title: Educational technology

text: Although massive open online courses (MOOCs) may have limitations that preclude them from fully replacing college education, such programs have significantly expanded. MIT, Stanford and Princeton University offer classes to a global audience, but not for college credit. University-level programs, like edX founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, offer a wide range of disciplines at no charge, while others permit students to audit a course at no charge but require a small fee for accreditation. MOOCs have not had a significant impact on higher education and declined after the initial expansion, but are expected to remain in some form. Lately, MOOCs are used by smaller universities to profile themselves with highly specialized courses for special-interest audiences, as for example in a course on technological privacy compliance.


title: Educational technology

text: MOOCs have been observed to lose the majority of their initial course participants. In a study performed by Cornell and Stanford universities, student-drop-out rates from MOOCs have been attributed to student anonymity, the solitude of the learning experience, and to the lack of interaction with peers and with teachers. Effective student engagement measures that reduce drop-outs are forum interactions and virtual teacher or teaching assistant presence - measures which induce staff cost that grows with the number of participating students.


title: Educational technology

text: E-learning is being used by companies to deliver mandatory compliance training and updates for regulatory compliance, soft skills and IT skills training, continuing professional development (CPD), and other valuable workplace skills. Companies with spread out distribution chains use e-learning for delivering information about the latest product developments. Most corporate e-learning is asynchronous and delivered and managed via learning management systems. The big challenge in corporate e-learning is to engage the staff, especially on compliance topics for which periodic staff training is mandated by the law or regulations.


title: Educational technology

text: There is an important need for recent, reliable, and high-quality health information to be made available to the public as well as in summarized form for public health providers. Providers have indicated the need for automatic notification of the latest research, a single searchable portal of information, and access to grey literature. The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library is funded by the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau to screen the latest research and develop automatic notifications to providers through the MCH Alert. Another application in public health is the development of mHealth (use of mobile telecommunication and multimedia in global public health). MHealth has been used to promote prenatal and newborn services, with positive outcomes. In addition, "Health systems have implemented mHealth programs to facilitate emergency medical responses, point-of-care support, health promotion, and data collection." In low and middle-income countries, mHealth is most frequently used as one-way text messages or phone reminders to promote treatment adherence and gather data.


title: Educational technology

text: Effective technology use deploys multiple evidence-based strategies concurrently (e.g. adaptive content, frequent testing, immediate feedback, etc.), as do effective teachers. Using computers or other forms of technology can give students practice on core content and skills while the teacher can work with others, conduct assessments, or perform other tasks. Through the use of educational technology, education is able to be individualized for each student allowing for better differentiation and allowing students to work for mastery at their own pace.


title: Educational technology

text: Modern educational technology can improve access to education, including full degree programs. It enables better integration for non-full-time students, particularly in continuing education, and improved interactions between students and instructors. Learning material can be used for long-distance learning and are accessible to a wider audience. Course materials are easy to access. In 2010, 70.3% of American family households had access to the internet. In 2013, according to Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission Canada, 79% of homes have access to the internet. Students can access and engage with numerous online resources at home. Using online resources can help students spend more time on specific aspects of what they may be learning in school but at home. Schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have made certain course materials free online. Although some aspects of a classroom setting are missed by using these resources, they are helpful tools to add additional support to the educational system. The necessity to pay for transport to the educational facility is removed.


title: Educational technology

text: Students appreciate the convenience of e-learning, but report greater engagement in face-to-face learning environments. Colleges and universities are working towards combating this issue by utilizing WEB 2.0 technologies as well as incorporating more mentorships between students and faculty members.


title: Educational technology

text: According to James Kulik, who studies the effectiveness of computers used for instruction, students usually learn more in less time when receiving computer-based instruction, and they like classes more and develop more positive attitudes toward computers in computer-based classes. Students can independently solve problems. There are no intrinsic age-based restrictions on difficulty level, i.e. students can go at their own pace. Students editing their written work on word processors improve the quality of their writing. According to some studies, the students are better at critiquing and editing written work that is exchanged over a computer network with students they know. Studies completed in "computer intensive" settings found increases in student-centric, cooperative, and higher-order learning, writing skills, problem-solving, and using technology. In addition, attitudes toward technology as a learning tool by parents, students, and teachers are also improved.


title: Educational technology

text: Employers' acceptance of online education has risen over time. More than 50% of human resource managers SHRM surveyed for an August 2010 report said that if two candidates with the same level of experience were applying for a job, it would not have any kind of effect whether the candidate's obtained degree was acquired through an online or a traditional school. Seventy-nine percent said they had employed a candidate with an online degree in the past 12 months. However, 66% said candidates who get degrees online were not seen as positively as job applicants with traditional degrees.


title: Educational technology

text: The use of educational apps generally has a positive effect on learning. Pre- and post-tests have revealed that the use of educational apps on mobile devices reduces the achievement gap between struggling and average students. Some educational apps improve group work by allowing students to receive feedback on answers and promoting collaboration in solving problems. The benefits of app-assisted learning have been exhibited in all age groups. Kindergarten students that use iPads show much higher rates of literacy than non-users. Medical students at the University of California Irvine that utilized iPad academically have been reported to score 23% higher on national exams than in previous classes that did not.


title: Educational technology

text: Globally, factors like change management, technology obsolescence, and vendor-developer partnership are major restraints that are hindering the growth of the Educational technology market.


title: Educational technology

text: In the US, state and federal government increased funding, as well as private venture capital, has been flowing into the education sector. However, , none were looking at technology return on investment (ROI) to connect expenditures on technology with improved student outcomes.


title: Educational technology

text: New technologies are frequently accompanied by unrealistic hype and promise regarding their transformative power to change education for the better or in allowing better educational opportunities to reach the masses. Examples include silent film, broadcast radio, and television, none of which have maintained much of a foothold in the daily practices of mainstream, formal education. Technology, in and of itself, does not necessarily result in fundamental improvements to educational practice. The focus needs to be on the learner's interaction with technology—not the technology itself. It needs to be recognized as "ecological" rather than "additive" or "subtractive". In this ecological change, one significant change will create total change.


title: Educational technology

text: According to Branford et al., "technology does not guarantee effective learning", and inappropriate use of technology can even hinder it. A University of Washington study of infant vocabulary shows that it is slipping due to educational baby DVDs. Published in the "Journal of Pediatrics", a 2007 University of Washington study on the vocabulary of babies surveyed over 1,000 parents in Washington and Minnesota. The study found that for every hour that babies 8–16 months of age watched DVDs and Videos, they knew 6-8 fewer of 90 common baby words than the babies that did not watch them. Andrew Meltzoff, a surveyor in this study, states that the result makes sense, that if the baby's "alert time" is spent in front of DVDs and TV, instead of with people speaking, the babies are not going to get the same linguistic experience. Dr. Dimitri Chistakis, another surveyor reported that the evidence is mounting that baby DVDs are of no value and may be harmful.


title: Educational technology

text: Adaptive instructional materials tailor questions to each student's ability and calculate their scores, but this encourages students to work individually rather than socially or collaboratively (Kruse, 2013). Social relationships are important, but high-tech environments may compromise the balance of trust, care, and respect between teacher and student.


title: Educational technology

text: Massively open online courses (MOOCs), although quite popular in discussions of technology and education in developed countries (more so in the US), are not a major concern in most developing or low-income countries. One of the stated goals of MOOCs is to provide less fortunate populations (i.e., in developing countries) an opportunity to experience courses with US-style content and structure. However, research shows only 3% of the registrants are from low-income countries, and although many courses have thousands of registered students only 5-10% of them complete the course. This can be attributed to lack of staff support, course difficulty, and low levels of engagement with peers. MOOCs also implies that certain curriculum and teaching methods are superior, and this could eventually wash over (or possibly washing out) local educational institutions, cultural norms, and educational traditions.


title: Educational technology

text: With the Internet and social media, using educational apps makes students highly susceptible to distraction and sidetracking. Even though proper use has been shown to increase student performance, being distracted would be detrimental. Another disadvantage is an increased potential for cheating. One method is done by creating multiple accounts to survey questions and gather information which can be assimilated so that the master account is able to fill in the correct answers. Smartphones can be very easy to hide and use inconspicuously, especially if their use is normalized in the classroom. These disadvantages can be managed with strict rules and regulations on mobile phone use.


title: Educational technology

text: A disadvantage of e-learning is that it can cause depression, according to a study made during the 2021 COVID-19 quarantines.


title: Educational technology

text: Electronic devices such as cell phones and computers facilitate rapid access to a stream of sources, each of which may receive cursory attention. Michel Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the center on Media and Child Health in Boston, said of the digital generation, "Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task, but for jumping to the next thing. The worry is we're raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently." Students have always faced distractions; computers and cell phones are a particular challenge because the stream of data can interfere with focusing and learning. Although these technologies affect adults too, young people may be more influenced by it as their developing brains can easily become habituated to switching tasks and become unaccustomed to sustaining attention. Too much information, coming too rapidly, can overwhelm thinking.


title: Educational technology

text: Technology is "rapidly and profoundly altering our brains." High exposure levels stimulate brain cell alteration and release neurotransmitters, which causes the strengthening of some neural pathways and the weakening of others. This leads to heightened stress levels on the brain that, at first, boost energy levels, but, over time, actually augment memory, impair cognition, lead to depression, and alter the neural circuitry of the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex. These are the brain regions that control mood and thought. If unchecked, the underlying structure of the brain could be altered. Overstimulation due to technology may begin too young. When children are exposed before the age of seven, important developmental tasks may be delayed, and bad learning habits might develop, which "deprives children of the exploration and play that they need to develop." Media psychology is an emerging specialty field that embraces electronic devices and the sensory behaviors occurring from the use of educational technology in learning.


title: Educational technology

text: According to Lai, "the learning environment is a complex system where the interplay and interactions of many things impact the outcome of learning." When technology is brought into an educational setting, the pedagogical setting changes in that technology-driven teaching can change the entire meaning of an activity without adequate research validation. If technology monopolizes an activity, students can begin to develop the sense that "life would scarcely be thinkable without technology."


title: Educational technology

text: Leo Marx considered the word "technology" itself as problematic, susceptible to reification and "phantom objectivity", which conceals its fundamental nature as something that is only valuable insofar as it benefits the human condition. Technology ultimately comes down to affecting the relations between people, but this notion is obfuscated when technology is treated as an abstract notion devoid of good and evil. Langdon Winner makes a similar point by arguing that the underdevelopment of the philosophy of technology leaves us with an overly simplistic reduction in our discourse to the supposedly dichotomous notions of the "making" versus the "uses" of new technologies and that a narrow focus on "use" leads us to believe that all technologies are neutral in moral standing. These critiques would have us ask not, "How do we maximize the role or advancement of technology in education?", but, rather, "What are the social and human consequences of adopting any particular technology?"


title: Educational technology

text: Winner viewed technology as a "form of life" that not only aids human activity, but that also represents a powerful force in reshaping that activity and its meaning. For example, the use of robots in the industrial workplace may increase productivity, but they also radically change the process of production itself, thereby redefining what is meant by "work" in such a setting. In education, standardized testing has arguably redefined the notions of learning and assessment. We rarely explicitly reflect on how strange a notion it is that a number between, say, 0 and 100 could accurately reflect a person's knowledge about the world. According to Winner, the recurring patterns in everyday life tend to become an unconscious process that we learn to take for granted. Winner writes,


title: Educational technology

text: By far, the greatest latitude of choice exists the very first time a particular instrument, system, or technique is introduced. Because choices tend to become strongly fixed in material equipment, economic investment, and social habit, the original flexibility vanishes for all practical purposes once the initial commitments are made. In that sense, technological innovations are similar to legislative acts or political findings that establish a framework for public order that will endure over many generations. (p. 29)


title: Educational technology

text: When adopting new technologies, there may be one best chance to "get it right". Seymour Papert (p. 32) points out a good example of a (bad) choice that has become strongly fixed in social habit and material equipment: our "choice" to use the QWERTY keyboard. The QWERTY arrangement of letters on the keyboard was originally chosen, not because it was the most efficient for typing, but because early typewriters were prone to jam when adjacent keys were struck in quick succession. Now that typing has become a digital process, this is no longer an issue, but the QWERTY arrangement lives on as a social habit, one that is very difficult to change.


title: Educational technology

text: Neil Postman endorsed the notion that technology impacts human cultures, including the culture of classrooms, and that this is a consideration even more important than considering the efficiency of new technology as a tool for teaching. Regarding the computer's impact on education, Postman writes (p. 19):


title: Educational technology

text: What we need to consider about the computer has nothing to do with its efficiency as a teaching tool. We need to know in what ways it is altering our conception of learning, and how in conjunction with television, it undermines the old idea of school.There is an assumption that technology is inherently interesting so it must be helpful in education; based on research by Daniel Willingham, that is not always the case. He argues that it does not necessarily matter what the technological medium is, but whether or not the content is engaging and utilizes the medium in a beneficial way.


title: Educational technology

text: The concept of the digital divide is a gap between those who have access to digital technologies and those who do not. Access may be associated with age, gender, socio-economic status, education, income, ethnicity, and geography.


title: Educational technology

text: According to a report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, large amounts of personal data on children are collected by electronic devices that are distributed in schools in the United States. Often, far more information than necessary is collected, uploaded, and stored indefinitely. Aside from name and date of birth, this information can include the child's browsing history, search terms, location data, contact lists, as well as behavioral information. Parents are not informed or, if informed, have little choice. According to the report, this constant surveillance resulting from educational technology can "warp children's privacy expectations, lead them to self-censor, and limit their creativity". In a 2018 public service announcement, the FBI warned that widespread collection of student information by educational technologies, including web browsing history, academic progress, medical information, and biometrics, created the potential for privacy and safety threats if such data was compromised or exploited.


title: Educational technology

text: The transition from in-person learning to distance education in higher education due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to enhanced extraction of student data enabled by complex data infrastructures. These infrastructures collect information such as learning management system logins, library metrics, impact measurements, teacher evaluation frameworks, assessment systems, learning analytic traces, longitudinal graduate outcomes, attendance records, social media activity, and so on. The copious amounts of information collected are quantified for the marketization of higher education, employing this data as a means to demonstrate and compare student performance across institutions to attract prospective students, mirroring the capitalistic notion of ensuring efficient market functioning and constant improvement through measurement. This desire of data has fueled the exploitation of higher education by platform companies and data service providers who are outsourced by institutions for their services. The monetization of student data in order to integrate corporate models of marketization further pushes higher education, widely regarded as a public good, into a privatized commercial sector.


title: Educational technology

text: Since technology is not the end goal of education, but rather a means by which it can be accomplished, educators must have a good grasp of the technology and its advantages and disadvantages. Teacher training aims for the effective integration of classroom technology.


title: Educational technology

text: The evolving nature of technology may unsettle teachers, who may experience themselves as perpetual novices. Finding quality materials to support classroom objectives is often difficult. Random professional development days are inadequate.


title: Educational technology

text: According to Jenkins, "Rather than dealing with each technology in isolation, we would do better to take an ecological approach, thinking about the interrelationship among different communication technologies, the cultural communities that grow up around them, and the activities they support." Jenkins also suggested that the traditional school curriculum guided teachers to train students to be autonomous problem solvers. However, today's workers are increasingly asked to work in teams, drawing on different sets of expertise, and collaborating to solve problems. Learning styles and the methods of collecting information have evolved, and "students often feel locked out of the worlds described in their textbooks through the depersonalized and abstract prose used to describe them". These twenty-first-century skills can be attained through the incorporation and engagement with technology. Changes in instruction and use of technology can also promote a higher level of learning among students with different types of intelligence.


title: Educational technology

text: There are two distinct issues of assessment: the assessment "of" educational technology and assessment "with" technology.


title: Educational technology

text: Educational assessment "with" technology may be either formative assessment or summative assessment. Instructors use both types of assessments to understand student progress and learning in the classroom. Technology has helped teachers create better assessments to help understand where students who are having trouble with the material are having issues.


title: Educational technology

text: Formative assessment is more difficult, as the perfect form is ongoing and allows the students to show their learning in different ways depending on their learning styles. Technology has helped some teachers make their formative assessments better, particularly through the use of classroom response systems (CRS). A CRS is a tool in which the students each have a handheld device that partners up with the teacher's computer. The instructor then asks multiple choice or true or false questions and the students answer on their devices. Depending on the software used, the answers may then be shown on a graph so students and the teacher can see the percentage of students who gave each answer and the teacher can focus on what went wrong.


title: Educational technology

text: Summative assessments are more common in classrooms and are usually set up to be more easily graded, as they take the form of tests or projects with specific grading schemes. One huge benefit of tech-based testing is the option to give students immediate feedback on their answers. When students get these responses, they are able to know how they are doing in the class which can help push them to improve or give them confidence that they are doing well. Technology also allows for different kinds of summative assessment, such as digital presentations, videos, or anything else the teacher/students may come up with, which allows different learners to show what they learned more effectively. Teachers can also use technology to post graded assessments online so students to have a better idea of what a good project is.


title: Educational technology

text: Electronic assessment uses information technology. It encompasses several potential applications, which may be teacher or student-oriented, including educational assessment throughout the continuum of learning, such as computerized classification testing, computerized adaptive testing, student testing, and grading an exam. E-Marking is an examiner-led activity closely related to other e-assessment activities such as e-testing, or e-learning which are student-led. E-marking allows markers to mark a scanned script or online response on a computer screen rather than on paper.


title: Educational technology

text: There are no restrictions on the types of tests that can use e-marking, with e-marking applications designed to accommodate multiple choice, written, and even video submissions for performance examinations. E-marking software is used by individual educational institutions and can also be rolled out to the participating schools of awarding exam organizations. E-marking has been used to mark many well-known high stakes examinations, which in the United Kingdom include A levels and GCSE exams, and in the US includes the SAT test for college admissions. Ofqual reports that e-marking is the main type of marking used for general qualifications in the United Kingdom.


title: Educational technology

text: In 2014, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) announced that most of the National 5 question papers would be e-marked.


title: Educational technology

text: In June 2015, the Odisha state government in India announced that it planned to use e-marking for all Plus II papers from 2016.


title: Educational technology

text: The importance of self-assessment through tools made available on educational technology platforms has been growing. Self-assessment in education technology relies on students analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and areas where improvement is possible to set realistic goals in learning, improve their educational performances and track their progress. One of the unique tools for self-assessment made possible by education technology is Analytics. Analytics is data gathered on the student's activities on the learning platform, drawn into meaningful patterns that lead to a valid conclusion, usually through the medium of data visualization such as graphs. Learning analytics is the field that focuses on analyzing and reporting data about students' activities in order to facilitate learning.


title: Educational technology

text: The five key sectors of the e-learning industry are consulting, content, technologies, services, and support. Worldwide, e-learning was estimated in 2000 to be over $48 billion according to conservative estimates. Commercial growth has been brisk. In 2014, the worldwide commercial market activity was estimated at $6 billion venture capital over the past five years, with self-paced learning generating $35.6 billion in 2011. North American e-learning generated $23.3 billion in revenue in 2013, with a 9% growth rate in cloud-based authoring tools and learning platforms.


title: Educational technology

text: Educational technologists and psychologists apply basic educational and psychological research into an evidence-based applied science (or a technology) of learning or instruction. In research, these professions typically require a graduate degree (Master's, Doctorate, PhD, or D.Phil.) in a field related to educational psychology, educational media, experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, or, more purely, in the fields of educational, instructional or human performance technology or instructional design. In industry, educational technology is utilized to train students and employees by a wide range of learning and communication practitioners, including instructional designers, technical trainers, technical communication, and professional communication specialists, technical writers, and of course primary school and college teachers of all levels. The transformation of educational technology from a cottage industry to a profession is discussed by Shurville et al.


title: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

text: The third season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" began airing on January 24, 2011. Thirteen drag queens competed for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar", a headlining spot on the Absolut Tour, a lifetime supply of Kryolan makeup, and a cash prize of $75,000.


title: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

text: This season had Michelle Visage replacing Merle Ginsberg at the judge's table and Billy Brasfield (better known as Billy B), Mike Ruiz, and Jeffrey Moran filling in for Santino Rice's absence during several episodes. Billy B, celebrity makeup artist and star of the HGTV mini-series "Hometown Renovation", appeared as a judge in five episodes. Whereas Mike Ruiz only judged for two episodes, and Jeffrey Moran for one, Moran only appeared for promotional reasons. Due to Billy B's continued appearances, he and Rice are now considered to have been alternate judges for the same seat at the judges table, both appearing side-by-side in the reunion special to announce Yara Sofia as the season's Miss Congeniality.


title: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

text: Other changes made included the introduction of a wildcard contestant from the past season, Shangela; an episode with no elimination; and a contestant, Carmen Carrera, being brought back into the competition after having been eliminated a few episodes prior. A new pit crew was also introduced consisting of Jason Carter and Shawn Morales.


title: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

text: The theme song playing during the runway every episode was changed to "Champion" while the song playing during the credits is "Main Event", both from RuPaul's album "Champion". As with the previous season, each week's episode was followed by a behind-the-scenes show, "RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked". On December 6, 2011 Amazon.com released this season on DVD via their CreateSpace program.


title: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

text: The winner of the third season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" was Raja, with Manila Luzon being the runner-up.


title: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

text: Based upon point/share system for Nielsen ratings. The first number represents the percentage of households within the population viewing the program (known as points). The second number (known as shares) is how many households were expected to view the program, within the population. For example, Episode 8 has a point/share of "0.3/1". This means .3% of households viewed the program from the expected 1%, showing .7% of the show's audience were watching a different program.


title: RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3)

text: Half way through the seasons airing, blogger Perez Hilton revealed Raja as the winner to the public, causing an uproar from fans. It also led to the show's crowning format being changed, with the finale taped with three different outcomes declaring each finalist as "the winner", with only RuPaul knowing who really wins and the true outcome being announced on the day of the final in attempt to conceal the winner's identity and prevent any spoilers from taking place. This took place from the following season-onwards.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh, and injuring nearly 180 more. It was the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history, and it prompted Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from motor racing until 1989.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The crash started when Jaguar driver Mike Hawthorn pulled to the right side of the track in front of Austin-Healey driver Lance Macklin and started braking for his pit stop. Macklin swerved out from behind the slowing Jaguar into the path of Levegh, who was passing on the left in his much faster Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Levegh rear-ended Macklin at high speed, overriding Macklin's car and launching his own car through the air. Levegh's car skipped over a protective earthen berm at 200 km/h (125 mph) and made at least two impacts within the spectator area, the last of which caused the car to disintegrate, throwing him onto the track where he was instantly killed. Large pieces of debris, including the Mercedes' engine block, radiator, front suspension, and bonnet (hood), were sent flying into the packed spectator area in front of the grandstand. The rear of Levegh's car landed on the berm and exploded into flames.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: There was much debate over blame for the disaster. The official inquiry held none of the drivers specifically responsible and criticised the layout of the 30-year-old track, which had not been designed for cars as fast as those involved in the crash.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: There was great anticipation for the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, as Ferrari, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz had all won the race previously and all three automakers had arrived with new and improved cars. The Ferraris, current champions at the time, were very fast but fragile and prone to mechanical failure. Jaguar concentrated their racing almost exclusively on Le Mans and had a very experienced driver line-up, including Formula 1 (F1) Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: After conquering F1, Mercedes-Benz had debuted its new 300 SLR in that year's World Sportscar Championship, including a record-setting win at the Mille Miglia for Stirling Moss. The 300 SLR featured a body made of an ultra-lightweight magnesium alloy called Elektron. The car lacked the more effective state-of-the-art disc brakes featured on the rival Jaguar D-Type, instead incorporating inboard drum brakes and a large air brake behind the driver that could be raised to increase drag and slow the car.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Mercedes team manager Alfred Neubauer assembled a multinational team for the race: pairing his two best drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss in the lead car, 1952 race-winner Karl Kling with Frenchman André Simon (both also in the current F1 team) and American John Fitch with one of the elder statesmen of French motor-racing, Pierre Levegh. It had been Levegh's unprecedented solo drive in the 1952 race that failed in the last hour, which allowed Mercedes-Benz their first Le Mans victory.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Aside from two layout changes to make the circuit shorter, the Circuit de la Sarthe was largely unaltered since the inception of the race in 1923, when top speeds of cars were typically in the region of . By 1955, top speeds for the leading cars were over . That said, the circuit had been resurfaced and widened after the Second World War. The pits and grandstands had been reconstructed, but there were no barriers between the pit lane and the racing line, and only a earthen bank between the track and the spectators. The cars had no seat belts; the drivers reasoned that it was preferable to be thrown clear in a collision rather than be crushed or trapped in a burning car.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The 1955 race began at 4pm on Saturday, and, as predicted, the lead cars of Eugenio Castellotti (Ferrari), Hawthorn (Jaguar), and Fangio (Mercedes-Benz) were at the head of the field in the first hour. The other team cars were being kept on tighter leashes to conserve the cars, but still racing in the top ten. Going into the second hour, Castellotti started dropping back, but Hawthorn and Fangio continued the duel, swapping the lead and dropping the lap record further and further, lapping most of the field.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The accident happened at 6:26 pm, at the end of lap 35, when the first pit stops for the leading cars were starting.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: On lap 35, Hawthorn and Fangio were racing as hard as ever. In his biography, Hawthorn said he was "momentarily mesmerized by the legend of the Mercedes superiority... Then I came to my senses and thought ‘Damn it, why should a German car beat a British car.'" The lap before, Hawthorn's pit crew had signalled for him to come in the next lap. He had just lapped Levegh (running sixth) after Arnage (one of the corners of the race track) and was determined to keep Fangio at bay as long as possible. Coming out of the Maison Blanche portion of the course, he rapidly caught Lance Macklin in his Austin Healey 100S, who had seen him and moved over to the right to let him pass. Putting another lap on Macklin coming up to the main straight, Hawthorn then raised his hand to indicate he was pitting and pulled across to the right (from Hawthorn's testimony). What caught Macklin out though was that Hawthorn, using the Jaguar's advanced disc brakes, braked hard enough to slow his Jaguar from such a speed in time.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: There were two key factors regarding the track layout at that time – first, there was no designated deceleration lane for cars coming into the pits, and second, that just before the main straight, there was a very slight right-hand kink in the road just after which Hawthorn started braking.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Macklin, who also braked hard, ran off the right-hand edge of the track, throwing up dust. Noticing that Hawthorn was slowing down, Macklin swerved left to avoid Hawthorn, whether it was an instinctive reaction, a loss of control from going onto the change of road-surface, or his car's disc brakes operating unevenly. As a result, Macklin's car veered across to the centre of the track, apparently briefly out of control. This put him into the path of Levegh's Mercedes, closing in at over , intent on doing another lap and in front of Fangio, who was patiently waiting to pass. Levegh had no time to evade, and with possibly his last action, raised his hand, warning Fangio, thereby probably saving Fangio's life. With his eyes shut, Fangio — with his own quick reflexes — squeezed through the carnage and brushed Hawthorn's then-stationary Jaguar in the pits, allowing him to pass unscathed.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Levegh's front-right wheel rode up onto the rear-left corner of Macklin's car, which acted as a ramp and launched Levegh's car into the air, flying over spectators and rolling end over end for . Levegh was thrown out of his tumbling car and hit the ground, crushing his skull upon impact and killing him instantly.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The critical kink in the road put the car on a direct trajectory toward the packed terraces and grandstand. The car landed on the earthen embankment between the spectators and the track, bounced, then slammed into a concrete stairwell structure and disintegrated. The momentum of the heaviest components of the car – the engine block, radiator, and front suspension – hurtled straight on into the crowd for almost , crushing all in their path. The bonnet lid scythed through the air, "decapitating tightly jammed spectators like a guillotine." Spectators who had climbed onto ladders and scaffolding to get a better view of the track, and those crowding to use the underpass to get to the pits, found themselves in the path of the lethal debris.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Jaguar driver Duncan Hamilton, watching from the pit wall, recalled, "The scene on the other side of the road was indescribable. The dead and dying were everywhere; the cries of pain, anguish, and despair screamed catastrophe. I stood as if in a dream, too horrified to even think."


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: When the rest of Levegh's car landed on the embankment, the rear-mounted fuel tank exploded. The fuel fire raised the temperature of the remaining Elektron bodywork past its ignition temperature, which was lower than that of other metal alloys due to its high magnesium content. The alloy burst into white-hot flames, showering the track and crowd with magnesium embers, made worse by rescue workers unfamiliar with magnesium fires who poured water onto the inferno, greatly intensifying the fire. As a result, the car burned for several hours.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Meanwhile, Macklin's car, heavily damaged, rammed the left-side barrier, then veered to the right of the track into the pit lane, narrowly missing Kling's Mercedes-Benz, Roberto Mieres's Maserati, and Don Beauman's Jaguar, all of which were already in the pits refuelling before the accident. Macklin's car hit the unprotected pit-wall, just short of the Cunningham and Mercedes-Benz pits where Shell and Lockheed equipment were stationed, running down a policeman, a photographer and two officials (all seriously injured), then rebounded back across the track again to end up skating down the left-side fence for a second time. Macklin survived the incident without serious injury, jumping out of the wreck and over the bank.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Hawthorn had overshot his pits and stopped. Getting out, he was immediately ordered by his team to get back in and do another lap to get away from the total confusion and danger. When he pit stopped during the next lap, he staggered out of the car completely distraught, adamant that he had caused the catastrophe. Ivor Bueb and Norman Dewis, both Le Mans debutants, had to step into their respective cars for their first driver stints. Bueb in particular was very reluctant, but given Hawthorn's condition had no choice, as Dewis firmly pointed out to him.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: John Fitch, Levegh's American co-driver, had suited up and was ready to take over the car at the upcoming pit stop, and was standing with Levegh's wife Denise Bouillin. They saw the whole catastrophe unfold. Levegh's lifeless body, severely burned, lay in full view on the pavement until a "gendarme" hauled down a banner to cover it. Levegh's wife was inconsolable and Fitch stayed with her until she could be comforted. Half an hour after the crash Fitch realised that news was probably being broadcast on the radio, and he needed to telephone his family to reassure them that he was not the driver of the crashed car. When he got to the media centre to use a telephone, he got his first inkling of the sheer enormity of the disaster, overhearing a reporter filing that 48 deaths were already confirmed. When Fitch returned to his pit, he urged the Mercedes team to withdraw from the race, as continuing to compete would be a public relations disaster for Mercedes-Benz regardless of whether they won or lost. Team manager Alfred Neubauer had already reached the same conclusion, but did not have the authority to make such a decision.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Despite expectations for the race to be red-flagged and stopped entirely, race officials, led by race director Charles Faroux, kept the race running. In the days after the disaster, several explanations were offered by Faroux for this course of action. They included:


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: After an emergency meeting and vote of Mercedes-Benz company directors by telephone in Stuttgart, West Germany, Neubauer finally got the call approving his team's withdrawal just before midnight. Waiting until 1:45 am, when many spectators had left, he stepped onto the track and quietly called his cars into the pits, at the time running first and third. Their retirement was briefly announced over the public address system. The Mercedes trucks were packed up and gone by morning. Chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut had gone to the Jaguar pits to ask if the Jaguar team would respond in kind, out of respect for the crash victims. Jaguar team manager "Lofty" England declined.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Hawthorn and the Jaguar team kept racing. With the Mercedes team withdrawn and the Ferraris all out of commission, Jaguar's main competition had gone. Hawthorn and Bueb won the race by a margin of five laps from Aston Martin. The weather had closed in on Sunday morning and there was no victory celebration. However, a press photograph showed Hawthorn smiling on the podium drinking from the victor's bottle of champagne. The French magazine "L'Auto-Journal" published it with the sarcastic caption, ""À votre santé, Monsieur Hawthorn!"" (In English, "To your health ('Cheers'), Mr. Hawthorn!")


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Accounts put the death toll at 80 to 84 (spectators plus Levegh), either by flying debris or from the fire, with a further 120 to 178 injured. Other observers estimated the toll to be much higher. It has remained the most catastrophic crash in motorsport history. A special Mass was held in the morning in the Le Mans Cathedral for the first funerals of the victims.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The death toll led to an immediate temporary ban on motorsports in France, Spain, Switzerland, West Germany, and other nations, until racetracks could be brought to a higher safety standard. In the United States, the American Automobile Association (AAA) dissolved their Contest Board that had been the primary sanctioning body for motorsport in the US (including the Indianapolis 500) since 1904. It decided that auto racing detracted from its primary goals, and the United States Automobile Club was formed to take over the race sanctioning and officiating.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Most countries lifted their racing bans within a year after the disaster. France in particular, as the host of Le Mans, lifted their complete ban on 14 September 1955. On that date, the Ministry of the Interior released new regulations for racing events and codified the approval process that future racing events would need to follow. In contrast, Switzerland's ban, which also extended to the running of timed motorsports such as hillclimbs, was not quickly lifted. This forced Swiss racing promoters to organize circuit events in foreign countries including France, Italy, and West Germany. In 2003, the Federal Assembly of Switzerland started a lengthy discussion about whether this ban should be lifted. The discussion focused on traffic policy and environmental questions rather than on safety. On 10 June 2009, the "Ständerat" (upper house of the Swiss parliament) defeated a proposal to lift the ban for the second time. In 2015, the ban was relaxed for electric vehicles only, such as cars involved in Formula E electric racing.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The next round of the World Sportscar Championship at the Nürburgring was cancelled, as was the non-championship Carrera Panamericana. The rest of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season was completed, with the remaining two races at the British RAC Tourist Trophy and the Italian Targa Florio, although they were not run until September and October, several months after the catastrophe. Mercedes-Benz won both of these events, and was able to secure the constructors championship for the season. Having achieved that, Mercedes withdrew from motorsport. The horror of the crash caused some drivers present, including Americans Fitch (after completing the season with Mercedes), Phil Walters (who had been offered a drive with Ferrari for the rest of the season), and Sherwood Johnston, to retire from racing. Macklin also decided to retire after being involved in another fatal crash, during the 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy race at Dundrod Circuit. Fangio never raced at Le Mans again. At the Circuit de la Sarthe, the audience stands at the pits were demolished.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Much recrimination was directed at Hawthorn, saying that he had suddenly cut in front of Macklin and slammed on the brakes near the entrance to the pits, forcing Macklin to take desperate evasive action into the path of Levegh. This became the semi-official pronouncement of the Mercedes team and Macklin's story. The Jaguar team in turn questioned the fitness and competence of Macklin and Levegh as drivers. The initial media accounts were wildly inaccurate, as shown by subsequent analysis of photographic evidence conducted by "Road & Track" editor (and 1955 second-place finisher) Paul Frère in 1975. Additional details emerged when the stills reviewed by Frère were converted to video form.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The media also speculated on the violent fire that engulfed the wreck, which intensified when fire marshals poured their water-based extinguishers on the flames. They suggested that Mercedes-Benz had tampered with the official fuel-supply with an explosive additive, but the intensity of the fire was due instead to the magnesium-alloy construction of the chassis. Neubauer got the French authorities to test residual fuel left in the wreck's fuel injection and the result vindicated the company.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Opinions differed widely amongst the other drivers as to who was directly to blame for the crash, and such differences remain even today. Macklin claimed that Hawthorn's move to the pits was sudden, causing an emergency that led him to swerve into Levegh's path. Years later Fitch claimed, based on his own recollection and from what he heard from others, that Hawthorn had caused it. Dewis ventured the opinions that Macklin's move around Hawthorn was careless and that Levegh was not competent to meet the demands of driving at the speeds the 300SLR was capable of.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Both Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz issued official statements, mainly in self-defense against the accusations leveled against them and their drivers. Neubauer limited himself to suggesting improvements to the pit straight and making pit-stops safer.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Macklin, on reading Hawthorn's 1958 autobiography, "Challenge Me the Race", was embittered when he found that Hawthorn now disclaimed all responsibility for the crash without identifying who had caused it. With Levegh dead, Macklin presumed that Hawthorn's implication was that he (Macklin) had been responsible, and he began a libel action. The action was still unresolved when Hawthorn was killed in a non-racing crash on the Guildford bypass in 1959, coincidentally while overtaking a Mercedes-Benz in his Jaguar.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: The official government inquiry into the accident called officials, drivers, and team personnel to be questioned and give evidence. The wreckage was examined and tested and, finally, returned to Mercedes-Benz nearly twelve months after the catastrophe. In the end the enquiry ruled that no specific driver was responsible for the crash, and that it was merely a terrible racing incident. The death of the spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for the track design. Tony Rolt and other drivers had been raising concerns about the pit straight since 1953.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Over the next year, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) set about making extensive track improvements and infrastructure changes at the Circuit de la Sarthe—the pit straight was redesigned and widened to remove the kink just before the start-finish line, and to give room for a deceleration lane. The pits complex was pulled down and rebuilt, giving more room to the teams, but thereby limiting spaces to only 52 starters rather than the previous 60. The grandstand was demolished and rebuilt with new spectator terraces and a wide ditch between them and the racetrack. Track safety technology and practices evolved slowly until F1 driver Jackie Stewart organized a campaign to advocate for better safety measures ten years later. Stewart's campaign gained momentum after the deaths of Lorenzo Bandini and Jim Clark.


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Fitch became a major safety advocate and began active development of safer road cars and racing circuits. He invented traffic safety devices currently in use on highways, including the sand-and-air-filled "Fitch barrels".


title: 1955 Le Mans disaster

text: Macklin's Austin-Healey 100 was sold to several private buyers before appearing on the public auction block. In 1969, it was bought for £155 (). In December 2011, the car, estimated to raise £800,000 before the auction, was sold for £843,000. The car retained the original engine SPL 261-BN, but was reported to be in 'barn find' condition. It was then restored to its original condition.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August 2019. A centre-back, he spent 20 years playing in the Premier League and had an 11-year international career with the England national team.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Campbell began his career with Tottenham Hotspur in December 1992. He spent nine years at Spurs, scoring 10 goals in 255 appearances, and captaining the team to victory in the 1999 Football League Cup Final against Leicester City. In 2001, he joined Tottenham's North London rivals Arsenal on a free transfer, and as a result has remained a deeply unpopular figure amongst Spurs supporters. In his five years and 195 appearances at Arsenal, he won two Premier League winners medals and two FA Cup winners medals, encompassing the 2001–02 league and FA Cup double, and being part of the team that became known as "The Invincibles" for their undefeated 2003–04 Premier League campaign. He scored Arsenal's only goal in their 2–1 defeat to Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In August 2006, he joined Portsmouth on a free transfer. His three years with the club included captaining them to victory in the 2008 FA Cup Final. At the end of the 2008–09 season, he made the surprise move of dropping down three levels of the English football pyramid to join League Two side Notts County on a free transfer. He left the club by mutual consent in September 2009, having played just one match for the club. The next year, he made a brief return to Arsenal before ending his career with Newcastle United.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Having already won caps for the England under-21s and England B team, Campbell gained his first of 73 full caps for England aged 21. In May 1998, Campbell became what was then England's second-youngest captain, after Bobby Moore, aged 23 years 248 days. In 2006, he became the only player to have represented England in six consecutive major tournaments, playing in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 UEFA European Championships; and the 1998, 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. He was named in the Teams of the Tournament for the 2002 World Cup and at Euro 2004. Other honours in the game include being in the PFA Team of the Year three times, in 1999, 2003 and 2004.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In February 2015, Campbell announced his ambition to be the Conservative Party candidate for Mayor of London in the 2016 election, but he was not shortlisted.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell was born in Plaistow, London, to Jamaican parents Sewell and Wihelmina. He was the youngest of twelve children, nine of whom were boys. His father was a railway worker and his mother, Wihelmina, was a Ford factory worker. Despite growing up in a rough neighbourhood in a family with very little money, Campbell veered away from a life of crime due to his strict parents.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell attended the Portway Primary School in Plaistow, London and had secondary education at Lister Community School in Plaistow, London. He was a prodigious schoolboy talent and was part-educated at the FA's School of Excellence at Lilleshall, where he met table tennis player and later football agent Sky Andrew. Campbell had a short spell at West Ham United, beginning his career as a striker. He left the Youth programme at Upton Park after a coach joked to him that Campbell would be pleased to hear that the West Indies were beating England at cricket; Campbell took this to be offensive.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Following his experience at West Ham United, Campbell was reluctant to join another professional club's youth programme, but after two months of persistence from Tottenham Hotspur's chief scout Len Cheesewright, he eventually joined the Tottenham Youth team. Youth team manager Keith Waldon later recalled that it was his physicality rather than his technical ability which made him stand out as a good prospect for the future. At age 14, he was one of only 16 young footballers accepted onto a training programme at Lilleshall Hall. Waldon offered to make him captain of the youth team, but Campbell declined the offer as he wanted to concentrate on his own game.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell made his first team debut for Spurs on 5 December 1992 against Chelsea at White Hart Lane, scoring the goal in a 2–1 defeat after coming on as a substitute for Nick Barmby. Despite this start to his career, he was not picked by manager Terry Venables again throughout the remainder of the 1992–93 season.


title: Sol Campbell

text: New boss Osvaldo Ardiles played him at left back at the start of the 1993–94 season in place of the injured Justin Edinburgh, before he was switched to right back in place of Dean Austin. At the end of the season, he signed a four-year contract with the club.


title: Sol Campbell

text: New manager Gerry Francis led the club to the semi-finals of the FA Cup in the 1994–95 campaign, but Campbell missed the match due to injury and Spurs were beaten by Everton. Campbell continued to progress in his performances, but Spurs struggled to mid-table league finishes in the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons. Francis appointed Campbell as club captain, taking over the role from the out of favour David Howells. He had a strained relationship with short-lived manager Christian Gross during the 1997–98 season as Spurs again struggled. Gross's replacement, George Graham, also had a difficult relationship with Campbell.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell successfully captained his side to a League Cup final win over Leicester City in the 1998–99 season. This made him the first black captain to lift a major trophy at Wembley Stadium. He was also named on the PFA Team of the Year, as was teammate David Ginola.


title: Sol Campbell

text: The League Cup success qualified Spurs to compete in the UEFA Cup during the 1999–2000 campaign, but they only made it into the Second Round before they were beaten by German side 1. FC Kaiserslautern. During this time, he was falsely accused of breaking a stewards arm during a scuffle in a game at Derby County, and refused Tottenham's lawyer's advice to have the case Bound over (meaning he would not be convicted but would effectively have admitted some level of wrongdoing), and was subsequently told by the club to field his own legal defence for the case. The case was later dismissed. The club's lack of progress in the league, his poor relationship with recent managers and the club's lack of support during the assault case left Campbell feeling disillusioned with Spurs.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell missed three months of the 2000–01 campaign after dislocating his shoulder in a 0–0 League Cup draw with Brentford at Griffin Park. He made his final appearance for the club in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford. Manager Glenn Hoddle admitted it was a risk to play Campbell as the defender was not at full fitness, and he injured his ankle fouling Ray Parlour before he was eventually replaced by Ledley King. However, before the substitution could be made, Patrick Vieira scored a header for Arsenal while Campbell was off the pitch receiving treatment.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In the summer of 2001, Campbell's contract expired. Mindful of the Bosman ruling and what happened with Steve McManaman (Britain's first high-profile Bosman related transfer), Tottenham offered him a contract which would have made him the club's highest-ever paid player, but after months of negotiations and several public assurances he would stay at Spurs, Campbell stated his need to leave the club in order to play UEFA Champions League football, with the likes of England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson advising him of such a course. Several top continental clubs expressed interest in signing him, but he joined Arsenal – Tottenham's biggest rivals – on a free transfer. Campbell had previously stated in an interview with "Spurs Monthly" magazine that he would never play for Arsenal. The move was also unusual as no rumours of a move to Arsenal had been leaked or speculated upon in the media before the press conference revealing his decision, and many journalists in attendance had been led to believe they were there to witness the unveiling of goalkeeper Richard Wright, which would have been a routine sports news story.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell has been labelled "Judas" by some Spurs supporters. Years later, the anger from Spurs supporters remained. In January 2009, four Tottenham fans were banned from every football ground in England and Wales for three years after being found guilty of chanting an offensive song containing indecent language (with homophobic content and content which some observers interpreted as racist) aimed at Campbell.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Arsène Wenger later said he signed Campbell as he found that when playing against him, his attackers could not pass him like they could other players and that "it was as if he was indestructible, such a power spread from him". He made his debut for the Gunners on 18 August – the opening day of the 2001–02 Premier League season, in a 4–0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. During the season, Campbell was partnered at the back by either Tony Adams (who would retire at the end of the season) or Martin Keown. He made a return to White Hart Lane during a 1–1 draw on 17 November, and though he played well, he was shocked to see his older brother Tony in the crowd supporting Spurs as the fans shouted insults out to Campbell on the pitch. Campbell enjoyed immediate success with Arsenal, as he won both Premier League and FA Cup winners' medals as Arsenal won the Double in his first season at Highbury. In the FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium on 4 May, he played alongside Adams as the team kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over Chelsea. Four days later, they secured the league title with a 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.


title: Sol Campbell

text: The 2002–03 season saw Arsenal exit the Champions League at the group stage, but remained on course for a retention of the Double as they reached the final of the FA Cup. However, he missed the end-of-season run-in due to suspension after referee Mark Halsey gave him a straight red card for an alleged elbow on Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjær. The club appealed the suspension but was unsuccessful, and he was forced to miss the cup final as Arsenal defeated Southampton to retain the trophy, though they ended the league campaign in second place. His performances were recognised with a place on the PFA Team of the Year, alongside teammates Lauren, Ashley Cole, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry.


title: Sol Campbell

text: The following season, 2003–04, would be known as "The Invincibles season" as Campbell formed a new partnership with Kolo Touré, with the pair instrumental in helping Arsenal regain the Premier League title without losing a single match. The title was secured with a 2–2 draw with Spurs at White Hart Lane on 25 April. He was named on the PFA Team of the Year for the third time in his career, alongside teammates Lauren, Cole, Vieira, Pires and Henry.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell missed the start of the 2004–05 season with a knee injury, and so missed the 2004 FA Community Shield victory over Manchester United. The unbeaten run continued to a record 49 matches before Manchester United defeated them 2–0 at Old Trafford on 24 October in a match that would become known as the "Battle of the Buffet". Referee Mike Riley gave a penalty after Campbell challenged Wayne Rooney, though Campbell would maintain that the young striker had taken a dive. Towards the end of the campaign, Wenger began playing Kolo Touré and one of Pascal Cygan and Philippe Senderos in central defence, and Campbell was benched, leaving him to complain to the manager that Senderos was a "lucky player" who should not be considered good enough to play at Campbell's expense. Arsenal again finished second in the league and won the FA Cup final at Manchester United's expense, though Campbell was an unused substitute in the match.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In the 2005–06 season, Campbell was blighted both with injuries and a loss of form. In Arsenal's 3–2 home loss to West Ham United on 1 February, Campbell was largely responsible for West Ham's first two goals before being substituted at half-time at his own request. Unusually, he then left the stadium, not staying to watch the second half. His teammate Robert Pires commented that Campbell was facing a "big worry" in relation to his private life, and Campbell did not make any contact with the club for several days. He left the country and spent a week with a friend in Brussels as he reflected on his life. He resumed training with his teammates on 6 February.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell was back playing on 25 April in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Villarreal in Spain, where a 0–0 draw on the night put "the Gunners" into the final. In the final against Barcelona at the Stade de France, Paris, Campbell scored the opening goal, a header from a free-kick taken from Henry after a foul on Emmanuel Eboué. However, ten-man Arsenal went on to lose 2–1, although Campbell was at least involved in the best defensive run of any team in the history of the competition, with opponents failing to score against Arsenal in ten consecutive matches and a total of 995 minutes. Campbell also holds the distinction, alongside Teddy Sheringham, Steve McManaman, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, as one of six Englishmen to have scored in a Champions League final. In July 2006, Campbell left Arsenal by mutual consent in order to seek "a fresh challenge".


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell was courted by Italian club Juventus, but manager Didier Deschamps eventually ended contract negotiation. Campbell then rejected an approach from Turkish side Fenerbahçe. Instead, he remained in England joined Premier League club Portsmouth, signing a two-year contract in August 2006. His time at "Pompey" started well, as he formed a successful partnership in the centre of defence with Linvoy Primus and helped the club to keep five consecutive clean sheets. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over Sheffield United on 23 December.


title: Sol Campbell

text: He was named as captain for the 2007–08 season by manager Harry Redknapp, and signed a new two-year contract with the club. He captained the club to at a 1–0 win over Cardiff City at Wembley Stadium in the 2008 FA Cup Final.


title: Sol Campbell

text: The club went into severe financial difficulties, and Redknapp resigned, but Campbell stayed and helped the club to avoid relegation in the 2008–09 campaign. In January 2010, Campbell sued Portsmouth for £1.7 million in unpaid image rights and bonus payments.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell signed a five-year deal with League Two side Notts County in August 2009. Campbell said that County, who had recently been the subject of a takeover by a Middle Eastern consortium, were the best club for "where I am at the moment in my life", and that the recent appointment of ex-England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson as director of football played a "big role" in his decision. He made his debut for County in a 2–1 defeat to Morecambe at Christie Park on 19 September. He walked out on the club three days later, and his contract was cancelled by mutual consent on 24 September. He later admitted he felt embarrassed and that "I was being a mug" in believing the club's owners were ambitious billionaires who intended to take the club into the Premier League.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell began training with the Arsenal side in mid-October 2009 in a bid to maintain his fitness ahead of the January transfer window. On 15 January, he re-signed with the club. It was announced he would wear the number 31 shirt. Nine days later, he made his second debut for "the Gunners" in an FA Cup defeat to Stoke City. On 18 February, he scored his first goal in his second stint at the club with a headed goal against Porto in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16. Due to injuries to Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas towards the end of the season, he found himself starting frequently for Arsenal.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In July 2010, after turning down an offer of a two-year contract with Scottish club Celtic, Campbell joined Newcastle United on a one-year contract. He made his first appearance for "the Magpies" in a League Cup win over Chelsea on 22 September. On 3 October, he made his Premier League debut for the club as a 38th-minute substitute for Fabricio Coloccini in a 2–1 defeat to Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium. In doing so, he became only the second player after Ryan Giggs to play in the first 19 seasons of the Premier League. On 28 November, Campbell made his first Premier League start for Newcastle against Chelsea, and was given the captain's armband after Shola Ameobi was substituted. Campbell started again in Newcastle's next two fixtures with West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool, but lost his place upon the return of Coloccini. After a long period out with viruses, Campbell returned to bench duty in January, making his first appearance in two months as a substitute in Newcastle's 2–0 win over Birmingham City on 15 February.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In May 2011, manager Alan Pardew announced Campbell was a free agent after the club opted not to renew his contract. Campbell announced his retirement from football a year later in May 2012.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell was a regular through the various England youth teams, and picked up two man of the match awards during the 1993 UEFA European Under-19 Championship which England won with a 1–0 win over Turkey.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell made his international debut as a substitute against Hungary on 18 May 1996. Although he had only one cap by the time Terry Venables selected his squad for UEFA Euro 1996, Campbell made the squad as defensive cover. He won his second cap in England's 2–0 group stage match against Scotland, again as a substitute.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Over the next two years, under new manager Glenn Hoddle, Campbell became a regular member of England's defence, partnering Gareth Southgate and Tony Adams. On 29 May 1998, aged 23 years and 248 days, Campbell became England's second-youngest captain after Bobby Moore in a 0–0 draw against Belgium, though Michael Owen subsequently overtook Campbell after captaining England against Paraguay in April 2002. Campbell started all four of England's matches in the 1998 World Cup.


title: Sol Campbell

text: During the 1998 World Cup, Campbell was involved in a highly controversial incident in England's second round clash against Argentina. With less than ten minutes to play, the score was 2–2 and England were down to ten men after David Beckham was sent off. Campbell headed a corner into the Argentine net and wheeled away to celebrate his first international goal, which appeared to be the winning goal which would have put England into the quarter finals. However, the referee disallowed the goal after ruling that Alan Shearer had illegally contacted the goalkeeper, and England eventually lost the match on penalties.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell was England's first-choice centre back throughout the successful qualification campaign for Euro 2000 under new boss Kevin Keegan, and played in all three group games at the tournament, which England exited after defeat by Romania.


title: Sol Campbell

text: After the retirement of Tony Adams, Campbell partnered Rio Ferdinand in England's successful qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup, held in Korea and Japan. He scored his only senior international goal at the tournament, a header off a corner kick by Beckham in the opening group game against Sweden. The match ended 1–1, but in their next match, England defeated Argentina 1–0. Campbell's partnership with Ferdinand was an integral part of a strong defensive performance throughout the tournament, and he was the only England player to be named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. England progressed to the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual winners Brazil despite playing the last 30 minutes against ten men.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell maintained his place in the centre of defence as he took part in England's successful qualification campaign for Euro 2004. England went on to reach the quarter-finals clash with hosts Portugal, and with the score tied at 1–1, Campbell won a header in the opposition six-yard box to score what seemed to be a late winner for England. However, referee Urs Meier decided that John Terry had pushed Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo and instead gave a free-kick. The game ended 2–2 after extra time, and England lost the penalty shoot-out.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell continued to play for England after Euro 2004, although his place in the international team had become less secure since the emergence of the central defensive partnership of Terry and Ferdinand, which blossomed during Campbell's period of absence with injury in 2005. He was named in England's squad for the 2006 World Cup, but was third-choice centre back, with coach Sven-Göran Eriksson preferring the partnership of Ferdinand and Terry. However, after a knock to Ferdinand, Campbell came on as a substitute in England's group match against Sweden, which made him the first player to represent England on the pitch at six consecutive international tournaments. After Eriksson's resignation, new coach Steve McClaren chose to look elsewhere for central defensive strength and Campbell was dropped for his first match in charge against Greece in August 2006.


title: Sol Campbell

text: After injuries to Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson, along with Jamie Carragher retiring from international football, Campbell was recalled to the national team. He played four matches under McClaren as England's qualification campaign failed.


title: Sol Campbell

text: New head coach Fabio Capello did not select Campbell for his first squad in January 2008. Campbell enjoyed a fine run of form on his return to Arsenal and had retained hope of making it to England's squad for the 2010 World Cup, which would have been his fourth outing on the world stage along with a record seventh major tournament for his country. However, he was not named in Capello's 30-man preliminary squad, with the coach opting instead for Carragher and King among others as potential defensive cover for Ferdinand and Terry.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Regarded as one of the best English centre backs of his generation, Campbell was a strong, athletic and imposing defender, with a good positional sense, and was also a strong tackler. Due to his height and physical power, he excelled in the air, both offensively and defensively, although he initially had to work hard to improve his heading ability during his teenage years. He did not possess good natural stamina, but had pace, power, agility and quick feet, as well as significant mental strength. Due to his versatility and range of skills, as well as his ability to carry the ball out of defence and get forward, he was also capable of playing as a right back on occasion. However, despite being fairly comfortable in possession, he frequently drew criticism throughout his career for his poor distribution.


title: Sol Campbell

text: On 30 January 2017, Campbell was named as Dennis Lawrence's assistant manager, after the latter was appointed manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell was appointed manager of Macclesfield Town on 27 November 2018, then bottom of League Two and five points adrift of safety. Under Campbell, Macclesfield finished 22nd in League Two, three points above the bottom two relegation places. They stayed up on the last day of the season with a 1–1 draw with Cambridge United. He oversaw eight wins and 12 draws in his 30 games in charge. It was announced on 15 August 2019 that Campbell would be leaving the financially troubled club, by mutual agreement. In December 2019, Campbell backed a HM Revenue and Customs bid to wind-up the club, claiming to be owed £180,000.


title: Sol Campbell

text: On 22 October 2019, Campbell was appointed manager of EFL League One club Southend United. Campbell watched his new side lose 7–1 to Doncaster Rovers before taking charge for his first game — a 3–1 home defeat to Ipswich Town. On 18 January 2020, Southend won their second game under Campbell with a 2–1 victory away at Accrington Stanley, the club's first league win since September 2019. However, financial constraints prevented Campbell from signing any new players during the January 2020 transfer window. In June 2020, the season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. At the time Southend were second from bottom in League One, 16 points from safety. Following a decision not to restart the season, Southend were relegated to League Two. Campbell left the club on 30 June 2020.


title: Sol Campbell

text: After his retirement from football, Campbell became increasingly vocal about British politics. In 2013, he said he liked "the mentality of Labour but the policies of the Conservatives". In 2014, he criticised Ed Miliband's proposals for a mansion tax on properties worth over £2 million, calling it "madness". He has also stated he is considering joining the Conservative Party and would be interested in helping the party gain more of "the black vote".


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell has criticised the racial diversity in The Football Association ("FA"), and he made newspaper headlines in March 2014 after claiming that institutional racism on the part of the FA meant he was never chosen to captain the England team during his playing career. Campbell had been named as starting captain for England in a friendly against the United States in May 2005 under Sven-Göran Eriksson, he was replaced with Zat Knight at half-time following an ankle injury.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In February 2015, Campbell confirmed his intention to run for the Conservative Party nomination for Mayor of London in the 2016 election. In the list of four candidates chosen in July 2015, Campbell was not shortlisted.


title: Sol Campbell

text: During the 2016 referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of, or leave, the European Union, Campbell supported Brexit.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In 2008, Campbell began dating interior designer Fiona Barratt, the granddaughter of Barratt Homes founder Sir Lawrie Barratt. They married in Corbridge, Northumberland, on 17 July 2010. He has a son from a previous relationship with Janet Tyler.


title: Sol Campbell

text: Campbell had homes in London and at Hallington Hall at Hallington in Northumberland. In December 2015, Hallington Hall was put up for sale for just under £6 million after being totally renovated.


title: Sol Campbell

text: In 2009, Campbell launched his charity "Kids go live" which allows inner city children to see a variety of live sporting events such as Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and rugby internationals.


title: Familicide

text: A familicide is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which one kills multiple close family members in quick succession, most often children, spouses, siblings, or parents. In half the cases, the killer lastly kills themselves in a murder-suicide. If only the parents are killed, the case may also be referred to as a parricide. Where all members of a family are killed, the crime may be referred to as family annihilation.


title: Familicide

text: Familicides were used as an enhanced punishment in antiquity. In ancient China, the "nine familial exterminations" was the killing of an entire extended family or clan, usually for treason. Machiavelli advocated the extermination of a previous ruler's family to prevent uprisings in "The Prince". Sippenhaft (English: kin liability) was used in Nazi Germany to punish and sometimes execute the relatives of defectors and anyone involved in the 20 July plot. La Cosa Nostra began killing the relatives, including women and more recently children, of informants (pentiti) and rivals in the 1980s. It is not incorporated formally into any modern judicial systems, except in North Korea, where whole-family internment at Kaechon internment camp often ends in death.


title: Familicide

text: Between 1900 and 2000, there were 909 victims of mass murder in the US (defined as four victims within a 24-hour period). Of those, more than half occurred within an immediate family. Although the familicide cases are relatively rare, they are the most common form of mass killings. However, statistical data are difficult to establish due to reporting discrepancies.


title: Familicide

text: Familicide differs from other forms of mass murder in that the murderer kills family members or loved ones rather than anonymous people. This has a different psychodynamic and psychiatric significance, but the distinction is not always made.


title: Familicide

text: A study of 30 cases in Ohio found that most of the killings were motivated by a parent's desire to stop their children's suffering. According to ABC News contributor and former FBI agent Brad Garrett, people responsible for killing their families tend to be white males in their 30s. Many of these crimes occur in August, before school starts, which may delay detection and investigation.


title: Familicide

text: In Australia, a study was done of seven cases of familicide followed by suicide in which marital separation followed by custody and access disputes were identified as an issue. Some common factors such as marital discord, unhappiness, domestic violence, sexual abuse, threats of harm to self or others were found in varying degrees. It was not clear what could be done in terms of prevention.


title: Familicide

text: The Director of the Birmingham City University Centre of Applied Criminology, David Wilson, co-wrote a study with two others, "A taxonomy of male British family annihilators, 1980–2013", examining British familicides in the period. Newspaper articles were used as references. The study concluded that most of the perpetrators were male. Men who murder their entire families usually do so because they believe their spouse performed a wrongdoing and that the spouse needs to be punished, they feel that the family members caused a disappointment, they feel that their own financial failings ruined the point of having a family, and because they wish to save their family from a perceived threat. Far fewer women commit familicide, and those who do usually have different reasons, including perceived or imagined loss of custody of children. Male family annihilators are typically driven by loss of control, including financial crises, separation or divorce, and may demonstrate evidence for domestic violence, while for women perpetrators, battery, abuse or mental illness is more common, the act itself more likely premeditated and more likely to include victims under the age of one.


title: Familicide

text: A literature review done in 2018 noted contextual and offense characteristics of familicide. Among the 63 articles reviewed 74–85% noted relationship problems or separation. This article also found evidence of financial problems, intoxication, and use of firearms. This literature review unveiled that 71% of these offenses were motivated in regard to conflict between parents and 29% associated to the perpetrators' situation in life. Lastly this article reported two studies, one of which found that many of the motives involved feelings of abandonment, psychosis, and narcissistic rage. The other study found that 60% of these perpetrators were suicidal and 40% homicidal.


title: Familicide

text: David Wilson of Birmingham City University has divided these cases into four groups: anomic, disappointed, self-righteous, and paranoid.


title: Familicide

text: In this typology, the anomic killer sees his family purely as a status symbol; when his economic status collapses, he sees them as surplus to requirements. The disappointed killer seeks to punish the family for not living up to his ideals of family life. The self-righteous killer destroys the family to exact revenge upon the mother, in an act that he blames on her. Finally, the paranoid killer kills their family in what they imagine to be an attempt to protect them from something even worse.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute (AFI), the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008. In the special, various actors and directors, among them Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, Kirk Douglas, Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Roman Polanski, and Jane Fonda, discussed their admiration for and personal contributions to the films cited.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines "animation" as a genre where the film's images are primarily created by computer or hand and the characters are voiced by actors. Nine of the films are Disney properties, including two collaborative works with Pixar.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film's narrative.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines "fantasy" as a genre in which live-action characters inhabit imagined settings and/or experience situations that transcend the rules of the natural world.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines the "gangster film" as a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a modern setting.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines "romantic comedy" as a genre in which the development of a romance leads to comic situations.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines "science fiction" as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines "sports" as a genre of films with protagonists who play athletics or other games of competition.


title: AFI's 10 Top 10

text: AFI defines "western" as a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: Ayesha Takia Azmi (née Takia; born 10 April 1986), is an Indian actress and former model who worked predominantly in Hindi films. Takia made her debut in 2004 with the action thriller "" for which she won Filmfare Best Debut Award and IIFA Award Star Debut of the Year Female. She then subsequently appeared in several successful films including "Socha Na Tha" (2005), "Salaam-E-Ishq" (2007), "Wanted" (2009) and "Paathshaala" (2010). She is the recipient of Bengal Film Journalists' Association awards and Screen Awards.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: Takia was first recognised as a model when she performed in Falguni Pathak's music video "Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye" at the age of fourteen in 2000. Since then, she had appeared in music videos, television commercials, fashion shows, and on magazine covers. Takia made her debut in South Indian cinema in the Telugu-language action heist "Super" (2005), for which she won the Screen Award for Best Actress (Critics). She subsequently appeared in a financially unsuccessful films including "Shaadi Se Pehle" (2006), "Cash" (2007), "De Taali" (2008) and "8 x 10 Tasveer" (2009). The 2006 drama "Dor", marked a turning point in her career winning her several awards nomination including Screen Award for Best Actress (Critics), Zee Cine Award – Critics' Choice Best Actress, Bengal Film Journalists' Association - Best Actress Award and Stardust Best Supporting Actress Award.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: In addition to acting, Takia supports wildlife protection, and has featured as a talent judge on the musical-reality show Sur Kshetra. She is married to Farhan Azmi, with whom she has a son born in 2013.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: Takia was born in Bombay on 10 April 1986, to Nishit Takia, a Gujarati Hindu and Faridah Takia, a Maharashtrian and and half Caucasian British. She has a younger sister Natasha. She studied at St Anthony's Girls High School, Chembur. Takia did not receive education beyond high school and never went to college. She has a younger sister Natasha.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: Before starting her career as an actor, Takia appeared in several commercials. She started her career as a model when she was thirteen, appearing in the "I am a Complan Boy! I'm a Complan Girl!" campaign along with Shahid Kapoor. Her first public appearance was in the music video for Falguni Pathak's song "Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye". Later, she appeared in the music video "Shake It Daddy", remix of song "Nahin Nahin Abhi Nahin" along with actor Keith Sequeira. Both the songs were directed by Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao, which brought her to the attention of Bollywood, and a few film offers followed.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: In 2004, Takia played her first leading role as Priya Kapoor in Abbas–Mustan's supernatural action thriller film "" alongside debutante Vatsal Sheth. Loosely based on comdey drama "Christine" (1983), the film turned out to be financially unsuccessful. However, she was praised for glamorous appearance in the film. Takia portrayal earned her Filmfare Best Female Debut Award (2005) and IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female (2005). Takia next starred alongside Shahid Kapoor in the multi-starrer romantic comedy "Dil Maange More!!!" (2004). Takia's role as a dominant, combative girl named Shagun earned her two nominations viz. Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female and Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut. The film became unsuccessful at the box office, however proving to be a breakthrough as it boosted the careers of Takia and Kapoor.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: In 2004, Takia starred in three films. Her first release of the year was writer-director Imtiaz Ali's romantic comedy "Socha Na Tha". Besides being Imtiaz Ali's first film as a director, "Socha Na Tha" also marked Abhay Deol's acting debut. Upon release it received positive reviews from critics: Patcy N for "Rediff.com" wrote, "Ayesha Takia is a sweet, energetic actress, but her role does not require too much acting skill". However, the movie was an average grosser at the box-office and earned around worldwide. Takia next co-starred David Dhawan's multi-starrer comedy "Shaadi No. 1", opposite Fardeen Khan. The film which illustrates the story of three couples featured an ensemble cast (Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Sharman Joshi, Esha Deol, and Soha Ali Khan). The film received a positive response from critics, and also did well at the box office. Made on a budget of , it earned around worldwide. She then appeared in the Sujoy Ghosh's comedy drama "Home Delivery", which was also her last release of 2004. The film received negative reviews, with criticism aimed at the unoriginal plot and humor, and underperformed at the box office. Nonetheless, Takia was praised for her role. "The Hindu" wrote, "In the film, role played by Ayesha Takia, is the other attraction of the storyline".


title: Ayesha Takia

text: In 2005, Takia made her debut in South Indian cinema in the Telugu-language action heist "Super" alongside Nagarjuna Akkineni. The film was a financial success but received mixed response by the critics. B. Anuradha for "Rediff.com" wrote, "Ayesha debuts in Telugu films with a glamorous role". "Indiaglitz" wrote, "Ayesha is cool and chic. Her angles and curves provide all the glamour and keep you engrossed". Her performance as a doctor named Siri Valli earned her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu nomination at 53rd Filmfare Awards South. The film was also later dubbed and released in Hindi as "Robbery".


title: Ayesha Takia

text: In 2006, Takia appeared in Satish Kaushik's comedy "Shaadi Se Pehle". Loosely influenced of an old Hindi movie, "Meri Biwi Ki Shaadi", it opened to predominantly negative reviews. Released on 6 April 2006, the film eventually under-performed at the box office grossing worldwide. Rajeev Masand described her performance as, "Ayesha Takia has precious little to do, and that's a pity because she's such a spontaneous actress". She next played the protagonist in Naseeruddin Shah-directed drama "Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota" (2006), co-starring alongside an ensemble cast Konkona Sen Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Jimmy Sheirgill, Paresh Rawal, and Boman Irani. Set in the United States, the film follows the story of group of individuals who eventually become interwind with 9/11. "Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota" earned little at the box office and received mixed reviews. Later in the same year, Takia played the part of a Rajasthani Hindu woman in Nagesh Kukunoor's smaller budget drama "Dor". The film also features Gul Panag and Shreyas Talpade as the lead actors. An official adaptation of the Malayalam film, "Perumazhakkalam" (2004), the film tells story of a widow woman. It did perform well commercially. "The Times of India" cited, "Apart from the unusual plot, it is Ayesha Takia who simply blows your breath away". Takia's performance as a young widowed Rajasthani woman living in a traditional joint family went on to win several awards for her performance in the film, including the Zee Cine Critics Award for Best Actress.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: In 2007, Takia appeared in seven films, the first being Nikkhil Advani's romantic drama "Salaam-e-Ishq", featuring an ensemble cast of Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Akshaye Khanna, John Abraham, Vidya Balan, Govinda, Shannon Esra, Sohail Khan and Isha Koppikar in lead roles. The film (and her performance) generated mixed reviews from critics, and its eventual box-office profit was poor. Takia's next film role was alongside Tusshar Kapoor in "Kya Love Story Hai". Critical reaction to the film and Takia's portrayal of a young girl was negative. Co-starring alongside Shahid Kapoor, Ahmed Khan's multi-starer comedy caper film "Fool & Final" was her next release. The film with an ensemble cast met with mixed critical reviews. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama commented, "'Ayesha Takia pairs off well with Shahid, but doesn't have much to do really". In the same year, Takia appeared in action thriller film "Cash". Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the movie generated mostly negative reviews and emerged as a commercial failure.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: Takia played the female lead role in Vishal Bhardwaj's short film "Blood Brothers". With a run time of 13 minutes, the film depicted the story of a young man who, after finding out that he is HIV positive, allows his life to fall apart. It was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her final release of the year 2007 was psychological thriller "No Smoking", opposite John Abraham. Based upon the 1978 short story "Quitters, Inc." by Stephen King, it was directed by Anurag Kashyap. The film tells a story of a narcissistic and self-obsessed chain-smoker who gets trapped in the rehabilitation programme of a person who guarantees will make him quit smoking. Takia played twin role of main protagonist's wife and secretary as Anjali and Annie respectively. Released on 26 October 2007, the film heavily received negative reviews from the Indian critics. Shubhra Gupta for "Indian Express" commented, "No Smoking is no good. Not because it doesn't have a superb idea. It does. But because it is too bizarre, too outré, too out of it. It stops us from connecting". The film failed to perform well at the box office and eventually becoming one of the major disasters of the year. "No Smoking" however, received three nominations viz. Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction, Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer, Filmfare Award for Best Special Effects at the 53rd Filmfare Awards.


title: Ayesha Takia

text: In 2008, Takia co-starred in Rohit Shetty directed mystery comedy "Sunday". Critical response to the film was mixed and the film was an average performer at the box office. Takia garnered acclaim for her performance as a voiceover artist named Sehar. She then starred in comedy "De Taali". The film did not perform well at the box office and earned poor critical reviews.