title: Pokémon Black and White

text: "Black" and "White" are set in the Unova region, a continental mass located far away from the previous regions, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. Unlike the previous regions which were based on real locations in Japan, Unova is modeled after New York City, an idea developed by game director Junichi Masuda when he visited the city for the launch of "Diamond" and "Pearl". One particular example of this is Castelia City, which serves as the region's central metropolis and had such inspirations as its "Brooklyn Bridge-style suspension bridge" and its "huge skyscrapers". Masuda also wanted to convey a "feeling of communities" in Castelia's streets. Unova is host to large urban areas, a harbor, an airport, an amusement park, several bridges, and several mountain ranges. In addition to a diversity of new landscapes, the Unova region is also home to a diversity of people who vary in skin tone and occupation. The region's Japanese name is derived from the Japanese words and ; the many kinds of people and Pokémon seen up close look like only one kind of life from afar.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: Like previous "Pokémon" games, "Black" and "White" both follow a linear storyline; the main events occur in a fixed order. The protagonist of "Pokémon Black" and "White" is Hilbert and Hilda, who journeys through Unova to become the Pokémon master. At the beginning of the games, the player chooses either Snivy, Tepig or Oshawott as their starter Pokémon as a gift from Professor Juniper. The protagonist's friends, Cheren and Bianca, are also rival Pokémon Trainers who occasionally battle the player; Cheren will choose the Pokémon with a type advantage against the player's, while Bianca will choose the Pokémon with a type disadvantage. The player's primary goal is to obtain the eight Gym Badges of Unova and ultimately challenge the Elite Four of the Pokémon League, and its Champion, to complete the main story.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: In addition to the standard gameplay, the player will also have to defeat the games' main antagonist force, Team Plasma, a Knights Templar-esque group who claim that Pokémon are oppressed by humanity and seek to liberate them from their trainers.<ref name="What You Need To Know About Pokemon Black/White"></ref> Team Plasma is led by N, a young man who was brought up alongside Pokémon and sees them as friends rather than tools for sport. Throughout the game, the player has some encounters with N, who claims that by capturing one of the legendary Pokémon (Reshiram and Zekrom) of Unova and defeating the Pokémon Champion Alder, he will be recognized as Unova's hero and will be able to convince the humans to part with their Pokémon. Depending on the game version, N will capture Zekrom in "Black" or Reshiram in "White".


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: After the player defeats the Elite Four and enters the Champion's chamber, he or she finds that N has defeated Alder and become the newest Pokémon Champion. Soon after, he summons a large castle surrounding the Pokémon League, challenging the player to find him to participate in one final battle. When the player finally reaches him, Reshiram in "Black" or Zekrom in "White" appears before the player, and the player must capture the legendary Pokémon before challenging N. After his defeat, N laments the possibility that his ideals are mistaken, Ghetsis intrudes and angrily reveals that his true intentions were to use N to ensure that he would be the only human left with control over Pokémon and use them to rule the world. In his rage, Ghetsis challenges the player to battle. After Ghetsis's defeat, he is arrested, allowing Alder to resume his position as the Pokémon Champion of the Unova region. N then thanks the player for helping realize his mistake about the nature of the relationship between people and their Pokémon before leaving the castle on his captured Pokémon to a far-off land.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: After Team Plasma's defeat, Looker arrives in Unova and tasks the player with finding the remaining Sages of Team Plasma, so they can be brought to justice. The player can also challenge the Elite Four once again, and challenge Alder, ultimately becoming the Unova region's new Pokémon Champion. The player also gains access to the eastern portion of Unova, which contains Pokémon from the previous games in the series, as well as access to an area unique to each game version: the ultra-metropolitan Black City, home to powerful Pokémon trainers; and the White Forest, home to humans and Pokémon living in harmony. Cynthia, a former Champion of the Sinnoh region, is also found in this area of the game and can be challenged. A non-player character named after Shigeki Morimoto, a Game Freak programmer, creature designer, and the director of the "Pokémon HeartGold" and "SoulSilver" games, can also be found and battled in the game.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: On 29 January 2010, The Pokémon Company announced that a new game was in development for the Nintendo DS to be released later that year. Director Junichi Masuda stated that several aspects of the series were being revamped for the new generation. On 9 April 2010, the Japanese website updated with the titles of the versions as "Pokémon Black" and "White" and announced a Q3 2010 release date. The games feature an improved visual style from other Pokémon games, with an increased use of 3D computer graphics than any other of the handheld series. It also has a special feature that allows the user to upload their saved game to the Internet, allowing them to do certain things on an official website.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: On 3 August 2010, Masuda announced on his blog that the "Black" and "White" game versions will initially only contain brand-new Pokémon to evoke a feeling of it being a brand-new game, like when the original "Pokémon" games were first released. In all of the games following the first generation, there were a series of new Pokémon introduced interspersed with Pokémon from the previous generations. For example, Pikachu was introduced in "Red" and "Green" and was obtainable in "Blue", "Yellow" and all subsequent main series games; however, Pikachu will not be obtainable in "Black" and "White" from the start of the game. It was later confirmed that "Black" and "White" are region locked on the Nintendo DSi and 3DS.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: Game director and composer Junichi Masuda stated that to keep the games fresh, he looks at every previous element to decide what to adapt to the new game, stating "people may not like what they like in the past, trend wise". He explained the new battle styles, stating that while triple battles take more strategy, rotation battles take more luck to win. Masuda stated that their goal when making the games was to make it fun for new players, but they also wanted to get players who have not played the series in a while to come back. He said that it was hard to find that balance to satisfy both kinds of players. For the new players, there is good explanation in how to play, while for old players, they incorporated the C-Gear, which makes the ability to trade and battle easier. When asked about the decision to introduce over 150 new species of Pokémon, Masuda stated that they did this so old players would not be able to know what is a good Pokémon to use, and it would level the playing ground for new players.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: is a four-disc soundtrack featuring the games' music scored by Masuda, Go Ichinose, Shota Kageyama, Hitomi Sato, Morikazu Aoki, Minako Adachi, and Satoshi Nohara. The soundtrack was released on 20 October 2010, in Japan. Ichinose was in charge of directing all Pokémon voices for the game while Adachi produced all sound effects.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: "Pokémon Black" and "White" were released in Japan on 18 September 2010. They were later released in Europe on 4 March 2011, in North America on 6 March 2011, and in Australia on 10 March 2011.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: A silhouette of a new Pokémon was shown by Junichi Masuda on the 7 February 2010 episode of "Pokémon Sunday", stated to be in the film for the summer and to be identified in a future episode on 21 February. This new Pokémon was also featured in the March 2010 issue of "CoroCoro Comic" available on 15 February. Since then, the Pokémon has been named "Zoroark", and it evolves from a Pokémon named "Zorua". Both were featured in the film "". For pre-order ticket holders, an alternate-colored Raikou, Entei, or Suicune was available for transfer to their "Diamond", "Pearl", "Platinum", "HeartGold", or "SoulSilver" games. At the theater, players would be able to download a Celebi to the same games. These Pokémon would activate special events in "Black" and "White" involving Zoroark and Zorua, respectively.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: On 18 April 2010, the episode of "Pokémon Sunday" showed game footage of a player character walking around in a 3D environment and a single screenshot depicting a battle between the player's Zoroark and an enemy Zorua. Host Shoko Nakagawa made note of how the player's Zoroark's sprite was a full body sprite as viewed from behind, when in the past all such sprites only showed a smaller portion of the player's Pokémon's body. On 9 May 2010, the episode of "Pokémon Sunday" revealed silhouettes of the three Pokémon available to choose from at the beginning of the games, which were later revealed to be the Grass Snake Pokémon Tsutarja, the Fire Pig Pokémon Pokabu, and the Sea Otter Pokémon Mijumaru. Other information revealed is that the game takes place in the Isshu Region which includes the Hiun City metropolis. On 16 May 2010, the episode of "Pokémon Sunday" showed game battle footage, illustrating the new in-battle animations and dynamic camera positioning; also described were Zoroark's Illusion ability and the special Zoroark acquired by the movie ticket pre-order gift Pokémon.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: On 28 May 2010, both the official Japanese and English "Pokémon" websites revealed names and designs of the two major legendary Pokémon of these games, who also serve as the game version mascots: the White Yang Pokémon Reshiram for "Pokémon Black" and the Black Yin Pokémon Zekrom for "Pokémon White". The July 2010 issue of "CoroCoro Comic" revealed the C-Gear wireless interactivity features, the ability to upload game data to the internet and the player's computer, several brand-new Pokémon, new Pokémon moves, Reshiram and Zekrom's Pokémon types, details on the Celebi / Zorua event, and a new character: Professor Araragi, the first female Pokémon professor to appear in the video games. The 27 June 2010, episode of "Pokémon Sunday", made the announcement of the release date as 18 September 2010, and a yet-to-be named character. The 28 June episode of "Oha Suta", showed a trailer, which included its release date, new gameplay footage, several new characters, more new Pokémon, and a three-on-three battle system. The August 2010 issue of "CoroCoro Comic" elaborated upon many new game mechanics: the three-on-three system, the online Global Link system, an online Dream World that can allow for access to other Pokémon, access to an area that uses the Wi-Fi called the Hilink (similar to the Underground), a special feature called the Live Caster for video chat on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS, kanji support, aesthetic differences between the two versions of the game, areas exclusive to the game versions, new characters, new moves, new abilities, and new Pokémon.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: The 25 July 2010, episode of "Pokémon Sunday" introduced the new phantom Pokémon Victini, which initially appeared in a trailer for the 2011 "Pokémon" film that was shown with screenings of "Phantom Ruler: Zoroark". It is noted to be Pokémon No. 000 in Isshu's regional Pokédex, and is only accessible by downloading a special item from Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, , and (such as those found in Japanese McDonald's restaurants) to a game save. This was initially available for a month following the games' release date. Another promotional Pokémon given out after the games' release is a Kumasyun, a Pokémon that is difficult to find in the games unless it is during the games' winter season.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: On the day of the Japanese release, Nintendo of America sent cease and desist letters to two English language "Pokémon" fansites, "PokéBeach" and "Serebii", after they published screenshots and various other media from the newly released games. Nintendo claimed the posting of the media was infringing copyright and noted their intention to shut down the websites under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act unless the media was removed. The screenshots were subsequently taken down from both websites. Luke Plunkett of video game blog "Kotaku" initially speculated that Nintendo of America issued the cease and desist letters over the belief that the images were illegally obtained via a ROM image; however, Jon Sahagian of "PokéBeach" stated the images in question had been obtained from the Japanese forum 2channel. Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo of America's senior director of corporate communications, later stated that it was the choice of images that were of concern to the company. In a statement to "Kotaku", he said, "Nintendo supports and appreciates the efforts that Pokémon fans go through to create fan sites. In most cases there is no issue with the content that is posted, but on this occasion we had to contact a select few websites to ask them to take down confidential images".


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: The foreign promotion for the games began on 22 November 2010, when the official website for the North American, European, and Australian markets was updated, which included the localized names of the starter Pokémon (Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott) in English, Dutch, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish markets and the games' setting in the Unova region. Floats of version mascots Reshiram and Zekrom accompanied the Pikachu balloon during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on 25 November 2010, the following Thursday.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: On 27 December 2010, the official websites for the international releases updated once more, revealing the English names for many of the first Pokémon revealed during the promotion for the Japanese release. In addition, the English names for the game location Hiun City and the character Professor Araragi were revealed to be Castelia City and Professor Juniper, respectively.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: Starting on 3 January and lasting until 9 January 2011, in the United States, players of "Diamond", "Pearl", "Platinum", "HeartGold", and "SoulSilver" were able to visit GameStop stores to download the special shiny Raikou that was previously given out for "Phantom Ruler: Zoroark" pre-order ticket holders in Japan. Similar downloads would be available for the shiny Entei from 17 to 23 January, and shiny Suicune from 31 January to 6 February. All three of these Pokémon still enabled the event for Zoroark in the North American "Black" and "White" versions. These three Pokémon were later distributed via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for European, Australian, and North American markets (for a second time) starting 7 to 13 February with Raikou, again, with subsequent staggered releases for Entei and Suicune throughout February.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: The Celebi event was run in North America and distributed through GameStop stores from 21 February to 6 March 2011, or it could be acquired from the tour promoting the "Black" and "White" games that began on 5 February 2011. In France and Spain, this same Celebi was available through various retailers from 1 February through 3 March 2011. Italian players could get this Celebi from specific video game retailers from 21 January through 3 March.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: The event to distribute the item to allow players to capture Victini was also run following the games' release internationally. North American players were able to download the item from Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection from 6 March to 10 April 2011. European players were able to get the item from 4 March to 22 April. Australian players were able to download it from 10 March to 28 April 2011.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: "Pokémon Black" and "White" have received largely positive reviews by critics, having an aggregate score of 87% on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Japanese magazine "Famitsu Weekly" awarded the game a perfect 40/40 score, becoming the 15th game to receive such a distinction, as well as obtaining the highest score ever given to a "Pokémon" video game by the publication. "Game Informer"s Annette Gonzalez remarked that ""Pokémon Black" and "White" do a great job building upon already solid features and taking them to the next level." "VideoGamer.com"s Jamin Smith criticized the games for not innovating as much as some people would have liked, but stated that "rest assured in the knowledge that "Black" and "White" are damn fine games; the best the series has to offer." "Official Nintendo Magazine" referred to them as "A beautiful refinement of a great series [...] the best "Pokémon" ever." "Nintendo Power" expressed that "the "Pokémon" series's latest pair of adventures is as addictive as ever." "Edge" acknowledged that "where next for "Pokémon", "Black" and "White" don't suggest any answers, but they do remind us why we'd care in the first place."


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: "IGN" gave the games a 9/10, a higher rating than any of the other Nintendo DS "Pokémon" games. The review praised the games for renewing interest in the series, though criticized some of the new Pokémon designs, explaining that "aside from a weaker lineup of monsters (largely an aesthetic complaint), this is the best "Pokémon" has to offer on every level, renewing my waning interest in monster battling". Jeremy Parish of "Retronauts" criticized "Black" and "White", commenting that he grew tired of it shortly after starting and feeling like it was too similar to all previous "Pokémon" games. He further went on to say that EVs and IVs, invisible mechanics in the game, are not necessarily beneficial. By contrast, he noted that it would be great to new players. He also compared it to the "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" games and "Final Fantasy XIII", arguing that they all share the common element of being bad before they get good. Fellow "Retronauts" contributor Justin Haywald criticized the games' release on the DS, which had received two main "Pokémon" series games published before them. "GamesRadar" editor Carolyn Gudmundson stated "It may not break the "Pokemon" mold, but "Black" and "White" offers enough new content coupled with the series' classic, deep battle mechanics to make it endlessly playable. If you could only play one game for the rest of your life, this would be a wise choice."


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: In August 2010, one month before the games' release in Japan, "Pokémon Black" and "White" gained a total of 1.08 million pre-orders, becoming the fastest game on the Nintendo DS to break the one million mark. In the first two days on sale, it sold more than 2.6 million copies, becoming the biggest launch in the series history in Japan. By 3 November, the games had sold over 4.3 million copies in Japan. As of 9 January 2011, the games became the fastest DS titles to sell five million copies.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: Upon its release in the UK, "White" and "Black" took the #1 and #2 spots respectively in the UK overall sales charts, with "White" becoming the second fastest-selling DS game ever in the UK after "Professor Layton and Pandora's Box", selling 13,000 more copies than "Black". Combined, their sales became Nintendo's third biggest ever launch in the UK, behind "Wii Fit" and "Mario Kart Wii", and the biggest opening weekend ever for a pair of "Pokémon" titles.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: In the US, "Black" and "White" sold more than 1.08 million copies on day one, breaking the previous day-one record held by predecessors "Diamond" and "Pearl" of 780,000 copies. According to the NPD Group, Nintendo sold 1.3 million units of "White" and 1.1 million units of "Black" in March 2011, making them the #1 and #2 top selling games in the US for the month. In April 2011, Nintendo's financial earnings report confirmed that "Pokémon Black" and "White" had sold 11.5 million copies worldwide, making them the highest selling DS games for Nintendo in the 2010–11 financial year, and third overall, behind only the Wii games, "Wii Sports" and "Wii Sports Resort". As of September 2017, the games' combined sales have reached 15.64 million.


title: Pokémon Black and White

text: Sequels to "Black" and "White", "Pokémon Black 2" and "Pokémon White 2", were released for the Nintendo DS in 2012. They are the first and only, to date, sequels in the main series franchise.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development for this type of vessel, which halted as steamships took over their routes. She was named for the fictional witch, Cutty-sark.


title: Cutty Sark

text: After the big improvement in the fuel efficiency of steamships in 1866, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 gave them a shorter route to China, so "Cutty Sark" spent only a few years on the tea trade before turning to the trade in wool from Australia, where she held the record time to Britain for ten years. Continuing improvements in steam technology meant that gradually steamships also came to dominate the longer sailing route to Australia, and the ship was sold to the Portuguese company Ferreira and Co. in 1895 and renamed "Ferreira". She continued as a cargo ship until purchased in 1922 by retired sea captain Wilfred Dowman, who used her as a training ship operating from Falmouth, Cornwall. After his death, "Cutty Sark" was transferred to the Thames Nautical Training College, Greenhithe in 1938 where she became an auxiliary cadet training ship alongside HMS "Worcester". By 1954, she had ceased to be useful as a cadet ship and was transferred to permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London, for public display.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark" is listed by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet (the nautical equivalent of a Grade 1 Listed Building). She is one of only three remaining original composite construction (wooden hull on an iron frame) clipper ships from the nineteenth century in part or whole, the others being the , which arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia on 3 February 2014 for preservation, and the beached skeleton of "Ambassador" of 1869 near Punta Arenas, Chile.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The ship has been damaged by fire twice in recent years, first on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation. She was restored and was reopened to the public on 25 April 2012. Funders for the Cutty Sark conservation project include: the Heritage Lottery Fund, the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Sammy Ofer Foundation, Greenwich Council, Greater London Authority, The Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Berry Brothers & Rudd, Michael Edwards, Alisher Usmanov.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark" whisky derives its name from the ship. An image of the clipper appears on the label, and the maker formerly sponsored the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race. The ship also inspired the name of the Saunders Roe Cutty Sark flying boat.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark" was ordered by ship-owner John Willis, who operated a shipping company founded by his father. The company had several ships in the tea trade from China to Britain. Speed was an advantage to vessels carrying a high value, seasonal product, such as tea. Faster ships could obtain higher rates of freight (the price paid to transport the cargo), and tea merchants would use the names of fast-sailing ships that had carried their products in their advertising. "Cutty Sark" was ordered during a boom in building tea clippers in the period 1865–69—something that was attributed to a substantial reduction in the import duties for tea. In 1868 the brand new Aberdeen built clipper "Thermopylae" set a record time of 61 days port to port on her maiden voyage from London to Melbourne and it was this design that Willis set out to better.


title: Cutty Sark

text: It is uncertain how the hull shape for "Cutty Sark" was chosen. Willis chose Hercules Linton to design and build the ship but Willis already possessed another ship, "The Tweed", which he considered to have exceptional performance. "The Tweed" (originally "Punjaub") was a frigate designed by Oliver Lang based on the lines of an old French frigate, built in Bombay for the East India Company as a combination sail/paddle steamer. She and a sister ship were purchased by Willis, who promptly sold the second ship plus engines from "The Tweed" for more than he paid for both. "The Tweed" was then lengthened and operated as a fast sailing vessel, but was considered too big for the tea runs. Willis also commissioned two all-iron clippers with designs based upon "The Tweed", "Hallowe'en" and "Blackadder". Linton was taken to view "The Tweed" in dry dock.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Willis considered that "The Tweed"s bow shape was responsible for its notable performance, and this form seems to have been adopted for "Cutty Sark". Linton, however, felt that the stern was too barrel shaped and so gave "Cutty Sark" a squarer stern with less tumblehome. The broader stern increased the buoyancy of the ship's stern, making it lift more in heavy seas so it was less likely that waves would break over the stern, and over the helmsman at the wheel. "Cutty Sark" was given masts that followed the design of "The Tweed", with similar good rake and the foremast on both placed further aft than usual.


title: Cutty Sark

text: A contract for "Cutty Sark's" construction was signed on 1 February 1869 with the firm of Scott & Linton, which had only been formed in May 1868. Their shipyard was at Dumbarton on the River Leven on a site previously occupied by shipbuilders William Denny & Brothers. The contract required the ship to be completed within six months at a contracted price of £17 per ton and maximum size of 950 tons. This was a highly competitive price for an experimental, state-of-the-art vessel, and for a customer requiring the highest standards. Payment would be made in seven instalments as the ship progressed, but with a penalty of £5 for every day the ship was late. The ship was to be built to Lloyd's A1 standard and her construction was supervised on behalf of Willis by Captain George Moodie, who would command her when completed. Construction delays occurred when the Lloyd's inspectors required additional strengthening in the ship.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Work on the ship was suspended when Scott and Linton ran out of money to continue. Rather than simply liquidate the company, an arrangement was made for Denny's to take over the contract and complete the ship, which was finally launched on 22 November 1869 by Captain Moodie's wife. The ship was moved to Denny's yard to have her masts fitted, and then on 20 December towed downriver to Greenock to have her running rigging installed. In the event, completing the ship meant the company's creditors were owed even more money than when work had first been halted.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark" has a registered length of , with a depth of hold of and a net tonnage of 921. The hull is one of the sharpest of all the tea clippers: she has a coefficient of under deck tonnage of 0.55, compared to "Thermopylae" at 0.58. "Cutty Sark"'s prismatic coefficient, another measure of hull sharpness, is 0.628; this allows comparison with US built clippers studied by Howard I. Chapelle. After water-line length, the prismatic coefficient is the next most important determinant of potential hull speed. Unladen, or with a cargo of low density, ballast was required for stability. For example, when she was loaded with wool, 200 tons of ballast was carried. The largest wool cargo she ever carried was 900 tons weight (the total of ballast and cargo of 1,100 is consistent with the estimated deadweight cargo capacity of 1,135 tons at 20 ft draught). The largest tea cargo carried was 615 tons weight. Conversely, a dense cargo allowed full use of the deadweight capacity: if loaded with coal, she would usually carry 1,100 tons.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Broadly, the parts of the ship visible above the waterline were constructed from East India teak, while American rock elm was used for the ship's bottom. The stem, , and sternpost, , were of teak while the rudder was of English oak. The keel was replaced in the 1920s with one constructed from pitch pine. The deck was made of thick teak while the 'tween deck was yellow pine. The keel, , had on either side a garboard strake, , and then planking decreasing to at 1/5 the depth of the hold. Teak planking began at approximately the level of the bilge stringer. The hull was covered by Muntz metal sheeting up to the depth mark, and all the external timbers were secured by Muntz metal bolts to the internal iron frame. The wrought-iron frame was an innovation first experimented with in shipbuilding in the 1840s, and was the standard building method for tea clippers by the middle of the 1860s. It consisted of frames (vertical), beams (horizontal) and cross bracing (diagonal members).


title: Cutty Sark

text: The diagonally-braced iron frame made for a strong, rigid ship; diagonal members prevent racking (shearing, where frame rectangles become parallelograms). Less and leaking of the hull meant less crew time spent pumping, allowing more time to be spent on changes of sail. The wrought-iron-framed hull also took up less cargo space than an all-wood hull would have done. The Muntz metal sheeting reduced fouling of "Cutty Sark"'s hull; with a cleaner hull, she could sail faster.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The maximum logged speed for "Cutty Sark" was . Her greatest recorded distance in noon to noon sights was averaging , although she recorded in six days, which given the weather over the whole period implied she had achieved over some days. By comparison, "Thermopylae"s best recorded 24-hour distance was . On another occasion she recorded in 11 days. "Cutty Sark" was considered to have the edge in a heavier wind, and "Thermopylae" in a lighter wind.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The ship was named after Cutty-sark, the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee in Robert Burns's 1791 poem "Tam o' Shanter". The ship's figurehead, the original of which has been attributed to carver Fredrick Hellyer of Blackwall, is a stark white carving of a bare-breasted Nannie Dee with long black hair holding a grey horse's tail in her hand. In the poem she wore a linen (Scots: a short chemise or undergarment), that she had been given as a child, which explains why it was "cutty", or in other words far too short. The erotic sight of her dancing in such a short undergarment caused Tam to cry out "Weel done, Cutty-sark", which subsequently became a well known catchphrase. Originally, carvings by Hellyer of the other scantily clad witches followed behind the figurehead along the bow, but these were removed by Willis in deference to 'good taste'. Tam o' Shanter riding "Meg" was to be seen along the ship's quarter. The motto ""Where theres a will is a way"" was inscribed along the taffrail, with variable spaces enabling also the reading "Where there(')s a Willis away". "The Tweed", which acted as a model for much of the ship which followed her, had a figurehead depicting Tam o' Shanter.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark" was destined for the tea trade, a seasonal trade of a high value cargo from China to London. Though the "premium" or bonus paid to the ship that arrived with the first tea of the year was abandoned after the Great Tea Race of 1866, faster ships could usually obtain a higher price for transporting their cargoes than others. Her first roundtrip voyage under captain George Moodie began 16 February 1870 from London with a cargo of wine, spirits and beer bound for Shanghai. The return journey, carrying 1,305,812 lbs (592 306 kg) of tea from Shanghai, began 25 June, arriving 13 October in London via the Cape of Good Hope.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark"s launch coincided with the opening of the Suez Canal to shipping. Her first trip encountered significant competition with steamships. The route from the Far East to London (and many other European ports) through the Suez Canal was shorter by about , compared to sailing round the Cape of Good Hope. The route round Africa is in excess of . Typically a clipper might log significantly more than that by planning her route for favourable winds. Whilst it was possible for a sailing vessel to take a tug through the canal, this was difficult and expensive. Furthermore, sailing conditions in the northern Red Sea were unsuited to the design of a tea clipper, so they still had to sail around Africa. The ability of a steamer to make, for example, continuously, versus the fastest clipper voyage averaging under over a longer distance, gave steamships not only a more predictable voyage time, but a substantially quicker one.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Less obviously, steamship design had taken a large step forward in 1866 with "Agamemnon", using higher boiler pressure and a compound engine, so obtaining a large improvement in fuel efficiency. Ships of this type could compete with clippers before the Suez Canal opened.


title: Cutty Sark

text: When the tea clippers arrived in China in 1870, they found a big increase in the number of steamers, which were in high demand. The rate of freight to London that was given to steamers was nearly twice that paid to the sailing ships. Additionally, the insurance premium for a cargo of tea in a steamer was substantially less than for a sailing vessel. So successful were the steamers using the Suez Canal that, in 1871, 45 were built in Clyde shipyards alone for Far Eastern trade.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The numbers of tea clippers sailing to China each year steadily reduced, with many ships being sold and moving to general cargo work. Costs were kept to a minimum and rigs were often reduced to barque so that a smaller crew was needed.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark"s well known race against "Thermopylae" took place in 1872, the two ships leaving Shanghai together on 18 June. Both ships were of similar size: length, beam and depths were within of each other. The "Thermopylae" had a slightly larger capacity: 991 compared to 963 (GRT) or 948 compared to 921 (net). Two weeks later "Cutty Sark" had built up a lead of some , but then lost her rudder in a heavy gale after passing through the Sunda Strait. John Willis's brother was on board the ship and ordered Moodie to put into Cape Town for repairs. Moodie refused, and instead the ship's carpenter Henry Henderson constructed a new rudder from spare timbers and iron. This took six days, working in gales and heavy seas which meant the men were tossed about as they worked and the brazier used to heat the metal for working was spilled out, burning the captain's son. The ship finally arrived in London on 18 October a week after "Thermopylae", a total passage of 122 days. The captain and crew were commended for their performance and Henderson received a £50 bonus for his work. This was the closest "Cutty Sark" came to being first ship home but it was Moodie's last trip as her captain before he transferred to steamships. He was replaced by Captain F. W. Moore.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Moore remained captain only for one round trip to China, taking 117 days for the return trip. This was 14 days longer than "Thermopylae" and 27 days longer than achieved by the iron ship "Hallowe'en" a few months later. Captain W. E. Tiptaft assumed command in 1873 achieving 118 days on his first return trip, but after the ship had to travel up the Yangtze River in search of a cargo. Steamships were now taking most of the tea. The following year the return journey took 122 days. In November 1877 the ship was anchored off Deal in the English Channel along with sixty other vessels, waiting out a great storm. The anchor failed to hold and "Cutty Sark" was blown through the ships, damaging two others before grounding on a mud bank. Fortunately she was pulled clear by the tug "Macgregor" before too much damage was caused and she was towed to the Thames for repairs.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In December 1877 the ship sailed from London to Sydney, where she took on coal for Shanghai, arriving there in April. However, the ship was unable to find any cargo of tea for a return trip to London—the days of the tea race were over. The master, Captain Tiptaft, died in October while still in Shanghai and was replaced by the first mate, James Wallace. The ship now had to take different cargoes around the world, including coal, jute, castor oil and tea to Australia.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In 1880 yards were shortened and the stun'sails removed. Also in 1880 an incident occurred on board during which the First Mate Sidney Smith killed seaman John Francis. Smith was allowed to leave the ship at Anjer by Captain Wallace, causing the crew to cease work in protest. Wallace continued the voyage with six apprentices and four tradesmen but became becalmed in the Java Sea for three days. In desperation as matters moved from bad to worse, he committed suicide by jumping overboard and disappeared. He was replaced as Master by William Bruce, who proved to be a drunken incompetent who claimed pay for non-existent crewmen and managed to set sail with inadequate provisions, resulting in the crew starving. An inquiry in New York in April 1882 resulted in the captain and mate being suspended and replaced by Captain Moore, previously of "Blackadder".


title: Cutty Sark

text: In December 1883, "Cutty Sark" departed Newcastle, New South Wales with 4,289 bales of wool and 12 casks of tallow, arriving in London in just 83 days. This was 25 days faster than her nearest rival that year and heralded the start of a new career taking Australian wool to Britain in time for the January wool sales.


title: Cutty Sark

text: From 1885 to 1893, "Cutty Sark" was run between England and New South Wales under the agency of the Sydney based Dangar, Gedye & Co. In 1885 Richard Woodget was appointed captain on a salary of £186 per year (£23,729.80 in 2019 when adjusted for inflation) and continued to improve on the fastest trip record, achieving 77 days on his first outward trip and 73 days returning to Britain from Australia. He achieved this by taking a more southerly route than previously, to catch the strongest winds in the Roaring Forties despite having to face icebergs, gales and storms whipped up by the winds he sought. "Cutty Sark" was the fastest ship on the wool trade for ten years. In July 1889 the log of the modern passenger steamship recorded that when steaming at 15–16 knots she was overtaken in the night by a sailing ship doing 17 knots, which proved to be "Cutty Sark".


title: Cutty Sark

text: Eventually steamships began to dominate the wool trade too and it ceased to be profitable for a sailing ship. In 1895 Jock Willis sold "Cutty Sark" to the Portuguese firm Joaquim Antunes Ferreira for £1,250. She was renamed "Ferreira" after the firm. Her crews referred to her as "Pequena Camisola" ("little shirt", a straight translation of the Scots "cutty sark").


title: Cutty Sark

text: The ship traded various cargoes between Portugal, Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, Mozambique, Angola, and Britain. In May 1916 she was dismasted off the Cape of Good Hope because of the rolling of the ship in bad weather and had to be towed into Table Bay off Cape Town. Because of World War I, it was impossible to obtain suitable materials to replace the masts so she was re-rigged over 18 months to a barquentine sail arrangement.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In 1922 "Ferreira" was the last clipper operating anywhere in the world. Caught in a storm in the English Channel she put into Falmouth harbour where she was spotted by retired merchant navy captain Wilfred Dowman of Flushing, Cornwall, who was then operating the training ship "Lady of Avenel". The ship returned to Lisbon, where she was sold to new owners and renamed "Maria do Amparo" (Mary of the Refuge, a name associated with the devotion of Our Lady of the Refuge; in Portuguese, ""Nossa Senhora do Amparo"").


title: Cutty Sark

text: Dowman persevered in his determination to buy the ship, which he did for £3,750 and she was returned to Falmouth harbour. The purchase was made with the support of Dowman's wife, artist Catharine Dowman (), heiress daughter of Sydney Courtauld, crepe and silk manufacturer.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The rigging was restored to an approximation of the original arrangement and the ship was used as a cadet training ship. In 1924 she was used as committee boat for the regatta week in Fowey during that years regatta week as recalled to me by Mr. Arthur (Toby) West. As a historic survivor, the ship was opened to the public and visitors would be rowed out to inspect her. Dowman died in 1936 and the ship was given by Catharine Dowman, his widow, along with £5000 for maintenance, to the Incorporated Thames Nautical Training College, HMS "Worcester" at Greenhithe. She was towed to Greenhithe by tug. The ship was crewed by cadets, 15-year-old Robert Wyld steering the ship during the voyage.


title: Cutty Sark

text: At Greenhithe "Cutty Sark" acted as an auxiliary vessel to for sail training drill, but by 1950 she had become surplus to requirements. From February to October 1951 she was temporarily moved first for a refit and then to take part in the Festival of Britain at Deptford. On 30 January 1952, the 800-ton tanker collided with "Cutty Sark"s bow in the Thames. The two ships were locked together after the collision which forced "Cutty Sark"s jibboom into "Worcester"s forecastle rails, snapping the boom before scraping along "Worcester"s starboard side. "Cutty Sark"s figurehead lost an arm in the process. Worcester was a condemned hulk, sunk at her moorings at the time, photographs showing her lying on her starboard side with her starboard side near the shore. "Cutty Sark" was anchored and towed to the Shadwell Basin where repairs were carried out by Green & Silley Weir Ltd. The damaged arm was recovered at Grays Thurrock and the figurehead was repaired.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In 1953 "Cutty Sark" was given to the Cutty Sark Preservation Society and in 1954 she was moved to a custom-built dry dock at Greenwich. She was stripped of upper masts, yards, deck-houses and ballast to lighten her before being towed from the East India Import Dock to the special dry dock at Greenwich. The skipper on this occasion was 83-year-old Captain C.E. Irving, who had sailed the world three times in her before he was 17. The river pilot was Ernest Coe. Thereafter the entrance tunnel to the dry dock was filled in, the river wall rebuilt and the work of re-rigging began. The foundation stone of the dry dock was laid by The Duke of Edinburgh, patron of the Cutty Sark Preservation Society, in June 1953. The restoration, re-rigging and preparation for public exhibition was estimated to cost £250,000.


title: Cutty Sark

text: "Cutty Sark" was preserved as a museum ship, and has since become a popular tourist attraction, and part of the National Historic Fleet. She is located near the centre of Greenwich, in south-east London, close aboard the National Maritime Museum, the former Greenwich Hospital, and Greenwich Park. She is also a prominent landmark on the route of the London Marathon. She usually flies signal flags from her ensign halyard reading "JKWS", which is the code representing "Cutty Sark" in the International Code of Signals, introduced in 1857.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The ship is in the care of the Cutty Sark Trust, whose president, the Duke of Edinburgh, was instrumental in ensuring her preservation, when he set up the Cutty Sark Society in 1951. The Trust replaced the Society in 2000. She is a Grade I listed monument and was on the Buildings At Risk Register following the 2007 fire. The gallery beneath the ship holds the world's largest collection of ships' figureheads, donated to the Society by Sydney Cumbers in 1953.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Cutty Sark station on the Docklands Light Railway is one minute's walk away, with connections to central London and the London Underground. Greenwich Pier is next to the ship, and is served by scheduled river boats from piers in central London. A tourist information office stands to the east of the ship.


title: Cutty Sark

text: By the early 2000s, there were serious concerns about corrosion of the iron internal structure, and the hull was also becoming distorted because more weight was being carried on the keel than if the ship was afloat, when it would be evenly supported over the whole area below the waterline. An extensive conservation project was planned to overcome this, including repair and anti-corrosion painting of the framework and the addition of some additional steel ribs to add strength, and a new method of supporting the ship.


title: Cutty Sark

text: On the morning of 21 May 2007, "Cutty Sark", which had been closed and partly dismantled for conservation work, caught fire, and burned for several hours before the London Fire Brigade could bring the fire under control. Initial reports indicated that the damage was extensive, with most of the wooden structure in the centre having been lost.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In an interview the next day, Richard Doughty, the chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, revealed that at least half of the "fabric" (timbers, etc.) of the ship had not been on site as it had been removed during the preservation work. Doughty stated that the trust was most worried about the state of iron framework to which the fabric was attached. He did not know how much more the ship would cost to restore, but estimated it at an additional £5–10 million, bringing the total cost of the ship's restoration to £30–35 million.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In initial investigations, the possibility was covered that the fire might have been started deliberately. The fire was later found to have most likely been caused by an industrial vacuum cleaner which had been left running over the weekend, compounded by the absence of the overnight fire watchers.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In a second incident on the morning of 19 October 2014, another fire broke out on the deck of the "Cutty Sark". A small part of deck three and the hull timbers were damaged in the blaze. The London Fire Brigade managed to contain the blaze within an hour and she was reopened to the public shortly after.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Aerial video footage showed extensive damage, but seemed to indicate that the ship had not been destroyed in her entirety by the 2007 fire. A fire officer present at the scene said in a BBC interview that when they arrived, there had been "a well-developed fire throughout the ship". The bow section looked to be relatively unscathed and the stern also appeared to have survived without major damage; the fire seemed to have been concentrated in the centre of the ship. The chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises said after inspecting the site: "The decks are unsalvageable but around 50% of the planking had already been removed; however, the damage is not as bad as originally expected."


title: Cutty Sark

text: As part of the restoration work planned before the fire, it was proposed that the ship be raised , to allow the construction of a state-of-the-art museum space beneath. This would allow visitors to view her from below.


title: Cutty Sark

text: There was criticism of the policies of the Cutty Sark Trust and its stance that the most important thing was to preserve as much as possible of the original fabric. Proponents of making her fit to go to sea advocated that the fire repairs be done in such a manner to enable her to do so.


title: Cutty Sark

text: However, the state of the timbers, especially the keel, and the fact that a hole had been cut through the hull in the 1950s for an access door, made this difficult. The Cutty Sark Trust said that less than five percent of the original fabric was lost in the fire, as the decks which were destroyed were additions not present at the original building.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The restoration work was criticised by The Victorian Society saying that the needs of the corporate hospitality market were put ahead of the preservation of the historic fabric of the ship. "Building Design" magazine awarded the project its Carbuncle Cup for the worst new building completed in 2012 saying "The scheme's myriad failings stem from one calamitous choice: the decision to hoick the 144-year-old clipper close to three metres into the air on canted steel props."


title: Cutty Sark

text: The design for the renovation project by Grimshaw architects with, during design development stage, newly established Youmeheshe architects and Buro Happold engineers involved raising the ship out of her dry berth using a Kevlar web, allowing visitors to pass under the hull to view it. Unfortunately it was discovered that the proposed web would not follow the reverse curves of the ship's hull which would effectively mask the hull's shape from view. An alternate design for the support of the ship had to be developed; this involved installing a deep steel belt around the hull tied by diagonal steel members passing through the hold to a new steel-reinforced keel. Horizontal tubular steel struts passing through the hold brace the diagonals apart while many of the corroded original hull frames have been doubled.


title: Cutty Sark

text: A new steelwork lower deck of contemporary design incorporating an amphitheatre feature was installed in the main hold while a glass-encased lift installed within the ship terminates in a new steel-and-glass housing structure on the weather deck. A second new steel-and-glass box has been installed above the forehold to enclose a new staircase. Access to the ship is through a new opening cut through the hull below the waterline in the ship's starboard quarter. The new access hole has required the addition of new steel framing. Visitors arriving on board the ship now do so via this entrance, which leads to the lower hold. Maldwin Drummond, Chairman of the Cutty Sark Trust, has explained in "Classic Boat" magazine's September 2010 issue the need to retain the spirit of the ship and he quotes the ideal that "The visitor should see the ship as though for some unexplained reason the crew had gone ashore". Doubts over the wisdom of Grimshaw's proposals have been raised by many ship conservationists including the Cutty Sark Trust's own engineer Peter Mason.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The project was costed at £25 million when it commenced in 2006 with £11.75 million of this total being provided by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Oscar-winning film producer Jerry Bruckheimer aided in the repair and restoration of "Cutty Sark". A collection of photos taken by Bruckheimer went on display in London in November 2007 to help raise money for the Cutty Sark Conservation Project. The exhibition featured more than thirty pictures taken on set during the filming of "".


title: Cutty Sark

text: In January 2008, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the Cutty Sark Trust another £10 million towards the restoration of the ship, meaning that the Trust had now achieved £30 million of the £35 million needed for the completion of the project. In June 2008, Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer donated the outstanding £3.3 million needed to fully restore the ship although by January 2009 the "London Evening Standard" reported that the cost had risen further to £40 million creating a new shortfall.


title: Cutty Sark

text: In February 2010, "The Daily Telegraph" reported the project cost had risen to £46 million with public money now being made available by London Borough of Greenwich to fill the funding gap.


title: Cutty Sark

text: On 30 September 2008, the London Fire Brigade announced the conclusion of the investigation into the fire at a press conference at New Scotland Yard. The painstaking investigation was conducted by the Fire Brigade, along with London's Metropolitan Police Service, Forensic Science Services, and electrical examination experts Dr. Burgoyne's & Partners. They said that the most likely cause was the failure of an industrial vacuum cleaner that may have been left switched on over the weekend before the fire started. The report revealed no evidence that the ship was subjected to arson attack and concluded that the fire started accidentally.


title: Cutty Sark

text: Physical evidence and CCTV footage of the fire showed that it probably started towards the stern of the ship on the lower deck. All electrical equipment on board was examined and it was determined that an industrial vacuum cleaner in this area was normally running continuously to suck up dust and particles from work going on to break up concrete within the ship. No one working on the ship had responsibility to ensure all equipment was turned off at the end of each day, and no one recalled switching off the equipment on the Friday in question. The vacuum cleaner has three motors inside and after the fire one was found to be burned out in a manner which suggested it had failed while operating. This was not conclusive evidence, however, because the motor might previously have failed in service without causing a fire, and gone unnoticed because the other two motors had continued to function. Tests on similar cleaners showed they had no thermal cutout devices and while they could run safely indefinitely if filters inside were clear, if the airflow through the cleaner was blocked then it would eventually overheat and could catch fire. This might occur if the cleaner were full of dust and debris. The cleaner had failed previously and two motors had been replaced.


title: Cutty Sark

text: On the basis of witness evidence, the joint investigation team considered it unlikely that the fire was caused by the hot work (welding) that was being carried out as part of the renovation or by carelessly discarded smokers' materials. No one had visited this part of the ship since work stopped on Friday evening, and it was considered unlikely that a fire could have smouldered all weekend before finally breaking out Monday morning. However, it was discovered that although all hot work was supposed to be recorded and someone was supposed to check afterwards to ensure of no fires, there was no record that such checks had ever been made, and on at least one occasion hot work had been conducted with no records made.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The ship was patrolled by two security guards, both of whom were supposed to patrol independently at least once an hour, or once every two hours later in the night, one being primarily responsible for the visitor pavilion and one for the dock. The guards were required to keep a log of their patrols, but after the fire the relevant page was found to be missing from the book. It was later found, already filled in reporting uneventful patrols of the site up to 7 am when the guards would have gone off duty. The alarm was raised when one of the guards called the fire brigade; before this the two reported that they had smelled burning plastic and had been investigating to try to determine its source.


title: Cutty Sark

text: A carpenter had visited the site on Sunday to collect some tools, but after 20 minutes attempting to contact a security guard to let him in, had climbed the fence, collected his tools and climbed out again. The carpenter reported that he had heard machinery operating towards the stern of the ship, but it was not clear whether this might have been the site diesel generator which ran at all times.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The ship was fitted with a temporary fire alarm system but it was unclear whether this had operated. A separate alarm within the pavilion did sound when smoke and heat reached that area, but the guards reported no ringing alarm before the fire was seen. Investigation afterwards discovered a faulty relay in the alarm panel which failed to switch power to the siren circuits when an alarm was triggered. However, the panel also contained a failed fuse in one siren circuit which suggested that the siren had activated but the fire shorted it out, and this might have also caused the relay to fail. The failed relay would have shut off power to the second siren circuit. Statements from workers suggested that weekly tests of the alarm system had not been carried out.


title: Cutty Sark

text: The original mast specifications as laid down by the ship's designer still exist and are listed below as "tea rig". This arrangement was used during the ship's time on the tea trade route, where it was necessary to maximise the area of sail to get the greatest possible propulsion when the ship might be becalmed in the doldrums. For the route to Australia it was not necessary to carry such a large area of sail and the masts and yards were reduced. The tradewinds required great strength in masts, but the wind could best be captured by relatively small, high sails. A smaller rig also represented a saving in maintenance costs. Each of the three masts (fore, main and mizzen) is in three overlapping sections.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Bridget Jones's Baby is a 2016 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire and written by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Emma Thompson, based on the fictional columns by Fielding. It is the third film in the franchise and a sequel to the 2004 film "". The film once again stars Renée Zellweger as the lovable singleton Bridget Jones, who is shocked when she finds out she is pregnant. However, it's a bumpy road to the birth as Bridget must deduce which of her two recent loves is the father, reserved lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth, also reprising his role) or charming mathematician Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey), all while trying to hide one from the other. The film marked Zellweger's return to the screen after a six-year hiatus.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Filming began on 2 October 2015 in London. The film was released theatrically on 16 September 2016 in the United Kingdom and United States and on 5 October in France. A critical and commercial success, the film received generally positive reviews and grossed over $211 million worldwide on a budget of $35 million. A sequel is in development.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: On her forty-third birthday, Bridget Jones attends the memorial of her ex, Daniel Cleaver, presumed dead after a plane crash. She sees her other ex, Mark Darcy, with his wife Camilla.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Bridget now works as a television producer and is close friends with coworker Miranda. After spending the night of her birthday alone, Bridget decides to embrace single life, accepting Miranda's offer to go to a music festival where she meets Jack, a handsome man, after she falls into some mud. Later that evening a drunk Bridget crawls into his yurt, thinking it's hers and Miranda's. He invites her to stay and they have a one-night stand. In the morning, waking alone, Bridget leaves, unaware Jack is out getting breakfast for them both.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Returning home, Bridget goes to her friend Jude's new baby's christening, where she is the godmother and Mark has been asked to be the godfather at the last minute. He tells her he and his wife are divorcing and Camilla was only at the funeral for moral support. Realising they are still in love, Bridget and Mark spend the night together. Mark is travelling for work early the next day, so Bridget exits before he wakes up, leaving a note telling him that she fears reconnecting will repeat their past mistakes.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Weeks later, Bridget discovers she is pregnant. She decides she wants to keep the baby despite being single. After a visit to the clinic of Dr. Rawlings, she realises the father could be Mark or Jack. She is unable to contact Jack until Miranda spots him in a TV ad and discovers he is Jack Qwant, a billionaire mathematician, creator of a dating website.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Miranda and Bridget conspire to have Jack as a guest on their news show to get DNA samples to work out if Jack is the father. Although Bridget tries to stay incognito, he recognises her and asks her why she left after their night together. She apologises, blurting out that she is pregnant, implying he is the father, without mentioning Mark. Initially taken aback, Jack later throws himself into the role of father. Bridget also tells Mark the news; he is so thrilled at the prospect that she cannot bear to tell him about Jack. Dr. Rawlings tries to administer an amniocentesis DNA test, but Bridget decides not to go ahead with it while her child is still in the womb as she fears the risk of miscarriage.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Bridget invites Jack to a work event, and is startled when Mark shows up as well. They meet, and the three go out to dinner, where Bridget finally admits that she is unsure who the father is. Although disappointed, Jack takes the news well, but Mark is upset and walks out, though he eventually becomes supportive as well. Mark and Jack eventually become jealous of each other’s bond with Bridget and try to one up each other.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: They pretend to be in a gay relationship to avoid embarrassment when the trio attend prenatal classes, which irritates Mark. He becomes increasingly more envious of Bridget and Jack's close relationship and is devastated when Jack lets Mark believe he and Bridget had sex without condoms, making it more likely for Jack to be the father. Mark leaves, ignoring Bridget's calls. Jack asks her to move in with him, but he eventually confesses to Bridget what he told Mark. Upset, Bridget rushes to tell Mark, but seeing his wife arriving at his house, she walks away.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Nine months into her pregnancy, Bridget finds herself locked out in the rain. Mark arrives and breaks into the flat for her. He tells her his wife was at the flat to pick up the last of her things. Just as they are about to kiss, her water breaks. When his mobile rings, Mark romantically throws it out the window, leaving them without a means to call help. They eventually make it to the hospital with some help from Gianni and Jack. Later Jack apologises to Mark for his behaviour. Bridget gives birth to a healthy baby boy, and her friends and parents come to visit them. Dr. Rawlings takes Mark and Jack away to perform the DNA test, and they genuinely wish each other luck.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: A year later, Bridget marries Mark, and it is revealed he is the baby's father. Jack is a guest, showing no sign of resentment or jealousy, happily playing with Bridget and Mark's son William. Bridget expresses her contentment that everything worked out. The film ends with a newspaper headline revealing Daniel Cleaver has been found alive.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: In July 2009, "Variety" announced that a third "Bridget Jones" film was in the early stages of development. Working Title Films confirmed that it would not be based on Helen Fielding's third "Bridget Jones" novel, but instead would be based on the columns she wrote for "The Independent" in 2005.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: On 1 March 2011, it was reported that both Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth were interested in reprising their roles. In July 2011, Paul Feig was in final talks to direct the film based on the script by author Fielding. On 11 August 2011, Universal Studios and Working Title greenlit the third film. On 4 October 2011, "Deadline" reported that Feig had exited the project due to creative differences with Working Title, and Feig had also worked on the recent draft of the script. Production was slated to begin in January 2012 with the returning cast including Zellweger, Firth, and Hugh Grant. On 30 November 2011, Peter Cattaneo came on board to direct the sequel, newly titled ""Bridget Jones's Baby"" from a script by Fielding, Feig, and David Nicholls. Producers on board were Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title, along with Jonathan Cavendish of Little Bird. The production was delayed due to creative differences between the script of the film and actors, especially Grant as he reportedly disliked the script and left the project, though this was denied by producer Bevan. However, the producer confirmed that they were working on the script and the film would be made as planned.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: In April 2013, Firth spoke to the "Chicago Sun-Times", stating "unfortunately, it might be a bit of a long wait", and he said he "wouldn't say that it's completely dead in the water, but the way it's going, you might be seeing Bridget Jones's granddaughter's story being told by the time we get there."


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: In an interview on 10 October 2014, Grant mentioned an existing script for a sequel, though he also expressed his dislike for it, and stated that he would not star in the third film. Later in the next week, producers hired Emma Thompson to rewrite the original script written by Fielding and Nicholls.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent were in talks to return for the third film to join the cast. On 9 September 2015, Patrick Dempsey joined the cast of the film.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Filming for a short period began in July 2015 in Dublin, where the first scenes for the film were shot at Ed Sheeran's concert at Croke Park. Official principal photography with the actual cast began on 2 October 2015 in London.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: The Television Studio interior scenes, the Hospital Ward interiors and various other scenes were shot on Stages 5 and 6 at West London Film Studios.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: On 13 October 2015, shooting was taking place at Borough Market, and later in October in Windsor Great Park, at Rosy Bottom.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: On 23 March the first trailer was released. Like the previous two films, the movie received an R rating in the United States.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Zellweger's physical appearance in the trailer for the film rekindled a debate about the possibility that Zellweger had plastic surgery, which began in 2014 when she re-emerged from a long hiatus. An editorial focused on the trailer for the film by "Variety" critic Owen Gleiberman titled "Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?" prompted a response from Zellweger, who called the scrutiny over her appearance "sexist" and attributing her difference in appearance solely to "ageing," and wrote an open essay explaining her response in the weeks before the film's release.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: "Bridget Jones's Baby" grossed $212 million worldwide, including $24.1 million in the United States and Canada and $60 million in the United Kingdom, against a budget of $35 million.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: The film was released in North America on 16 September 2016 and was projected to gross $12–16 million in its opening weekend from 2,927 theaters. It made $364,000 from its Thursday night previews and $3 million on its first day. In total, the film made $8.2 million in its opening weekend, falling below projections and scoring the lowest opening of the series.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: Internationally, where Universal Pictures handled most of the releases, the film fared better and especially in the UK where the previous two installments registered the biggest grossers. It debuted day-and-date in conjuncture with its North American release in 41 countries, including big markets like the UK and Ireland, Russia, Australia, Mexico and Spain in its opening weekend. The film will be released in a total of 62 countries. It scored the biggest opening day in the franchise in the UK, the Netherlands and Latin America including Mexico, Panama and Peru, and had number-one opening days in the UK, Australia, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and Ukraine. Through Sunday, 18 September, it had an opening weekend of $29.9 million from 39 markets and debuted at number one in 24 of them. It was in second place at the box office, behind "A Chinese Odyssey Part Three". It topped the international box office in its second weekend, earning $21.9 million from 47 markets. It recorded the biggest debut in the franchise and had number-one openings in certain markets like Australia ($4.2 million), the Netherlands ($1.9 million), Spain ($1.7 million), Iceland and New Zealand and bowed at second place in France ($3.7 million) and Russia ($1.4 million).


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: In the United Kingdom and Ireland – the biggest market for the first two films – the film opened on Friday, 16 September, and recorded the biggest comedy/romantic comedy opening day ever, as well as the biggest Working Title and September opening of all time with $4 million at 641 theaters. It went on to score a record breaking £8.11 million ($10.5 million) opening and dominated 57% of the total market share which is the biggest romantic comedy opening weekend ever in the UK; the biggest opening weekend ever for Working Title; and the biggest September launch weekend of all time. Excluding previews, the film has the seventh biggest debut of the year. The film fell just 20% in its second weekend to £6.4 million ($8.3 million) and continued to lead the box office for the third consecutive weekend, despite the influx of a row of competitions. After three straight wins, it was surpassed by "The Girl on the Train" in its fourth weekend. It broke a number of records including the fastest romantic comedy to earn £30 million, doing so on its seventeenth day (the first film took 31 days and the second film took 24 days). It has so far grossed a total of $54 million there becoming the biggest market outside of North America like its predecessors. Adjusted for inflation it is the lowest-grossing film behind both the films (£73.1 million and £57.8 million respectively).


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: After 31 days of playing in theaters, the film became the biggest film in the franchise in the United Kingdom with £42.24 million, surpassing the first film's final gross of £42 million. It currently sits as the third biggest film of 2016 behind "Finding Dory" (£42.25 million) and "The Jungle Book" (£46.1 million). In Netherlands, it is the highest-grossing Working Title picture of all time with $8.1 million — passing "Notting Hill" (1999), which held the record for 17 years.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: "Bridget Jones's Baby" received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 78%, based on 209 reviews, with an average rating of 6.33/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Bridget Jones's Baby" might be late on arrival, but fans of the series should still find its third installment a bouncing bundle of joy." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a score 59 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Bridget Jones's Baby

text: In October 2022, Fielding told the "Radio Times" that a sequel was in the works and would loosely adapt her 2013 novel "Mad About the Boy".


title: Young Global Leaders

text: Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government.


title: Young Global Leaders

text: The program was founded by Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum in 1993 under the name “Global Leaders for Tomorrow” and was renamed to Young Global Leaders in 2004.


title: Young Global Leaders

text: Schwab created the group with $1 million won from the Dan David Prize, and the inaugural 2005 class comprised 237 young leaders.


title: Young Global Leaders

text: "BusinessWeek"'s Bruce Nussbaum describes the Young Global Leaders as "the most exclusive private social network in the world", while the organization itself describes the selected leaders as representing "the voice for the future and the hopes of the next generation".


title: Young Global Leaders

text: Representing 70 different nations, Young Global Leaders are nominated by alumni to serve six-year terms and are subject to veto during the selection process. Candidates must be younger than 38 years old at the time of acceptance (meaning active YGLs are 44 and younger), and highly accomplished in their fields. Over the years, there have been many hundreds of honorees, including several popular celebrities, alongside recognized high achievers and innovators in politics, business, academia, media, and the arts.


title: Young Global Leaders

text: Michelle Rempel, a Canadian Conservative politician, says she found out she had been selected as a Young Global Leader in 2016 with an email that she thought was a spam, and described a 2017 meeting as "no different in feel from an academic conference, if a bit more global in nature and with more high-profile politicians and CEOs in attendance."


title: Young Global Leaders

text: In 2007, Young Global Leaders initiated a program called Table for Two and aimed at preventing both malnutrition in developing countries and obesity in developed ones.


title: Young Global Leaders

text: In 2010, Young Global Leader Wikipedia and Wikia founder Jimmy Wales and Operation HOPE founder John Hope Bryant (another Young Global Leader) joined Karim Hajj, president of the Casablanca Stock Exchange, to form the Wikia-Operation HOPE Global Money Initiative, which translated a curriculum of personal financial empowerment into local North African dialects of French and Arabic.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes from "Belle et Sébastien", a 1965 children's book by French writer Cécile Aubry later adapted for television. Though consistently lauded by critics, Belle & Sebastian's "wistful pop" has enjoyed only limited commercial success.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In 1994, Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David both enrolled at Stow College's Beatbox programme for unemployed musicians in Glasgow. Together, with music professor Alan Rankine (formerly of The Associates), they recorded some demos, which in 1996 were picked up by the college's Music Business course that produces and releases one single each year on the college's label, Electric Honey. As Murdoch had a number of songs already and the label was extremely impressed with the demos, he was granted permission to record a full-length album, which was recorded mostly live over three days, entitled "Tigermilk".


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: Murdoch and David recruited local musicians Stevie Jackson (guitar and vocals), Isobel Campbell (cello/vocals), Chris Geddes (keys) and Richard Colburn (drums) to perform on the album, with Murdoch describing the process as a "product of botched capitalism". The band chose the name Belle and Sebastian from a short story Murdoch had written inspired by the television adaptation of the French novel "Belle et Sébastien" about a six-year-old boy and his dog, named Belle, a Great Pyrenees.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In June 1996, Electric Honey pressed up one thousand copies of "Tigermilk" on vinyl. As of 2007, these original copies were valued up to £400. The warm reception the album received led to the band being signed to Jeepster Records in August 1996 and "If You're Feeling Sinister", their second album, was released on 18 November. The album was named by "Spin" as one of the 100 greatest albums between 1985 and 2005, and it is widely considered the band's masterpiece. Just before the recording of "Sinister", Sarah Martin (violin/vocals) joined the band.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: Following this a series of EPs were released throughout 1997. The first of these was "Dog on Wheels", released in May and consisting of four demo tracks recorded prior to the real formation of the band. In fact, the only long-term band members to play on the songs were Murdoch, David, and Mick Cooke, who played trumpet on the EP but would not officially join the band until a few years later. It charted at No. 59 in the UK singles chart. The "Lazy Line Painter Jane" EP followed in July. The track was recorded in the church where Murdoch lived and features vocals from Monica Queen. The EP narrowly missed out on the UK top 40, peaking at No. 41. The last of the EPs was October's "3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light". The EP was made Single of the Week in both the "NME" and "Melody Maker" and reached No. 32 in the charts, thus becoming the band's first top 40 single.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: Despite the band's growing popularity, during this period they kept a low profile at the insistence of Murdoch, who was still regaining his strength following years struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome. The band played gigs sporadically, rarely gave interviews, and refused to appear in publicity photographs, often getting friends and acquaintances to pose instead. The relative reclusiveness helped to create an air of mystique around them.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: The band released their third LP, "The Boy with the Arab Strap" in 1998, and it reached No. 12 in the UK charts. "Arab Strap" garnered an NPR interview and positive reviews from "Rolling Stone" and the "Village Voice," among others; however, the album has its detractors, including "Pitchfork", who gave the album a particularly poor review, calling it a "parody" of their earlier work (Pitchfork has since removed the review from their website and re-reviewed the album positively in 2018). During the recording of the album, long-time studio trumpet-player Mick Cooke was asked to join the band as a full member. The "This Is Just a Modern Rock Song" EP followed later that year.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In 1999, the band was awarded with Best Newcomer (for their third album) at the BRIT Awards, upsetting better-known acts such as Steps and 5ive. That same year, the band hosted their own festival, the Bowlie Weekender. "Tigermilk" was also given a full release by Jeepster before the band started work on their next LP. The result was "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant", which became the band's first top 10 album in the UK, though critics felt that the band were starting to stagnate. A stand-alone single, "Legal Man", reached No. 15 and gave them their first appearance on Top of the Pops.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: As the band's popularity and recognition was growing worldwide, their music began appearing in films and on television. The 2000 film "High Fidelity" mentions the band (with Jack Black's character referring to them as "old sad bastard music" and disdaining their soft style) and features a clip from the song "Seymour Stein" from "The Boy with the Arab Strap". Also, the title track from "Arab Strap" was played over the end credits of the UK television series "Teachers," and the lyric "Colour my life with the chaos of trouble" from the song was quoted by one of the characters in the 2009 film "(500) Days of Summer".


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: Stuart David soon left the band to concentrate on his side project, Looper, and his book writing, which included his "The Idle Thoughts of a Daydreamer". He was replaced by Bobby Kildea of V-Twin. The "Jonathan David" single, sung by Stevie Jackson, was released in June 2001 and was followed by "I'm Waking Up to Us" in November, which saw the band use an outside producer (Mike Hurst) for the first time. Most of 2002 was spent touring and recording a soundtrack album, "Storytelling" (for "Storytelling" by Todd Solondz). Campbell left the band in the spring of 2002, in the middle of the band's North American tour to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves, and later under her own name. She later collaborated with singer Mark Lanegan on three albums.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: The band left Jeepster in 2002, signing a four-album deal with Rough Trade Records. Their first album for Rough Trade, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress", was released in 2003 and was produced by Trevor Horn. The album showed a markedly more "produced" sound compared to their first four LPs, as the band was making a concerted effort to produce more "radio-friendly" music. At this point, the band began to engage more with the press and started appearing in publicity shots. The album was warmly received and is credited with restoring the band's "indie cred". The album also marked the return of Murdoch as the group's primary songwriter, following the poorly received "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant" and "Storytelling", both of which were more collaborative than the band's early work. A documentary DVD, "Fans Only", was released by Jeepster in October 2003, featuring promotional videos, live clips and unreleased footage. A single from the album, "Step into My Office, Baby" followed in November 2003; it would be their first single to be taken from an album, and included a track recorded with Divine Comedy producer Darren Allison entitled "Love on the March".


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: The Thin Lizzy-inspired "I'm a Cuckoo" was the second single from the album. It achieved their highest chart position yet, reaching No. 14 in the UK. The "Books" EP followed, a double A-side single led by "Wrapped Up in Books" from "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" and the new "Your Cover's Blown". This EP became the band's third top 20 UK release, and the band was nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize and an Ivor Novello Award. In January 2005, B&S was voted Scotland's greatest band in a poll by The List, beating Simple Minds, Idlewild, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, and The Proclaimers, among others.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In April 2005, members of the band visited Israel and the Palestinian territories with the UK charity War on Want; the group subsequently recorded a song inspired by the trip titled "The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House", which would first appear on the digital-download version of the charity album and would later have a physical release as a B-side on 2006's "Funny Little Frog" single. "Push Barman to Open Old Wounds", a compilation of the Jeepster singles and EPs, was released in May 2005 while the band were recording their seventh album in California. The result of the sessions was "The Life Pursuit", produced by Tony Hoffer. The album, originally intended to be a double album, became the band's highest-charting album upon its release in February 2006, peaking at No. 8 in the UK and No. 65 on the US "Billboard" 200. "Funny Little Frog", which preceded it, also proved to be their highest-charting single, debuting at No. 13.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: On 6 July 2006, the band played a historic show with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. The opening act at the 18,000 seat sell-out concert was The Shins. The members of the band see this as a landmark event, with Stevie Jackson saying, "This is the biggest thrill of my entire life". In October 2006, members of the band helped put together a CD collection of new songs for children titled "Colours Are Brighter", with the involvement of major bands such as Franz Ferdinand and The Flaming Lips.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: On 18 November 2008 the band released "The BBC Sessions", which features songs from the period of 1996–2001 (including the last recordings featuring Isobel Campbell before she left the band), along with a second disc featuring a recording of a live performance in Belfast from Christmas 2001.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: On 17 July 2010, the band performed their first UK gig in almost four years to a crowd of around 30,000 at Latitude Festival in Henham Park, Southwold. They performed two new songs, "I Didn't See It Coming" and "I'm Not Living in the Real World".


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: Their eighth studio album, released in the UK and internationally on 25 September 2010, was titled "Write about Love". The first single from the album, as well as the record's title track "Write about Love", was released in the US on 7 September 2010. "Write about Love" entered the UK albums chart in its first week of release, peaking at No. 8 as of 19 October 2010. Norah Jones is featured on the track "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John".


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In December 2010 Belle and Sebastian curated the sequel to the "Bowlie Weekender" in the form of "Bowlie 2" presented by All Tomorrow's Parties.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In 2013, Pitchfork TV released an hour-long documentary in February, directed by RJ Bentler which focused on the band's 1996 album "If You're Feeling Sinister", as well as the formation and early releases of the band. The documentary featured interviews with every member that was present on the album, as well as several archival photos and videos from the band's early days. The band compiled a second compilation album "The Third Eye Centre" which included the B-sides and rarities released after "Push Barman to Open Old Wounds", from the albums "Dear Catastrophe Waitress", "The Life Pursuit", and "Write about Love". In an interview at the end of 2013, Mick Cooke confirmed he had left the band on good terms.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In 2014, the band returned to the studio, recording in Atlanta, Georgia for their ninth studio album, along with announcing tour dates for various festivals and concerts across the world during 2014. Their ninth album "Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance" was released on 19 January 2015. It was their first album with Dave McGowan, who had been their touring bassist since 2011.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: The Belle and Sebastian song "There's Too Much Love" forms much of the soundtrack for the Brazilian film "The Way He Looks", about a blind, gay teenage boy and his friends, released in 2014.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: Belle and Sebastian performed at the Glastonbury Festival on 28 June 2015, on 'The Other Stage' and at O2 Academy, Glasgow in March 2017 which was televised in the UK as part of the 'BBC 6 MUSIC Presents Festival'.


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In mid-2017, the band put out a new single, "We Were Beautiful". During the same year, the band appeared in the news for a comical story that occurred during their US tour, in which they accidentally forgot Colburn in a North Dakota Walmart. In December 2017 and January and February 2018, the band released a trio of EPs under the name "How to Solve Our Human Problems".


title: Belle and Sebastian

text: In August 2019, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Bowlie Weekender festival, Belle & Sebastian held a third festival, dubbed the "Boaty Weekender". Unlike the previous two festivals, the Boaty Weekender was held on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea instead of UK holiday parks.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Ashley Madison, or The Ashley Madison Agency, is a Canadian online dating service and social networking service marketed to people who are married or in relationships. The site has been widely condemned for being a "business built on the back of broken hearts", and is also believed to lie about the size of its userbase by "creating fake accounts, or not stopping others from creating fake accounts".


title: Ashley Madison

text: It was founded in 2002 by Darren J. Morgenstern, with the slogan "Life is short. Have an affair". The name comes from two popular female names in North America, "Ashley" and "Madison".


title: Ashley Madison

text: On July 15, 2015, hackers stole all of its customer data—including emails, names, home addresses, sexual fantasies and credit card information—and threatened to post the data online if Ashley Madison and fellow Avid Life Media site Established Men were not permanently closed. By July 22, the first set of customer names was released by hackers, with all of the user data released on August 18, 2015. More data (including some of the CEO's emails) was released on August 20, 2015. The release included data from customers who had previously paid a $19 fee to Ashley Madison to supposedly have their data deleted. The fee was also applied to people who had accounts set up against their will, as a workplace prank, or because of a mistyped email address.


title: Ashley Madison

text: On August 28, 2015, Noel Biderman agreed to step down as chief executive officer of Avid Life Media Inc. A statement released by the firm said his departure was "in the best interest of the company".


title: Ashley Madison

text: In July 2016, parent company Avid Life Media re-branded itself to Ruby Corp. and appointed Rob Segal as its new CEO. In the same month, the company changed its signature tagline from "Life is Short. Have an Affair." to "Find your moment", and updated its brand imagery to replace the image of a woman wearing a wedding ring with a red gem-shaped symbol as its logo.


title: Ashley Madison

text: In May 2017, Ashley Madison unretired the tagline "Life is short. Have an affair", and the image of the married woman, symbolic of the company's returned focus on married dating. In February 2019, the company announced it had reached the 60-million-member mark. In a 2019 interview, Ashley Madison's Chief Strategy Officer Paul Keable stated that the service helps create up to one million affairs every month.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Ashley Madison is a membership website and service based in Canada; its membership includes more than 60 million people in 53 countries.


title: Ashley Madison

text: The company announced plans to launch in Singapore in 2014. However, Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) announced that it will not allow Ashley Madison to operate in Singapore as "it promotes adultery and disregards family values".


title: Ashley Madison

text: Unlike Match.com or eHarmony, Ashley Madison's business model is based on credits rather than monthly subscriptions. For a conversation between two members, one of the members, always the man, must pay eight credits to initiate the conversation. Any follow-up messages between the two members are free after the communication has been initiated. Ashley Madison also has a real-time chat feature where credits buy a certain time allotment.


title: Ashley Madison

text: The site allows users to hide their account profiles for free. Users looking to delete their accounts, even those made without the individual's consent, are charged a $19 fee. The "full delete" option claims to remove user profiles, all messages sent and received, site usage history, personally identifiable information, and photos. The data disclosures in 2015 revealed that this "permanent deletion" feature did not permanently delete anything, and all data was recoverable.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Trish McDermott, a consultant who helped found Match.com, accused Ashley Madison of being a "business built on the back of broken hearts, ruined marriages, and damaged families". Biderman responded by stating that the site is "just a platform" and a website or a commercial will not convince anyone to commit adultery. According to Biderman, affairs help preserve many marriages.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Ashley Madison offered a guarantee that users will "find someone": "we GUARANTEE that you will successfully find what you're looking for or we'll give you your money back." In order to qualify, users had to purchase the most expensive package, send more expensive "priority" messages to 18 unique members each month for three months, send five Ashley Madison gifts per month, and engage in 60 minutes of paid chat per month. Compounding the problem is that "more men than women use the service, with the disparity increasing as they advance in age", and "Men seek sex, while women seek passion." A page on Ashley Madison, entitled "Is Ashley Madison a scam? Is Ashley Madison a fraud?" addressed some of these issues in an attempt to win over prospective customers and teach them best practices for using the site.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Segal and Millership phased out the guarantee feature on July 5, 2016. It no longer appears on the company website, advertising or promotion.


title: Ashley Madison

text: According to Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of Gizmodo, who has analyzed the 2015 leaked data, Ashley Madison had over 70,000 bots sending fake female messages to male users. She had previously released an analysis purporting to show that only a minuscule proportion (12,000 out of 5.5 million) of registered female accounts were used on a regular basis, but she has subsequently disavowed this analysis, saying that from the data released there is no way of determining how many women actually used the service. Newitz noted a clause in the terms of service which states that "many profiles are for 'amusement only'".


title: Ashley Madison

text: In 2012, a former employee claimed in a lawsuit that she was requested to create thousands of fake female accounts attractive to male customers, resulting in repetitive stress injury. The case was settled out of court.


title: Ashley Madison

text: In July 2016, CEO Rob Segal and newly appointed President James Millership told Reuters that the company had phased out bots by late 2015. Segal shared an independent report by EY (Ernst & Young) which verified the phase-out.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Ashley Madison employs guerrilla marketing techniques to advertise its site. One such technique has been the creation of fake criticism websites filled with ads for Ashley Madison and anonymous testimony that the site is legitimate. For example, the site "AshleyMadisonScams.com" was registered to Ashley Madison's owner, Avid Life.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Ashley Madison advertises with TV commercials, billboards, and radio ads by the CEO, Noel Biderman. TV ads have been pulled from the air in some countries after frequent complaints. Some proposals turned down by the companies approached include €1.5 million and $11 million jersey sponsorship deals with Italian basketball club Virtus Roma, and Australian National Rugby League team the Cronulla Sharks, respectively, a $10 million offer to rename Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport and an offer for the naming rights of New Meadowlands Stadium.


title: Ashley Madison

text: A statement denouncing proposed ads was made in 2009 when Ashley Madison attempted to purchase Can$200,000 worth of advertising from the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) on the Toronto streetcar system. With five of six committee members voting against it, the commissioner stated "When it's a core fundamental value around cheating or lying, we're not going to let those kinds of ads go on."


title: Ashley Madison

text: Also in 2009, NBC refused an ad submitted by Ashley Madison for the network's broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII.


title: Ashley Madison

text: In 2012, the company was sued by former employee Doriana Silva, who stated that in preparation for the launch of the company's Portuguese-language website, she was assigned to create over a thousand bogus member profiles within a three-week period in order to attract paying customers, and that this caused her to develop repetitive strain injury. The lawsuit claimed that as a result Silva "developed severe pain in her wrists and forearms", and has been unable to work since 2011. The company countersued, alleging fraud. The company claimed that Silva had been photographed jet-skiing, an activity that was unlikely for someone who had suffered serious injury to the hands and forearms. Ashley Madison later alleged further that Silva had kept confidential documents and sought to retrieve them. In 2015, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed the case without costs, a result with which Avi Weisman, vice-president and general counsel for Avid Life Media, said the company was "very pleased".


title: Ashley Madison

text: In August 2015, after its customer records were leaked by hackers, a $576 million class-action lawsuit was filed against the company.


title: Ashley Madison

text: In July 2017, the parent company of Ashley Madison agreed to pay $11.2 million to settle the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the approximately 37 million users whose personal details were leaked.


title: Ashley Madison

text: On July 15, 2015, the site was hacked by a group known as The Impact Team. Claiming that its security had always been weak, the hackers claimed to have stolen personal information about the site's user base, and threatened to release names, home addresses, search histories and credit card numbers if the site was not immediately shut down. The demand was driven by the site's policy of not deleting users' personal information following their invoiced requests.


title: Ashley Madison

text: The first release, validated by experts, occurred on August 18. Another release was made on August 20, but a 13 GB file – which allegedly contained the emails of Avid Life Media CEO Noel Biderman – was corrupted. This was corrected on August 21, when the Impact Team dumped Biderman's emails in a separate 19 GB file.


title: Ashley Madison

text: Some users reported receiving extortion emails requesting 1.05 in bitcoin (approximately $225 at the time) to prevent the information from being shared with the user's significant other. Clinical psychologists argued that dealing with an affair in a particularly public way increases the hurt for spouses and children. On August 24, the Toronto Police Department spoke of "two unconfirmed reports of suicides" associated with the leak of customer profiles along with extortion attempts, offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the hackers. At least one suicide previously linked to Ashley Madison has since been reported as being due to "stress entirely related to issues at work that had no connection to the data leak".