running from a battle was generally punished by death, and minor breaches of military rules could earn a flogging. A Legion was trained to virtually worship the silver eagle standard, and its loss in battle meant the Legion's disbanding. The Roman Legions specialized in working as a team and sticking together: the Legionaries would follow their general anywhere, even to civil war.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Roman legion was one of the strongest aspects of the Roman army. The <!--del_lnk--> Roman triumph was a civic ceremony and religious rite held to publicly honour a military commander. The legions were also physically powerful and had a lower tendency to illness than other armies. Not only because of a food shortage, but because garlic and onions were so effective in being a nutritious food and long-lasting, the Roman army was fed garlic while marching. The legions were supported by <!--del_lnk--> auxiliaries, troops drawn from the provinces who could earn Roman citizenship through military service.<p>The last army reorganization came when Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Constantine I divided the army into a static defense force and a mobile field army. During the Late Empire, Rome also became increasingly dependent on allied contingents, <i><!--del_lnk--> foederati</i>.<p><a id="Scholarly_studies" name="Scholarly_studies"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Scholarly studies</span></h2>
<p>The interest in studying ancient Rome arose presumably during the <a href="../../wp/a/Age_of_Enlightenment.htm" title="Age of Enlightenment">Age of Enlightenment</a> in <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a>. <!--del_lnk--> Charles Montesquieu wrote a work "<!--del_lnk--> Reflections on the Causes of the Grandeur and Declension of the Romans". The first major work was <i><!--del_lnk--> The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i> by <a href="../../wp/e/Edward_Gibbon.htm" title="Edward Gibbon">Edward Gibbon</a>, which encompassed the period from the end of 2nd century to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in <!--del_lnk--> 1453. Like Montesquieu Gibbon paid high tribute to the virtue of Roman citizens. <!--del_lnk--> Barthold Georg Niebuhr was a founder of the criticism and wrote <i>The Roman History</i>, carried until the <!--del_lnk--> First Punic war. Niebuhr has made an attempt to determine the way the Roman tradition appeared. According to him, Romans, like other people, had a historical <!--del_lnk--> ethos which was preserved mainly in the noble families. During the <!--del_lnk--> Napoleonic period the work titled <i>The History of Romans</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Victor Duruy appeared. It highlighted the <a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Caesarean</a> period popular at the time. <i><!--del_lnk--> History of Rome</i>, <i><!--del_lnk--> Roman constitutional law</i> and <i><!--del_lnk--> Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum</i>, all by <!--del_lnk--> Theodor Mommsen, became very important milestones. Later the work <i><!--del_lnk--> Greatness and Decline of Rome</i> by <!--del_lnk--> Guglielmo Ferrero was published. The Russian work <i>Очерки по истории римского землевладения, преимущественно в эпоху Империи</i> (<i>The Outlines on Roman Landownership History, Mainly During the Empire</i>) by <!--del_lnk--> Ivan Grevs contained information on the economy of <!--del_lnk--> Pomponius Atticus, one of the greatest landowners during the end of Republic.<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Ancient history</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.History.General_history.htm">General history</a></h3>
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<p><b>Ancient history</b> is the study of significant cultural and political events from the beginning of human history until the <!--del_lnk--> Early Middle Ages. The goal of the modern day critical ancient historian is objectivity.<p>The term <!--del_lnk--> classical antiquity is often used to refer to ancient history since the beginning of <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">ancient Greek</a> history in about <!--del_lnk--> 776 BC. This coincides roughly with the traditional date of the founding of Rome in <!--del_lnk--> 753 BC, the beginning of the history of <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">ancient Rome</a>.<p>Although the ending date of ancient history is disputed, currently most <!--del_lnk--> Western scholars use the <!--del_lnk--> fall of the Western Roman Empire in <a href="../../wp/a/Anno_Domini.htm" title="Anno Domini">AD</a> <!--del_lnk--> 476 as the end of ancient European history.<p>The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 – 5,500 years, with <!--del_lnk--> Sumerian <!--del_lnk--> cuneiform being the oldest form of writing discovered so far. Thus, this is the beginning of <i>history</i> by the definition used by all <!--del_lnk--> historians.<p><i><b>The times before <a href="../../wp/w/Writing.htm" title="Writing">writing</a> belong either to <!--del_lnk--> protohistory or to <!--del_lnk--> prehistory.</b></i><p>
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</script><a id="The_study_of_ancient_history" name="The_study_of_ancient_history"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The study of ancient history</span></h2>
<p>The fundamental difficulty of studying ancient history is the fact that only a fraction of it has been documented, and only a fraction of those recorded histories have survived into the present day. Literacy was not widespread in any culture until long after the end of ancient history, so there were few people capable of writing histories. Even those written histories which were produced were not widely distributed; the ancients, not having the luxury of a <!--del_lnk--> printing press had to make copies of books by hand. The Roman Empire was one of the ancient West's most literate cultures, but many works by its most widely read historians are lost. For example, <!--del_lnk--> Livy, a Roman historian who lived in the <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century_BC.htm" title="1st century BC">1st century BC</a>, wrote a history of Rome called <i><!--del_lnk--> Ab Urbe Condite</i> ("From the Founding of the City") in 142 volumes. Only 35 still survive. Historians have two major avenues which they take to better understand the ancient world: <a href="../../wp/a/Archaeology.htm" title="Archaeology">archaeology</a> and the study of <!--del_lnk--> primary sources.<p><a id="Archaeology" name="Archaeology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Archaeology</span></h3>
<p>Archaeology is the study of material remains in an effort to interpret and reconstruct past human behaviour. In the study of ancient history, archaeologists excavate the ruins of ancient cities looking for clues as to how the people of the time period lived.<p>Some important discoveries by archaeologists studying ancient history include:<ul>
<li>The <a href="../../wp/e/Egyptian_pyramids.htm" title="Egyptian pyramids">Egyptian pyramids</a> - giant tombs built by the <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">ancient Egyptians</a> beginning around <!--del_lnk--> 2600 BC as the final resting places of their royalty.<li>The study of the ancient cities of <!--del_lnk--> Harappa, <!--del_lnk--> Mohenjo-daro and <a href="../../wp/l/Lothal.htm" title="Lothal">Lothal</a> in <!--del_lnk--> South Asia.<li>The city of <a href="../../wp/p/Pompeii.htm" title="Pompeii">Pompeii</a> - an ancient Roman city preserved by the eruption of a <a href="../../wp/v/Volcano.htm" title="Volcano">volcano</a> in <!--del_lnk--> 79 AD. Its state of preservation is so great that it is an invaluable window into Roman culture.<li>The <!--del_lnk--> Terracotta Army - the mausoleum of the First <!--del_lnk--> Qin Emperor in <!--del_lnk--> ancient China.</ul>
<p><a id="Primary_sources" name="Primary_sources"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Chronology</span></h2>
<p><a id="Prehistory" name="Prehistory"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><!--del_lnk--> Prehistory</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>early <!--del_lnk--> human migrations<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Lower Paleolithic— <!--del_lnk--> Homo erectus spreads across Eurasia. Controlled use of <a href="../../wp/f/Fire.htm" title="Fire">fire</a> from ca. <!--del_lnk--> 800 kya.<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 200 kya— <a href="../../wp/h/Human.htm" title="Homo sapiens">Homo sapiens</a> <!--del_lnk--> evolves in <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a><li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 80 kya—Modern humans migrate <!--del_lnk--> out of Africa to the <!--del_lnk--> Near East<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 70 kya—Modern humans spread across <a href="../../wp/a/Asia.htm" title="Asia">Asia</a> and reach <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a><li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 40 kya—<a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a> first reached by modern humans<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 15 kya—<!--del_lnk--> Americas first reached by humans</ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> 10th millennium BC—<!--del_lnk--> Invention of agriculture is the earliest given date for the beginning of the ancient era<li><!--del_lnk--> 5th millennium BC—late Neolithic civilizations, invention of the <!--del_lnk--> wheel and spread of <!--del_lnk--> proto-writing.<li><!--del_lnk--> 4th millennium BC—First <a href="../../wp/w/Writing.htm" title="Writing">writings</a> in the cities of <!--del_lnk--> Uruk and <!--del_lnk--> Susa (<!--del_lnk--> cuneiform writings); followed by inscriptions in <!--del_lnk--> Harappa and hieroglyphs in <!--del_lnk--> Egypt<li><!--del_lnk--> 33rd century BC—Oldest historical documents (see <!--del_lnk--> history of writing)</ul>
<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline"><a href="../../wp/h/History.htm" title="History">History</a></span></h3>
<p><big><b>Some important events:</b></big><p><a id="The_older_ancient_history" name="The_older_ancient_history"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">The older ancient history</span></h4>
<p><a href="../../wp/b/Bronze_Age.htm" title="Bronze Age">Bronze Age</a> through to the <!--del_lnk--> Early Iron Age<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> 3500 BC—<a href="../../wp/s/Sumer.htm" title="Sumer">Sumer</a>, arises in <a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a>.<li><!--del_lnk--> 3100 BC—<!--del_lnk--> First dynasty of Egypt<li><!--del_lnk--> 3300 BC—<a href="../../wp/b/Bronze_Age.htm" title="Bronze Age">Bronze Age</a> begins in the <!--del_lnk--> Near East (<a href="../../wp/s/Sumer.htm" title="Sumer">Sumer</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">ancient Egypt</a>), Bronze Age slowly begins spreading to the rest of <!--del_lnk--> Eurasia<li><!--del_lnk--> 3200 BC—Rise of <!--del_lnk--> Proto-Elamite Civilization<li><!--del_lnk--> 3138 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Kurukshetra War, took place between the Kauravas and the Pandavas in ancient Bharat (India) resulting in the death of 1.3 million people<li><!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Jiroft Civilization Begins<li><!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC—Rise of the Nile Valley civilization<li><!--del_lnk--> 3000 BC—First known use of <!--del_lnk--> papyrus by <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Egyptians</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 2800 BC—Kot Diji phase of the Indus Valley Civilization begins<li><!--del_lnk--> 2700 BC—Rise of <!--del_lnk--> Elam in <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 2600 BC—<a href="../../wp/i/Indus_Valley_Civilization.htm" title="Mature Harappan">Mature Harappan</a> phase of the Indus Valley civilization (in present-day <a href="../../wp/p/Pakistan.htm" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> and <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a>) begins<li><!--del_lnk--> 2550 BC—Completion of the <a href="../../wp/g/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza.htm" title="Great Pyramid of Giza">Great Pyramid of Giza</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 2000 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Domestication of the horse<li><!--del_lnk--> 1700 BC—Indus Valley Civilization comes to an end but is continued by the <!--del_lnk--> Cemetery H culture; The beginning of <!--del_lnk--> Poverty Point Civilization in <a href="../../wp/n/North_America.htm" title="North America">North America</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 1600 BC—The beginning of <!--del_lnk--> Shang Dynasty in China, development of first Chinese writing system<li><!--del_lnk--> 1600 BC—Beginning of <!--del_lnk--> Hittite dominance of the Eastern <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean">Mediterranean</a> region<li><!--del_lnk--> 1500 BC—Composition of the <!--del_lnk--> Rigveda is completed.<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1200 BC—Theorized time of the <a href="../../wp/t/Trojan_War.htm" title="Trojan War">Trojan War</a><li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 1180 BC—Disintegration of Hittite Empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 1122 BC—The Zhou people overthrow the last king of <!--del_lnk--> Shang Dynasty; <!--del_lnk--> Zhou Dynasty established in China<li><!--del_lnk--> 1000 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Mannaeans Kingdom Begins<li><!--del_lnk--> 800 BC—Rise of <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greek</a> city-states<li><!--del_lnk--> 776 BC—First recorded <a href="../../wp/o/Olympic_Games.htm" title="Olympic Games">Olympic Games</a>. The history of the Games is believed to reach as far back as the <!--del_lnk--> 13th century BC but no older written record survives.</ul>
<p><a id="The_latter_ancient_history" name="The_latter_ancient_history"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">The latter ancient history</span></h4>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> 753 BC—Founding of <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Rome</a> (traditional date)<li><!--del_lnk--> 751 BC—The Rise of LeChe<li><!--del_lnk--> 745 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Tiglath-Pileser III becomes the new king of <a href="../../wp/a/Assyria.htm" title="Assyria">Assyria</a>. With time he conquers neighboring countries and turns Assyria into an empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 728 BC—Rise of the <!--del_lnk--> Iranian <!--del_lnk--> Median Empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 722 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Spring and Autumn Period begins in China; <!--del_lnk--> Zhou Dynasty's power is diminishing; the era of the <!--del_lnk--> Hundred Schools of Thought<li><!--del_lnk--> 700 BC the construction of <!--del_lnk--> Marib Dam in <!--del_lnk--> Arabia Felix<li><!--del_lnk--> 653 BC—Rise of first <a href="../../wp/p/Persian_Empire.htm" title="Persian Empire">Persian</a> state of <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 612 BC—Attributed date of the destruction of <!--del_lnk--> Nineveh and subsequent fall of Assyria.<li><!--del_lnk--> 600 BC—Sixteen <!--del_lnk--> Maha Janapadas ("<i>Great Realms</i>" or "<i>Great Kingdoms</i>") emerge. A number of these Maha Janapadas are semi-<!--del_lnk--> democratic <!--del_lnk--> republics.<li>c <!--del_lnk--> 600 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Pandyan kingdom in South India<li><!--del_lnk--> 563 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Siddhartha Gautama (<a href="../../wp/b/Buddha.htm" title="Buddha">Buddha</a>), founder of <a href="../../wp/b/Buddhism.htm" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a> is born as a prince of the <!--del_lnk--> Shakya tribe, which ruled parts of <!--del_lnk--> Magadha, one of the Maha Janapadas<li><!--del_lnk--> 551 BC—<a href="../../wp/c/Confucius.htm" title="Confucius">Confucius</a>, founder of <a href="../../wp/c/Confucianism.htm" title="Confucianism">Confucianism</a>, is born<li><!--del_lnk--> 549 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Mahavira, founder of <!--del_lnk--> Jainism is born<li><!--del_lnk--> 546 BC—Foundation of the <a href="../../wp/p/Persian_Empire.htm" title="Persian Empire">Persian Empire</a> and unification of <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a> by <a href="../../wp/c/Cyrus_the_Great.htm" title="Cyrus the Great">Cyrus the Great</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 546 BC—Cyrus the Great overthrows the Lydian kingdom<li><!--del_lnk--> 544 BC—Rise of <!--del_lnk--> Magadha as the dominant power under <!--del_lnk--> Bimbisara.<li><!--del_lnk--> 539 BC—The Fall of the Babylonian Empire and liberation of the Jews by Cyrus the Great<li><!--del_lnk--> 525 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Cambyses II of Persia conquers Egypt<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 512 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Darius I (Darius the Great) of Persia, subjugates eastern Thrace, Macedonia submits voluntarily, and annexes Libya, Persian Empire at largest extent<li><!--del_lnk--> 509 BC—Expulsion of the last <!--del_lnk--> King of Rome, founding of <!--del_lnk--> Roman Republic (traditional date)<li><!--del_lnk--> 500 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Panini standardizes the <!--del_lnk--> grammar and <!--del_lnk--> morphology of <a href="../../wp/s/Sanskrit.htm" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> in the text <!--del_lnk--> Ashtadhyayi. Panini's standardized Sanskrit is known as <!--del_lnk--> Classical Sanskrit<li><!--del_lnk--> 500 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Pingala uses <!--del_lnk--> zero and <!--del_lnk--> binary numeral system.<li><!--del_lnk--> 490 BC—Greek city-states defeat Persian invasion at <a href="../../wp/b/Battle_of_Marathon.htm" title="Battle of Marathon">Battle of Marathon</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 475 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Warring States Period begins in China as the <!--del_lnk--> Zhou king became a mere figurehead; China is annexed by regional warlords<li><!--del_lnk--> 424 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Nanda dynasty comes to power.<li><!--del_lnk--> 404 BC—End of <!--del_lnk--> Peloponnesian War between the Greek city-states<li><!--del_lnk--> 331 BC—<a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a> defeats <!--del_lnk--> Darius III of Persia in the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Gaugamela<li><!--del_lnk--> 326 BC—<a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a> defeats Indian king <!--del_lnk--> Porus (<i><!--del_lnk--> Purushottama</i>) in the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of the Hydaspes River.<li><!--del_lnk--> 321 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Chandragupta Maurya overthrows the Nanda Dynasty of Magadha<li><!--del_lnk--> 323 BC—Death of <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 305 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Chandragupta Maurya seizes the satrapies of Paropanisadai (Kabul), Aria (Herat), Arachosia (Qanadahar) and Gedrosia (Baluchistan)from <!--del_lnk--> Seleucus I Nicator, the Macedonian <!--del_lnk--> satrap of <a href="../../wp/b/Babylonia.htm" title="Babylonia">Babylonia</a>, in return for 500 elephants.<li><!--del_lnk--> 273 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Ashoka the Great becomes the emperor of the <!--del_lnk--> Mauryan Empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 250 BC—Rise of <!--del_lnk--> Parthia (Ashkâniân), the second native dynasty of ancient Iran<li><!--del_lnk--> 232 BC—Death of Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Ashoka the Great; Decline of the <!--del_lnk--> Mauryan Empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 230 BC—Emergence of <!--del_lnk--> Satavahanas in <!--del_lnk--> South India<li><!--del_lnk--> 221 BC—<a href="../../wp/q/Qin_Shi_Huang.htm" title="Qin Shi Huang">Qin Shi Huang</a> unifies China, end of <!--del_lnk--> Warring States Period; beginning of Imperial rule in China which lasts until <!--del_lnk--> 1912<li><!--del_lnk--> 202 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Han Dynasty established in China, after the death of <a href="../../wp/q/Qin_Shi_Huang.htm" title="Qin Shi Huang">Qin Shi Huang</a>; China in this period officially becomes a <!--del_lnk--> Confucian state and opens trading connections with the West, i.e. the <!--del_lnk--> Silk Road<li><!--del_lnk--> 202 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Scipio Africanus defeats <!--del_lnk--> Hannibal at <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Zama<li>c <!--del_lnk--> 200 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Chera dynasty in South India<li><!--del_lnk--> 185 BC—<!--del_lnk--> Sunga Empire founded.<li><!--del_lnk--> 149 BC-<!--del_lnk--> 146—Third and final <!--del_lnk--> Punic War; destruction of <!--del_lnk--> Carthage by Rome<li><!--del_lnk--> 146 BC—Roman conquest of Greece, <i>see <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Greece.htm" title="Roman Greece">Roman Greece</a></i><li><!--del_lnk--> 110 BC— <!--del_lnk--> First Chinese domination of <a href="../../wp/v/Vietnam.htm" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> in the form of the Nanyue Kingdom.<li>c <!--del_lnk--> 100 BC—<a href="../../wp/c/Chola_dynasty.htm" title="Chola dynasty">Chola dynasty</a> rises in prominence.<li><!--del_lnk--> 49 BC—Roman Civil War between <a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Pompey the Great<li><!--del_lnk--> 44 BC—<a href="../../wp/j/Julius_Caesar.htm" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a> murdered by <!--del_lnk--> Marcus Brutus and others; End of Roman Republic; beginning of <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 6 BC—Earliest theorized date for birth of <!--del_lnk--> Jesus of Nazareth<li><!--del_lnk--> 4 BC—Widely accepted date (Ussher) for birth of <a href="../../wp/j/Jesus.htm" title="Jesus Christ">Jesus Christ</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 9—<!--del_lnk--> Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, the <!--del_lnk--> Roman Army's bloodiest defeat<li><!--del_lnk--> 14—Death of <!--del_lnk--> Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Augustus (Octavian), ascension of his adopted son <!--del_lnk--> Tiberius to the throne<li><!--del_lnk--> 29—Crucifixtion of <a href="../../wp/j/Jesus.htm" title="Jesus Christ">Jesus Christ</a>.<li><!--del_lnk--> 68—<!--del_lnk--> Year of the four emperors in Rome<li><!--del_lnk--> 70—Destruction of <a href="../../wp/j/Jerusalem.htm" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a> by the armies of <!--del_lnk--> Titus.<li><!--del_lnk--> 117—Roman Empire at largest extent under <!--del_lnk--> Emperor Trajan<li><!--del_lnk--> 200s—The <!--del_lnk--> Hindu <!--del_lnk--> Srivijaya Empire established in the <!--del_lnk--> Malay Archipelago.<li><!--del_lnk--> 220—<!--del_lnk--> Three Kingdoms period begins in China after the fall of <!--del_lnk--> Han Dynasty<li><!--del_lnk--> 226—Fall of the Parthian Empire and Rise of the <!--del_lnk--> Sassanian Empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 238—Defeat of <!--del_lnk--> Gordian III (238–244), <!--del_lnk--> Philip the Arab (244–249), and <!--del_lnk--> Valerian (253–260), by <!--del_lnk--> Shapur I of Persia, (Valerian was captured by the Persians).<li><!--del_lnk--> 285—<!--del_lnk--> Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Diocletian splits the Roman Empire into <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Eastern Roman Empire">Eastern</a> and <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Roman_Empire.htm" title="Western Roman Empire">Western</a> Empires<li><!--del_lnk--> 313—<!--del_lnk--> Edict of Milan declared that the Roman Empire would be neutral toward religious worship<li><!--del_lnk--> 335—<!--del_lnk--> Samudragupta becomes the emperor of the <!--del_lnk--> Gupta empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 378—<!--del_lnk--> Battle of Adrianople, Roman army is defeated by the Germanic tribes<li><!--del_lnk--> 395—<!--del_lnk--> Roman Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Theodosius I outlaws all <!--del_lnk--> pagan religions in favour of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 410—<!--del_lnk--> Alaric sacks <a href="../../wp/r/Rome.htm" title="Rome">Rome</a> for the first time since <!--del_lnk--> 390 BC<li>c. <!--del_lnk--> 455—<!--del_lnk--> Skandagupta repels an <!--del_lnk--> Indo-Hephthalite attack on India.<li><!--del_lnk--> 476—<a href="../../wp/r/Romulus_Augustus.htm" title="Romulus Augustus">Romulus Augustus</a>, last <!--del_lnk--> Western Roman Emperor is forced to abdicate by <!--del_lnk--> Odoacer, a half <!--del_lnk--> Hunnish and half <!--del_lnk--> Scirian chieftain of the <!--del_lnk--> Germanic <!--del_lnk--> Heruli; Odoacer returns the imperial regalia to <!--del_lnk--> Eastern Roman Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Zeno in <!--del_lnk--> Constantinople in return for the title of <i>dux</i> of <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a>; most frequently cited date for the end of ancient history</ul>
<p><a id="End_of_ancient_history_in_Europe" name="End_of_ancient_history_in_Europe"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">End of ancient history in Europe</span></h3>
<p>The date used as the end of the ancient era is entirely arbitrary and is a matter of some dispute amongst historians. Some other dates that are given for the end of antiquity are:<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> 293—reforms of <!--del_lnk--> Roman Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Diocletian<li><!--del_lnk--> 395—the division of <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> into the <a href="../../wp/w/Western_Roman_Empire.htm" title="Western Roman Empire">Western Roman Empire</a> and <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Eastern Roman Empire">Eastern Roman Empire</a><li><!--del_lnk--> 476—the fall of Western Roman Empire<li><!--del_lnk--> 529—closure of <!--del_lnk--> Platon Academy in <a href="../../wp/a/Athens.htm" title="Athens">Athens</a> by Byzantine Emperor <!--del_lnk--> Justinian I</ul>
<p><a id="Some_prominent_civilizations_of_ancient_history" name="Some_prominent_civilizations_of_ancient_history"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Some prominent civilizations of ancient history</span></h2>
<p><a id="Europe_and_the_Mediterranean" name="Europe_and_the_Mediterranean"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Europe and the Mediterranean</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Carthage<li><!--del_lnk--> Etruscans<li><!--del_lnk--> Hittites<li><!--del_lnk--> Phoenicia<li><!--del_lnk--> Scythians</ul>
<p><a id="Classical_antiquity" name="Classical_antiquity"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Classical antiquity</span></h4>
<p><i><b>Classical antiquity</b></i> is a broad term for a long period of cultural <a href="../../wp/h/History.htm" title="History">history</a> centered on the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a>, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded <!--del_lnk--> Greek poetry of <a href="../../wp/h/Homer.htm" title="Homer">Homer</a> (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD), ending in the dissolution of classical culture with the close of <!--del_lnk--> Late Antiquity.<p>Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many rather disparate cultures and periods. "Classical antiquity" typically refers to an idealized vision of later people, of what was, in <a href="../../wp/e/Edgar_Allan_Poe.htm" title="Edgar Allan Poe">Edgar Allan Poe</a>'s words, "the glory that was <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">Greece</a>, the grandeur that was <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Rome</a>!"<p>In the 18th and 19th centuries reverence for classical antiquity was much greater in <!--del_lnk--> Western Europe and the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> than it is today. Respect for the ancients of Greece and Rome affected <a href="../../wp/p/Politics.htm" title="Politics">politics</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Philosophy.htm" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a>, <a href="../../wp/s/Sculpture.htm" title="Sculpture">sculpture</a>, <a href="../../wp/l/Literature.htm" title="Literature">literature</a>, <a href="../../wp/t/Theatre.htm" title="Theatre">theatre</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Education.htm" title="Education">education</a>, and even <a href="../../wp/a/Architecture.htm" title="Architecture">architecture</a> and <!--del_lnk--> sexuality.<p>In politics, the presence of a <!--del_lnk--> Roman Emperor was felt to be desirable long after the <!--del_lnk--> empire fell. This tendency reached its peak when <a href="../../wp/c/Charlemagne.htm" title="Charlemagne">Charlemagne</a> was <!--del_lnk--> crowned "Roman Emperor" in the year <!--del_lnk--> 800, an act which led to the formation of the <a href="../../wp/h/Holy_Roman_Empire.htm" title="Holy Roman Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a>. The notion that an <!--del_lnk--> emperor is a <!--del_lnk--> monarch who outranks a mere king dates from this period. In this political ideal, there would always be a Roman Empire, a state whose jurisdiction extended to the entire civilised world.<p><!--del_lnk--> Epic poetry in <a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a> continued to be written and circulated well into the <!--del_lnk--> nineteenth century. <a href="../../wp/j/John_Milton.htm" title="John Milton">John Milton</a> and even <!--del_lnk--> Arthur Rimbaud got their first poetic educations in Latin. Genres like epic poetry, <!--del_lnk--> pastoral verse, and the endless use of characters and themes from <a href="../../wp/g/Greek_mythology.htm" title="Greek mythology">Greek mythology</a> left a deep mark on Western literature.<p>In architecture, there have been several <!--del_lnk--> Greek Revivals, (though while apparrently more inspired in retrospect by Roman architecture than Greek). Still, one needs only to look at <!--del_lnk--> Washington, DC to see a city filled with large <!--del_lnk--> marble buildings with façades made out to look like <!--del_lnk--> Roman temples, with columns constructed in the <!--del_lnk--> classical orders of architecture.<p>In philosophy, the efforts of St <a href="../../wp/t/Thomas_Aquinas.htm" title="Thomas Aquinas">Thomas Aquinas</a> were derived largely from the thought of <a href="../../wp/a/Aristotle.htm" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>, despite the intervening change in <a href="../../wp/r/Religion.htm" title="Religion">religion</a> from <!--del_lnk--> paganism to <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a>. Greek and Roman authorities such as <a href="../../wp/h/Hippocrates.htm" title="Hippocrates">Hippocrates</a> and <!--del_lnk--> Galen formed the foundation of the practice of <a href="../../wp/m/Medicine.htm" title="Medicine">medicine</a> even longer than Greek thought prevailed in philosophy. In the <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> <a href="../../wp/t/Theatre.htm" title="Theatre">theatre</a>, <!--del_lnk--> tragedians such as <!--del_lnk--> Molière and <!--del_lnk--> Racine wrote plays on mythological or classical historical subjects and subjected them to the strict rules of the <!--del_lnk--> classical unities derived from Aristotle's <i><!--del_lnk--> Poetics</i>. The desire to <a href="../../wp/d/Dance.htm" title="Dance">dance</a> like a latter-day vision of how the ancient Greeks did it moved <!--del_lnk--> Isadora Duncan to create her brand of <!--del_lnk--> ballet.<p><i>The <a href="../../wp/r/Renaissance.htm" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a> discovery of Classical Antiquity</i> is a book by <!--del_lnk--> Roberto Weiss on how the renaissance was partly caused by the rediscovery of classic antiquity.<p><a id="Ancient_Greece" name="Ancient_Greece"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Ancient Greece</span></h4>
<p><b>Ancient Greece</b> is the period in <!--del_lnk--> Greek history lasting for close to a millennium, until the rise of <a href="../../wp/c/Christianity.htm" title="Christianity">Christianity</a>. It is considered by most historians to be the foundational culture of <!--del_lnk--> Western Civilization. Greek culture was a powerful influence in the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>, which carried a version of it to many parts of <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>.<p>The civilization of the ancient Greeks has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, art, and architecture of the modern world, fueling the <a href="../../wp/r/Renaissance.htm" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a> in Western Europe and again resurgent during various <a href="../../wp/n/Neoclassicism.htm" title="Neoclassicism">neo-Classical</a> revivals in <a href="../../wp/1/18th_century.htm" title="18th century">18th</a> and <a href="../../wp/1/19th_century.htm" title="19th century">19th century</a> Europe and <!--del_lnk--> The Americas.<p>"Ancient Greece" is the term used to describe the <!--del_lnk--> Greek-speaking world in ancient times. It refers not only to the <!--del_lnk--> geographical <!--del_lnk--> peninsula of modern <a href="../../wp/g/Greece.htm" title="Greece">Greece</a>, but also to areas of <!--del_lnk--> Hellenic culture that were settled in ancient times by Greeks: <a href="../../wp/c/Cyprus.htm" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> and the Aegean islands, the <!--del_lnk--> Aegean coast of <!--del_lnk--> Anatolia (then known as <!--del_lnk--> Ionia), <!--del_lnk--> Sicily and southern <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a> (known as <!--del_lnk--> Magna Graecia), and the scattered Greek settlements on the coasts of <!--del_lnk--> Colchis, <!--del_lnk--> Illyria, <!--del_lnk--> Thrace, <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Cyrenaica, southern <!--del_lnk--> Gaul, east and northeast of the <!--del_lnk--> Iberian peninsula, <!--del_lnk--> Iberia and <!--del_lnk--> Taurica.<p>During its twelve-century existence, the Roman civilization shifted from a <a href="../../wp/m/Monarchy.htm" title="Monarchy">monarchy</a> to an <a href="../../wp/o/Oligarchy.htm" title="Oligarchy">oligarchic</a> <!--del_lnk--> republic to a vast <!--del_lnk--> empire. It came to dominate <!--del_lnk--> Western Europe and the entire area surrounding the <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a> through <a href="../../wp/i/Invasion.htm" title="Invasion">conquest</a><p>and <!--del_lnk--> assimilation. However, a number of factors led to the eventual <!--del_lnk--> decline of the Roman Empire. The western half of the empire, including <!--del_lnk--> Hispania, <!--del_lnk--> Gaul, and Italy, eventually broke into independent kingdoms in the <a href="../../wp/5/5th_century.htm" title="5th century">5th century</a>; the eastern empire, governed from <!--del_lnk--> Constantinople, is referred to as the <a href="../../wp/b/Byzantine_Empire.htm" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a> after AD 476, the traditional date for the "fall of Rome" and subsequent onset of the <a href="../../wp/m/Middle_Ages.htm" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15083.gif.htm" title="Area under Roman control"><img alt="Area under Roman control" height="171" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Roman_Republic_Empire_map.gif" src="../../images/150/15083.gif" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15083.gif.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Area under Roman control</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Roman civilization is often grouped into "<!--del_lnk--> classical antiquity" with <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Greece.htm" title="Ancient Greece">ancient Greece</a>, a civilization that inspired much of the <!--del_lnk--> culture of ancient Rome. Ancient Rome contributed greatly to the development of <a href="../../wp/l/Law.htm" title="Law">law</a>, <a href="../../wp/w/War.htm" title="War">war</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Art.htm" title="Art">art</a>, <a href="../../wp/l/Literature.htm" title="Literature">literature</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Architecture.htm" title="Architecture">architecture</a>, and <a href="../../wp/l/Language.htm" title="Language">language</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> Western world, and its <!--del_lnk--> history continues to have a major influence on the world today.<p><a id="East_Asia" name="East_Asia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">East Asia</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Ancient China<li><!--del_lnk--> Ancient Japan<li><!--del_lnk--> Ancient Korea<li><!--del_lnk--> Mongols<li><!--del_lnk--> Huns</ul>
<p><a id="Ancient_China" name="Ancient_China"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Ancient China</span></h4>
<p>The earliest written record of China's past dates from the <!--del_lnk--> Shang Dynasty (商朝) in perhaps the <!--del_lnk--> 13th century BC, and takes the form of inscriptions of divination records on the bones or shells of animals—the so-called <i><!--del_lnk--> oracle bones</i> (甲骨文). Archaeological findings providing evidence for the existence of the <!--del_lnk--> Shang Dynasty, c. <!--del_lnk--> 1600–<!--del_lnk--> 1046 BC is divided into two sets. The first, from the earlier Shang period (c. 1600–<!--del_lnk--> 1300) comes from sources at <!--del_lnk--> Erligang (二里崗), <!--del_lnk--> Zhengzhou (鄭州) and Shangcheng. The second set, from the later Shang or Yin (殷) period, consists of a large body of oracle bone writings. <!--del_lnk--> Anyang (安陽) in modern day Henan has been confirmed as the last of the nine capitals of the Shang (c. 1300–1046 BC).<p>By the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the <!--del_lnk--> Zhou Dynasty (周朝) began to emerge in the <a href="../../wp/y/Yellow_River.htm" title="Yellow River">Yellow River</a> valley, overrunning the Shang. The Zhou appeared to have begun their rule under a semi-feudal system. The ruler of the Zhou, <!--del_lnk--> King Wu, with the assistance of his uncle, the <!--del_lnk--> Duke of Zhou, as regent managed to defeat the Shang at the <!--del_lnk--> Battle of Muye. The king of Zhou at this time invoked the concept of the <!--del_lnk--> Mandate of Heaven to legitimize his rule, a concept that would be influential for almost every successive dynasty. The Zhou initially moved their capital west to an area near modern <!--del_lnk--> Xi'an, near the Yellow River, but they would preside over a series of expansions into the <a href="../../wp/y/Yangtze_River.htm" title="Yangtze River">Yangtze River</a> valley. This would be the first of many population migrations from north to south in Chinese history.<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>In the <!--del_lnk--> 8th century BC, power became decentralized during the <!--del_lnk--> Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時代), named after the influential <!--del_lnk--> Spring and Autumn Annals. In this period, local military leaders used by the Zhou began to assert their power and vie for hegemony. The situation was aggravated by the invasion of other peoples from the northwest, such as the Qin, forcing the Zhou to move their capital east to <!--del_lnk--> Luoyang. This marks the second large phase of the Zhou dynasty: the Eastern Zhou. In each of the hundreds of states that eventually arose, local strongmen held most of the political power and continued their subservience to the Zhou kings in name only. Local leaders for instance started using royal titles for themselves. The <!--del_lnk--> Hundred Schools of Thought (諸子百家) of Chinese philosophy blossomed during this period, and such influential intellectual movements as <a href="../../wp/c/Confucianism.htm" title="Confucianism">Confucianism</a> (儒家), <a href="../../wp/t/Taoism.htm" title="Taoism">Taoism</a> (道家), <!--del_lnk--> Legalism (法家) and <!--del_lnk--> Mohism (墨家) were founded, partly in response to the changing political world. The Spring and Autumn Period is marked by a falling apart of the central Zhou power. China now consists of hundreds of states, some only as large as a village with a fort.<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>After further political consolidation, seven prominent states remained by the end of 5th century BC, and the years in which these few states battled each other is known as the <!--del_lnk--> Warring States Period (戰國時代). Though there remained a nominal <!--del_lnk--> Zhou king until <!--del_lnk--> 256 BC, he was largely a figurehead and held little real power. As neighboring territories of these warring states, including areas of modern <!--del_lnk--> Sichuan (四川) and <!--del_lnk--> Liaoning (遼寧), were annexed, they were governed under the new local administrative system of <!--del_lnk--> commandery and <!--del_lnk--> prefecture (郡縣). This system had been in use since the Spring and Autumn Period and parts can still be seen in the modern system of <!--del_lnk--> Sheng & Xian (province and county, 省縣). The final expansion in this period began during the reign of Ying Zheng (嬴政), the king of Qin. His unification of the other six powers, and further annexations in the modern regions of <!--del_lnk--> Zhejiang (浙江), <!--del_lnk--> Fujian (福建), <!--del_lnk--> Guangdong (廣東) and <!--del_lnk--> Guangxi (廣西) in <!--del_lnk--> 214 BC enabled him to proclaim himself the <a href="../../wp/q/Qin_Shi_Huang.htm" title="Qin Shi Huang">First Emperor</a> (Qin Shi Huangdi, 始皇帝).<p><a id="Central_and_South_Asia" name="Central_and_South_Asia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Central and South Asia</span></h3>
<p><a id="Ancient_India" name="Ancient_India"></a><h4> <span class="mw-headline">Ancient India</span></h4>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/252/25262.jpg.htm" title="Standing Buddha, Gandhara, 1st century CE."><img alt="Standing Buddha, Gandhara, 1st century CE." height="350" longdesc="/wiki/Image:StandingBuddha.JPG" src="../../images/150/15099.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/252/25262.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Standing <a href="../../wp/b/Buddha.htm" title="Buddha">Buddha</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Gandhara, <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century.htm" title="1st century">1st century CE</a>.</div>
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<p>In the <!--del_lnk--> Indian subcontinent, the <i><!--del_lnk--> Rigveda</i>, in <a href="../../wp/s/Sanskrit.htm" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a>, goes back to about 1500 BCE. The Indian literary tradition has an oral history reaching down into the <!--del_lnk--> Vedic period of the later <!--del_lnk--> 2nd millennium BC. <b><!--del_lnk--> Ancient India</b> is usually taken to refer to the "golden age" of classical <!--del_lnk--> Hindu culture, as reflected in <a href="../../wp/s/Sanskrit.htm" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> literature, beginning around <!--del_lnk--> 500 BCE with the sixteen monarchies and 'republics' known as the <!--del_lnk--> Mahajanapadas, stretched across the <!--del_lnk--> Indo-Gangetic plains from modern-day Afghanistan to <a href="../../wp/b/Bangladesh.htm" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a>. The largest of these nations were <!--del_lnk--> Magadha, <!--del_lnk--> Kosala, <!--del_lnk--> Kuru and <!--del_lnk--> Gandhara. Notably, the great epics of <a href="../../wp/r/Ramayana.htm" title="Ramayana">Ramayana</a> and <a href="../../wp/m/Mahabharata.htm" title="Mahabharata">Mahabharata</a> are rooted in this classical period.<p>The births of <!--del_lnk--> Mahavira and <a href="../../wp/b/Buddha.htm" title="Buddha">Buddha</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> 6th century BCE mark the beginning of well-recorded Indian history. Around the 5th century BCE, the northern Indian subcontinent was invaded by the <!--del_lnk--> Achaemenid Empire and the Greeks of <a href="../../wp/a/Alexander_the_Great.htm" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander</a>'s army. Amongst the sixteen Mahajanapadas, the kingdom of <!--del_lnk--> Magadha rose to prominence under a number of dynasties that peaked in power under the reign of <!--del_lnk--> Ashoka <!--del_lnk--> Maurya, one of India's most legendary and famous emperors. During the reign of <!--del_lnk--> Asoka, the three <a href="../../wp/t/Tamil_people.htm" title="Tamil people">Tamil</a> dynasties of <a href="../../wp/c/Chola_dynasty.htm" title="Chola dynasty">Chola</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Chera and <!--del_lnk--> Pandya were ruling in the south. These kingdoms, while not part of Asoka's empire, were in friendly terms with the <!--del_lnk--> Maurya Empire. The <!--del_lnk--> Satavahanas started out as feudatories to the <!--del_lnk--> Mauryan Empire, and declared independence soon after the death of <!--del_lnk--> Ashoka (232 BCE). Other notable ancient <!--del_lnk--> South Indian dynasties include the <!--del_lnk--> Kadambas of Banavasi, western <!--del_lnk--> Ganga dynasty, <!--del_lnk--> Chalukyas of Badami, <!--del_lnk--> Chalukyas, <!--del_lnk--> Hoysalas, <!--del_lnk--> Kakatiyas, <!--del_lnk--> Pallavas, <!--del_lnk--> Rashtrakutas of Manyaketha and <!--del_lnk--> Satavahanas.<p>The period between 320CE–550 is known as the Classical Age, when most of <!--del_lnk--> North India was reunited under the <!--del_lnk--> Gupta Empire (ca. 320CE–550). This was a period of relative peace, law and order, and extensive achievements in religion, education, mathematics, arts, Sanskrit literature and drama. Grammar, composition, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, medicine, and <a href="../../wp/a/Astronomy.htm" title="Astronomy">astronomy</a> became increasingly specialized and reached an advanced level. The Gupta Empire was weakened and ultimately ruined by the raids of Hunas (a branch of the <!--del_lnk--> White Huns emanating from Central Asia). Under <!--del_lnk--> Harsha (r. 606–47), North India was reunited briefly.<p>The educated speech at that time was <a href="../../wp/s/Sanskrit.htm" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a>, while the dialects of the general population of northern India were referred to as <!--del_lnk--> Prakrits. The South Indian coast of <!--del_lnk--> Malabar and the <a href="../../wp/t/Tamil_people.htm" title="Tamil people">Tamil</a> people of the <!--del_lnk--> Sangam age traded with the <!--del_lnk--> Graeco-Roman world. They were in contact with the <!--del_lnk--> Phoenicians, <a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Rome.htm" title="Ancient Rome">Romans</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Greeks, <!--del_lnk--> Arabs, <!--del_lnk--> Syrians, <a href="../../wp/j/Jew.htm" title="Jew">Jews</a>, and the <a href="../../wp/c/China.htm" title="China">Chinese</a>. <p><a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a> is estimated to have had the largest <!--del_lnk--> economy of the world between the <a href="../../wp/1/1st_century.htm" title="1st century">1st</a> and <a href="../../wp/1/15th_century.htm" title="15th century">15th</a> centuries CE, controlling between one third and one quarter of the world's wealth up to the time of the <!--del_lnk--> Mughals, from whence it rapidly declined during British rule.<p><a id="Southwest_Asia" name="Southwest_Asia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Southwest Asia</span></h3>
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<li><!--del_lnk--> Ancient Persia<li><!--del_lnk--> Arabia Felix<li><a href="../../wp/a/Assyria.htm" title="Assyria">Assyria</a><li><a href="../../wp/b/Babylonia.htm" title="Babylonia">Babylonia</a><li><!--del_lnk--> Proto-Elamite<li><!--del_lnk--> Elam<li><!--del_lnk--> Jiroft Kingdom<li><!--del_lnk--> Kingdom of Israel<li><!--del_lnk--> Kingdom of Judah<li><!--del_lnk--> Medes<li><a href="../../wp/m/Mesopotamia.htm" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a><li><!--del_lnk--> Mitanni<li><a href="../../wp/s/Sumer.htm" title="Sumer">Sumer</a><li><!--del_lnk--> Urartu</ul>
<p><a id="Saharan_and_Sub-Saharan_Africa" name="Saharan_and_Sub-Saharan_Africa"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa</span></h3>
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<div style="width:352px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15068.jpg.htm" title="Khafre's Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c.2500 BC or perhaps earlier)"><img alt="Khafre's Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c.2500 BC or perhaps earlier)" height="263" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Egypt.Giza.Sphinx.01.jpg" src="../../images/150/15068.jpg" width="350" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/150/15068.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Khafre's Pyramid (<!--del_lnk--> 4th dynasty) and <!--del_lnk--> Great Sphinx of Giza (c.<!--del_lnk--> 2500 BC or perhaps earlier)</div>
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<p><b>Ancient Egypt</b> was a long-lived ancient <a href="../../wp/c/Civilization.htm" title="Civilization">civilization</a> geographically located in north-eastern <a href="../../wp/a/Africa.htm" title="Africa">Africa</a>. It was concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the <!--del_lnk--> Nile River reaching its greatest extension during the second millennium <!--del_lnk--> BC, which is referred to as the <!--del_lnk--> New Kingdom period. It reached broadly from the <!--del_lnk--> Nile Delta in the north, as far south as <!--del_lnk--> Jebel Barkal at the <!--del_lnk--> Fourth Cataract of the Nile. Extensions to the geographical range of ancient Egyptian civilisation included, at different times, areas of the southern <!--del_lnk--> Levant, the Eastern Desert and the <a href="../../wp/r/Red_Sea.htm" title="Red Sea">Red Sea</a> coastline, the <!--del_lnk--> Sinai Peninsula and the <!--del_lnk--> Western Desert (focused on the several <!--del_lnk--> oases).<p>Ancient Egypt developed over at least three and a half <!--del_lnk--> millennia. It began with the incipient unification of Nile Valley polities around <!--del_lnk--> 3500 BC and is conventionally thought to have ended in <!--del_lnk--> 30 BC when the early <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> conquered and absorbed <!--del_lnk--> Ptolemaic Egypt as a province. (Though this last did not represent the first period of foreign domination, the Roman period was to witness a marked, if gradual transformation in the political and religious life of the Nile Valley, effectively marking the termination of independent civilisational development).<p>The civilization of ancient Egypt was based on a finely balanced control of natural and human resources, characterised primarily by controlled <a href="../../wp/i/Irrigation.htm" title="Irrigation">irrigation</a> of the fertile Nile Valley; the mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions; the early development of an independent <a href="../../wp/w/Writing.htm" title="Writing">writing system</a> and <a href="../../wp/l/Literature.htm" title="Literature">literature</a>; the organisation of collective projects; <!--del_lnk--> trade with surrounding regions in east / central Africa and the eastern <a href="../../wp/m/Mediterranean_Sea.htm" title="Mediterranean">Mediterranean</a>; finally, <!--del_lnk--> military ventures that exhibited strong characteristics of imperial hegemony and territorial domination of neighbouring cultures at different periods. Motivating and organising these activities were a socio-political and economic <!--del_lnk--> elite that achieved social consensus by means of an elaborate system of <a href="../../wp/r/Religion.htm" title="Religion">religious belief</a> under the figure of a (semi)-divine ruler (usually male) from a succession of ruling <!--del_lnk--> dynasties and which related to the larger world by means of <!--del_lnk--> polytheistic beliefs.<ul>
<li><a href="../../wp/a/Ancient_Egypt.htm" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a><li><!--del_lnk--> Axumite Kingdom<li><!--del_lnk--> Kush</ul>
<p><a id="The_Americas" name="The_Americas"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">The Americas</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Adena<li><!--del_lnk--> Aztecs<li><!--del_lnk--> Incas<li><!--del_lnk--> Mayans<li><!--del_lnk--> Mississippian culture<li><!--del_lnk--> Native America<li><!--del_lnk--> Olmecs<li><!--del_lnk--> Poverty Point culture</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_history"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Andes</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Geography.Central_and_South_American_Geography.htm">Central & South American Geography</a></h3>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15916.jpg.htm" title="The Andes between Chile and Argentina"><img alt="The Andes between Chile and Argentina" height="203" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andes_Chile_Argentina.jpg" src="../../images/159/15916.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15916.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Andes between <a href="../../wp/c/Chile.htm" title="Chile">Chile</a> and <a href="../../wp/a/Argentina.htm" title="Argentina">Argentina</a></div>
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<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15917.jpg.htm" title="Plane's view of the Andes, Peru."><img alt="Plane's view of the Andes, Peru." height="225" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andesplane.jpg" src="../../images/159/15917.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15917.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Plane's view of the Andes, Peru.</div>
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<p>The <b>Andes</b> (<!--del_lnk--> Quechua: <i><!--del_lnk--> Anti(s)</i>) is the world's longest <!--del_lnk--> mountain range, forming a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of <a href="../../wp/s/South_America.htm" title="South America">South America</a>. It is over 7,000 km (4,400 miles) long, 500 km (300 miles) wide in some parts (widest between 18° to 20°S latitude), and of an average height of about 4,000 m (13,000 feet). The Andean range is composed principally of two great <i>ranges</i>, the <!--del_lnk--> Cordillera Oriental and the <!--del_lnk--> Cordillera Occidental, often separated by a deep intermediate <!--del_lnk--> depression, in which arise other chains of minor importance, the chief of which is <a href="../../wp/c/Chile.htm" title="Chile">Chile</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> Cordillera de la Costa. Other small chains arise on the sides of the great chains. The <i>Cordillera de la Costa</i> starts from the southern extremity of the continent and runs in a northerly direction, parallel with the coast, being broken up at its beginning into a number of islands and afterwards forming the western boundary of the great central valley of Chile. To the north this coastal chain continues in small ridges or isolated hills along the <a href="../../wp/p/Pacific_Ocean.htm" title="Pacific Ocean">Pacific Ocean</a> as far as <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela.htm" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a>, always leaving the same valley more or less visible to the west of the western great chain. The mountains extend over seven countries: <a href="../../wp/a/Argentina.htm" title="Argentina">Argentina</a>, <a href="../../wp/b/Bolivia.htm" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Chile.htm" title="Chile">Chile</a>, <a href="../../wp/c/Colombia.htm" title="Colombia">Colombia</a>, <a href="../../wp/e/Ecuador.htm" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a> and <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela.htm" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a>, some of which are known as <!--del_lnk--> Andean States. The name <i>Andes</i> comes from the <!--del_lnk--> Quechua word <i>anti</i>, which means "high crest."<p>The Andes range is the highest mountain range outside Asia, with the highest peak, <!--del_lnk--> Aconcagua, rising to 6,962 m (22,841 feet) <!--del_lnk--> above sea level. The summit of <!--del_lnk--> Mount Chimborazo in the Ecuadorean Andes is the point on the Earth's surface most distant from its centre, because of the <!--del_lnk--> equatorial bulge. The Andes cannot match the <a href="../../wp/h/Himalayas.htm" title="Himalayas">Himalayas</a> in height but do so in width and are more than twice as long.<p>
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</script><a id="Physical_features" name="Physical_features"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Physical features</span></h2>
<p><a id="Geology" name="Geology"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Geology</span></h3>
<p>The formation of the Andes extends into the <!--del_lnk--> Paleozoic Era, when <!--del_lnk--> terrane accretion was the dominant process. It was during the <a href="../../wp/c/Cretaceous.htm" title="Cretaceous">Cretaceous</a> Period that the Andes began to take their present form, by the uplifting, <!--del_lnk--> faulting and <!--del_lnk--> folding of <!--del_lnk--> sedimentary and <!--del_lnk--> metamorphic rocks of the ancient <a href="../../wp/c/Craton.htm" title="Craton">cratons</a> to the east. Tectonic forces along the <!--del_lnk--> subduction zone along the entire west coast of South America where the <!--del_lnk--> Nazca Plate and a part of the <!--del_lnk--> Antarctic Plate are sliding beneath the <!--del_lnk--> South American Plate continue to produce an ongoing <!--del_lnk--> orogenic event resulting in minor to major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to this day. In the extreme south a major <!--del_lnk--> transform fault separates <!--del_lnk--> Tierra del Fuego from the small <!--del_lnk--> Scotia Plate. Across the 1,000 km wide <!--del_lnk--> Drake Passage lie the mountains of the <!--del_lnk--> Antarctic Peninsula south of the Scotia Plate which appear to be a continuation of the Andes chain.<p>The Andes range has many active volcanos, the most famous being <a href="../../wp/c/Cotopaxi.htm" title="Cotopaxi">Cotopaxi</a>, one of the highest active volcanos in the world.<p>The Andes can be divided into three sections: the Southern Andes in Argentina and Chile; the Central Andes, including the Chilean and Peruvian cordilleras; and the northern section in Venezuela, Colombia, and northern Ecuador consisting of two parallel ranges, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental. The term <i>cordillera</i> comes from the Spanish word meaning 'rope'. The Andes range is approximately 200–300 km wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is 640 km wide. The islands of <a href="../../wp/a/Aruba.htm" title="Aruba">Aruba</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Bonaire, and <!--del_lnk--> Curacao, which lie in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, represent the submerged peaks of the extreme northern edge of the Andes range.<p><a id="Climate" name="Climate"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Climate</span></h3>
<p>The climate in the Andes varies greatly depending on location, altitude, proximity to the sea. The southern section is rainy and cool, the central Andes are dry. The northern Andes are typically rainy and warm, with an average temperature of 18 °C in Colombia. The climate is known to change drastically. <!--del_lnk--> Tropical rainforests exist just miles away from the snow covered peak, Cotopaxi. The mountains have a large effect on the temperatures of nearby areas. The <!--del_lnk--> snow line depends on the location. It is at between 4,500–4,800 m in the tropical Ecuadorian, Colombian, Venezuelan, and northern Peruvian Andes, rising to 4,800–5,200 m in the drier mountains of southern Peru south to northern Chile south to about 30°S, then descending to 4,500 m on Aconcagua at 32°S, 2,000 m at 40°S, 500 m at 50°S, and only 300 m in <!--del_lnk--> Tierra del Fuego at 55°S; from 50°S, several of the larger glaciers descend to sea level (<!--del_lnk--> Google Earth/<!--del_lnk--> World Wind images).<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15918.jpg.htm" title="View of the mountains in the countryside just outside of Punta Arenas, Chile."><img alt="View of the mountains in the countryside just outside of Punta Arenas, Chile." height="120" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andes_-_punta_arenas.jpg" src="../../images/159/15918.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15918.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> View of the mountains in the countryside just outside of <!--del_lnk--> Punta Arenas, Chile.</div>
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<p><a id="Plant_and_animal_life" name="Plant_and_animal_life"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Plant and animal life</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Tropical rainforests and <!--del_lnk--> rainforests encircle the northern Andes. The <!--del_lnk--> cinchona, a source of <!--del_lnk--> quinine which is used to treat malaria, is found in the Bolivian Andes. The high-altitude <i><!--del_lnk--> Polylepis</i> forests are present in the Andean areas of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The trees, Queñua, Yagual and other names that local people use to call them, can be found at altitudes of 4, 500 m above sea level. Once abundant, the forests began disappearing during the Incan period when much of it was used for building material and cooking fuel. The trees are now considered to be highly endangered with only 10% of the original forests remaining <!--del_lnk--> .<p>The <!--del_lnk--> llama can be found living at high altitudes, predominantly in the Peru and Bolivia. The alpaca, a type of llama, is raised for its wool. The nocturnal <!--del_lnk--> chinchilla, an endangered member of the <!--del_lnk--> rodent order, inhabits the Andes' alpine regions. The South American <!--del_lnk--> condor is the largest bird of its kind in the Western hemisphere. Other animals include the <!--del_lnk--> huemul, <!--del_lnk--> puma, <!--del_lnk--> camelids and, for birds, the <!--del_lnk--> partridge, <!--del_lnk--> parina, <!--del_lnk--> huallata, and <a href="../../wp/c/Coot.htm" title="Coot">coot</a>. Llamas and pumas play important roles in many Andean cultures.<p><a id="The_people" name="The_people"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">The people</span></h2>
<p>The <a href="../../wp/i/Inca_Empire.htm" title="Inca Empire">Inca Empire</a> developed in the northern Andes during the 1400s. The Incas formed this civilization through careful and meticulous governmental management. The government sponsored the construction of <!--del_lnk--> aqueducts and <!--del_lnk--> roads, some of which, like those created by the <a href="../../wp/r/Roman_Empire.htm" title="Roman Empire">Romans</a>, are still in existence today. The aqueducts turned the previously scattered Incan tribe into the agricultural and eventually militaristic masters of the region.<p>Devastated by deadly european diseases to which they had no <!--del_lnk--> immunity, the Incas were koncurred by an army of 180 men led by <!--del_lnk--> Pizarro in 1532. One of the few Inca cities the Spanish never found in their conquest was <a href="../../wp/m/Machu_Picchu.htm" title="Machu Picchu">Machu Picchu</a>, which lay hidden on a peak on the edge of the Andes where they descend to the Amazon. The main surviving languages of the Andean peoples are those of the <!--del_lnk--> Quechua and <!--del_lnk--> Aymara language families.<p><a id="Mountaineering.2FSurveying" name="Mountaineering.2FSurveying"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Mountaineering/Surveying</span></h3>
<p><!--del_lnk--> Woodbine Parish and <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Barclay Pentland surveyed a large part of the Bolivian Andes from <!--del_lnk--> 1826 to <!--del_lnk--> 1827.<p><a id="Transportation" name="Transportation"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Transportation</span></h3>
<p>The people of the Andes are not well connected to urban regions. Due to the arduous terrain, vehicles are of little use. People generally walk to their destinations, using the llama as their primary pack animal.<p><a id="Agriculture" name="Agriculture"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Agriculture</span></h3>
<p>The ancient peoples of the Andes such as the Incas have practiced irrigation techniques for over 6,000 years. Because of the mountain slopes, terracing has been a common practice. Maize and barley were important crops for these people. Currently, tobacco, cotton and coffee are the main export crops. The potato holds a very important role as an internally consumed crop.<p>By far the most important plant in terms of history and culture is coca, the leaves of which have been central to the Andean people for centuries. Coca has been a staple dietary supplement and cornerstone to Andean culture throughout much of its history.<p><a id="Mining" name="Mining"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Mining</span></h3>
<p>Mining is quite prosperous in the Andes, with iron, gold, silver and copper being the main production minerals. The Andes are reputed to be one of the most important sources of these minerals in the world.<p><a id="Peaks" name="Peaks"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Peaks</span></h2>
<p>This is a partial listing of the major peaks in the Andes mountain range—<table align="right" style="float: right; clear: right; background: none; border: none;">
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15919.jpg.htm" title="Licancabur, Bolivia/Chile"><img alt="Licancabur, Bolivia/Chile" height="137" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Licancabur.jpg" src="../../images/159/15919.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15919.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Licancabur, Bolivia/Chile</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15920.jpg.htm" title="Llullaillaco, Chile/Argentina"><img alt="Llullaillaco, Chile/Argentina" height="113" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Llullaillaco.jpg" src="../../images/159/15920.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15920.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Llullaillaco, Chile/Argentina</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15921.jpg.htm" title="Aconcagua, Argentina"><img alt="Aconcagua, Argentina" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Aconcagua_-_Argentina_-_January_2005_-_by_Sergio_Schmiegelow.jpg" src="../../images/159/15921.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15921.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Aconcagua, Argentina</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15922.jpg.htm" title="Chimborazo, Ecuador"><img alt="Chimborazo, Ecuador" height="119" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Chimborazo_from_southwest.jpg" src="../../images/159/15922.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15922.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Chimborazo, Ecuador</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/176/17688.jpg.htm" title="Alpamayo, Peru"><img alt="Alpamayo, Peru" height="150" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Alpamayo.jpg" src="../../images/159/15923.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/176/17688.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Alpamayo, Peru</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15924.jpg.htm" title="El Misti, Peru"><img alt="El Misti, Peru" height="130" longdesc="/wiki/Image:El_misti.jpg" src="../../images/159/15924.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15924.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> El Misti, Peru</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/141/14162.jpg.htm" title="Pico Bolívar, Venezuela"><img alt="Pico Bolívar, Venezuela" height="133" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Bol%C3%ADvar_usgs.jpg" src="../../images/159/15925.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/141/14162.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Pico Bolívar, Venezuela</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15926.jpg.htm" title="Pico Humboldt, Venezuela"><img alt="Pico Humboldt, Venezuela" height="131" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Humboldt-peak.jpg" src="../../images/159/15926.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15926.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Pico Humboldt, Venezuela</div>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="Argentina" name="Argentina"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Argentina</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Aconcagua, 6,962 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Cerro Bonete, 6,759 m <small>(not 6,872 m)</small><li><!--del_lnk--> Galán, 5,912 m <small>(not 6,600 m)</small><li><!--del_lnk--> Incahuasi, 6,620 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Mercedario, 6,720 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Pissis, 6,795 m <small>(not 6,882 m)</small></ul>
<p><a id="Argentina.2FChile_border" name="Argentina.2FChile_border"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Argentina/Chile border</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Cerro Bayo, 5,401 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Cerro Chaltén, 3,375 m or 3,405 m, <!--del_lnk--> Patagonia, also known as Cerro Fitzroy<li><!--del_lnk--> Cerro Escorial, 5,447 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Cordón del Azufre, 5,463 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Falso Azufre, 5,890 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Lastarria, 5,697 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Llullaillaco, 6,739 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Maipo, 5,264 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Marmolejo, 6110 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Ojos del Salado, 6,893 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Olca, 5,407 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Sierra Nevada de Lagunas Bravas, 6,127 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Socompa, 6,051 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Nevado Tres Cruces, 6,749 m (south summit) (III Region)<li><!--del_lnk--> Tupungato, 6,570 m <small>(not 6,800 m)</small></ul>
<p><a id="Bolivia" name="Bolivia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Bolivia</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Ancohuma, 6,427 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Cabaray, 5,860 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Chacaltaya, 5,421 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Huayna Potosí, 6,088 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Illampu, 6,368 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Illimani, 6,438 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Macizo de Larancagua, 5,520 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Macizo de Pacuni, 5,400 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Nevado Anallajsi, 5,750 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Nevado Sajama, 6,542 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Patilla Pata, 5,300 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Tata Sabaya, 5,430 m</ul>
<p><a id="Bolivia.2FChile_border" name="Bolivia.2FChile_border"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Bolivia/Chile border</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Acotango, 6,052 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Cerro Minchincha, 5,305 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Irruputuncu, 5,163 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Licancabur, 5,920 m <small>(there is no "6,620 m Lincancaur" in Argentina)</small><li><!--del_lnk--> Olca, 5,407 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Parinacota, 6,348 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Paruma, 5,420 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Pomerape, 6,282 m</ul>
<p><a id="Chile" name="Chile"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Chile</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Monte San Valentin, 4,058 m (Patagonia)<li><!--del_lnk--> Cerro Paine Grande, c. 2,750 m (Patagonia) <small>(not 3,050 m)</small><li><!--del_lnk--> Cerro Macá, c.2300 m (Patagonia) <small>(not 3,050 m)</small><li><!--del_lnk--> Monte Darwin, c.2500 m (Patagonia)<li><!--del_lnk--> Volcan Hudson, c.1900 m (Patagonia)</ul>
<p><a id="Colombia" name="Colombia"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Colombia</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="../../wp/g/Galeras.htm" title="Galeras">Galeras</a>, 4,276 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Nevado del Huila, 5,700 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Nevado del Ruiz, 5,389 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Ritacuba Blanco, 5,410 m</ul>
<p><a id="Ecuador" name="Ecuador"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Ecuador</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Antisana, 5,753 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Cayambe, 5,790 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Chimborazo, 6,267 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Corazón, 4,790 m<li><a href="../../wp/c/Cotopaxi.htm" title="Cotopaxi">Cotopaxi</a>, 5,897 m<li><!--del_lnk--> El Altar, 5,320 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Illiniza, 5,248 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Pichincha, 4,784 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Reventador, 3,562 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Sangay, 5,230 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Tungurahua, 5,023 m</ul>
<p><a id="Peru" name="Peru"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Peru</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Alpamayo, 5,947 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Carnicero, 5,960 m<li><!--del_lnk--> El Misti, 5,822 m<li><!--del_lnk--> El Toro, 5,830 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Huascarán, 6,768 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Jirishanca, 6,094 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Rasac, 6,040 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Rondoy, 5,870 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Sarapo, 6,127 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Seria Norte, 5,860 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Siula Grande, 6,344 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Yerupaja, 6,635 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Yerupaja Chico, 6,089 m</ul>
<p><a id="Venezuela" name="Venezuela"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Venezuela</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Pico Bolívar, 4,981 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Pico Humboldt, 4,940 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Pico La Concha, 4,870 m<li><!--del_lnk--> Pico Piedras Blancas, 4,740 m</ul>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andes"</div>
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| ['Chile', 'Argentina', 'South America', 'Chile', 'Pacific Ocean', 'Venezuela', 'Argentina', 'Bolivia', 'Chile', 'Colombia', 'Ecuador', 'Peru', 'Venezuela', 'Himalayas', 'Cretaceous', 'Craton', 'Cotopaxi', 'Aruba', 'Coot', 'Inca Empire', 'Roman Empire', 'Machu Picchu', 'Galeras', 'Cotopaxi'] |
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Andorra</h1>
<div id="bodyContent">
<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.Countries.htm">Countries</a>; <a href="../index/subject.Geography.European_Geography.European_Countries.htm">European Countries</a></h3>
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<table class="infobox geography" style="width:23em;">
<tr>
<td align="center" class="mergedtoprow" colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; font-size:1.2em;"><b><span lang="ca" xml:lang="ca"><i>Principat d'Andorra</i></span></b><br /><b>Principality of Andorra</b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td align="center" class="maptable" colspan="2" style="padding:0.4em 0.8em 0.4em 0.8em;">
<table style="margin:0 auto; background:none; text-align:center;" width="100%">
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><span style="border:1px solid #bbbbbb; display:table-cell;"><a class="image" href="../../images/14/1499.png.htm" title="Flag of Andorra"><img alt="Flag of Andorra" height="88" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Andorra.svg" src="../../images/159/15927.png" width="125" /></a></span></td>
<td style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;" width="50%"><a class="image" href="../../images/159/15928.png.htm" title="Coat of arms of Andorra"><img alt="Coat of arms of Andorra" height="91" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Coat_of_arms_of_Andorra.svg" src="../../images/159/15928.png" width="85" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Flag</small></td>
<td><small><!--del_lnk--> Coat of arms</small></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Motto: <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Virtus Unita Fortior</i></span><br /> (<a href="../../wp/l/Latin.htm" title="Latin">Latin</a>: "Strength United is Stronger")</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="line-height:1.2em; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Anthem: <span lang="ca" xml:lang="ca"><i><!--del_lnk--> El Gran Carlemany, Mon Pare</i></span><br /><small>(<!--del_lnk--> Catalan: "The Great <a href="../../wp/c/Charlemagne.htm" title="Charlemagne">Charlemagne</a>, my Father")</small></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 1em;">
<div class="center">
<div class="floatnone"><span><a class="image" href="../../images/159/15929.png.htm" title="Location of Andorra"><img alt="Location of Andorra" height="115" longdesc="/wiki/Image:LocationAndorra.png" src="../../images/159/15929.png" width="250" /></a></span></div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<td><!--del_lnk--> <b>Capital</b><br /><!--del_lnk--> (and largest city)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Andorra la Vella<br /><small><span class="plainlinksneverexpand"><!--del_lnk--> 42°30′N 1°31′E</span></small></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><span style="white-space: nowrap;"><!--del_lnk--> Official languages</span></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Catalan; <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>, <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a> and <a href="../../wp/p/Portuguese_language.htm" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a> are also spoken</td>
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<tr>
<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;"><b><a href="../../wp/l/List_of_countries_by_system_of_government.htm" title="List of countries by system of government">Government</a></b></td>
<td style="border-top:solid 1px Gainsboro; vertical-align:top;"><a href="../../wp/p/Parliamentary_system.htm" title="Parliamentary system">parliamentary</a> <!--del_lnk--> co-principality</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> French Co-Prince</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Jacques Chirac</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Episcopal Co-Prince</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Joan Enric Vives Sicília</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Executive Council President</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Albert Pintat Santolària</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Independence</th>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Paréage</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 1278 </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Area</th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Total</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> 468 km² (<!--del_lnk--> 193rd)<br /> 181 sq mi </td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Water (%)</td>
<td>negligible</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th colspan="2"><!--del_lnk--> Population</th>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - 2006 estimate</td>
<td>67,313 (<!--del_lnk--> 202nd)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - 2004 census</td>
<td>69,150</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - <!--del_lnk--> Density</td>
<td>152/km² (<!--del_lnk--> 69th)<br /> 393/sq mi</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> GDP (<!--del_lnk--> PPP)</th>
<td>2003 estimate</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedrow">
<td> - Total</td>
<td>$1.9 billion (<!--del_lnk--> 183rd)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Per capita</td>
<td>$26,800 (<!--del_lnk--> unranked)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">Currency</a></th>
<td><a href="../../wp/e/Euro.htm" title="Euro">Euro</a> (€) (<code><!--del_lnk--> EUR</code>)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><a href="../../wp/t/Time_zone.htm" title="Time zone">Time zone</a></th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CET (<!--del_lnk--> UTC+1)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<td> - Summer (<!--del_lnk--> DST)</td>
<td><!--del_lnk--> CEST (<!--del_lnk--> UTC+2)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedtoprow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Internet TLD</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> .ad</td>
</tr>
<tr class="mergedbottomrow">
<th><!--del_lnk--> Calling code</th>
<td>+376</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The <b>Principality of Andorra</b> (<!--del_lnk--> Catalan: <span lang="ca" xml:lang="ca"><i>Principat d'Andorra</i></span>, <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a>: <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Principauté d'Andorre</i></span>, <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>: <span lang="es" xml:lang="es"><i>Principado de Andorra</i></span>) is a small <!--del_lnk--> landlocked <a href="../../wp/p/Principality.htm" title="Principality">principality</a> in southwestern <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a>, located in the eastern <!--del_lnk--> Pyrenees mountains and bordered by <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>. Once isolated, it is currently a prosperous country mainly because of <a href="../../wp/t/Tourism.htm" title="Tourism">tourism</a> and its status as a <!--del_lnk--> tax haven. It has the highest life expectancy in the world, at 83.51 years. Andorra has no military force of its own; its defence is the responsibility of Spain and France.<p>
<script type="text/javascript">
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</script><a id="Origin_and_history_of_the_name" name="Origin_and_history_of_the_name"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Origin and history of the name</span></h2>
<p>The name "Andorra" is of unknown origin but (according to <!--del_lnk--> Joan Coromines) clearly pre-Roman. Many of the local toponyms are of <!--del_lnk--> Iberian-<!--del_lnk--> Basque origin.<p><a id="History" name="History"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">History</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>Tradition holds that <a href="../../wp/c/Charlemagne.htm" title="Charlemagne">Charlemagne</a> granted a <!--del_lnk--> charter to the Andorran people in return for their fighting the <!--del_lnk--> Moors. <!--del_lnk--> Overlordship of the territory passed to the local <!--del_lnk--> count of Urgell and eventually to the <!--del_lnk--> bishop of the <!--del_lnk--> diocese of <!--del_lnk--> Urgell. In the 11th century a dispute arose between the bishop and his northern French neighbour over Andorra.<p>In 1278, the conflict was resolved by the signing of a <!--del_lnk--> paréage, which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the French <!--del_lnk--> count of Foix (whose title would ultimately transfer to the French head of state) and the bishop of <!--del_lnk--> La Seu d'Urgell, in <!--del_lnk--> Catalonia, <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a>. This gave the small <a href="../../wp/p/Principality.htm" title="Principality">principality</a> its territory and political form.<p>Over the years the title passed to the kings of <!--del_lnk--> Navarre. After Henry of Navarre became King <!--del_lnk--> Henry IV of France, he issued an edict (1607) that established the head of the French state and the Bishop of Urgell as co-princes of Andorra.<p>In the period 1812–13, the <!--del_lnk--> French Empire annexed <!--del_lnk--> Catalonia and divided it in four departments. Andorra was also annexed and made part of the district of <!--del_lnk--> Puigcerdà (département of Sègre).<p>In 1933 France occupied Andorra as a result of social unrest before elections. On <!--del_lnk--> July 12, <!--del_lnk--> 1934, an adventurer named <!--del_lnk--> Boris Skossyreff issued a proclamation in Urgel, declaring himself Boris I, sovereign prince of Andorra, simultaneously declaring war on the bishop of Urgel. He was arrested by Spanish authorities on <!--del_lnk--> July 20 and ultimately expelled from Spain. From 1936 to 1940, a French detachment was garrisoned in Andorra to prevent influences of the <!--del_lnk--> Spanish Civil War and <!--del_lnk--> Franco's Spain. Francoist troops reached the Andorran border in the later stages of the war.<p>During <a href="../../wp/w/World_War_II.htm" title="World War II">World War II</a>, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between <!--del_lnk--> Vichy France and Spain.<p>Given its relative isolation, Andorra has existed outside the mainstream of European history, with few ties to countries other than France and Spain. In recent times, however, its thriving <a href="../../wp/t/Tourism.htm" title="Tourism">tourist</a> industry along with developments in transportation and communications have removed the country from its isolation and its political system was thoroughly modernised in 1993, the year in which it finally became a member of the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Nations.htm" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:252px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15930.jpg.htm" title="Andorra la Vella"><img alt="Andorra la Vella" height="188" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andorralavella06.jpg" src="../../images/159/15930.jpg" width="250" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15930.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Andorra la Vella</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a id="Politics" name="Politics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Politics</span></h2>
<p>Andorra is a <a href="../../wp/p/Principality.htm" title="Principality">principality</a> with the <!--del_lnk--> President of France and the <!--del_lnk--> Bishop of Urgell, <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> as <!--del_lnk--> co-princes. Politics of Andorra takes place in a framework of a <a href="../../wp/p/Parliamentary_system.htm" title="Parliamentary system">parliamentary</a> <!--del_lnk--> representative democracy, whereby the <!--del_lnk--> Prime Minister of Andorra is the <!--del_lnk--> head of government, and of a <!--del_lnk--> pluriform multi-party system. <!--del_lnk--> Executive power is exercised by the government. <!--del_lnk--> Legislative power is vested in both the <a href="../../wp/g/Government.htm" title="Government">government</a> and parliament. The <!--del_lnk--> Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.<p>A <!--del_lnk--> secessionist movement exists, based at <!--del_lnk--> Pas de la Casa. This has only limited support.<p><a id="Administrative_divisions" name="Administrative_divisions"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Administrative divisions</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:312px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15931.png.htm" title="Administrative subdivision of the Principality."><img alt="Administrative subdivision of the Principality." height="260" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andorra.geohive.png" src="../../images/159/15931.png" width="310" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15931.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div><!--del_lnk--> Administrative subdivision of the Principality.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Andorra consists of seven municipalities, known as <i>comuns</i> (singular <i>comú</i> <i><!--del_lnk--> Engl.:</i> commons)<ul>
<li><!--del_lnk--> Andorra la Vella<li><!--del_lnk--> Canillo<li><!--del_lnk--> Encamp<li><!--del_lnk--> Escaldes-Engordany<li><!--del_lnk--> La Massana<li><!--del_lnk--> Ordino<li><!--del_lnk--> Sant Julià de Lòria</ul>
<p><a id="Geography" name="Geography"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Geography</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<div class="floatleft"><span><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="Escaldes-Engordany" height="143" longdesc="/wiki/Image:AndorraLaVella.jpg" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="190" /></span></div>
<p>Befitting its location in the eastern <!--del_lnk--> Pyrenees mountain range, Andorra consists predominantly of rugged mountains of an average height of 1996 meters with the highest being the <!--del_lnk--> Coma Pedrosa at 2946 meters. These are dissected by three narrow valleys in a Y shape that combine into one as the main stream, the <!--del_lnk--> Valira river, leaves the country for Spain (at Andorra's lowest point of 870 m).<p>Andorra's <a href="../../wp/c/Climate.htm" title="Climate">climate</a> is similar to its neighbors' <!--del_lnk--> temperate climates, but its higher altitude means there is on average more snow in winter and it is slightly cooler in summer.<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="2" style="clear:right; float:right">
<tr align="right" valign="top">
<td>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;">
<tr align="center">
<th>
<center>The <!--del_lnk--> Catalan-speaking territories</center>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th nowrap style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;">Language</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Grammar</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Phonology and orthography</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Institut d'Estudis Catalans</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<th nowrap style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;">History</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> History of Catalonia · <!--del_lnk--> Counts of Barcelona</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Crown of Aragon · <!--del_lnk--> Treaty of the Pyrenees</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Catalan constitutions</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<th nowrap style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;">Geography</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Catalonia · <!--del_lnk--> Land of Valencia · <!--del_lnk--> Balearic Islands</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Northern Catalonia · <!--del_lnk--> Franja de Ponent</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><strong class="selflink">Andorra</strong> · <!--del_lnk--> Alguer · <!--del_lnk--> Carxe</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<th nowrap style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;">Government and Politics</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Generalitat de Catalunya</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Generalitat Valenciana</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Govern de les Illes Balears</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Consell General de les Valls (Andorra)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Politics of Catalonia</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Catalan nationalism</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<th nowrap style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;">Traditions</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Castells · <!--del_lnk--> Correfoc · <!--del_lnk--> Falles · <!--del_lnk--> Sardana · </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Moros i cristians · <!--del_lnk--> Caganer · <!--del_lnk--> Tió de Nadal</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Myths and legends</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<th nowrap style="background:#ccccff; font-size: 95%; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px;">Arts</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> Catalan literature · <!--del_lnk--> Antoni Gaudí · <!--del_lnk--> Modernisme</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #ffffff; text-align:center;"><!--del_lnk--> La Renaixença · <!--del_lnk--> Noucentisme</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="font-size: 90%; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; background: #edf3fe; text-align:center;"><a href="../../wp/s/Salvador_Dal%25C3%25AD.htm" title="Salvador Dalí">Salvador Dalí</a> · <!--del_lnk--> Joan Miró</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<th height="30" style="background:#ffffff; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; padding: 0 5px 0 5px; text-align:center;">
</th>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="Economy" name="Economy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Economy</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p><a href="../../wp/t/Tourism.htm" title="Tourism">Tourism</a>, the mainstay of Andorra's tiny, well-to-do economy, accounts for roughly 80% of <!--del_lnk--> GDP. An estimated 9 million tourists visit annually, attracted by Andorra's duty-free status and by its summer and winter <!--del_lnk--> resorts. Andorra's comparative advantage has recently eroded as the economies of adjoining <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a> and <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> have been opened up, providing broader availability of goods and lower <!--del_lnk--> tariffs.<p>The <!--del_lnk--> banking sector, with its <!--del_lnk--> tax haven status, also contributes substantially to the economy. <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">Agricultural</a> production is limited—only 2% of the land is arable—and most <a href="../../wp/f/Food.htm" title="Food">food</a> has to be <!--del_lnk--> imported. The principal livestock activity is <!--del_lnk--> domestic sheep raising. <a href="../../wp/m/Manufacturing.htm" title="Manufacturing">Manufacturing</a> output consists mainly of cigarettes, cigars, and furniture.<p>Andorra is not a full member of the <a href="../../wp/e/European_Union.htm" title="European Union">European Union</a>, but enjoys a special relationship with it, such as being treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods (no tariffs) and as a non-EU member for agricultural products. Andorra lacks a <a href="../../wp/c/Currency.htm" title="Currency">currency</a> of its own and uses that of its two surrounding nations. Prior to 1999 these were the <!--del_lnk--> French franc and the Spanish <!--del_lnk--> peseta, which have since been replaced by a single currency, the <a href="../../wp/e/Euro.htm" title="Euro">euro</a>. Unlike other small European states that use the euro, Andorra does not yet mint its own <!--del_lnk--> euro coins; in October 2004, negotiations between Andorra and the <a href="../../wp/e/European_Union.htm" title="European Union">EU</a> began on an agreement which would allow Andorra to mint its own coins. Andorra’s <!--del_lnk--> natural resources include <!--del_lnk--> hydropower, <!--del_lnk--> mineral water, <!--del_lnk--> timber, <!--del_lnk--> iron ore, and <a href="../../wp/l/Lead.htm" title="Lead">lead</a>.<p><a id="Demographics" name="Demographics"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Demographics</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<p>Andorrans constitute a minority in their own country; only 33% of inhabitants hold Andorran nationality. The largest group of foreign nationals is that of <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spaniards</a> (43%), with <a href="../../wp/p/Portugal.htm" title="Portugal">Portuguese</a> (11%) and <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">French</a> (7%) nationals the other main groups. The remaining 6% belong to several other nationalities. The Current population is estimated at 71,201 (July 2006).<p><a id="Culture" name="Culture"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Culture</span></h2>
<dl>
<dd>
</dl>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:272px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15933.jpg.htm" title="Andorran flag on balcony, Ordino"><img alt="Andorran flag on balcony, Ordino" height="203" longdesc="/wiki/Image:HPIM0309.JPG" src="../../images/159/15933.jpg" width="270" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15933.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> Andorran flag on balcony, Ordino</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The only official language is <!--del_lnk--> Catalan, the language of the nearby Spanish <!--del_lnk--> autonomous region of <!--del_lnk--> Catalonia, with which Andorra shares many cultural traits, though <a href="../../wp/s/Spanish_language.htm" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>, <a href="../../wp/p/Portuguese_language.htm" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a> and <a href="../../wp/f/French_language.htm" title="French language">French</a> are also commonly spoken. The predominant religion is <!--del_lnk--> Catholicism.<p>Andorra's long <a href="../../wp/h/History.htm" title="History">history</a> has provided it with a rich <a href="../../wp/f/Folklore.htm" title="Folklore">folklore</a> and an abundance of <!--del_lnk--> folk tales, with roots originating as far as <!--del_lnk--> Andalusia in the south and the <a href="../../wp/n/Netherlands.htm" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> in the north.<p>Andorran culture is <!--del_lnk--> Catalan in essence, since the native-born population of Andorra is Catalan. However, it has given a significant and easily identifiable contribution to the conglomerate of Catalan culture.<p>Two writers renowned in <!--del_lnk--> Catalonia and the region, <!--del_lnk--> Michèle Gazier and <!--del_lnk--> Ramon Villeró, both come from Andorra.<p>Andorra is home to folk dances like the <!--del_lnk--> contrapàs and <!--del_lnk--> marratxa, which survive in <!--del_lnk--> Sant Julià de Lòria especially. Andorran folk music has similarities to all of its neighbors, but is especially <!--del_lnk--> Catalan in character, especially in the presence of dances like the <!--del_lnk--> sardana. Other Andorran folk dances include <!--del_lnk--> contrapàs in <!--del_lnk--> Andorra la Vella and <!--del_lnk--> Saint Anne's dance in <!--del_lnk--> Escaldes-Engordany.<p>
<br />
<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Distances from other countries</span></h2>
<p>This list showing the distances from <!--del_lnk--> G8 and <!--del_lnk--> G15 countries to Andorra. (calculations with <!--del_lnk--> http://www.mapcrow.info/)<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15934.png.htm" title="G8 countries."><img alt="G8 countries." height="139" longdesc="/wiki/Image:G8countries.png" src="../../images/159/15934.png" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15934.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> G8 countries.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:302px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15935.png.htm" title="G15 countries."><img alt="G15 countries." height="139" longdesc="/wiki/Image:G15_Nations.png" src="../../images/159/15935.png" width="300" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/159/15935.png.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> G15 countries.</div>
</div>
</div>
<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Countries</th>
<th width="70px">Miles</th>
<th width="70px">Kilometers</th>
<th>Bearing</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> G8 countries</th>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/526.png.htm" title="Flag of France"><img alt="Flag of France" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_France.svg" src="../../images/5/526.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a></td>
<td align="right">242.92</td>
<td align="right">390.93</td>
<td>SW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/551.png.htm" title="Flag of Italy"><img alt="Flag of Italy" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Italy.svg" src="../../images/5/551.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/i/Italy.htm" title="Italy">Italy</a></td>
<td align="right">575.41</td>
<td align="right">926.01</td>
<td>SE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/538.png.htm" title="Flag of Germany"><img alt="Flag of Germany" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Germany.svg" src="../../images/5/538.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a></td>
<td align="right">750.94</td>
<td align="right">1208.49</td>
<td>SW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/7/789.png.htm" title="Flag of United Kingdom"><img alt="Flag of United Kingdom" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg" src="../../images/7/789.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a></td>
<td align="right">832.68</td>
<td align="right">1340.03</td>
<td>SE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/187/18768.png.htm" title="Flag of Canada"><img alt="Flag of Canada" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Canada.svg" src="../../images/7/738.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a></td>
<td align="right">3971.69</td>
<td align="right">6391.64</td>
<td>SE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/592.png.htm" title="Flag of Russia"><img alt="Flag of Russia" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Russia_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/5/592.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a></td>
<td align="right">4001.49</td>
<td align="right">6439.60</td>
<td>SW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/6/695.png.htm" title="Flag of United States"><img alt="Flag of United States" height="12" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg" src="../../images/6/695.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a></td>
<td align="right">5128.28</td>
<td align="right">8252.94</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/586.png.htm" title="Flag of Japan"><img alt="Flag of Japan" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Japan_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/5/586.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a></td>
<td align="right">6354.78</td>
<td align="right">10226.75</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th><!--del_lnk--> G15 countries</th>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/3/398.png.htm" title="Flag of Algeria"><img alt="Flag of Algeria" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Algeria_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/3/398.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/a/Algeria.htm" title="Algeria">Algeria</a></td>
<td align="right">1004.67</td>
<td align="right">1616.82</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/72/7234.png.htm" title="Flag of Egypt"><img alt="Flag of Egypt" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Egypt.svg" src="../../images/3/386.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/e/Egypt.htm" title="Egypt">Egypt</a></td>
<td align="right">1924.18</td>
<td align="right">3096.59</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/10/1045.png.htm" title="Flag of Senegal"><img alt="Flag of Senegal" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Senegal.svg" src="../../images/10/1045.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/s/Senegal.htm" title="Senegal">Senegal</a></td>
<td align="right">2173.72</td>
<td align="right">3498.17</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/7/787.png.htm" title="Flag of Nigeria"><img alt="Flag of Nigeria" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Nigeria.svg" src="../../images/7/787.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/n/Nigeria.htm" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a></td>
<td align="right">2278.10</td>
<td align="right">3666.15</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/187/18780.png.htm" title="Flag of Iran"><img alt="Flag of Iran" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Iran.svg" src="../../images/5/518.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/i/Iran.htm" title="Iran">Iran</a></td>
<td align="right">2875.64</td>
<td align="right">4627.77</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/15/1549.png.htm" title="Flag of Kenya"><img alt="Flag of Kenya" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Kenya.svg" src="../../images/15/1549.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/k/Kenya.htm" title="Kenya">Kenya</a></td>
<td align="right">3646.75</td>
<td align="right">5868.71</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/179/17939.png.htm" title="Flag of India"><img alt="Flag of India" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_India.svg" src="../../images/6/607.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/i/India.htm" title="India">India</a></td>
<td align="right">4566.53</td>
<td align="right">7348.91</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/15/1558.png.htm" title="Flag of Zimbabwe"><img alt="Flag of Zimbabwe" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg" src="../../images/15/1558.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/z/Zimbabwe.htm" title="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a></td>
<td align="right">4593.04</td>
<td align="right">7391.59</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/21/2106.png.htm" title="Flag of Venezuela"><img alt="Flag of Venezuela" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Venezuela.svg" src="../../images/21/2106.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/v/Venezuela.htm" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a></td>
<td align="right">4700.13</td>
<td align="right">7563.92</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/7/788.png.htm" title="Flag of Jamaica"><img alt="Flag of Jamaica" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Jamaica.svg" src="../../images/7/788.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/j/Jamaica.htm" title="Jamaica">Jamaica</a></td>
<td align="right">4819.88</td>
<td align="right">7756.64</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/544.png.htm" title="Flag of Brazil"><img alt="Flag of Brazil" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Brazil.svg" src="../../images/5/544.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/b/Brazil.htm" title="Brazil">Brazil</a></td>
<td align="right">5077.22</td>
<td align="right">8170.78</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/182/18224.png.htm" title="Flag of Sri Lanka"><img alt="Flag of Sri Lanka" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Sri_Lanka.svg" src="../../images/6/611.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/s/Sri_Lanka.htm" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a></td>
<td align="right">5354.04</td>
<td align="right">8616.26</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/553.png.htm" title="Flag of Mexico"><img alt="Flag of Mexico" height="13" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Mexico.svg" src="../../images/5/553.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/m/Mexico.htm" title="Mexico">Mexico</a></td>
<td align="right">5795.77</td>
<td align="right">9327.13</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/7/741.png.htm" title="Flag of Peru"><img alt="Flag of Peru" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Peru.svg" src="../../images/7/741.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/p/Peru.htm" title="Peru">Peru</a></td>
<td align="right">6056.43</td>
<td align="right">9746.62</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/14/1447.png.htm" title="Flag of Argentina"><img alt="Flag of Argentina" height="14" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Argentina.svg" src="../../images/14/1447.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/a/Argentina.htm" title="Argentina">Argentina</a></td>
<td align="right">6707.12</td>
<td align="right">10793.78</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/7/740.png.htm" title="Flag of Chile"><img alt="Flag of Chile" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Chile_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/7/740.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/c/Chile.htm" title="Chile">Chile</a></td>
<td align="right">6792.90</td>
<td align="right">10931.81</td>
<td>NE</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/597.png.htm" title="Flag of Malaysia"><img alt="Flag of Malaysia" height="11" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Malaysia.svg" src="../../images/5/597.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/m/Malaysia.htm" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a></td>
<td align="right">7150.46</td>
<td align="right">11507.23</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a class="image" href="../../images/5/595.png.htm" title="Flag of Indonesia"><img alt="Flag of Indonesia" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Indonesia_%28bordered%29.svg" src="../../images/5/595.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/i/Indonesia.htm" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a></td>
<td align="right">7882.44</td>
<td align="right">12685.21</td>
<td>NW</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Neighbouring countries</span></h2>
<p>
<br clear="all" />
<table class="toccolours" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%; text-align:center; width: 80%;">
<tr>
<td rowspan="5" style="text-align: center; !important" width="5%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/510.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="65" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Armillary_sphere.png" src="../../images/5/510.png" width="50" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/526.png.htm" title="Flag of France"><img alt="Flag of France" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_France.svg" src="../../images/5/526.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/f/France.htm" title="France">France</a></td>
<td rowspan="5" style="text-align: center; !important" width="5%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/510.png.htm" title=""><img alt="" height="65" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Armillary_sphere.png" src="../../images/5/510.png" width="50" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="3" style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/513.png.htm" title="North"><img alt="North" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_North.png" src="../../images/5/513.png" width="17" /></a></td>
<td rowspan="3" style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/515.png.htm" title="West"><img alt="West" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_West.png" src="../../images/5/515.png" width="17" /></a> <b><a class="image" href="../../images/14/1499.png.htm" title="Flag of Andorra"><img alt="Flag of Andorra" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Andorra.svg" src="../../images/14/1499.png" width="22" /></a> <strong class="selflink">Andorra</strong></b> <a class="image" href="../../images/5/516.png.htm" title="East"><img alt="East" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_East.png" src="../../images/5/516.png" width="17" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/517.png.htm" title="South"><img alt="South" height="17" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Template_CanadianCityGeoLocation_South.png" src="../../images/5/517.png" width="17" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%"><a class="image" href="../../images/5/539.png.htm" title="Flag of Spain"><img alt="Flag of Spain" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Spain.svg" src="../../images/5/539.png" width="22" /></a> <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
<td style="text-align: center; !important" width="30%">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra"</div>
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<div id="content"><a id="top" name="top"></a><h1 class="firstHeading">Andrew Carnegie</h1>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Engineers_and_inventors.htm">Engineers and inventors</a></h3>
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<caption style="font-size: larger; background-color:transparent;"><b>Andrew Carnegie</b></caption>
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<td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><a class="image" href="../../images/152/15225.png.htm" title=" "><img alt=" " height="319" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andrew-carnegie-portrait-pd.png" src="../../images/152/15225.png" width="220" /></a><br />
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<th style="text-align: right;">Born:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> November 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1835<br /><!--del_lnk--> Dunfermline, <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a></td>
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<tr>
<th style="text-align: right;">Died:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> August 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1919<br /><!--del_lnk--> Lenox, Massachusetts</td>
</tr>
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<th style="text-align: right;">Occupation:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> Businessman and <!--del_lnk--> Philanthropist</td>
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</table>
<p><b>Andrew Carnegie</b> (<!--del_lnk--> November 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1835 – <!--del_lnk--> August 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1919) was a <!--del_lnk--> Scottish-American <!--del_lnk--> businessman, a major <!--del_lnk--> philanthropist, and the founder of the <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Steel Company which later became <!--del_lnk--> U.S. Steel. He is known for having built one of the most powerful and influential corporations in <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> history, and, later in his life, giving away most of his riches to fund the establishment of many libraries, schools, and universities in <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>, America and worldwide.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_life" name="Early_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early life</span></h2>
<p><a id="Scotland" name="Scotland"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Scotland</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15226.jpg.htm" title="Carnegie's birthplace, Dunfermline"><img alt="Carnegie's birthplace, Dunfermline" height="138" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andrew_Carnegie%27s_birthplace_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_17976.jpg" src="../../images/152/15226.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Andrew Carnegie was born on <!--del_lnk--> November 25, <!--del_lnk--> 1835, in <!--del_lnk--> Dunfermline, <!--del_lnk--> Fife, <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>. He was the son of a <!--del_lnk--> hand loom weaver, William Carnegie. His mother, Margaret, was a daughter of Thomas Morrison, a <!--del_lnk--> tanner and <!--del_lnk--> shoemaker. Although his family was impoverished, he grew up in a cultured, political home.<p>Many of Carnegie's closest relatives were self-educated tradesmen and class activists. William Carnegie, although poor, had educated himself and, as far as his resources would permit, ensured that his children received an education. William Carnegie was politically active and was involved with those organising demonstrations against the <!--del_lnk--> Corn laws. He was also a <!--del_lnk--> Chartist. He wrote frequently to newspapers and contributed articles in the <!--del_lnk--> radical <!--del_lnk--> pamphlet, <i>Cobbett's Register</i> edited by <!--del_lnk--> William Cobbett. Amongst other things, he argued for abolition of the <!--del_lnk--> Rotten Boroughs and reform of the <a href="../../wp/b/British_House_of_Commons.htm" title="British House of Commons">British House of Commons</a>, <!--del_lnk--> Catholic Emancipation, and laws governing safety at work, which were passed many years later in the <!--del_lnk--> Factory Acts. He promoted the abolition of all forms of hereditary privilege, including all <a href="../../wp/m/Monarchy.htm" title="Monarchy">monarchies</a>.<p>Another great influence on the young Andrew Carnegie was his uncle, George Lauder, a proprietor of a small grocer's shop in Dunfermline High Street. This uncle introduced the young Carnegie to such historical Scottish heroes as <!--del_lnk--> Robert the Bruce, <!--del_lnk--> William Wallace, and <!--del_lnk--> Rob Roy. He was introduced to the writings of <!--del_lnk--> Robert Burns and <a href="../../wp/w/William_Shakespeare.htm" title="Shakespeare">Shakespeare</a>. Lauder had Carnegie commit to memory many pages of Burns's writings.<p>George Lauder was interested in the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a>. Lauder saw the U.S. as a country with "democratic institutions". Carnegie later considered the U.S. as the role model for democratic government.<p>Another uncle, his mother's brother, Tom Kennedy, was also a radical political firebrand. A fervent <!--del_lnk--> nonconformist, the chief objects of his tirades were the <a href="../../wp/c/Church_of_England.htm" title="Church of England">Church of England</a> and the <!--del_lnk--> Church of Scotland. In 1842, the young Carnegie's radical sentiments were stirred further at the news of "Ballie" being imprisoned for his part in a "Cessation of Labour" (<!--del_lnk--> strike). At the time, withdrawal of labour by a hireling was a criminal offense.<p>Andrew Carnegie's direct descendants still live in Scotland today. William Thomson CBE, the great grandson of Andrew, is Chairman of the Carnegie Trust Dunfermline, a trust which maintains Andrew Carnegie's legacy.<p><a id="Immigration_to_America" name="Immigration_to_America"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Immigration to America</span></h3>
<p>Andrew Carnegie's weaver work involved receiving the mill's raw materials at his cottage and weaving them into cloth on the primitive loom in the cottage. In the 1840s, a new system was coming into being, the factory system. During this era, mill owners began constructing weaving mills with looms powered at first by <!--del_lnk--> water wheels and later by <a href="../../wp/s/Steam_engine.htm" title="Steam engine">steam engines</a>. These factories could produce cloth at far lower cost, partly through increased mechanisation and economies of scale, but partly also by paying mill workers very low wages and by working them very long hours. The success of the mills forced hundreds of hand loom workers to find work elsewhere, including Andrew's father William.<p>He chose to emigrate. His mother had two sisters who had already emigrated, but it was his wife who persuaded William Carnegie to make the passage. Making the passage was not easy, however, for they had to find the passage money. They were forced to sell their meagre possessions and borrow some £20 from friends, a considerable sum in 1848.<p>In May 1848, his family emigrated to the United States, sailing on the <i>Wiscasset</i>, a former <!--del_lnk--> whaler that took the family from Broomielaw in <a href="../../wp/g/Glasgow.htm" title="Glasgow">Glasgow</a> to <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>. From there they proceeded up the <!--del_lnk--> Hudson River and the <a href="../../wp/e/Erie_Canal.htm" title="Erie Canal">Erie Canal</a> to <!--del_lnk--> Lake Erie and then to <!--del_lnk--> Allegheny, Pennsylvania (present day <!--del_lnk--> Pittsburgh's northside neighborhoods), where William Carnegie found work in a cotton factory.<p>Young Andrew Carnegie found work in the same building as a "Bobbin boy" for the sum of <a href="../../wp/u/United_States_dollar.htm" title="United States dollar">US$</a>1.20 a week. His brother, <!--del_lnk--> Thomas, eight years younger, was sent to school. Andrew Carnegie quickly grew accustomed to his new country: three years after arriving in the United States, the young Carnegie began writing to his friends in Scotland extolling the great virtues of American democracy whilst disparaging and criticising "feudal British institutions". At the same time, he followed in his father's footsteps and wrote letters to the newspapers including the <i><!--del_lnk--> New York Tribune</i> on subjects such as <!--del_lnk--> slavery.<p><a id="Early_career" name="Early_career"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early career</span></h2>
<p><a name="1850.E2.80.931860:_A_.27self_made_man.27"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1850–1860: A 'self made man'</span></h3>
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<p>Andrew Carnegie's education and passion for reading was given a great boost by Colonel <!--del_lnk--> James Anderson, who opened his personal library of 400 volumes to working boys each Saturday night. Carnegie was a consistent borrower. He was a "self-made man" in both his economic development and his intellectual and cultural development. His capacity and willingness for hard work, his perseverance, and his alertness, soon brought forth opportunities.<p>In 1851, he became a <!--del_lnk--> telegraph messenger boy in the Pittsburgh Office of the <!--del_lnk--> Ohio Telegraph Company, at US$2.50 per week. This, to the young Carnegie, seemed like a fortune. In addition to providing him with an increase in income, the job also provided him with a lifelong love of William Shakespeare's works. He was frequently required to deliver messages to a <a href="../../wp/t/Theatre.htm" title="Theatre">theatre</a>, and he often managed to contrive appearing just as the curtain had been raised on a performance. Using a charm that was to pay even greater dividends in the future, Carnegie was then usually able to convince the theatre's manager to allow him to stay and watch the performance for free. When Carnegie was not at the theatre or improving his mind with a book, he would spend time listening to the telegraph instrument itself. The electric telegraph transmitted its signals along the wires that traversed the nation. When they were received into the telegraph office, they were transcribed into readable script on a long paper tape with the aid of an elaborate machine. He quickly learned to distinguish the differing sound the incoming signals produced and learned to transcribe it by ear without having to write it down. At the time, Andrew Carnegie was one of only two or three persons so gifted in the entire country. Having learned telegraphy, he was noted by <!--del_lnk--> Thomas A. Scott of the <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania Railroad Company, who employed him as a secretary/telegraph operator starting in 1853, at a salary of US$4.00 per week. Carnegie was eighteen and soon began a rapid advancement through the company, eventually becoming the superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division.<p><a name="1860.E2.80.931865:_Civil_War"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1860–1865: Civil War</span></h3>
<p>Before the <a href="../../wp/a/American_Civil_War.htm" title="American Civil War">Civil War</a> Carnegie had formed a partnership with a Mr. Woodruff, an inventor. Woodruff's invention was the <!--del_lnk--> sleeping car. The great distances transversed by railways had meant stopping for the night at hotels and inns by the railside, so that passengers could rest. The sleeping car sped up travel and helped Americans <a href="../../wp/m/Manifest_Destiny.htm" title="Manifest Destiny">settle</a> the <!--del_lnk--> American West. The investment proved a great success and a source of great fortune for Woodruff and Carnegie. The young Carnegie became the superintendent of the Western Division. In this post, Carnegie was responsible for several improvements in the service.<p>When the Civil War began in 1861, he accompanied his boss, Thomas A. Scott, to the front lines, where he was "the first casualty of the war" when he pulled up telegraph wires the <!--del_lnk--> Confederate Army had buried. He gained a scar on his cheek from when the wire came up too fast and cut him. He would tell the story of that scar for years to come.<p>Carnegie was selected by Scott, who was now Assistant Secretary of War in charge of military transportation, to join him in <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> Carnegie was appointed Superintendent of the Military Railways and the Union Government's telegraph lines in the East. Carnegie was on the foot plate of the <!--del_lnk--> locomotive that pulled the first brigade of Union troops to reach Washington. Shortly after this, following the defeat of Union forces at <!--del_lnk--> Bull Run, he personally supervised the transportation of the defeated forces. Under his organization, the telegraph service rendered efficient service to the Union cause and significantly assisted in the eventual victory. During his work "in the field", Carnegie fell ill and needed treatment for <!--del_lnk--> sunstroke.<p>Carnegie proceeded to increase his wealth through careful investments. In 1864, Carnegie invested US$40,000 in Storey Farm on Oil Creek in <!--del_lnk--> Venango County, Pennsylvania. In one year, the farm yielded over US$1,000,000 in cash dividends, and <a href="../../wp/p/Petroleum.htm" title="Petroleum">petroleum</a> from <!--del_lnk--> oil wells on the property sold profitably. Carnegie was subsequently associated with others in establishing a <a href="../../wp/s/Steel.htm" title="Steel">steel</a> <!--del_lnk--> rolling mill.<p>The Civil War, as so many wars before it, brought boom times to the suppliers of war. The U.S. <a href="../../wp/i/Iron.htm" title="Iron">iron</a> industry was one such profiter. Before the war its production was of little significance, but the sudden huge demand brought boom times to Pittsburgh and similar cities and great wealth to the iron masters.<p>Carnegie had some investments in this industry before the war and, after the war, he left the railroads to devote all his energies to the ironworks trade. Carnegie worked to develop several iron works, eventually forming The Keystone Bridge Works and the Union Ironworks, in Pittsburgh. Although he had left the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, he did not totally sever his links with the railroads. The Keystone Bridge Company made iron train bridges, and, as company superintendent, Carnegie had noticed the weakness of the traditional wooden structures. These were replaced in large numbers with iron bridges made in his works. As well as having good business sense, Carnegie possessed charm and literary knowledge. He was invited to many important social functions—functions that Carnegie exploited to his own advantage.<div class="thumb tright">
<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15228.jpg.htm" title="Carnegie, circa 1878"><img alt="Carnegie, circa 1878" height="262" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andrew_Carnegie_circa_1878_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_17976.jpg" src="../../images/152/15228.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Carnegie’s philanthropic inclinations began some time before retirement. He wrote;<table align="center" cellpadding="10" class="cquote" style="border-collapse:collapse; background-color:transparent; border-style:none;">
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Andrew Carnegie"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/147.png.htm" title="Andrew Carnegie"><img alt="Andrew Carnegie" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote1.png" src="../../images/1/147.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<td>I propose to take an income no greater than $50,000 per annum! Beyond this I need ever earn, make no effort to increase my fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes! Let us cast aside business forever, except for others. Let us settle in Oxford and I shall get a thorough education, making the acquaintance of literary men. I figure that this will take three years active work. I shall pay especial attention to speaking in public. We can settle in London and I can purchase a controlling interest in some newspaper or live review and give the general management of it attention, taking part in public matters, especially those connected with education and improvement of the poorer classes. Man must have an idol and the amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry! No idol is more debasing than the worship of money! Whatever I engage in I must push inordinately; therefore should I be careful to choose that life which will be the most elevating in its character. To continue much longer overwhelmed by business cares and with most of my thoughts wholly upon the way to make more money in the shortest time, must degrade me beyond hope of permanent recovery. I will resign business at thirty-five, but during these ensuing two years I wish to spend the afternoons in receiving instruction and in reading systematically!</td>
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Andrew Carnegie"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/148.png.htm" title="Andrew Carnegie"><img alt="Andrew Carnegie" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote2.png" src="../../images/1/148.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<p><a name="1880.E2.80.931900:_scholar_and_activist"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1880–1900: scholar and activist</span></h3>
<p>Whilst Carnegie continued his business career, some of his literary intentions were fulfilled. During this time, he made many friends in the literary and political worlds. Among these were such as <!--del_lnk--> Matthew Arnold and <!--del_lnk--> Herbert Spencer as well as being in correspondence and acquaintance with most of the <a href="../../wp/p/President_of_the_United_States.htm" title="President of the United States">U.S. Presidents</a>, statesmen, and notable writers of the time. Many were visitors to the Carnegie home. Carnegie greatly admired Spencer. He did not, however, agree with Spencer's <!--del_lnk--> Social Darwinism which held that philanthropy was a bad idea.<p>In 1881, Carnegie took his family, which included his mother, then age 70, on a trip to <a href="../../wp/g/Great_Britain.htm" title="Great Britain">Great Britain</a>. They toured the Scotland by coach, having several receptions en-route. The highlight for them all was a triumphal return to Dunfermline where Carnegie's mother laid the foundation stone of the "Carnegie Library". Andrew Carnegie's criticism of British society did not point to a dislike of the country of his birth; on the contrary, one of Carnegie's ambitions was to act as a catalyst for a close association between the English speaking peoples. To this end, he purchased, in the first part of the 1880s, numerous newspapers in England, all of which were to advocate the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of "the British Republic". Carnegie's charm aided by his great wealth meant that he had many British friends, including <!--del_lnk--> Prime Minister <a href="../../wp/w/William_Ewart_Gladstone.htm" title="William Ewart Gladstone">Gladstone</a>.<p>In 1886, Carnegie's younger brother Thomas died at age 43. Success in the business continued, however. At the same time as owning steel works, Carnegie had purchased, at low cost, the most valuable of the iron ore fields around <a href="../../wp/l/Lake_Superior.htm" title="Lake Superior">Lake Superior</a>. The same year Andrew Carnegie became a figure of controversy. Following his tour of Great Britain, he wrote about his experiences in a book entitled <i>An American Four-in-hand in Britain</i>. Although still actively involved in running his many businesses, Carnegie had become a regular contributor of articles to numerous magazines, most notably the <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, under the editorship of <!--del_lnk--> James Knowles, and the <i>North American Review</i>, whose editor, <!--del_lnk--> Lloyd Bryce, oversaw the publication during its most influential period.<p>In 1886, Carnegie penned his most radical work to date, entitled <i>Triumphant Democracy</i>. The work, liberal in its use of statistics to make its arguments, was an attempt to argue his view that the American <!--del_lnk--> republican system of government was superior to the British <a href="../../wp/m/Monarchy.htm" title="Monarchy">monarchical</a> system. It gave an overly-favourable and idealistic view of American progress and had considerable criticism of the British royal family. Most antagonistic, however, was the cover that depicted amongst other motifs, an upended royal crown and a broken scepter. Given these aspects, it was no surprise that the book was the cause of considerable controversy in Great Britain. The book itself was successful. It made many Americans aware for the first time of their country's economic progress and sold over 40,000 copies, mostly in the U.S.<p>In 1889, Carnegie published an article entitled <!--del_lnk--> "Wealth" in the June issue of the <i>North American Review</i>. After reading it, Gladstone requested its publication in England, and it appeared under a new title, "The Gospel of Wealth" in the <i><!--del_lnk--> Pall Mall Gazette</i>. The article was the subject of much discussion. In the article, the author argued that the life of a wealthy industrialist such as Carnegie should comprise two parts. The first part was the gathering and the accumulation of wealth. The second part was to be used for the subsequent distribution of this wealth to benevolent causes.<p>In 1898, Carnegie tried to give the <a href="../../wp/p/Philippines.htm" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> its independence. As the end of the <!--del_lnk--> Spanish American War neared, the <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">United States</a> bought the Philippines from <a href="../../wp/s/Spain.htm" title="Spain">Spain</a> for $20 million <!--del_lnk--> USD. To counter what he perceived as imperialism on the part of the United States, Carnegie personally offered $20 million USD to the Philippines so that the <!--del_lnk--> Filipino people could buy their independence from Spain. However, nothing came of this gesture and the <!--del_lnk--> Philippine-American War ensued.<p><a id="Industrialist" name="Industrialist"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Industrialist</span></h2>
<p><a name="1885.E2.80.931900:_Empire_of_Steel"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1885–1900: Empire of Steel</span></h3>
<p>Carnegie made his fortune in the steel industry, controlling the most extensive integrated iron and steel operations ever owned by an individual in the United States. His great innovation was in the cheap and efficient mass production of steel rails for railroad lines.<p>In the late 1880s, Carnegie Steel was the largest manufacturer of <!--del_lnk--> pig iron, steel rails, and <!--del_lnk--> coke in the world, with a capacity to produce approximately 2,000 tons of <!--del_lnk--> pig metal per day. In 1888, he bought the rival <!--del_lnk--> Homestead Steel Works, which included an extensive plant served by tributary <a href="../../wp/c/Coal.htm" title="Coal">coal</a> and iron fields, a 425-mile (685 km) long railway, and a line of <!--del_lnk--> lake steamships. An agglutination of Carnegie's assets and those of his associates occurred in 1892 with the launching of the <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Steel Company.<p>By 1889, the U.S. output of steel exceeded that of the UK, and Andrew Carnegie owned a large part of it. Carnegie's empire grew to include the <!--del_lnk--> J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works, (named for <!--del_lnk--> John Edgar Thomson, Carnegie's former boss and president of the Pennsylvania Railroad), Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Works, the Lucy Furnaces, the Union Iron Mills, the Union Mill (Wilson, Walker & County), the Keystone Bridge Works, the Hartman Steel Works, the Frick Coke Company, and the Scotia ore mines. Carnegie, through Keystone, supplied the steel for and owned shares in the landmark <!--del_lnk--> Eads Bridge project across the <a href="../../wp/m/Mississippi_River.htm" title="Mississippi River">Mississippi River</a> in <!--del_lnk--> St. Louis, Missouri (completed 1874). This project was an important proof-of-concept for steel technology which marked the opening of a new steel market.<p><a name="1901:_U.S._Steel"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1901: U.S. Steel</span></h3>
<p>In 1901, Carnegie was 65 years old and was considering retirement. He reformed his enterprises into conventional joint stock corporations as preparation to this end.<p><!--del_lnk--> John Pierpont Morgan was a banker and perhaps America's most important financial deal maker. He had observed how efficiency produced profit. He envisioned an integrated steel industry that would cut costs, lower prices to consumers and raise wages to workers. To this end, he needed to buy out Carnegie and several other major producers and integrate them into one company, thereby eliminating duplication and waste. Negotiations were concluded on <!--del_lnk--> March 2, <!--del_lnk--> 1901, with the formation of the <!--del_lnk--> United States Steel Corporation. It was the first corporation in the world with a market capitalization in excess of US$1 billion.<p>The buyout, which was negotiated in secret by <!--del_lnk--> Charles M. Schwab (no relation to <!--del_lnk--> Charles R. Schwab, the brokerage house founder), was the largest such industrial takeover in United States history to date. The holdings were incorporated in the United States Steel Corporation, a trust organized by Morgan, and Carnegie retired from business. His steel enterprises were bought out at a figure equivalent to twelve times their annual earnings—US$480 million <!--del_lnk--> —which at the time was the largest ever personal commercial transaction. Andrew Carnegie's share of this amounted to US$225,639,000, which was paid to Carnegie in the form of 5%, 50 year gold bonds. The letter agreeing to sell his share was signed on <!--del_lnk--> February 26, <!--del_lnk--> 1901. On <!--del_lnk--> March 2, the circular formally filing the organization and capitalization (at US$1,400,000,000—4% of U.S. national wealth at the time) of the United States Steel Corporation actually completed the contract. The bonds were to be delivered within two weeks to the Hudson Trust Company of <!--del_lnk--> Hoboken, New Jersey, in trust to Robert A. Franks, Carnegie's business secretary. There, a special vault was built to house the physical bulk of nearly US$230,000,000 worth of bonds. It was said that "....Carnegie never wanted to see or touch these bonds that represented the fruition of his business career. It was as if he feared that if he looked upon them they might vanish like the gossamer gold of the <!--del_lnk--> leprechaun. Let them lie safe in a vault in <!--del_lnk--> New Jersey, safe from the <!--del_lnk--> New York tax assessors, until he was ready to dispose of them...."<p>As they signed the papers of sale, Carnegie remarked, "Well, Pierpont, I am now handing the burden over to you." In return, Andrew Carnegie became one of the world's wealthiest men!<p><a id="Retirement" name="Retirement"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">Retirement</span></h3>
<p>Retirement was something many men dreaded. Carnegie was not one of them. He looked forward to retirement when he could chart a new course in life.<p>Besides steel, Carnegie's companies were involved in other areas of the railroad industry. His company, <!--del_lnk--> Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works, was noted for its building of large <!--del_lnk--> steam locomotives at the turn of the 20th century. His associates and partners included <!--del_lnk--> Henry Clay Frick and <!--del_lnk--> F. T. F. Lovejoy.<p>At the height of his career, he was the second richest person in the world, behind only <!--del_lnk--> John D. Rockefeller.<p><a name="1901.E2.80.931915:_philanthropist"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">1901–1915: philanthropist</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15230.jpg.htm" title="A Carnegie library, Macomb, Illinois"><img alt="A Carnegie library, Macomb, Illinois" height="120" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Macomb_Public_Library.JPG" src="../../images/152/15230.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Andrew Carnegie spent his last years as a <!--del_lnk--> philanthropist. From 1901 forward, public attention was turned from the shrewd business capacity which had enabled Carnegie to accumulate such a fortune, to the public-spirited way in which he devoted himself to utilizing it on philanthropic objects. His views on social subjects and the responsibilities which great wealth involved were already known from <i>Triumphant Democracy</i> (1886), and from his <i><!--del_lnk--> Gospel of Wealth</i> (1889). He acquired <!--del_lnk--> Skibo Castle, in <!--del_lnk--> Sutherland, <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>, and made his home partly there and partly in New York. He then devoted his life to the work of providing the capital for purposes of public interest and social and educational advancement.<p>He was a powerful supporter of the movement for <!--del_lnk--> spelling reform as a means of promoting the spread of the <a href="../../wp/e/English_language.htm" title="English language">English language</a>.<p>Among all of his many philanthropic efforts, the establishment of <!--del_lnk--> public libraries in the United States, the <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>, and in other English-speaking countries was especially prominent. <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie libraries, as they were commonly called, were built seemingly everywhere. The first was opened in 1883 in Dunfermline, Scotland. His method was to build and equip, but only on condition that the local authority provided site and maintenance. To secure local interest, in 1885, he gave US$500,000 to Pittsburgh for a public library, and in 1886, he gave US$250,000 to Allegheny City for a music hall and library, and US$250,000 to <a href="../../wp/e/Edinburgh.htm" title="Edinburgh">Edinburgh</a>, Scotland, for a free library. In total Carnegie funded some 3,000 libraries, located in every <a href="../../wp/u/U.S._state.htm" title="U.S. state">U.S. state</a> except <!--del_lnk--> Alaska, <!--del_lnk--> Delaware, and <a href="../../wp/r/Rhode_Island.htm" title="Rhode Island">Rhode Island</a>. Carnegie also built libraries in <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a> and overseas in <a href="../../wp/u/United_Kingdom.htm" title="United Kingdom">Britain</a>, <a href="../../wp/i/Ireland.htm" title="Ireland">Ireland</a>, <a href="../../wp/a/Australia.htm" title="Australia">Australia</a>, <a href="../../wp/n/New_Zealand.htm" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>, the <!--del_lnk--> West Indies, and <a href="../../wp/f/Fiji.htm" title="Fiji">Fiji</a>.<p>He gave US$2 million in 1901 to start the <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) at Pittsburgh, and the same amount in 1902 to found the <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Institution at Washington, D.C. He later contributed more to these and other schools. CIT is now part of <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Mellon University.<p>In Scotland, he gave US$2 million in 1901 to establish a trust for providing funds for assisting education at the Scottish universities, a benefaction which resulted in his being elected <!--del_lnk--> Lord Rector of <!--del_lnk--> University of St. Andrews. He was a large benefactor of the <!--del_lnk--> Tuskegee Institute under <!--del_lnk--> Booker Washington for <!--del_lnk--> African American education. He also established large pension funds in 1901 for his former employees at Homestead and, in 1905, for American college professors. He also funded the construction of 7,000 church organs.<p>Also, long before he sold out, in 1879, he erected commodious swimming-baths for the use of the people of his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland. In the following year, Carnegie gave US$40,000 for the establishment of a free library in the same city. In 1884, he gave US$50,000 to <!--del_lnk--> Bellevue Hospital Medical College to found a <!--del_lnk--> histological laboratory, now called the <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Laboratory.<p>He owned <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Hall in <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>.<p>He founded the <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Hero Fund commissions in America (1904) and in the United Kingdom (1908) for the recognition of deeds of heroism, contributed US$500,000 in 1903 for the erection of a <!--del_lnk--> Peace Palace at <a href="../../wp/t/The_Hague.htm" title="The Hague">The Hague</a>, and donated US$150,000 for a <!--del_lnk--> Pan-American Palace in Washington as a home for the <!--del_lnk--> International Bureau of American Republics.<p>By the standards of 19th century tycoons, Carnegie was not a particularly ruthless man, but the contrast between his life and the lives of many of his own workers and of the poor, in general, was stark. "Maybe with the giving away of his money," commented biographer <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Wall, "he would justify what he had done to get that money." <!--del_lnk--> <p>By the time he died, Carnegie had given away US$350,695,653. At his death, the last US$30,000,000 was likewise given away to foundations, charities, and to pensioners.<p><a id="Later_personal_life" name="Later_personal_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Later personal life</span></h2>
<p>In an era in which financial capital was consolidated in New York City, Carnegie stayed aloof from the city, preferring to live near his factories in western <!--del_lnk--> Pennsylvania and at <!--del_lnk--> Skibo Castle, <a href="../../wp/s/Scotland.htm" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>, which he bought and refurbished. However, he also built (in 1901) and resided in a townhouse on <a href="../../wp/n/New_York_City.htm" title="New York City">New York City</a>'s <!--del_lnk--> Fifth Avenue that later came to house <!--del_lnk--> Cooper-Hewitt's <!--del_lnk--> National Design Museum.<p>Carnegie married Louise Whitfield in 1887 and had one daughter, Margaret, who was born in 1897.<p>Carnegie died in <!--del_lnk--> Lenox, Massachusetts, on <!--del_lnk--> August 11, <!--del_lnk--> 1919. He is interred in <!--del_lnk--> Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in <!--del_lnk--> Sleepy Hollow, New York.<p><a id="Controversies" name="Controversies"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Controversies</span></h2>
<p><a name="1892:_Homestead_Strike"></a><h3> <span class="mw-headline">1892: Homestead Strike</span></h3>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15231.jpg.htm" title="The Homestead Strike"><img alt="The Homestead Strike" height="180" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Homesteadstrike.jpg" src="../../images/152/15231.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>The <!--del_lnk--> Homestead Strike was a bloody labor confrontation lasting 143 days in 1892 and was one of the most serious in U.S. history. The conflict was situated around Carnegie Steel's main plant in <!--del_lnk--> Homestead, Pennsylvania, and grew out of a dispute between the National Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers of the United States and the Carnegie Steel Company.<p>Carnegie, who had cultivated a pro-labor image in his dealings with company mill workers, departed the country for a trip to his Scottish homeland before the unrest peaked. In doing so, Carnegie left mediation of the dispute in the hands of his associate and partner <!--del_lnk--> Henry Clay Frick. Frick was well known in industrial circles as maintaining staunch anti-union sensibilities.<p>The company had attempted to cut the wages of the skilled steel workers, and when the workers refused the pay cut, management locked the union out (workers considered the stoppage a "<!--del_lnk--> lockout" by management and not a "<!--del_lnk--> strike" by workers). Frick brought in thousands of strikebreakers to work the steel mills and <!--del_lnk--> Pinkerton agents to safeguard them.<p>On <!--del_lnk--> July 6, the arrival of a force of 300 Pinkerton agents from New York City and <a href="../../wp/c/Chicago.htm" title="Chicago">Chicago</a> resulted in a fight in which 10 men—seven strikers and three Pinkertons—were killed and hundreds were injured. Pennsylvania Governor <!--del_lnk--> Robert Pattison discharged two brigades of the state militia to the strike site. Then, allegedly in response to the fight between the striking workers and the Pinkertons, <a href="../../wp/a/Anarchism.htm" title="Anarchism">anarchist</a> <!--del_lnk--> Alexander Berkman tried to kill Frick with a gun provided by <!--del_lnk--> Emma Goldman. However, Frick was only wounded, and the attempt turned public opinion away from the striking workers. Afterwards, the company successfully resumed operations with non-union immigrant employees in place of the Homestead plant workers, and Carnegie returned to the United States.<p>Carnegie was one of more than 50 wealthy members of the <!--del_lnk--> South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which was blamed for the <!--del_lnk--> Johnstown Flood that killed more than 2,200 people in 1887.<p><a id="Philosophy" name="Philosophy"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Philosophy</span></h2>
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<div style="width:182px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15232.jpg.htm" title="Andrew Carnegie at Skibo Castle, 1914"><img alt="Andrew Carnegie at Skibo Castle, 1914" height="235" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andrew_Carnegie_at_Skibo_1914_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_17976.jpg" src="../../images/152/15232.jpg" width="180" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>Carnegie wrote <i><!--del_lnk--> The Gospel of Wealth</i>, in which he stated his belief that the rich should use their wealth to help enrich society.<p>The following is taken from one of Carnegie's memos to himself:<table align="center" cellpadding="10" class="cquote" style="border-collapse:collapse; background-color:transparent; border-style:none;">
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Andrew Carnegie"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/147.png.htm" title="Andrew Carnegie"><img alt="Andrew Carnegie" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote1.png" src="../../images/1/147.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<td>Man does not live by bread alone. I have known millionaires starving for lack of the nutriment which alone can sustain all that is human in man, and I know workmen, and many so-called poor men, who revel in luxuries beyond the power of those millionaires to reach. It is the mind that makes the body rich. There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else. Money can only be the useful drudge of things immeasurably higher than itself. Exalted beyond this, as it sometimes is, it remains Caliban still and still plays the beast. My aspirations take a higher flight. Mine be it to have contributed to the enlightenment and the joys of the mind, to the things of the spirit, to all that tends to bring into the lives of the toilers of Pittsburgh sweetness and light. I hold this the noblest possible use of wealth.</td>
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<div style="position:absolute; font-size:20px; overflow:hidden; line-height:20px; letter-spacing:20px;"><strong class="selflink"><span style="text-decoration:none;" title="Andrew Carnegie"> </span></strong></div><a class="image" href="../../images/1/148.png.htm" title="Andrew Carnegie"><img alt="Andrew Carnegie" height="15" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Cquote2.png" src="../../images/1/148.png" width="20" /></a></div>
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<p>Carnegie believed that achievement of financial success could be reduced to a simple formula, which could be duplicated by the average person. In 1908, he commissioned (at no pay) <!--del_lnk--> Napoleon Hill, then a journalist, to interview more than 500 high and wealthy achievers to find out the common threads of their success. Hill eventually became a Carnegie collaborator, and their work was published in 1928, after Carnegie's death, in Hill's book <i><!--del_lnk--> The Law of Success</i> (<!--del_lnk--> ISBN 0-87980-447-5) and in 1937, <i><!--del_lnk--> Think and Grow Rich</i> (<!--del_lnk--> ISBN 1-59330-200-2). The latter has not been out of print since it was published and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. In 1960, Hill published an abridged version of the book containing the Andrew Carnegie formula for wealth creation. For years it was the only version generally available. In 2004, Ross Cornwell published <i>Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised,</i> which restored the book to its original form, with slight revisions, and added comprehensive endnotes, an index, and an appendix.<p><a id="Writings" name="Writings"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Writings</span></h2>
<p>Carnegie was a frequent contributor to periodicals on labour issues.<p>In addition to <i><!--del_lnk--> Triumphant Democracy</i> (1886), <i><!--del_lnk--> Gospel of Wealth</i> (1900) and <i><!--del_lnk--> The Law of Success</i> (1928), other publications by him were <i><!--del_lnk--> An American Four-in-hand in Britain</i> (1883), <i><!--del_lnk--> Round the World</i> (1884), <i><!--del_lnk--> The Empire of Business</i> (1902), a <i><!--del_lnk--> Life of James Watt</i> (1905) and <i><!--del_lnk--> Problems of To-day</i> (1907).<p><a id="Trivia" name="Trivia"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Trivia</span></h2>
<ul>
<li>Various sources quote Carnegie's height at between 60 and 63 inches (1.52 - 1.60 m); a claim that he was 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall is incorrect.<li><!--del_lnk--> Carnegie, Pennsylvania, and <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie, Oklahoma, are both named after Andrew Carnegie.<li>The dinosaur <i><a href="../../wp/d/Diplodocus.htm" title="Diplodocus">Diplodocus</a> carnegiei</i> (Hatcher) was named for Andrew Carnegie after he sponsored the expedition that discovered its remains in the <!--del_lnk--> Morrison Formation (<a href="../../wp/j/Jurassic.htm" title="Jurassic">Jurassic</a>) of <!--del_lnk--> Utah. Carnegie was so proud of “Dippi” that he had casts made of the bones and plaster replicas of the whole skeleton donated to several museums in Europe. The original fossil skeleton is assembled and stands in the Hall of Dinosaurs at the <!--del_lnk--> Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.<li>His name is not pronounced Carn-egie but Carniigiie.</ul>
<p><a id="See_also" name="See_also"></a><div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie"</div>
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<h3 id="siteSub"><a href="../../index.htm">2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection</a>. Related subjects: <a href="../index/subject.People.Political_People.htm">Political People</a></h3>
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<p><b>Andrew Dickson White</b> (<!--del_lnk--> November 7, <!--del_lnk--> 1832 – <!--del_lnk--> November 4, <!--del_lnk--> 1918) was a <a href="../../wp/u/United_States.htm" title="United States">U.S.</a> <!--del_lnk--> diplomat, <!--del_lnk--> author, and <!--del_lnk--> educator, best known as the co-founder of <a href="../../wp/c/Cornell_University.htm" title="Cornell University">Cornell University</a>.<p>White was born in <!--del_lnk--> Homer, New York. After spending one year at <!--del_lnk--> Hobart College (then known as Geneva College), he transfered to <!--del_lnk--> Yale University. At Yale, he was a classmate of <!--del_lnk--> Daniel Coit Gilman, who would later serve as first president of <!--del_lnk--> Johns Hopkins University. The two were members of the <!--del_lnk--> Skull and Bones secret society, and would remain close friends. He was also a member of the <!--del_lnk--> Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, serving as editor of the fraternity publication, <i>The Tomahawk</i>.<div class="thumb tleft">
<div style="width:152px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/152/15234.jpg.htm" title="Andrew Dickson White's mansion"><img alt="Andrew Dickson White's mansion" height="226" longdesc="/wiki/Image:HouseofAndrewDickinsonWhite.jpg" src="../../images/152/15234.jpg" width="150" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
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<p>After graduating from Yale in 1853, White spent three years studying in <a href="../../wp/e/Europe.htm" title="Europe">Europe</a> before returning to the United States as a professor of history and English literature at the <!--del_lnk--> University of Michigan.<p>In 1865, White and <!--del_lnk--> Western Union tycoon <!--del_lnk--> Ezra Cornell founded <a href="../../wp/c/Cornell_University.htm" title="Cornell University">Cornell University</a> on Cornell's estate in <!--del_lnk--> Ithaca, New York. White became the school's first president, and his farsighted leadership set the university on the path to becoming an elite educational institution, with particular excellence in <a href="../../wp/a/Agriculture.htm" title="Agriculture">agricultural</a> research and <a href="../../wp/e/Engineering.htm" title="Engineering">engineering</a>.<p>After 14 years at Cornell, White resigned to serve as the U.S. Minister to first <a href="../../wp/g/Germany.htm" title="Germany">Germany</a> (1879-1881) and later <a href="../../wp/r/Russia.htm" title="Russia">Russia</a> (1892-1894), and as the first U.S. Ambassador to Germany (1897-1902).<p>While serving in Russia, White—a noted <!--del_lnk--> bibliophile—made the acquaintance of author <a href="../../wp/l/Leo_Tolstoy.htm" title="Leo Tolstoy">Leo Tolstoy</a>. Tolstoy's fascination with <!--del_lnk--> Mormonism sparked a similar interest in White, who had previously regarded the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) as a dangerous, deviant <!--del_lnk--> cult. Upon his return to the United States, White took advantage of Cornell's proximity to the original Mormon heartland near <!--del_lnk--> Rochester to amass a collection of LDS memorabilia (including many original copies of the <!--del_lnk--> Book of Mormon) unmatched by any other institution save the church itself and its university, <!--del_lnk--> Brigham Young University.<p>In 1891, Leland and Jane Stanford asked White to serve as the first president of the university they had founded in Palo Alto, CA. Although he refused their offer, he did recommend his former student <!--del_lnk--> David Starr Jordan.<p>White died in Ithaca and was interred in <!--del_lnk--> Sage Chapel at Cornell.<p><a id="Contribution_to_the_conflict_thesis" name="Contribution_to_the_conflict_thesis"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Contribution to the conflict thesis</span></h2>
<p>At the time of Cornell's founding, White announced that it would be "an asylum for <i>Science</i>—where truth shall be sought for truth's sake, not stretched or cut exactly to fit Revealed Religion" (Lindberg and Numbers 1986, pp. 2-3). Up to that time, American universities were exclusively religious institutions, and generally focused on the <!--del_lnk--> liberal arts and religious training (though they were not explicitly antagonistic to science). In <!--del_lnk--> 1869 White gave a lecture on "The Battle-Fields of Science", arguing that history showed the negative outcomes resulting from any attempt on the part of <a href="../../wp/r/Religion.htm" title="Religion">religion</a> to interfere with the progress of <a href="../../wp/s/Science.htm" title="Science">science</a>. Over the next 30 years he refined his analysis, expanding his case studies to include nearly every field of science over the entire history of Christianity, but also narrowing his target from "religion" through "ecclesiasticism" to "dogmatic theology."<p>The final result was the two-volume <i>History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom</i> (1896). Initially less popular than <!--del_lnk--> John William Draper's <i>History of the Conflict between Religion and Science</i> (1874), White's book became an extremely influential text on <!--del_lnk--> the relationship between religion and science. The premise of the book—known as the <!--del_lnk--> conflict thesis—was very prevalent among historians through the 1960s. Since the 70s and 80s, many historians of science have reevaluated the history of science and religion, finding little evidence for White's claims of widespread conflict; instead, they often blame White for perpetuating a number of <!--del_lnk--> scientific myths, such as the idea that <a href="../../wp/c/Christopher_Columbus.htm" title="Christopher Columbus">Christopher Columbus</a> had to overcome widespread belief in a <!--del_lnk--> flat earth.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Dickson_White"</div>
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<caption style="font-size: larger;"><b>Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC</b><br /><i>Macario Diosdado Gonzalez</i></caption>
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<div class="floatnone"><span><!--del_lnk--> <img alt="Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC" height="174" longdesc="/wiki/Image:BrotherAndrew.jpg" src="../../images/1x1white.gif" title="This image is not present because of licensing restrictions" width="140" /></span></div>
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<center><b><!--del_lnk--> De La Salle Brother</b><br /> 1955-2006</center>
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<center><b>President Emeritus of<br /><!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University</b><br /> 2005-2006</center>
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<center><b><!--del_lnk--> Secretary of Education, Culture & Sports</b><br /> 1998-2001</center>
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<center><b>President of the<br /><!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University System</b><br /> 1987-1991 • 1994-1998</center>
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<center><b>President of<br /> De La Salle University</b><br /> 1978-1991 • 1994-1998</center>
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<th>Born:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> February 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1940<br /><a href="../../wp/m/Manila.htm" title="Manila">Manila</a></td>
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<th>Died:</th>
<td><!--del_lnk--> January 29, <!--del_lnk--> 2006<br /><!--del_lnk--> Dasmariñas, <!--del_lnk--> Cavite</td>
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<p><b>Brother Andrew Benjamin Gonzalez FSC</b> (<!--del_lnk--> February 29, <!--del_lnk--> 1940 - <!--del_lnk--> January 29, <!--del_lnk--> 2006) was a <!--del_lnk--> linguist, <!--del_lnk--> writer, <!--del_lnk--> educator, and a <!--del_lnk--> Lasallian Brother. He served as president of <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University from from 1979 to 1991 and from 1994 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001 he served as Secretary of the <!--del_lnk--> Department of Education, Culture and Sports. After his term ended, he returned to <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University as Vice President for Academics and Research from 2001 to 2003 and as Presidential Adviser for Academics and Research from 2003 to 2005.<p>Br. Andrew conceptualized the <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University System and helped expand the range of Lasallian education in the <a href="../../wp/p/Philippines.htm" title="Philippines">Philippines</a>. During his first term, Br. Andrew established the College of Career Development of <!--del_lnk--> DLSU-Manila which became the <!--del_lnk--> College of Saint Benilde and took over a medical school in <!--del_lnk--> Dasmariñas which became <!--del_lnk--> DLSU-Dasmariñas.<p>
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</script><a id="Early_life" name="Early_life"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Early life</span></h2>
<p>Br. Andrew was born as <b>Macario Diosdado Arnedo Gonzalez</b> in <a href="../../wp/m/Manila.htm" title="Manila">Manila</a> to Augusto Gonzalez, a prominent businessman and wealthy landowner and Rosario Arnedo, daughter of Pampanga Governor Macario Arnedo.<p>Macario attended and completed grammar school at <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle College in <a href="../../wp/m/Manila.htm" title="Manila">Manila</a>. He was a consistent honour student and graduated as salutatorian. His love for teaching made him decide to become a Lasallian Brother. He finished his novitate at the De La Salle Retreat House in <!--del_lnk--> Baguio City on <!--del_lnk--> November 20, <!--del_lnk--> 1955 and made his initial vows the year after. He joined the scholasticate of the Brothers in <!--del_lnk--> Winona, <a href="../../wp/m/Minnesota.htm" title="Minnesota">Minnesota</a> on <!--del_lnk--> December 10, <!--del_lnk--> 1956. He studied at <!--del_lnk--> Saint Mary's College in Winona and earned his <!--del_lnk--> Bachelor of Arts degree at the top of his class at the age of 19. He obtained his <!--del_lnk--> Master of Arts in <!--del_lnk--> English Literature from <!--del_lnk--> The Catholic University of America in <a href="../../wp/w/Washington%252C_D.C..htm" title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a> the year after.<p>He returned to the <a href="../../wp/p/Philippines.htm" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> in 1960 and began teaching English Language and Literature at the high school department of <!--del_lnk--> La Salle College in <!--del_lnk--> Bacolod City. He served in several administrative positions at <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle College from 1964 to 1967 and made his final vows as a Lasallian Brother on <!--del_lnk--> May 30, <!--del_lnk--> 1965. He took up graduate courses in <a href="../../wp/l/Linguistics.htm" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a> in the <!--del_lnk--> Philippine Normal College and at the <a href="../../wp/a/Ateneo_de_Manila_University.htm" title="Ateneo de Manila University">Ateneo de Manila University</a>. He was admitted to the doctoral program in linguistics at the <!--del_lnk--> University of California, Berkeley as a Regent's Fellow in Linguistics and as a Stanley Tasheira Scholar in 1967 and completed the degree in 1970.<p><a id="Return_to_the_Philippines" name="Return_to_the_Philippines"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Return to the Philippines</span></h2>
<p>Br. Andrew returned to the <a href="../../wp/p/Philippines.htm" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> in 1971 where he was chosen to become the chairman of the Humanities Department of <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle College and was promoted to Academic Vice President from 1971 to 1978. In recognition of his exceptional management ability, he was elected as the president of <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University in 1979 and served until 1991. After his term as university president, he was designated as president of <!--del_lnk--> Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, and in 1994 he was elected to his second term as president of <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University where he served until 1998. He was appointed as the Secretary of the <!--del_lnk--> Department of Education, Culture and Sports during the term of President <!--del_lnk--> Joseph Estrada on July 1998 and served until January 2001. He rejoined <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University as Vice President for Academics and Research from 2001 to 2003 and as Presidential Adviser for Academics and Research from 2003 to 2005. <!--del_lnk--> Manila Bulletin gave him the title of President Emeritus in <!--del_lnk--> January 26, <!--del_lnk--> 2006.<p><a id="As_President" name="As_President"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">As President</span></h2>
<p>As president of <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University, he conceptualized the <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle University System and helped expand the range of Lasallian education in the <a href="../../wp/p/Philippines.htm" title="Philippines">Philippines</a>. Br. Andrew established the College of Career Development of <!--del_lnk--> DLSU-Manila which became the <!--del_lnk--> College of Saint Benilde and took over a medical school in <!--del_lnk--> Dasmariñas which became <!--del_lnk--> DLSU-Dasmariñas. He prioritized graduate education by creating new masteral and doctoral degree programs. He also wrote many books in linguistics and education. Under his term, De La Salle University underwent significant developments as an institution of higher learning, particularly in the areas of research and faculty and program development. He also promoted alumni and alumni activities, and boosted scholarly activities on campus.<p><a id="As_Education_Secretary" name="As_Education_Secretary"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">As Education Secretary</span></h2>
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<div style="width:202px;"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16540.jpg.htm" title="The Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall"><img alt="The Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall" height="267" longdesc="/wiki/Image:Andrew_Gonzalez_Hall.JPG" src="../../images/165/16540.jpg" width="200" /></a><div class="thumbcaption">
<div class="magnify" style="float:right"><a class="internal" href="../../images/165/16540.jpg.htm" title="Enlarge"><img alt="Enlarge" height="11" src="../../images/0/1.png" width="15" /></a></div> The Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall</div>
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<p>He initiated the revision of the Basic Education Curriculum and placed a corruption-free procurement system which significantly reduced the costs of textbooks and supplies purchased by the <!--del_lnk--> Department of Education, Culture and Sports. He intiated the changing of language of instruction to the <i><!--del_lnk--> lingua franca</i> for the first three grades.<p><a id="Recognition" name="Recognition"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Recognition</span></h2>
<p>In recognition of Br. Andrew's achievements, he received awards from the City of Manila, National Press Club, <!--del_lnk--> Adamson University and from <!--del_lnk--> San Beda College. He received honorary doctorate degrees from <!--del_lnk--> Waseda University and <!--del_lnk--> Soka University in <a href="../../wp/j/Japan.htm" title="Japan">Japan</a>, <!--del_lnk--> St. Paul University in <a href="../../wp/c/Canada.htm" title="Canada">Canada</a> and from <!--del_lnk--> St. Mary's College of California. De La Salle University granted him the title of President Emeritus on <!--del_lnk--> September 28, <!--del_lnk--> 2005 and the <!--del_lnk--> General Education/College of Education/and Asia Pacific Centre for Teachers' Education (ACTED) building named after him.<p><a id="Death" name="Death"></a><h2> <span class="mw-headline">Death</span></h2>
<p>Br. Andrew died due to complications of <!--del_lnk--> diabetes on <!--del_lnk--> January 29, <!--del_lnk--> 2006 at the University Medical Centre of <!--del_lnk--> De La Salle-Health Sciences Campus in <!--del_lnk--> Dasmariñas, <!--del_lnk--> Cavite. His remains were brought to the Brothers' Mausoleum at <!--del_lnk--> Lipa, <!--del_lnk--> Batangas.<div class="printfooter"> Retrieved from "<!--del_lnk--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Gonzalez"</div>
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