title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: After World War II, the Byelorussian SSR was given a seat in the United Nations General Assembly together with the Soviet Union and Ukrainian SSR, becoming one of the founding members of the UN. This was part of a deal with the United States to ensure a degree of balance in the General Assembly, which, the USSR opined, was unbalanced in favor of the Western Bloc. A Byelorussian, G.G. Chernushchenko, served as President of the United Nations Security Council from January–February 1975.


title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: In its last years during "perestroika" under Mikhail Gorbachev, the Supreme Soviet of Byelorussian SSR declared sovereignty on 27 July 1990 over Soviet laws.


title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: On 25 August 1991, after the failure of the coup in Moscow, the republic proclaimed its political and economic independence from the Soviet Union, however, continued to consider herself part of the USSR. On 19 September the republic was renamed the Republic of Belarus. On 8 December 1991 it was a signatory, along with Russia and Ukraine, of the Belavezha Accords, which replaced the Soviet Union with the Commonwealth of Independent States. Belarus received independence on 25 December 1991. A day later the Soviet Union ceased to exist. However, the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Republic of Belarus of 1978, was retained after independence.


title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: Until 1990, Byelorussia was a one-party socialist republic, governed by the Communist Party of Byelorussia, a branch within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU/KPSS). Like all other Soviet republics, it was one of the 15 constituent republics composing the Soviet Union from its entry into the union in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. Executive power was exercised by the Byelorussian Communist Party authorities, at its top sits the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Legislative power was vested in the unicameral parliament, the Supreme Soviet of Byelorussia, also dominated by the Communist Party.


title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: Belarus is the legal successor of the Byelorussian SSR and in its Constitution it states, "Laws, decrees and other acts which were applied in the territory of the Republic of Belarus prior to the entry into force of the present Constitution shall apply in the particular parts thereof that are not contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus."


title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: On the international stage, Byelorussia (along with Ukraine) was one of only two republics to be separate members of the United Nations. Both republics and the Soviet Union joined the UN when the organization was founded with the other 50 states on 24 October 1945. In effect, this provided the Soviet Union (a permanent Security Council member with veto powers) with another 2 votes in the General Assembly.


title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: Apart from the UN, the Byelorussian SSR was a member of the UN Economic and Social Council, UNICEF, International Labour Organization, Universal Postal Union, World Health Organization, UNESCO, International Telecommunication Union, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Byelorussia was excluded separately from the Warsaw Pact, Comecon, the World Federation of Trade Unions and the World Federation of Democratic Youth. In 1949, it joined the International Olympic Committee as a Union Republic.


title: Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: Whilst part of the Union, the cuisine of Byelorussia consisted mainly of vegetables, meat (particularly pork), and bread. Foods are usually either slowly cooked or stewed. Typically, Byelorussians eat a light breakfast and two hearty meals, with dinner being the largest meal of the day. Wheat and rye breads are consumed in Belarus, but rye is more plentiful because conditions are too harsh for growing wheat. Many of the cuisines within Byelorussia also shared its cuisine with Russia and Poland.


title: Age of the universe

text: In physical cosmology, the age of the universe is the time elapsed since the Big Bang. Today, astronomers have derived two different measurements of the age of the universe:


title: Age of the universe

text: a measurement based on direct observations of an early state of the universe, which indicate an age of  billion years as interpreted with the Lambda-CDM concordance model as of 2018;


title: Age of the universe

text: and a measurement based on the observations of the local, modern universe, which suggest a younger age.


title: Age of the universe

text: The uncertainty of the first kind of measurement has been narrowed down to 20 million years, based on a number of studies which all gave extremely similar figures for the age. These include studies of the microwave background radiation by the "Planck" spacecraft, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and other space probes. Measurements of the cosmic background radiation give the cooling time of the universe since the Big Bang,


title: Age of the universe

text: and measurements of the expansion rate of the universe can be used to calculate its approximate age by extrapolating backwards in time. The range of the estimate is also within the range of the estimate for the oldest observed star in the universe.


title: Age of the universe

text: In the 18th century, the concept that the age of Earth was millions, if not billions, of years began to appear. However, most scientists throughout the 19th century and into the first decades of the 20th century presumed that the universe itself was Steady State and eternal, possibly with stars coming and going but no changes occurring at the largest scale known at the time.


title: Age of the universe

text: The first scientific theories indicating that the age of the universe might be finite were the studies of thermodynamics, formalized in the mid-19th century. The concept of entropy dictates that if the universe (or any other closed system) were infinitely old, then everything inside would be at the same temperature, and thus there would be no stars and no life. No scientific explanation for this contradiction was put forth at the time.


title: Age of the universe

text: and in 1917 constructed the first cosmological model based on his theory. In order to remain consistent with a steady state universe, Einstein added what was later called a cosmological constant to his equations. Einstein's model of a static universe was proved unstable by Arthur Eddington.


title: Age of the universe

text: The first direct observational hint that the universe was not static but expanding came from the observations of 'recession velocities', mostly by Vesto Slipher, combined with distances to the 'nebulae' (galaxies) by Edwin Hubble in a work published in 1929.


title: Age of the universe

text: Earlier in the 20th century, Hubble and others resolved individual stars within certain nebulae, thus determining that they were galaxies, similar to, but external to, our Milky Way Galaxy. In addition, these galaxies were very large and very far away. Spectra taken of these distant galaxies showed a red shift in their spectral lines presumably caused by the Doppler effect, thus indicating that these galaxies were moving away from the Earth. In addition, the farther away these galaxies seemed to be (the dimmer they appeared to us) the greater was their redshift, and thus the faster they seemed to be moving away. This was the first direct evidence that the universe is not static but expanding. The first estimate of the age of the universe came from the calculation of when all of the objects must have started speeding out from the same point. Hubble's initial value for the universe's age was very low, as the galaxies were assumed to be much closer than later observations found them to be.


title: Age of the universe

text: The first reasonably accurate measurement of the rate of expansion of the universe, a numerical value now known as the Hubble constant, was made in 1958 by astronomer Allan Sandage.


title: Age of the universe

text: His measured value for the Hubble constant came very close to the value range generally accepted today.


title: Age of the universe

text: However Sandage, like Einstein, did not believe his own results at the time of discovery. Sandage proposed new theories of cosmogony to explain this discrepancy. This issue was more or less resolved by improvements in the theoretical models used for estimating the ages of stars. As of 2013, using the latest models for stellar evolution, the estimated age of the oldest known star is billion years.


title: Age of the universe

text: The discovery of microwave cosmic background radiation announced in 1965 finally brought an effective end to the remaining scientific uncertainty over the expanding universe. It was a chance result from work by two teams less than 60 miles apart. In 1964, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were trying to detect radio wave echoes with a supersensitive antenna. The antenna persistently detected a low, steady, mysterious noise in the microwave region that was evenly spread over the sky, and was present day and night. After testing, they became certain that the signal did not come from the Earth, the Sun, or our galaxy, but from outside our own galaxy, but could not explain it. At the same time another team, Robert H. Dicke, Jim Peebles, and David Wilkinson, were attempting to detect low level noise which might be left over from the Big Bang and could prove whether the Big Bang theory was correct. The two teams realized that the detected noise was in fact radiation left over from the Big Bang, and that this was strong evidence that the theory was correct. Since then, a great deal of other evidence has strengthened and confirmed this conclusion, and refined the estimated age of the universe to its current figure.


title: Age of the universe

text: The space probes WMAP, launched in 2001, and Planck, launched in 2009, produced data that determines the Hubble constant and the age of the universe independent of galaxy distances, removing the largest source of error.


title: Age of the universe

text: The Lambda-CDM concordance model describes the evolution of the universe from a very uniform, hot, dense primordial state to its present state over a span of about 13.77 billion years


title: Age of the universe

text: of cosmological time. This model is well understood theoretically and strongly supported by recent high-precision astronomical observations such as WMAP. In contrast, theories of the origin of the primordial state remain very speculative.


title: Age of the universe

text: If one extrapolates the Lambda-CDM model backward from the earliest well-understood state, it quickly (within a small fraction of a second) reaches a singularity. This is known as the "initial singularity" or the "Big Bang singularity". This singularity is not understood as having a physical significance in the usual sense, but it is convenient to quote times measured "since the Big Bang" even though they do not correspond to a time that can actually be physically measured.


title: Age of the universe

text: presently uses the term "age of the universe" to mean the duration of the Lambda-CDM expansion, or equivalently, the time elapsed within the currently observable universe since the Big Bang.


title: Age of the universe

text: Since the universe must be at least as old as the oldest things in it, there are a number of observations which put a lower limit on the age of the universe;


title: Age of the universe

text: The problem of determining the age of the universe is closely tied to the problem of determining the values of the cosmological parameters. Today this is largely carried out in the context of the ΛCDM model, where the universe is assumed to contain normal (baryonic) matter, cold dark matter, radiation (including both photons and neutrinos), and a cosmological constant.


title: Age of the universe

text: The fractional contribution of each to the current energy density of the universe is given by the density parameters formula_1 formula_2 and formula_3


title: Age of the universe

text: The full ΛCDM model is described by a number of other parameters, but for the purpose of computing its age these three, along with the Hubble parameter formula_4, are the most important.


title: Age of the universe

text: If one has accurate measurements of these parameters, then the age of the universe can be determined by using the Friedmann equation. This equation relates the rate of change in the scale factor formula_5 to the matter content of the universe. Turning this relation around, we can calculate the change in time per change in scale factor and thus calculate the total age of the universe by integrating this formula. The age formula_6 is then given by an expression of the form


title: Age of the universe

text: where formula_4 is the Hubble parameter and the function formula_9 depends only on the fractional contribution to the universe's energy content that comes from various components. The first observation that one can make from this formula is that it is the Hubble parameter that controls that age of the universe, with a correction arising from the matter and energy content. So a rough estimate of the age of the universe comes from the Hubble time, the inverse of the Hubble parameter. With a value for formula_4 around , the Hubble time evaluates to formula_11 billion years.


title: Age of the universe

text: To get a more accurate number, the correction function formula_9 must be computed. In general this must be done numerically, and the results for a range of cosmological parameter values are shown in the figure. For the Planck values formula_13(0.3086, 0.6914), shown by the box in the upper left corner of the figure, this correction factor is about formula_14 For a flat universe without any cosmological constant, shown by the star in the lower right corner, formula_15 is much smaller and thus the universe is younger for a fixed value of the Hubble parameter. To make this figure, formula_16 is held constant (roughly equivalent to holding the CMB temperature constant) and the curvature density parameter is fixed by the value of the other three.


title: Age of the universe

text: Apart from the Planck satellite, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) was instrumental in establishing an accurate age of the universe, though other measurements must be folded in to gain an accurate number. CMB measurements are very good at constraining the matter content formula_1


title: Age of the universe

text: It is not as sensitive to formula_19 directly, partly because the cosmological constant becomes important only at low redshift. The most accurate determinations of the Hubble parameter formula_4 are currently believed to come from measured brightnesses and redshifts of distant Type Ia supernovae. Combining these measurements leads to the generally accepted value for the age of the universe quoted above.


title: Age of the universe

text: The cosmological constant makes the universe "older" for fixed values of the other parameters. This is significant, since before the cosmological constant became generally accepted, the Big Bang model had difficulty explaining why globular clusters in the Milky Way appeared to be far older than the age of the universe as calculated from the Hubble parameter and a matter-only universe.


title: Age of the universe

text: Introducing the cosmological constant allows the universe to be older than these clusters, as well as explaining other features that the matter-only cosmological model could not.


title: Age of the universe

text: NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project's nine-year data release in 2012 estimated the age of the universe to be years (13.772 billion years, with an uncertainty of plus or minus 59 million years).


title: Age of the universe

text: However, this age is based on the assumption that the project's underlying model is correct; other methods of estimating the age of the universe could give different ages. Assuming an extra background of relativistic particles, for example, can enlarge the error bars of the WMAP constraint by one order of magnitude.


title: Age of the universe

text: This measurement is made by using the location of the first acoustic peak in the microwave background power spectrum to determine the size of the decoupling surface (size of the universe at the time of recombination). The light travel time to this surface (depending on the geometry used) yields a reliable age for the universe. Assuming the validity of the models used to determine this age, the residual accuracy yields a margin of error near one percent.


title: Age of the universe

text: In 2015, the Planck Collaboration estimated the age of the universe to be  billion years, slightly higher but within the uncertainties of the earlier number derived from the WMAP data.


title: Age of the universe

text: In 2018, the Planck Collaboration updated its estimate for the age of the universe to  billion years.


title: Age of the universe

text: Calculating the age of the universe is accurate only if the assumptions built into the models being used to estimate it are also accurate. This is referred to as strong priors and essentially involves stripping the potential errors in other parts of the model to render the accuracy of actual observational data directly into the concluded result. Although this is not a valid procedure in all contexts (as noted in the accompanying caveat: "on the assumption that the project's underlying model is correct"), the age given is thus accurate to the specified error (since this error represents the error in the instrument used to gather the raw data input into the model).


title: Age of the universe

text: The age of the universe based on the best fit to Planck 2018 data alone is billion years. This number represents an accurate "direct" measurement of the age of the universe (other methods typically involve Hubble's law and the age of the oldest stars in globular clusters, etc.). It is possible to use different methods for determining the same parameter (in this case – the age of the universe) and arrive at different answers with no overlap in the "errors". To best avoid the problem, it is common to show two sets of uncertainties; one related to the actual measurement and the other related to the systematic errors of the model being used.


title: Age of the universe

text: An important component to the analysis of data used to determine the age of the universe (e.g. from Planck) therefore is to use a Bayesian statistical analysis, which normalizes the results based upon the priors (i.e. the model). This quantifies any uncertainty in the accuracy of a measurement due to a particular model used.


title: Safe (TV series)

text: Safe is a British television drama series created by crime author Harlan Coben and written primarily by screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst. Set in England, the series is a production by Canal+, with C8 airing the show in France, and Netflix streaming the show internationally outside France. The series began filming in Manchester, Liverpool, and Cheshire in July 2017. It consists of eight episodes that premiered in 190 countries on 10 May 2018.


title: Safe (TV series)

text: "Safe" focuses on Briton Tom Delaney (Hall), a pediatric surgeon and widowed father of two teenage daughters. He is struggling to connect with his daughters as they still grieve the loss of his wife from cancer one year prior. After his 16-year-old daughter Jenny goes missing, Tom uncovers a web of secrets as he frantically searches for her.


title: Safe (TV series)

text: "Safe" has received positive reviews. It has a 71% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews. While British newspapers "The Daily Telegraph" and "The Guardian" found Hall's "odd" English accent to be a metaphor of overall peculiarities with the series, they both found many elements of the show to be entertaining. Ed Power wrote in "The Daily Telegraph" that Harlan Coben "makes every one of his characters feel plausibly sinister and throws in plenty of skilfully crafted cliff-hangers. Netflix's latest can be hackneyed and is written to formula, but the central mystery is assembled with a watchmaker's eye and the entire fandango whirrs by with ruthless efficiency." "The Guardian"s Sam Wollaston wrote, "What looked at one point like it might be Netflix's "Broadchurch" – the disappearance of a teenager, a parent's anguish, the effect on a community, the police investigation – soon starts to look more like "Desperate Housewives". I'm very much enjoying these people, without really caring about them."


title: Safe (TV series)

text: Maureen Ryan of "Variety" praised the series, writing, "It's a highly watchable, semi-pulpy serial loaded with reveals, clues and cliffhangers, and the core cast is generally quite good." Ben Travers of "IndieWire" found the series entertaining and graded it a B, writing, ""Safe" leans into most of its increasingly preposterous moments, including Hall's accent. It's not that the show or its star’s elocution are bad, per se; they just don’t overwork themselves trying to convince you of their grand importance. "Safe" is a soap, and it's a fun diversion as such."


title: Safe (TV series)

text: Daniel Fienberg of "The Hollywood Reporter", who based his review on the first two episodes sent to critics, criticised Hall's accent and performance, the depiction of teens and other elements of the series as all off-tone. Fienberg wrote, "It could take watching the six additional episodes to know if there's a cliché-upending payoff or if "Safe" is just a muddle."


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: A grizzly–polar bear hybrid (also named grolar bear, pizzly bear, zebra bear, grizzlar, or nanulak) is a rare ursid hybrid that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA of a unique-looking bear that had been shot near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, on Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic. The number of confirmed hybrids has since risen to eight, all of them descending from the same female polar bear.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Possible wild-bred polar bear-grizzly bear hybrids have been reported and shot in the past, but DNA tests were not available to verify the bears' ancestry.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Genetic analysis has revealed multiple instances of introgressive hybridization between bear species, including introgression of polar bear DNA into brown bears during the Pleistocene ("grizzly bear" is a local common name for "Ursus arctos" whereas "brown bear" is used internationally and in science to refer to the species as a whole).


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: With several suspected sightings and eight confirmed cases, theories of how such hybrids might naturally occur have become more than hypothetical. Although these sister species often occupy adjacent regions, direct contact has not been the norm because polar bears hunt, breed, and sometimes even make maternity dens on sea ice, where brown bears have an overwhelmingly terrestrial lifestyle.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: We do not have an exact reason this is happening. One theory is with the grizzly population increasing male bears will leave their dens sooner while females stay with their cubs. This means that to the male grizzles, female polar bears have become viable mates. This is the reason that hybrids have been reported to have grizzly fathers and polar mothers. Scientists have hypothesized this may also be a climate change issue. As winters begin to get shorter, grizzlies begin to move more frequently expanding their territory. This expansion in territory has also changed what these grizzles are eating. With the lack of berries, salmon, and natural vegetation in the artic grizzlies have been seen hunting seals, which is a common prey for polar bears. This could be another reason for the hybrid as they are so close while hunting.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Jim Martell, a hunter from Idaho, reportedly shot a grizzly–polar bear hybrid near Sachs Harbour on Banks Island, Northwest Territories on April 16, 2006. Martell, with his local guide, Roger Kuptana, had been hunting for polar bears, and killed the animal believing it to be a normal polar bear. Officials took interest in the creature after noticing that while it had thick, creamy white fur typical of polar bears, it also had long claws, a humped back, a shallow face, and brown patches around its eyes, nose, back, and foot, which are all traits of grizzly bears. If the bear had been adjudicated to be a grizzly, the hunter would have faced a possible CAN$1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: A DNA test conducted by Wildlife Genetics International in British Columbia confirmed it was a hybrid, with a polar bear mother and a grizzly bear father. It is the first documented case in the wild, though it was known that this hybrid was biologically possible and other ursid hybrids have been bred in zoos in the past.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: On May 8, 2006, the discovery of the grizzly-polar bear hybrid received increased attention when, soon after the story was announced, the comedy television show "The Colbert Report" light-heartedly named the new species as the number one threat to American Security.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: On April 8, 2010, David Kuptana, an Inuvialuit hunter from the community of Ulukhaktok on Victoria Island shot what he thought was a polar bear. After inspecting the bear and having its DNA tested, it was discovered that the bear's mother was a grizzly-polar hybrid and the father was a grizzly bear. The bear possesses physical characteristics intermediate between grizzlies and polar bears, such as brown fur on its paws, long claws, and a grizzly-like head.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Between 2012 and 2014 another six hybrid bears were either killed by hunters or live-captured by biologists. Samples were collected from all six, and genetic analysis confirmed both their hybrid status and their family relationships. The eight hybrids identified to date include four first-generation (F1, 50:50) and four grizzly bear backcross individuals (75:25 grizzly:polar bear). A single F1 female was the mother of all four backcross individuals, and a single female polar bear was the mother of all four F1s, and thus the grandmother of all four backcross bears. Two male grizzlies mated with the female polar bear to give rise to the four F1s, with one grizzly bear apparently mating with the polar bear in two different years (two of the F1s are full siblings, but born three years apart). The same two male brown bears both mated with the F1 female to produce the four backcross individuals, with three littermates being sired by one male and a single, older 3/4 grizzly bear coming from a mating between the F1 female and her father.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: It is hard to know whether these events are a harbinger of the breakdown of a species barrier, or just an unusual anecdote, since all confirmed cases to date trace to the unusual mate choice of a single polar bear.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: It was widely reported that a bear shot in 2016, near Arviat on the western shore of Hudson Bay, was a hybrid, with news agencies stating that this was an outcome of climate change. This bear was light in colour, but 'blonde' grizzly bears are common on the Barren Grounds, and the Arviat bear did not have other features characteristic of hybrids. The Arviat bear was subsequently confirmed by genetic analysis to be a pure brown bear.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: It is currently unknown why grizzly bears are being found in the habitat of polar bears. Although a grizzly bear was killed on Banks Island in 1951, it has until recently been rare for this species to stray far north of the coast of mainland Canada. In 1991 one or more grizzly bears were documented hunting seals and polar bears on the sea ice near Melville island, over 500 km from the mainland coast. In 2003 and 2004 a geological team working on Melville Island obtained photographic and DNA evidence of a grizzly bear in the area. Their report also collated information on several other sightings in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Grizzly bears have apparently also been extending their range east across the Barren Grounds towards Hudson Bay, and south towards northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Between 2003 and 2008 seven individuals were spotted in Wapusk National Park south of Churchill, Manitoba, an area used by polar bears for maternity dens and as a refuge during the ice-free season on Hudson Bay.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: The genetic methods used to confirm the family relationships and ancestry of the hybrid bears from northern Canada date back to the early 1990s, and are not powerful enough to reveal ancient history. However, the newer methods of genomics analyze thousands of sites in the genome, allowing the history of individual fragments of chromosomes to be traced back to particular populations (or species in the case of hybridization). Genomic studies of brown bears and polar bears have revealed that gene flow from polar bears into brown bears, but not the other way around, was widespread in time and space during the Pleistocene. Of particular note, the bears living on the islands of the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska trace their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA entirely to polar bears, but over 90% of their nuclear genome to brown bears. This appears to reflect a process in which a population of polar bears was left behind as the species retreated northwards at the end of the last ice age, with male brown bears subsequently introducing genes from the adjacent mainland, but female brown bears being generally unable or unwilling to swim across several kilometres of open ocean to reach the islands (thus the lack of exchange of mitochondrial DNA).


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Such studies have not been limited to polar bears and brown bears, and it now appears that gene flow between species has been widespread during the evolution of the living species of bears.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Since the 2006 discovery placed the hybrid into the spotlight, the media have referred to this animal with several portmanteau names, such as "pizzly bear", "grolar bear", and "polizzly", but there is no consensus on the use of any one of these terms. Canadian wildlife officials have suggested calling the hybrid "nanulak", taken from the Inuit names for polar bear "(nanuk)" and grizzly bear "(aklak)".


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: By one convention, the name of the sire comes first in such combinations: the offspring of a male polar bear and a female grizzly would be the suggested "nanulak" or a "pizzly bear", while the offspring of a male grizzly and a female polar bear would be a "grolar bear" or possibly an "aknuk".


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Two grizzly–polar hybrid cubs (one female and one male) were born at Osnabrück Zoo in Osnabrück in 2004, and their physical traits are generally intermediate between the polar bear and the grizzly bear. For example, their bodies are smaller than polar bears, but larger than grizzlies, while their heads fall between the broader grizzly head and the leaner polar bear head. They have long necks like polar bears, but small shoulder humps like grizzlies. The soles of their feet are partially covered in hair; polar bears have hair-covered soles, which act as insulation, and grizzlies have hairless soles.


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: Similarly, the hair of the hybrids exhibits a pattern of hollowness, which blends the traits of polar bears and grizzlies. In cross-section, the hair of polar bears is hollow, while the hair of grizzlies is either solid or has small hollow regions. This varies according to which part of the grizzly the hair is taken from. In the hybrid male, the paw hair was solid, but the dark back hair was somewhat hollow, albeit with "smaller empty regions than found in polar bear hair". The hair of the female hybrid, "contains a range of hollow regions".


title: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

text: The hybrids demonstrated behavior more similar to polar bears than grizzlies. They stomped toys in a manner reminiscent of how polar bears break the ice, and hurled bags to the side "as polar bears may hurl prey". Grizzlies given the same bags do not demonstrate this hurling behavior. The hybrids were also observed lying down as polar bears do: on their bellies with rear legs splayed.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canting, as it depicts a boat ( in Polish), which alludes to the city's name. As of 2022, Łódź has a population of 670,642 making it the country's fourth largest city.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź was once a small settlement that first appeared in 14th-century records. It was granted town rights in 1423 by Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło and it remained a private town of the Kuyavian bishops and clergy until the late 18th century. In the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Łódź was annexed to Prussia before becoming part of the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw; the city joined Congress Poland, a Russian client state, at the 1815 Congress of Vienna. The Second Industrial Revolution (from 1870) brought rapid growth in textile manufacturing and in population owing to the inflow of migrants, notably Germans and Jews. Ever since the industrialization of the area the city has struggled with multinationalism and social inequalities, as documented in the novel "The Promised Land" by Nobel Prize–winning author Władysław Reymont. The contrasts greatly reflected on the architecture of the city, where luxurious mansions coexisted with red-brick factories and dilapidated tenement houses.


title: Łódź

text: The industrial development and demographic surge made Łódź one of the largest cities in Poland. Under the German occupation during World War II Łódź was briefly renamed after Karl Litzmann. The city's population was persecuted and its large Jewish minority was forced into a walled zone known as the Łódź Ghetto, from where they were sent to German concentration and extermination camps. The city became Poland's temporary seat of power in 1945.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź experienced a sharp demographic and economic decline after 1989. It was only in the 2010s that the city began to experience revitalization of its neglected downtown area. Łódź is ranked by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network on the “Sufficiency” level of global influence and is internationally known for its National Film School, a cradle for the most renowned Polish actors and directors, including Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski. In 2017, the city was inducted into the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and named UNESCO City of Film.


title: Łódź

text: The Polish name for the city, , directly translates to 'boat' in the English language. There is no unanimous consensus on its precise origin, but popular theories link it with the medieval village of Lodzia and the now-canalised River Łódka on which the modern city was founded. It may have also derived from the term denoting a willow tree and the personal Old Polish name Włodzisław.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź first appears in a 1332 written record issued by Władysław the Hunchback, Duke of Łęczyca, which transferred the village of Lodzia to the Bishopric of Włocławek. The document enumerated the privileges of its inhabitants, notably the right to graze land, establish pastures and engage in logging. In 1423, King of Poland Władysław II Jagiełło officially granted town rights to the village under Magdeburg Law. For centuries, it remained a small remote settlement situated among woodlands and marshes, which was privately held by the Kuyavian bishops. The economy was predominantly driven by agriculture and farming until the 19th century. The earliest two versions of the coat of arms appeared on seal emblems in 1535 and 1577, with the latter illustrating a boat-like vessel and a turned oar.


title: Łódź

text: With the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Łódź was annexed by Prussia. In 1798, the Kuyavian bishops' ownership over the region was formally revoked during the secularisation of church property. The town, governed by a burgomaster (), at the time had only 190 residents, 44 occupied dwellings, a church and a prison. In 1806, Łódź was incorporated into the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw. In the aftermath of the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the duchy was dissolved and the town became part of the Congress Kingdom of Poland, a client state of the Russian Empire.


title: Łódź

text: In 1820, the government of the Congress Kingdom designated Łódź and its rural surroundings for centrally planned industrial development. Rajmund Rembieliński, head of the Administrative Council and prefect of Masovia, became the president of a commission that subdivided the works two major phases; the first (1821–23) comprised the creation of a new city centre with an octagonal square (contemporary ; Liberty Square) and arranged housing allotments on greenfield land situated south of the old marketplace; the second stage (1824–28) involved the establishment of cotton mill colonies and a linear street system along with an arterial north-south thoroughfare, Piotrkowska. Many of the early dwellings were timber cottages built for housing weavers ().


title: Łódź

text: During this time, a sizeable number of German craftsmen settled in the city, encouraged by exemptions from tax obligations. Their settlement in Poland was encouraged by renowned philosopher and statesman Stanisław Staszic, who acted as the director of the Department of Trade, Crafts and Industry.


title: Łódź

text: In 1851, the Imperial authorities abolished a customs barrier which was imposed on Congress Poland following the failed November Uprising (1830–1831). The suppression of tariffs allowed the city to freely export its goods to Russia, where the demand for textiles was high. Poland's first steam-powered loom commenced operations at Ludwik Geyer's White Factory in 1839. During the first weeks of the January Uprising (1863–1864), a unit of 300 Polish insurgents entered the city without resistance and seized weapons, and later on, there were also clashes between Polish insurgents and Russian troops in the city. In 1864, the inhabitants of adjacent villages were permitted to settle in Łódź without restrictions. The development of railways in the region was also instrumental in expanding the textile industry; in 1865 the Łódź–Koluszki line, a branch of the Warsaw–Vienna railway, was opened, thus providing a train connection to larger markets. In 1867, the city was incorporated into the Piotrków Governorate, a local province.


title: Łódź

text: The infrastructure and edifices of Łódź were built at the expense of industrialists and business magnates, chiefly Karl Wilhelm Scheibler and Izrael Poznański, who sponsored schools, hospitals, orphanages, and places of worship. From 1872 to 1892, Poznański established a major textile manufactory composed of twelve factories, power plants, worker tenements, a private fire station, and a large eclectic palace. By the end of the century, Scheibler's became one of Europe's largest industrial complexes, employing 5,000 workers within a single facility. The years 1870–1890 saw the most intense industrialisation, which was marked by social inequalities and dire working conditions. Łódź soon became a notable centre of the socialist movement and the so-called Łódź rebellion in May 1892 was quelled by a military intervention.


title: Łódź

text: The turn of the 20th century coincided with cultural and technological progress; in 1899, the first stationary cinema in Poland () was opened in Łódź. In the same year, Józef Piłsudski, the future Marshal of Poland, settled in the city and began printing the "Robotnik" (The Worker; p. 1894–1939), an underground newspaper published by the Polish Socialist Party. During the June Days (1905), approximately 100,000 unemployed labourers went on a mass strike, barricaded the streets and clashed with troops. Officially, 151 demonstrators were killed and thousands were wounded. In 1912, the Archcathedral of St. Stanislaus Kostka was completed and its tower at is one of the tallest in Poland.


title: Łódź

text: Despite the impending crisis preceding World War I, Łódź grew exponentially and was one of the world's most densely populated industrial cities, with a population density of by 1914. In the aftermath of the Battle of Łódź (1914), the city came under Imperial German occupation on 6 December. With Polish independence restored in November 1918, the local population disarmed the German army. Subsequently, the textile industry of Łódź stalled and its population briefly decreased as ethnic Germans left the city.


title: Łódź

text: Despite its large population and economic output, Łódź did not serve as the seat of its province until the 20th century. Following the establishment of the Second Polish Republic, it became the capital of the Łódź Voivodeship in 1919. The early interwar period was characterised by considerable economic hardship and industrial stagnation. The Great Depression and the German–Polish customs war closed western markets to Polish textiles while the Bolshevik Revolution and the Civil War in Russia put an end to the most profitable trade with the East.


title: Łódź

text: Because of rapid and, consequently, chaotic development in the previous century, Łódź did not possess the adequate infrastructure and living standards for its inhabitants. Pollution was acute, sanitary conditions were poor and the authorities did not invest in a sewage treatment system until the 1920s. From 1918 to 1939, many cultural, educational and scientific institutions were created, including elementary schools, museums, art galleries and public libraries which prior to the First World War did not exist. Łódź also began developing an entertainment scene, with 34 movie theatres opened by 1939. On 13 September 1925, the city's first airport, Lublinek, commenced operations. In 1930, the first radio transmission from a newly-founded broadcasting station took place.


title: Łódź

text: The ideological orientation of Łódź was strongly left-wing and the city was a notable centre of socialist, communist and bundist activity in Polish politics during the interbellum.


title: Łódź

text: During the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Polish forces of General Juliusz Rómmel's Army Łódź defended the city against the German assault by forming a line of resistance between Sieradz and Piotrków Trybunalski. The attack was perpetrated by the 8th Army of Johannes Blaskowitz, who encircled the city with the X Army Corps. After fierce resistance, a Polish delegation surrendered to the Nazis on 8 September, and the first troops entered in the early hours of 9 September. The German paramilitary death squad entered the city on 12 September. Arthur Greiser incorporated Łódź into a new administrative subdivision of Nazi Germany called on 9 November 1939, and on 11 April 1940 the city was renamed to after German general and NSDAP member Karl Litzmann.


title: Łódź

text: The city became subjected to immediate Germanisation, with Polish and Jewish establishments closed, and Polish-language press banned. Low-wage forced labour was imposed on the city's inhabitants aged 16 to 60; many were subsequently deported to Germany. As part of the , Polish intellectuals from the city and region were imprisoned at Radogoszcz and then either sent to concentration camps or murdered in the forests of Łagiewniki and the village of Lućmierz-Las. Polish children were forcibly taken from their parents, and from 1942 to 1945 the German "Sicherheitspolizei" operated a camp for kidnapped Polish children from various regions in Łódź.


title: Łódź

text: The Nazi authorities established the Łódź Ghetto () in the city and populated it with more than 200,000 Jews from the region, who were systematically sent to German extermination camps. It was the second-largest ghetto in occupied Europe, and the last major ghetto to be liquidated, in August 1944. The Polish resistance movement () operated in the city and aided the Jewish people throughout its existence. However, only 877 Jews were still alive by 1945. Of the 223,000 Jews in Łódź before the invasion, 10,000 survived the Holocaust in other places. The Germans also created camps for non-Jews, including the Romani people deported from abroad, who were ultimately murdered at Chełmno, as well as a penal forced labour camp, four transit camps for Poles expelled from the city and region, and a racial research camp.


title: Łódź

text: Following the end of the Second World War, Łódź informally and temporarily took over the functions of Poland's capital, and most of the government and country administration resided in the city prior to Warsaw's reconstruction. Łódź also experienced an influx of refugees from eastern territories annexed by the Soviet Union; many migrated into its suburbs and occupied empty – formerly Jewish – properties. Under the Polish People's Republic, the city's industry and private companies were nationalised. On 24 May 1945, the University of Łódź was inaugurated. On 8 March 1948, the National Film School was opened, later becoming Poland's primary academy of drama and cinema.


title: Łódź

text: Post-war spatial and urban planning was conducted in accordance with the Athens Charter, where the population from the old core was relocated into new residential zones. However, as a result, the inner-city and historical areas fell in significance and degenerated into a slum. A number of extensive panel block housing estates (including Retkinia, Teofilów, Widzew, Radogoszcz and Chojny) were constructed between 1960 and 1990, covering an area of almost and accommodating a large part of the populace.


title: Łódź

text: In mid-1981 Łódź became famous for its massive hunger demonstration of local mothers and their children. After the period of economic transition during the 1990s, most enterprises were again privatised.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź covers an area of approximately and is located in the centre of Poland. The city lies in the lowlands of the Central European Plain, not exceeding 300 metres in elevation. Topographically, the Łódź region is generally characterised by a flat landscape, with only several highlands which do not exceed 50 metres above the terrain level. The soil is predominantly sandy (62%) followed by clay (24%), silt (8%), and organogenic formations (6%) from regional wetlands. The forest cover (equivalent to 4.2% of the whole country) is considerably low compared to other cities, regions, and provinces of Poland.


title: Łódź

text: However, the city is now divided into 36 ('districts'): Bałuty-Centrum, Bałuty-Doły, Bałuty Zachodnie, Julianów-Marysin-Rogi, Łagiewniki, Radogoszcz, Teofilów-Wielkopolska, Osiedle Wzniesień Łódzkich, Chojny, Chojny-Dąbrowa, Górniak, Nad Nerem, Piastów-Kurak, Rokicie, Ruda, Wiskitno, Osiedle im. Józefa Montwiłła-Mireckiego, Karolew-Retkinia Wschód, Koziny, Lublinek-Pienista, Retkinia Zachód-Smulsko, Stare Polesie, Zdrowie-Mania, Złotno, Śródmieście-Wschód, Osiedle Katedralna, Andrzejów, Dolina Łódki, Mileszki, Nowosolna, Olechów-Janów, Stary Widzew, Stoki, Widzew-Wschód, Zarzew, and Osiedle nr 33.


title: Łódź

text: According to Statistics Poland (GUS), Łódź was inhabited by 672,185 people and had a population density of 2,292 persons per square kilometre (5,940/sq mi), as of December 2020. Approximately 55.7 percent of inhabitants are of working age (18–64 years), which is a considerable decrease from 64.1 percent in 2010. An estimated 29.1 percent is of post-working age compared to 21.8 percent ten years earlier. In 2020, 54.39 percent (365,500) of all residents were women. Łódź has one of the highest feminisation rates among Poland's major cities, a legacy of the city's industrial past, when the textile factories attracted large numbers of female employees.


title: Łódź

text: At its peak in 1988 the population was around 854,000, however, the it has since declined due to low fertility rates, outward migration and a lower life expectancy than in other parts of Poland. Łódź was the country's second largest city until 2007, when it lost its position to Kraków. A major contributing factor was the abrupt transition from socialist to market-based economy after 1989 and the resulting economic crisis, but the economic growth which followed has not reversed the trend. Depopulation and ageing are a major impediments for the future development of the city, putting strain on social infrastructure and medical services.


title: Łódź

text: Historically, Łódź was multi-ethnic and its diverse population comprised migrants from other regions of Europe. In 1839, approximately 78 percent (6,648) of the total population was German. In 1913, Łódź had a population of 506,100 people, of whom 251,700 (49.7%) were Poles, 171,900 (34%) were Jews, 75,000 (14.8%) were Germans, and 6,300 (1.3%) were Russians. According to the 1931 Polish census, the total population of 604,000 included 375,000 (59%) Poles, 192,000 (32%) Jews and 54,000 (9%) Germans. By 1939, the Jewish minority had grown to well over 200,000.


title: Łódź

text: The most notable and recognizable landmark of the city is Piotrkowska Street, which remains the high-street and main tourist attraction in the city, runs north to south for a little over . This makes it one of the longest commercial streets in the world. Most of the building façades, many of which date back to the 19th century, have been renovated. It is the site of most restaurants, bars and cafes in Łódź's city centre.


title: Łódź

text: Many neglected tenement houses throughout the entire city centre have been renovated in recent years as part of the ongoing revitalization project run by the local authorities. The best example of urban regeneration in Łódź is the Manufaktura complex, occupying a large area of a former cotton factory dating back to the nineteenth century. The site, which was the heart of Izrael Poznański's industrial empire, now hosts a shopping mall, numerous restaurants, 4-star hotel, multiplex cinema, factory museum, bowling and fitness facilities and a science exhibition centre. Opened in 2006, it quickly became a centre of cultural entertainment and shopping, as well as a recognizable city landmark attracting both domestic and foreign tourists. The city is also likely to receive a large boost in terms of tourism once the massive revitalization project of the city's downtown (worth 4 billion PLN) is completed. The local government's efforts to transform the former industrial city into a thriving urban environment and tourist destination formed the basis for the city's failed bid to organise the 2022 International EXPO exhibition on the subject of urban renewal.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź has one of the best museums of modern art in Poland. has three branches, two of which (ms1 and ms2) display collections of 20th and 21st-century art. The newest addition to the museum, ms2 was opened in 2008 in the Manufaktura complex. The unique collection of the Museum is presented in an unconventional way: instead of a chronological lecture on the development of art, works of art representing various periods and movements are arranged into a story touching themes and motifs important for the contemporary public. The third branch of , located in one of the city's many industrial palaces, also has more traditional art on display, presenting works by European and Polish masters such as Stanisław Wyspiański and Henryk Rodakowski.


title: Łódź

text: Among the 14 registered museums to be found in Łódź, there is the independent Book Art Museum, awarded the American Printing History Association's Institutional Award for 2015 for its outstanding contribution to the study, recording, preservation, and dissemination of printing history in Poland over the last 35 years. Other notable museums include the Central Museum of Textiles with its open-air display of wooden architecture, the Cinematography Museum, located in Scheibler Palace, and the Museum of Independence Traditions, occupying the building of a historical Tsarist prison from the late 19th century. A more unusual establishment, the museum offers tourists a chance to visit the municipal sewer designed in the early years of the 20th century by the British engineer William Heerlein Lindley.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź also provides plenty of green spaces for recreation. Woodland areas cover 9.61% of the city, with parks taking up an additional 2.37% of the area of Łódź (as of 2014). ('Łagiewnicki Forest'), the largest forest within city limits, is referred to in scholarship as "the largest forested area within the administrative borders of any city in Europe." It has an area of 1,245 ha and is cut across by a number of hiking trails that traverse the hilly landscape on the western edge of Łódź Hills Landscape Park. A "natural complex which has remained nearly intact as oak-hornbeam and oak woodland," the forest is also rich in history, and its attractions include a Franciscan friary dating back to the early 18th century and two 17th-century wooden chapels. Out of a total of 44 parks in Łódź (as of 2014), 11 have historical status, the oldest of them dating back to the middle of the 19th century. The largest of these, Józef Piłsudski Park (), is located near the Łódź Zoo and the city's botanical garden, and together with them it comprises an extensive green complex known as serving the recreational needs of the city. Another notable park located in Łódź is the Józef Poniatowski Park.


title: Łódź

text: The Jewish Cemetery at Bracka Street, one of the largest of its kind in Europe, was established in 1892. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, this cemetery became a part of Łódź's "eastern territory" known as the enclosed Łódź ghetto ("Ghetto Field"). Between 1940 and 1944, approximately 43,000 burials took place within the grounds of this rounded-up cemetery. In 1956, a monument by Muszko in memory of the victims of the Łódź Ghetto was erected at the cemetery. It features a smooth obelisk, a menorah, and a broken oak tree with leaves stemming from the tree (symbolizing death, especially death at a young age). the cemetery has an area of . It contains approximately 180,000 graves, approximately 65,000 labelled tombstones, ohels and mausoleums. Many of these monuments have significant architectural value; 100 of these have been declared historical monuments and have been in various stages of restoration. The mausoleum of Izrael and Eleanora Poznański is perhaps the largest Jewish tombstone in the world and the only one decorated with mosaics.


title: Łódź

text: Before 1990, the economy of Łódź was heavily reliant on the textile industry, which had developed in the city in the nineteenth century owing to the abundance of rivers used to power the industry's fulling mills, bleaching plants and other machinery. Because of the growth in this industry, the city has sometimes been called the "Polish Manchester" and the "lingerie capital of Poland". As a result, Łódź grew from a population of 13,000 in 1840 to over 500,000 in 1913. By the time right before World War I Łódź had become one of the most densely populated industrial cities in the world, with 13,280 inhabitants per km, and also one of the most polluted. The textile industry declined dramatically in 1990 and 1991, and no major textile company survives in Łódź today. However, countless small companies still provide a significant output of textiles, mostly for export. Łódź is no longer a significant industrial centre, but it has become a major hub for the business services sector in Poland owing to the availability of highly skilled workers and active cooperation between local universities and the business sector.


title: Łódź

text: The city benefits from its central location in Poland. A number of firms have located their logistics centres in the vicinity. Two motorways, A1 spanning from the north to the south of Poland, and A2 going from the east to the west, intersect northeast of the city. , the A2 is complete to Warsaw and the northern section of A1 is largely completed. With these connections, the advantages of the city's central location should increase even further. Work has also begun on upgrading the railway connection with Warsaw, which reduced the 2-hour travel time to make the journey 1.5 hours in 2009. As of 2018, travel time from Łódź to Warsaw is around 1.2 hours with the modern Pesa SA Dart trains.


title: Łódź

text: Recent years have seen many foreign companies opening and establishing their offices in Łódź. The Indian IT company Infosys has one of its centres in the city. In January 2009 Dell announced that it will shift production from its plant in Limerick, Ireland to its plant in Łódź, largely because the labour costs in Poland are a fraction of those in Ireland. The city's investor friendly policies have attracted 980 foreign investors by January 2009. Foreign investment was one of the factors which decreased the unemployment rate in Łódź to 6.5 percent in December 2008, from 20 percent four years earlier.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź is situated near the geographical centre of Poland, only a short distance away from the motorway junction in Stryków where the two main north–south (A1) and east–west (A2) Polish transport corridors meet, which positions the city on two of the ten major trans-European routes: from Gdańsk to Žilina and Brno and from Berlin to Moscow via Warsaw. It is also part of the New Silk Road, a regular cargo rail connection with the Chinese city of Chengdu operating since 2013. Łódź is served by the national motorway network, an international airport, and long-distance and regional railways. It is at the centre of a regional and commuter rail network operating from the city's various train stations. Bus and tram services are operated by a municipal public transport company. There are of bicycle routes throughout the city (as in January 2019).


title: Łódź

text: The city has an international airport: Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport located from the city centre. Flights connect the city with destinations in Europe including Turkey. In 2014 the airport handled 253,772 passengers. It is the 8th largest airport in Poland.


title: Łódź

text: The Municipal Transport Company – Łódź (Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne – Łódź), owned by the Łódź City Government, is responsible for operating 58 bus routes and 19 tram lines.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź has a number of long distance and local railway stations. There are two main stations in the city, but with no direct rail connection between them—a legacy of 19th-century railway network planning. Originally constructed in 1866, the centrally-located Łódź Fabryczna was a terminus station for a branch line of the Warsaw-Vienna railway, whereas Łódź Kaliska was built more than thirty years later on the central section of the Warsaw-Kalisz railway. For this reason most intercity train traffic goes to this day through Łódź Kaliska station, despite its relative distance from the city centre, and Łódź Fabryczna serves mainly as a terminal station for trains to Warsaw. The situation will be remedied in 2021 after the construction of a tunnel connecting the two, which is likely to make Łódź Poland's main railway hub. The tunnel will additionally serve Łódź Commuter Railway, providing a rapid transit system for the city, dubbed the Łódź Metro by the media and local authorities. Two new stations are to be constructed on the underground line, one serving the needs of the Manufaktura complex and the other located in the area of Piotrkowska Street.


title: Łódź

text: In December 2016, a few years after the demolition of the old building of station, a new underground station was opened. It is considered to be the largest and most modern of all train stations in Poland and is designed to handle increased traffic after the construction of the tunnel. It also serves as a multimodal transport hub, featuring an underground intercity bus station, and is integrated with a new transport interchange serving taxis and local trams and buses. The construction of the new Łódź Fabryczna station was part of a broader project of urban renewal known as Nowe Centrum Łodzi (New Centre of Łódź).


title: Łódź

text: The third-largest train station in Łódź is Łódź Widzew. There are also many other stations and train stops in the city, many of which were upgraded as part of the Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna commuter rail project. The rail service, founded as part of a major regional rail upgrade and owned by Łódź Voivodeship, operates on routes to Kutno, Sieradz, Skierniewice, Łowicz, and on selected days to Warsaw, with plans for further expansion after the construction of the tunnel.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź is a thriving center of academic life. Currently Łódź hosts three major state-owned universities, six higher education establishments operating for more than a half of the century, and a number of smaller schools of higher education. The tertiary institutions with the most students in Łódź include:


title: Łódź

text: In the 2018 general ranking of state-owned tertiary education institutions in Poland, the University of Łódź came 20th (6th place among universities) and Lodz University of Technology 12th (6th place among technical universities). The Medical University of Łódź was ranked 5th among Polish medical universities. Leading courses taught in Łódź include administration (3rd place), law (4th) and biology (4th).


title: Łódź

text: There is also a number of private-owned institutions of higher learning in Łódź. The largest of these are the University of Social Sciences () and the University of Humanities and Economics in Łódź (). In the 2018 ranking of private universities in Poland the former was ranked 9th, and the latter 23rd.


title: Łódź

text: The Leon Schiller National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź () is the most notable academy for future actors, directors, photographers, camera operators and TV staff in Poland. It was founded on 8 March 1948 and was initially planned to be moved to Warsaw as soon as the city was rebuilt following the Warsaw Uprising. However, in the end the school remained in Łódź and today is one of the best-known institutions of higher education in the city.


title: Łódź

text: At the end of the Second World War Łódź remained the only large Polish city besides Kraków which war had not destroyed. The creation of the National Film School gave Łódź a role of greater importance from a cultural viewpoint, which before the war had belonged exclusively to Warsaw and Kraków. Early students of the School include the directors Andrzej Munk, Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda, Kazimierz Karabasz (one of the founders of the so-called Black Series of Polish Documentary) and Janusz Morgenstern, who at the end of the 1950s became famous as one of the founders of the Polish Film School of Cinematography.


title: Łódź

text: Three major novels depict the development of industrial Łódź: Władysław Reymont's "The Promised Land" (1898), Joseph Roth's "Hotel Savoy" (1924) and Israel Joshua Singer's "The Brothers Ashkenazi" (1937). Roth's novel depicts the city on the eve of a workers' riot in 1919. Reymont's novel was made into a film by Andrzej Wajda in 1975. In the 1990 film "Europa Europa", Solomon Perel's family flees pre-World War II Berlin and settles in Łódź. Paweł Pawlikowski's film "Ida" was partially shot in Łódź. Łódź. Chava Rosenfarb’s Yiddish trilogy “The Tree of Life” (1972; English translation 1985) portrays life within the Łódź Ghetto.


title: Łódź

text: The city has experience as a host for international sporting events such as the 2009 EuroBasket, the 2011 EuroBasket Women, the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship and the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, with the opening and final of the latter taking place at Stadion Widzewa. Łódź will also host the sixth edition of the European Universities Games in 2022.


title: Łódź

text: Under communism it was common for clubs to participate in many different sports for all ages and sexes. Many of these traditional clubs still survive today. Originally they were owned directly by a public body, but now they are independently operated by clubs or private companies. However they get public support through the cheap rent of land and other subsidies from the city. Some of their sections have gone professional and separated from the clubs as private companies. For example, Budowlani S.A is a private company that owns the only professional rugby team in Łódź, while Klub Sportowy Budowlani remains a community amateur club.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź was planned to host the "Horticultural Expo" in 2024. However, multiple Expo events were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Horticultural Expo in Doha, Qatar from 2021/22 to 23/24 among them. As a result, the Horticultural Expo in Łódź has been rescheduled to 2029 to maintain a required time interval between them.


title: Łódź

text: Łódź is home to nine foreign consulates, all of which are Honorary. They are subordinate to the following states' main representation in Poland: French, Danish, German, Austrian, British, Belgian, Latvian, Hungarian and Moldavian.


title: Łódź

text: After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Łódź terminated the partnership with Russian cities Ivanovo and Kaliningrad, and with Minsk, the capital of Belarus on 2 March 2022.


title: Rachel Sennott

text: Rachel Anne Sennott (born September 19, 1995) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her online comedy television series "Ayo and Rachel Are Single" with Ayo Edebiri and for starring roles in the films "Shiva Baby" (2020) and "Bodies Bodies Bodies" (2022).


title: Rachel Sennott

text: Rachel Anne Sennott was born on September 19, 1995 in Simsbury, Connecticut, the daughter of Donna (Virzi) and Jack Sennott. She is of Italian and Irish descent, and was raised Catholic. She graduated from Simsbury High School in 2014.


title: Rachel Sennott

text: Sennott became interested in comedy as a freshman in college, when she went to an open mic night on a date. She studied acting at NYU Tisch and graduated in 2017. During college she continued to perform comedy at open mic nights, as well as acting in student films, including the lead role of Danielle in the 2017 short film version of Emma Seligman's "Shiva Baby"; she reprised this role in the 2020 feature film adaptation.


title: Rachel Sennott

text: In 2018, feeling out of control of her fledgling career, she turned to Twitter comedy, writing short jokes and tweeting multiple in a day. She told "Nylon" that she did not enjoy the Manhattan open mic scene, feeling that people were laughing at her rather than with her, and quickly moved into the alt scene with a regular gig on "It's A Guy Thing". She then developed her own shows in 2018, "Puke Fest" and "Ur Gonna Slp Rlly Well Tonight". "Puke Fest" combines stand-up sets with a drinking game, and moved to Instagram Live during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her distinct comedic voice, a "messy" persona often complaining about dating and the economy, quickly became popular in the alt scene; in 2019, she was named one of the six best comedians of the alt scene on lists from both "Time Out New York" and "Pop Dust", citing her unique satirical takes on aspects of millennial life and culture. She satirizes other elements of culture, with some of her most popular bits including a video about the LA movie culture and one about baby-obsessed young women. A sound clip from her LA video is sampled at the beginning of the song "Bump This" by Michael Medrano, Jake Germain, and Michete.


title: Rachel Sennott

text: On television, Sennott has starred in HBO's "High Maintenance", and played Jackie Raines on "Call Your Mother". She has also developed Comedy Central series with Ayo Edebiri, and their shows "Ayo and Rachel Are Single" and "Taking the Stage" began airing on the network in 2020. She also appears with Edebiri and other comedians on the web comedy-documentary series "Speak Up", seeking to amplify female voices about working in comedy.


title: Rachel Sennott

text: In film, she has starred in the 2020 feature films "Tahara" as Hannah Rosen, and "Shiva Baby" as Danielle. Both films are queer Jewish coming of age narratives set at funeral services, though Sennott is neither queer nor Jewish. In the lead role of Danielle in "Shiva Baby", which premiered at SXSW and TIFF in 2020, Sennott's performance was highlighted in several reviews, with Andrew Parker of "The GATE" saying that she gave "a wonderful, star making performance" and Alex de Vore of the "Santa Fe Reporter" writing that "after her performance in [the film], she should probably just be allowed to do whatever she wants – she's a natural." Sennott won the Rising Star award at the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival. In 2022, she played Alice in "Bodies Bodies Bodies", an A24 slasher film that also contained comedy and social satire. She was consistently named the standout performance of the film with Megan Conway of "The New York Times Style Magazine" summing up the consensus: "Sennott’s ability to inject an astonishing range of meaning into Alice’s various cries and yowls — as well as her litany of expletives and "oh my Gods" — steals the show."


title: Rachel Sennott

text: Sennott will next star in the sex comedy "Bottoms", which she co-wrote with "Shiva Baby"’s Emma Seligman. She is set to appear in Saverio Costanzo’s period drama "Finalmente L’alba" (Finally, Dawn Has Come). She will also appear in HBO’s "The Idol".


title: Rachel Sennott

text: Sennott was part of the popularization of front-facing camera comedy during COVID-19 pandemic quarantines, and coined the term "soft launching" relationships, social media vernacular that describes tagging new relationships on Instagram without explicitly announcing them. In June 2020 she took part in a livestream benefiting the Black Trans Travel Fund. She resides in Los Angeles and New York City.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with unusual recipes, such as bacon-and-egg ice cream and snail porridge. His recipes for triple-cooked chips and soft-centred Scotch eggs have been widely imitated. He has advocated a scientific approach to cooking, for which he has been awarded honorary degrees from Reading, Bristol and London universities and made an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal's public profile has been increased by a number of television series, most notably for Channel 4, as well as a product range for the Waitrose supermarket chain introduced in 2010. He is the proprietor of the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, a three-Michelin-star restaurant which is widely regarded as one of the best in the world. Blumenthal also owns Dinner, a two-Michelin-star restaurant in London, and a pub in Bray, the Hind's Head, with one Michelin star.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Heston Marc Blumenthal was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, on 27 May 1966, to a Jewish father born in Southern Rhodesia and an English mother who converted to Judaism. His surname comes from a great-grandfather from Latvia and means 'flowered valley' (or 'bloom-dale'), in German.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal was raised in Paddington, and attended Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith; St John's Church of England School in Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire; and John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: His interest in cooking began at the age of sixteen on a family holiday to Provence, France, when he was taken to the 3-Michelin-starred restaurant "L'Oustau de Baumanière". He was inspired by the quality of the food and "the whole multi-sensory experience: the sound of fountains and cicadas, the heady smell of lavender, the sight of the waiters carving lamb at the table". When he learned to cook, he was influenced by the cookbook series "Les recettes originales", with French chefs such as Alain Chapel.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: When he left school at eighteen, Blumenthal began an apprenticeship at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons but left after a week's probation. Over the next ten years he worked in a "relatively undemanding series of jobs – credit controller, repo man" during the day, teaching himself the French classical repertoire in the evenings. A pivotal moment came when reading "On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee in the mid-1980s. This challenged kitchen practices such as searing meat to seal in the juices, and it encouraged Heston to "adopt a totally different attitude towards cuisine that at its most basic boiled down to: question everything".


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In 1995, Blumenthal bought a run-down pub in Bray, Berkshire called the Ringers and re-opened it as the Fat Duck. It quickly gained the attention of food critics; Matthew Fort and Fay Maschler praised the cooking. Blumenthal described the original restaurant as a "bistro".


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal acquired the Hind's Head, also in Bray, in 2004. The building was a 15th-century tavern; it now serves traditional seasonal cuisine and historic British dishes. In 2011, it was named the Michelin Pub Guide's "Pub of the Year".


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In January 2011, Blumenthal opened his first restaurant outside Bray, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London. Historians helped to develop the restaurant's dishes from historic British recipes. "Dinner" was awarded its first Michelin star in 2012. It was voted the 7th best restaurant in the world in 2013. It received a second Michelin Star in the 2014 Michelin Guide.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: The Fat Duck was temporarily relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 2015 whilst the Bray restaurant was refurbished. Upon reaching the end of its temporary opening, the restaurant became a permanent Melbourne-based Dinner by Heston Blumenthal although not owned by him.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In 2002, Heston made a series of six half-hour television programmes, "Kitchen Chemistry with Heston Blumenthal," which was transmitted on Discovery Science along with a book "Kitchen Chemistry", published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. They have recently been repeated on the Community Channel.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: During 200407, he presented two BBC series called "Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection" and "Heston Blumenthal: Further Adventures In Search of Perfection".


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal moved from the BBC to Channel 4 in March 2008, joining the channel's group of celebrity chefs which already included Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay. In January 2009 a three-part series of television programmes on Channel 4 covered his efforts to revamp the menu at a Little Chef motorway restaurant on the A303 road at Popham. The Little Chef group extended Blumenthal's menu to 12 branches but, in 2013, removed his dishes from all restaurants.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In March 2009 Blumenthal began a short series of programmes, called "Heston's Feasts", showing themed dinner banquets. A second series of this was commissioned and began in 2010.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: From 22 February 2011, Channel 4 began airing Heston's new show, titled "Heston's Mission Impossible", in which Heston targets lacklustre food served in various industries and aims to upgrade the food to meals that people enjoy to eat.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In January 2012, "How To Cook Like Heston", aired on Channel 4. The programme was aimed at home cooks and featured some of the more approachable techniques employed by Blumenthal.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In November 2012, Blumenthal fronted a television programme for Channel 4 entitled "Heston's Fantastical Food" and has also been part of a new 2014 series of "Heston's Great British Food", again commissioned by Channel 4.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In 2020, Blumenthal appeared as a judge in the Channel 4 series 'Crazy Delicious' hosted by British comedian and TV presenter Jayde Adams, alongside chefs Niklas Ekstedt and Carla Hall.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In 2021, he participated as a judge in the French version of Top Chef, proposing a food pairing test.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In July 2022, Blumenthal appeared as a guest judge on the final episode of the Australian version of Masterchef.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: He has experimented with foodpairing, in which recipes are created by identifying molecular similarities between different ingredients and bringing these together in a dish. One of the first such was Blumenthal's white chocolate with caviar. He created unusual combinations, including Roast Foie Gras "Benzaldehyde" and salmon poached in a liquorice gel accompanied by asparagus. While many of these unexpected combinations have been critically well received, Blumenthal himself has pointed out the limitations of such an approach, insisting that although foodpairing is a good tool for creativity, it is still no substitute for the chef's culinary intuition. ‘The molecular profile of a single ingredient is so complex that even if it has several compounds in common with another, there are still as many reasons why they won't work together as reasons why they will.’


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: From the late 1990s, scientific understanding, precision and technology became characteristic of modern cuisine, in so-called "molecular gastronomy". On 10 December 2006 Blumenthal and Harold McGee published a "Statement on the 'New Cookery'" in the "Observer" to summarise the tenets of this cuisine. In it they emphasise that openness to novel techniques and ingredients can be used as a means to achieve excellent dishes, but they value tradition. Novel techniques and ingredients should only be used when they contribute to a dish. For example, liquid nitrogen should not be used for the sake of novelty. And that progress can come from collaboration, for example with chemists and psychologists.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal calls his scientific approach to cuisine "multi-sensory cooking", arguing that eating is "one of the few activities we do that involves all of the senses simultaneously". One of the catalysts for this culinary approach was a visit at 16 to the restaurant "L'Oustau de Baumanière" in Provence, which at the time had three Michelin stars. The trip prompted a passion for cooking, above all because of "the whole multisensory experience: the sound of fountains and cicadas, the heady smell of lavender, the sight of the waiters carving lamb at the table". One of the other main inspirations for a multi-sensory style of cooking was the lack of space and opulence at the Fat Duck. "Places like the Baumaniere had a view and a history and architecture that took its diners to a world of beauty and indulgence. The Fat Duck didn't have any of that, so it had had to capture the diners’ imagination in a different way – taking them to the mysteries of flavour perception and multi sensory delight."


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: The event that cemented Heston's interest in this area was his creation of a crab ice cream to accompany a crab risotto. "People had difficulty accepting Crab Ice Cream, yet if it was renamed "Frozen Crab Bisque", people found it more acceptable and less sweet. p. 71 The phenomenon was subsequently researched by Martin Yeomans and Lucy Chambers of the University of Sussex, who served test subjects a version of Blumenthal's ice cream flavoured with smoked salmon, but told one group they would be tasting ice cream and the other that they would be tasting a frozen savoury mousse. Although all consumed identical food, those eating what they thought was savoury mousse found the flavour acceptable while those eating what they thought was ice cream found the taste salty and generally disgusting. For Blumenthal, this confirmed his ideas. "If something as simple as a name could make a dish appear more or less salty ... what effect might other cues have on flavours and our appreciation of them?"


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Since that point, exploring the sensory potential of food – via both research and the creation of new dishes – has been an ongoing and characteristic strand of Heston's cooking. In 2004, working on a commission for the photographer Nick Knight, he created a Delice of Chocolate containing popping candy and took the imaginative step of arranging for diners to listen on headphones to the little explosions it made as they ate – the first time such a thing had been done. With Professor Charles Spence, head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University he has conducted several experiments into how our sense of sound can affect perception of flavour. In one experiment, test subjects consumed an oyster in two-halves: the first half was accompanied by maritime sounds, the second by farmyard sounds, and they were then asked to rate pleasantness and intensity of flavour. It was found that oysters eaten while listening to seaside sounds were considered significantly more pleasant. In another, similar experiment, test subjects tasted bacon-and-egg ice cream while listening to sounds of bacon sizzling, followed by tasting it while listening to the sound of chickens clucking. The sizzling bacon sound made the bacon flavour appear more intense.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In Blumenthal's view, experiments such as these show that our appreciation of food is subjective, determined by information sent by the senses to the brain: "the ways in which we make sense of what we are eating and decide whether we like it or not depend to a large extent on memory and contrast. Memory provides us with a range of references – flavours, tastes, smells, sights, sounds, emotions – that we draw on continually as we eat." His dishes, therefore, tend to be designed to appeal to the senses in concert, and through this to trigger memories, associations and emotions. Thus the Nitro-poached Green Tea and Lime Mousse on the Fat Duck menu is served with spritz of ‘lime grove’ scent from an atomiser; and the Jelly of Quail dish includes among its tableware a bed of oak moss, as well as being accompanied by a specially created scent of oak moss that is dispersed at the table by means of dry ice.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: The most complete expression to date of his multisensory philosophy, however, is probably the dish ‘Sound of the Sea’, which first appeared on the Fat Duck menu in 2007. In this, ingredients with a distinctly oceanic character and flavour – dried kelp, hijiki seaweed, baby eels, razor clams, cockles, mussels, sea urchins – are fashioned into a course that has the appearance of the shore's edge, complete with sea ‘spume’ and edible sand. It is served on a glass-topped box containing real sand, and accompanied by headphones relaying the sounds of seagulls and the sea by means of a small iPod (placed in a conch shell) and earphones. The idea, according to Blumenthal, was one ‘of creating a world, of transporting the diner – through sound, through food, through an integrated appeal to the senses – to another place’.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal's most famous signature dishes include triple-cooked chips, snail porridge, bacon-and-egg ice cream and parsnip cereal, mock turtle soup (which combines a multi-sensory experience with historical references), Meat Fruit, and his Sweet Shop petit fours.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: He has pioneered the use of sound as part of the dining experience with his Sound of the Sea dish where diners listen to a recording of the seaside – crashing waves with occasional sounds of distant seagulls, children's laughter and the horn of a ship, while they eat a dish of king fish, konbu cured halibut, ballotine of mackerel with 5 different seaweeds, sea jelly beans and monks beard served on "sand" made from tapioca starch, toasted Japanese breadcrumbs, miso paste and dried seaweeds.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal is also known for his use of scented dry ice. Blumenthal and his restaurant "The Fat Duck" have been credited as instigators of the bacon dessert "craze". He was preparing sweet and savoury bacon-and-egg ice cream as early as 2004, and news "about the intriguingly odd confection quickly spread through the food world."


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal uses British history in his dishes. He became interested in historical cooking in the late 1990s upon obtaining a copy of "The Vivendier", a translation of a fifteenth-century cookery manuscript that contained unusual recipes, such as a chicken that appears roasted but wakes up as it is served. He said "I'd had little idea the cooking of the past could be so playful, audacious and creative."


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Following this, he attended an Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery where he met the food historians Richard Fitch, who works for Historic Royal Palaces and Marc Meltonville. Later he met a third food historian, Ivan Day and, in consultation with these three, began developing dishes inspired by recipes in historical British cookbooks. The first completed dish based on a historic recipe was Quaking Pudding, which is now on the menu at the Hinds Head. This was followed by Beef Royal and Chocolate Wine, which featured on the Fat Duck menu. The opening of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal presented him with far greater scope for historical cooking, and its menu is composed solely of dishes inspired by the recipes of the past. His 2013 book "Historic Heston" is a collection of historical recipes that have appeared on the menus of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, the Fat Duck and the Hinds Head.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In 2009, for a private party held during Ascot week, Blumenthal was invited to cook a meal for the Queen at Windsor Castle. The menu included baked salmon, strawberry gateau and a starter, composed to look like a bowl of fruit, that consisted of offal and sweetbreads. He was selected to provide the picnic meal for participants in Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and was a guest in the Royal Box at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert in June 2012.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In 2004, Blumenthal won the Chef Award at The Catey Awards, joining the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Phil Howard and Raymond Blanc.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: In January 2006, Blumenthal was appointed an OBE in the New Years Honours List for his services to British Gastronomy.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: He has been awarded honorary degrees for his scientific approach to cooking. In July 2006, Blumenthal was presented with an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Reading University in recognition of his unique scientific approach to food and long-standing relationship with the University's School of Food Biosciences. Also in July 2006, Blumenthal was the first chef to be awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Blumenthal received an honorary Master of Science from Bristol University in 2007. In December 2013, Blumenthal was presented with an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of London, recognising his pioneering research and achievements in his field.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Heston's restaurants The Fat Duck and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal have received many awards, including "Best Restaurant in the World".


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: Blumenthal married his first wife Zanna in 1989, and had three children with her. From 2011 until 2015 he was in a relationship with Suzanne Pirret. Blumenthal married Stephanie Gouveia in the Maldives in May 2018.


title: Heston Blumenthal

text: As well as writing books, Blumenthal has written columns for "The Guardian", T2, "The Times" and "GQ". Along with scientists on the faculty of Reading University, he has co-written an academic paper on the taste and flavour of tomatoes called "Differences in Glutamic Acid and 5'-Ribonucleotide Contents between Flesh and Pulp of Tomatoes and the Relationship with Umami Taste".


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Ibrahim (; ; ; 5 November 1615 – 18 August 1648) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648. He was born in Constantinople, the son of Sultan Ahmed I by Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Anastasia.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: He was called Ibrahim the Mad () due to his mental condition and behavior. However, historian Scott Rank notes that his opponents spread rumors of the sultan's insanity, and some historians suggest he was more incompetent than mad.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Ibrahim was born on 5 November 1615, the son of Sultan Ahmed I and his Haseki Sultan and perphaps legal wife, Kösem Sultan. When Ibrahim was 2, his father suddenly died, and Ibrahim's uncle Mustafa I became the new sultan. By that time, Kosem Sultan and her children, including young Ibrahim had been sent to the Old Palace. After the succession of his brother Murad IV, Ibrahim was confined in the Kafes, which affected his health. Ibrahim's other brothers Şehzade Bayezid, Şehzade Suleiman and Şehzade Kasım had been executed by the order of Sultan Murad IV, and because of that Ibrahim feared that he was next in the line. However, after his brother's death, Ibrahim became the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: One of the most notorious Ottoman Sultans, Ibrahim spent all of his early life in the close confinement of the Kafes before succeeding his brother Murad IV (1623–40) in 1640. Two of their brothers had been executed by Murad, and Ibrahim lived in terror of being the next to die. His life was saved only by the intercession of Kösem Sultan, mother of Ibrahim and Murad.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: After Murad's death, Ibrahim was left the sole surviving prince of the dynasty. Upon being asked by Grand Vizier Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha to assume the Sultanate, Ibrahim suspected Murad was still alive and plotting to trap him. It took the combined persuasion of Kösem and the Grand Vizier, and personal examination of his brother's dead body, to make Ibrahim accept the throne.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: During the early years of Ibrahim's reign, he retreated from politics and turned increasingly to his harem for comfort and pleasure. During his sultanate, the harem achieved new levels of luxury in perfumes, textiles and jewellery. His love of women and furs led him to have a room entirely lined with lynx and sable. Because of his infatuation with furs, the French dubbed him ""Le Fou de Fourrures."" Kösem Sultan kept her son in check by supplying him with virgins she personally purchased from the slave market, as well as overweight women, for whom he craved.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Kara Mustafa Pasha remained as Grand Vizier during the first four years of Ibrahim's reign, keeping the Empire stable. With the treaty of Szön (15 March 1642) he renewed peace with Austria and during the same year recovered Azov from the Cossacks. Kara Mustafa also stabilized the currency with coinage reform, sought to stabilize the economy with a new land-survey, reduced the number of Janissaries, removed non-contributing members from the state payrolls, and curbed the power of disobedient provincial governors. During these years, Ibrahim showed concern with properly ruling the empire, as shown in his handwritten communications with the Grand Vizier. Kara Mustafa in turn wrote a memo on public affairs to coach his inexperienced master. Ibrahim's replies to Kara Mustafa's reports show he had actually received a good education. Ibrahim often traveled in disguise, inspecting the markets of Istanbul and ordering the Grand Vizier to correct any problems he observed.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Ibrahim was often distracted by recurring headaches and attacks of physical weakness, perhaps caused by the trauma of his early years. Since he was the only surviving male member of the Ottoman dynasty, Ibrahim was encouraged by his mother Kösem Sultan to distract himself with harem girls and soon fathered three future sultans: Mehmed IV, Suleiman II and Ahmed II. The distractions of the harem allowed Kösem Sultan to gain power and rule in his name, yet even she fell victim to the Sultan's disfavor and left the Imperial Palace.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Ibrahim came under the influence of various unsuitable people, such as mistress of the imperial harem Şekerpare Hatun and the charlatan Cinci Hoca, who pretended to cure the Sultan's physical ailments. The latter, along with his allies Silahdar Yusuf Agha and Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha, enriched themselves with bribes and eventually usurped enough power to secure the execution of Grand Vizier Ḳara Muṣṭafā. Cinci Hoca became Kadiasker (High Judge) of Anatolia, Yusuf Agha was made Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral) and Sultanzade Mehmed became Grand Vizier.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: In 1644, Maltese corsairs seized a ship carrying high-status pilgrims to Mecca. Since the pirates had docked in Crete, Kapudan Yusuf Pasha encouraged Ibrahim to invade the island. This began a long war with Venice that lasted 24 years—Crete would not completely fall under Ottoman domination until 1669. In spite of the decline of "La Serenissima", Venetian ships won victories throughout the Aegean, capturing Tenedos (1646) and blockading the Dardanelles. Kapudan Yusuf enjoyed temporary success in conquering Canea, starting a jealous rivalry with Nevesinli Salih Pasha the recently-installed Grand Vizier. The rivalry led to Yusuf's execution (January 1646) and the Grand Vizier's deposition (December 1645).


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: With his cronies in power, Ibrahim's extravagant tendencies went unchecked. He raised eight concubines to the favored position of haseki (royal consort), granting each riches and land. After legally marrying the concubine Telli Haseki, he ordered the palace of Ibrahim Pasha to be carpeted in sable furs and given to her.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Mass discontent was caused by the Venetian blockade of the Dardanelles—which created scarcities in the capital—and the imposition of heavy taxes during a war economy to pay for Ibrahim's whims. In 1647 the Grand Vizier Salih Pasha, Kösem Sultan, and the şeyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi unsuccessfully plotted to depose the sultan and replace him with one of his sons. Salih Pasha was executed, and Kösem Sultan was exiled from the harem.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: The next year, the Janissaries and members of the ulema revolted. On 8 August 1648, corrupt Grand Vizier Aḥmed Pasha was strangled and torn to shreds by an angry mob, gaining the posthumous nickname "Hezarpare" ("thousand pieces"). On the same day, Ibrahim was seized and imprisoned in Topkapı Palace. Kösem gave consent to her son's fall, saying "In the end he will leave neither you nor me alive. We will lose control of the government. The whole society is in ruins. Have him removed from the throne immediately."


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Ibrahim's six-year-old son Meḥmed was made sultan. The new grand vizier, Ṣofu Meḥmed Pasha, petitioned the sheikh ul-Islam for a fatwā sanctioning Ibrahim's execution. It was granted, with the message "if there are two caliphs, kill one of them." Kösem also gave her consent. Two executioners were sent for; one being the chief executioner who had served under Ibrahim. As the executioners drew closer, it was reported that Ibrahim's last words were: "Is there no one among those who have eaten my bread who will take pity on me and protect me? These cruel men have come to kill me. Mercy! Mercy!" As his mother, Kösem Sultan, and officials watched from a palace window, Ibrahim was strangled on 18 August 1648. His death was the second regicide in the history of the Ottoman Empire.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: In addition to his eight Haseki Sultans (the first and only certain case of the coexistence of several Haseki at the same time and a symptom of the loss of prestige and exclusivity of the title which began under Murad IV) he had a large number of concubines, of which only some are known. However, only Şivekar Sultan and Hümaşah Sultan, who also became his legal wife, had any real political power or influence over the sultan. Ibrahim was particularly famous for his brief but intense love obsessions, often with women who were not part of his harem and that he had his agents commandeer around the city.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Other anecdotes related to his harem are Ibrahim's supposed passion for obese women, which would have led Şivekar, called "the fattest woman at Constantinople", to become his favorite, and the story that he drowned 280 concubines in his harem because of a rumor that one of them had had a forbidden relationship with a man, an anecdote however rejected by several historians as invented or exaggerated.


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: Ibrahim I had eight Haseki Sultan, the last of whom was also his legal wife, plus a number of know and unknown minor concubines:


title: Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

text: All of Ibrahim's Hasekis received 1,000 aspers a day except for Saliha Dilaşub Sultan who received 1,300 aspers a day. Ibrahim gifted the incomes of Bolu, Hamid, Nicopolis Sanjaks, and Syria Eyalet to Saliha Dilaşub, Mahienver, Saçbağlı, and Şivekar Sultans respectively. He also lavished the treasury of Egypt upon Saçbağlı and Hümaşah Sultans, and presented the Ibrahim Pasha Palace to Hümaşah. His know consorts were: