title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: He was a presenter for TV-am's "Good Morning Britain" in the 1980s, and has been regularly featured on Channel 4's game show "Countdown" and the BBC's "The One Show". On radio, he makes frequent appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme "Just a Minute".


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In 1992, Brandreth was elected to the House of Commons as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Chester constituency. He served until he was defeated in 1997, and resumed his career in the media. He has written both fiction and non-fiction books, and makes appearances as a public speaker.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth was born on 8 March 1948 in Wuppertal, West Germany, where his father, Charles Brandreth, was serving as a legal officer with the Allied Control Commission. He moved to London with his parents at the age of three and was educated at the Lycée Français in South Kensington, and Bedales School in Petersfield, Hampshire, where he met his friend Simon Cadell.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth studied Modern History and Modern Languages at New College, Oxford, where he met Rick Stein. While at Oxford, he directed the Oxford University Dramatic Society and was President of the Oxford Union in Michaelmas term, 1969, and was a regular contributor to the university magazine "Isis". He was described in a contemporaneous publication as "Oxford's Lord High Everything Else". Christopher Hitchens suggested that Brandreth "set out to make himself into a Ken Tynan. Wore a cloak."


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth has appeared in the Dictionary Corner on the game show "Countdown" more than 300 times, including Carol Vorderman's final edition in 2008, making more appearances than any other guest. He appeared on TV-am's "Good Morning Britain". He was known for his collection of jumpers, of which some were sold in a charity auction in 1993.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth hosted the short-lived game show "Public Opinion" in 2004. In 2006 he appeared on the television series "That Mitchell and Webb Look", on the fictional game show "Numberwang", satirising his appearances in "Countdown"s Dictionary Corner. In 2007 he guest-starred in the "Doctor Who" audio play "I.D.". From July to August 2009 he hosted the game show "Knowitalls" on BBC Two. In April 2010 he appeared on BBC Radio 4's "Vote Now Show". He made a cameo appearance as himself in Channel 4 sitcom "The IT Crowd", in the episode "The Final Countdown".


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: A frequent guest on BBC television panel shows, he has appeared on six episodes of "QI" and six episodes of "Have I Got News for You". He has appeared in episodes of Channel 5's "The Gadget Show", and is a contributor to the BBC's early evening programme "The One Show".


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: He appeared on "Room 101" in 2005, while Paul Merton was host, successfully banishing the Royal Variety Performance and the British honours system into Room 101, saying that he would never accept an honour himself. In 2013 he clarified that position, stating that he had "no fundamental objection to the honours system", and that he selected the honours system for Room 101 because he could "tell funny stories about it".


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In 2019, Brandreth appeared on series 1 of "Celebrity Gogglebox" alongside Sheila Hancock. In 2020, Brandreth returned for Series 2, alongside Maureen Lipman. In 2022, he appeared in the series with Joanna Lumley and Carol Vorderman.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In 2020, Gyles Brandreth and actor Sheila Hancock replaced Timothy West and Prunella Scales in a two-episode series of "Great Canal Journeys", travelling down the River Thames. In the first episode Timothy West gave the two novice canal boaters a crash course in barging. They went down the Staffordshire Waterways in 2021 for another two-episode series.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: On 16 October 2021, Brandreth appeared as a celebrity contestant on "Beat the Chasers" in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: On 24 October 2022, Brandreth appeared on "Bargain Hunt: BBC 100th Birthday Special" to commemorate the BBC's 100th Anniversary. His team mate was Tony Blackburn.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth has presented programmes on London's LBC radio at various times since 1973, such as "Star Quality". He frequently appears on BBC Radio 4's comedy panel game "Just a Minute". He has appeared on several episodes of Radio 4's political programme "The Westminster Hour", explaining his thoughts on how to make the most of being a government minister. From 2003 to 2005 Brandreth hosted the Radio 4 comedy panel game "Whispers".


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In 2006, Brandreth appeared in the Radio 4 comedy programme "Living with the Enemy" which he co-wrote with comedian Nick Revell, in which they appear as a former Conservative government minister and a former comedian. In 2010 he broadcast a Radio 4 documentary about his great-great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Brandreth, the inventor of a medicine called "Brandreth's Pills". He is the host of the Radio 4 comedy panel show "Wordaholics", first aired on 20 February 2012. He appeared on the Radio 4 programme "The Museum of Curiosity" in August 2017, to which he donated a button that was once owned by a famous actor.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In April 2019, Brandreth began co-hosting a podcast titled "Something Rhymes With Purple" alongside friend and colleague Susie Dent. The podcast discusses aspects of the English language such as historic or unusual words and their origins, as well as the origins of popular phrases and sayings.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Since the 1970s, Brandreth has written books for adults and children about Scrabble, words, puzzles and jokes, and co-founded the "Games & Puzzles" magazine. He wrote an authorised biography of actor John Gielgud, and lipogrammic reworks of Shakespeare. In the 1980s, Brandreth wrote scripts for "Dear Ladies", a television programme featuring Hinge and Bracket. Brandreth created the stage show "Zipp!", which enjoyed success at the Edinburgh Festival and had a short run in the West End.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In 1999, he published diaries chronicling his days as a politician between 1990 and 1997, called "Breaking the Code."


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In September 2004, Brandreth's book on the marriage of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, "Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage" was published. In July 2005, he published a second book on the Royal Family, entitled "Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair", which concerns the three-decade love affair between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In 2021, following the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Brandreth wrote, "The duke showed me great friendliness over 40 years but royalty offer you friendliness, not friendship, and you have to remember the difference.”


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth has written a series of seven works of historical fiction called "The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries", in which Oscar Wilde works with both Robert Sherard and Arthur Conan Doyle.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth has written and toured in a number of comedic one-man shows, including "The One-to-One Show" in 2010–2011, "Looking for Happiness" in 2013–2014 and "Word Power" in 2015–2016.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth has written a book entitled "Have You Eaten Grandma?", about the English language and correct grammar.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth was a Conservative MP, representing the City of Chester, from 1992 to 1997. He proposed a private member's bill which became law as the Marriage Act 1994. In 1995, he was appointed to a junior ministerial position as a Lord of the Treasury, with his role being essentially that of a whip.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: He broadcast reminiscences of his parliamentary career on BBC radio as "Brandreth on Office" and "The Brandreth Rules" in 2001, 2003 and 2005.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In August 2014, Brandreth was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian" opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. In May 2016, Brandreth told "The Spectator" that he was likely to vote for the UK to stay in the European Union in the following month's referendum on the issue. In 2019, Brandreth confirmed that he had voted to remain, but accepted the result of the referendum and believed that the government had to "get Brexit done".


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth is a former European Monopoly champion, and president of the Association of British Scrabble Players, having organised the first British National Scrabble Championship in 1971. Since 2015 he has been the president of the Oscar Wilde Society, which was founded in 1990.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: He is an after-dinner speaker and held the world record for the longest continuous after-dinner speech, twelve-and-a-half hours, done as a charity stunt. With his wife, he founded a Teddy bear museum. Located in Stratford-upon-Avon for 18 years, it was relocated to the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London. In 2016, the museum moved to Newby Hall in Yorkshire. He is a patron of the National Piers Society and vice-president of charity Fields in Trust (formerly the National Playing Fields Association).


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: In 2014, Brandreth was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of Chester. In December 2016, he was named the university's chancellor, and officially took the role in March 2017.


title: Gyles Brandreth

text: Brandreth met his future wife, Michèle Brown, at Oxford. Five years later, with Brown working as a television reporter and Brandreth in theatre, the couple decided to have a "quiet wedding". They were married at Marylebone Registry Office on 8 June 1973, with actor Simon Cadell, Brandreth's best friend from school, as a witness. The couple have lived in Barnes, south west London, since 1986. They have three children, including Aphra, a former Conservative councillor in Richmond. She is deputy chair of the Conservative Women's Organisation and was the party's unsuccessful candidate for Kingston and Surbiton at the 2019 United Kingdom general election.


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album "David Bowie". After the commercial failure of his self-titled debut album in 1967, Bowie's manager Kenneth Pitt commissioned "Love You till Tuesday", a promotional film intended to introduce Bowie to a larger audience. For the film, Bowie wrote "Space Oddity", a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom; its title and subject matter were partly inspired by Stanley Kubrick's "" (1968) and Bowie's feelings of alienation at that point in his career. One of the most musically complex songs Bowie had written up to that point, it represented a change from the music hall-influenced sound of his debut to a sound akin to psychedelic folk and inspired by the Bee Gees.


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" was demoed in early 1969 before the "Love You till Tuesday" version was recorded in February; the film includes a promotional clip of the song. After signing with Mercury Records, a new version was recorded in June 1969 at London's Trident Studios. Produced by Gus Dudgeon, the recording features use of Mellotron and Stylophone. The song was mixed in both mono and stereo formats, and the single's sleeve included an image, a rarity for radio singles at the time.


title: Space Oddity

text: Rush-released as a single to capitalise on the Apollo 11 Moon landing, it received critical praise and was used by the BBC as background music during its coverage of the event. However, it initially sold poorly in the United Kingdom and was banned by radio stations in the United States. After reaching the UK top 50 by September, Bowie performed the song on the BBC's "Top of the Pops" in early October, after which the single climbed to number five, becoming Bowie's first and only chart hit for another three years. A 1972 reissue by RCA Records was Bowie's first US hit and was promoted with a new music video filmed by Mick Rock. Another 1975 reissue as part of a maxi-single became Bowie's first UK number-one single. In 1979, Bowie re-recorded "Space Oddity" for ITV's "Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It to 1980? Show". A mainstay during Bowie's concerts, Bowie revisited the Major Tom character in his later singles "Ashes to Ashes" (1980), "Hallo Spaceboy" (Pet Shop Boys remix) (1995), and "Blackstar" (2015).


title: Space Oddity

text: A range of artists have covered "Space Oddity" and others have released songs that reference Major Tom. A 2013 cover by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield gained widespread attention; its music video was the first filmed in space. The song has appeared in numerous films and television series, and has a pivotal role in the 2013 film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". In 2019, Visconti remixed Bowie's original recording to mark the 50th anniversary of its first release, with a new music video directed by Tim Pope. Initially viewed as a novelty track, "Space Oddity" is now considered one of Bowie's finest recordings and remains one of his most popular songs. It has appeared in numerous "best-of" lists, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".


title: Space Oddity

text: After a string of unsuccessful singles, David Bowie released his music hall-influenced self-titled debut studio album through Deram Records in 1967. The album was a commercial failure and did little to gain Bowie notice, becoming his last release for two years. Around this time, Bowie acquired a new manager, Kenneth Pitt. In 1968, Bowie began a romantic relationship with dancer Hermione Farthingale, which lasted until February 1969. With Farthingale and guitarist John Hutchinson, Bowie formed a group called Feathers. With Bowie on acoustic guitar, the trio performed a small number of concerts between September 1968 and early 1969, combining folk, Merseybeat, poetry and mime. After the commercial failure of "David Bowie", Pitt authorised the production of a promotional film in an attempt to introduce Bowie to a larger audience. The film, "Love You till Tuesday", which marked the end of Pitt's mentorship of Bowie, went unreleased until 1984.


title: Space Oddity

text: By the end of 1968, Bowie had begun to feel alienation from his career. Knowing "Love You till Tuesday" did not have a guaranteed audience and would not feature any new material, Pitt asked Bowie to write something new; "a very special piece of material that would dramatically demonstrate David's remarkable inventiveness and would probably be the high spot of the production". With this in mind, Bowie wrote "Space Oddity", a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom, the first of Bowie's famous characters. Its title and subject matter were influenced by Stanley Kubrick's "", which premiered in May 1968. Bowie said, "I went stoned out of my mind to see the movie and it really freaked me out, especially the trip passage". Biographer Marc Spitz stated the song was likely inspired by the scene in which an astronaut communicates with his daughter on her birthday, saying "Tell mama that I telephoned" before ingesting a "stress pill", rather than the film's opening or ending. Malcolm Thompson, who directed "Love You till Tuesday", later said he and his girlfriend Susie Mercer contributed to the songwriting process. Bowie's break-up with Farthingale deeply affected Bowie. He later said, "It was Hermione who got me writing for and on a specific person". Spitz stated Bowie's feelings of loneliness and heartache following the break-up inspired "Space Oddity".


title: Space Oddity

text: One of the first people to hear "Space Oddity" was Calvin Mark Lee, the head of A&R at Mercury Records in London, who considered the song "otherworldly" and knew it was Bowie's ticket to be signed by the label. According to Mercury associate Simon Hayes, "Lee was really on the case with 'Space Oddity', a total convert. He wanted to sign David – and I said 'Fantastic idea'." At the time, Bowie's future wife Angela Barnett, whom he met in late 1968, was dating Lou Reizner, the head of Mercury, who was unimpressed with Bowie's output. Eager to sign Bowie, Lee, without Reizner's knowledge, financed a demo session for "Space Oddity". Lee later told Spitz: "We had to do it all behind Lou's back. But it was such a good record."


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" tells the story of an astronaut named Major Tom, who is informed by Ground Control that a malfunction has occurred in his spacecraft but Major Tom does not get the message because he either misses it or is in such awe of outer space he does not hear it. He remains in space "sitting in a tin can, far above the world", preparing for his lonely death. In 1969, Bowie compared Major Tom's fate to the ending of "2001: A Space Odyssey", saying: "At the end of the song Major Tom is completely emotionless and expresses no view at all about where he's at. He's fragmenting ... at the end of the song his mind is completely blown – he's everything then." Authors David Buckley and Peter Doggett comment on the unusual vocabulary in the lyrics, such as "Ground Control" rather than "Mission Control", "space ship" rather than "rocket", "engines on" rather than "ignition", and the "unmilitary combination" of rank and first name for the character.


title: Space Oddity

text: Bowie's biographers have provided different interpretations of the lyrics. According to Doggett, the lyrics authentically reflect Bowie's mind and thoughts at the time. He writes that Bowie shone a light on the way advertisers and the media seek to own a stake in a lonely man in space while he himself is exiled from Earth. Chris O'Leary said the song is a "moonshot-year prophecy" that humans are not fit for space evolution and the sky is the limit. Similarly, James Perone views Major Tom acting as a "literal character" and a "metaphor" for individuals who are unaware of, or do not make an effort to learn, what the world is. In 2004, American feminist critic Camille Paglia identified the lyrics as representing the counterculture of the 1960s, stating, "As his psychedelic astronaut, Major Tom, floats helplessly into outer space, we sense that the '60s counterculture has transmuted into a hopelessness about political reform ('Planet earth is blue / And there's nothing I can do')".


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" has been characterised as a psychedelic folk ballad. It represented Bowie's new interest in acoustic music since joining Feathers. Pegg and Doggett compare the song's style, structure, lyrics and arrangement to those of the Bee Gees' 1967 single "New York Mining Disaster 1941", which has similar minor chords and chorus. Hutchinson later stated: "'Space Oddity' was a Bee Gees type song. David knew it, and he said so at the time ... the way he sang it, it's a Bee Gees thing."


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" is one of the most complex songs Bowie had written up to that point. He storyboarded each section, all leading into the next until completion. According to O'Leary, in a little over five minutes, the song includes "a faded-in intro, a 12-bar solo verse, a 'liftoff' sequence, a duet verse, a bridge, a two-bar acoustic guitar break, a six-bar guitar solo, a third verse, another bridge, break and solo, and a 'Day in the Life'-style outro to the fade". Bowie stated in 2002 he was "keen on ... writing in such a way that it would lead me into leading some kind of rock musical".


title: Space Oddity

text: Although primarily in the key of C major, the song has a variety of chord changes and resonances that aid in telling the story. The intro has a pairing of F major7/E and E minor, while the first verse alternates between C major and E minor. Wayne's guitar harmonises E and B while on Stylophone, Bowie "drones" C and B. A D major chord plays on the line "God's love be with you" during the pre-liftoff countdown sequence. In the second verse, an E7 chord on the line "really made the grade" counteracts the overall key of C major. O'Leary said this change "brightens" the song. The bridge's "planet earth is blue" has a standard folk-style descending progression; (B major 9th/A minor add9/G major add9/F). According to O'Leary, the B major9 chord "ratifies Major Tom's choice (or doom) to stay out in space". The acoustic-guitar break has a C–F–G–A–A note sequence with the two A notes emphasised.


title: Space Oddity

text: One of the early demos of "Space Oddity", recorded in January 1969, differs greatly from the album version, including unused vocal harmonies and different lyrics. Rather than the softly spoken "lift-off", an American-accented "blast-off!" is present. "I'm floating in a most peculiar way" is replaced with "Can I please get back inside now, if I may?". The demo also includes the later-revised lines:


title: Space Oddity

text: The demo's instrumentation uses only acoustic guitar and Stylophone, which were played by Hutchinson and Bowie, respectively. Bowie had used the Stylophone, a recently released electronic instrument that was mainly marketed to children, to compose the song's melody. Both Bowie and Hutchinson sang vocals on the recording; they recorded another demo version in approximately mid-April 1969.


title: Space Oddity

text: The first full studio version of "Space Oddity", which was for "Love You till Tuesday", was recorded on 2 February 1969 at Morgan Studios, London. At this point, the lyrics were finalised. The session was produced by Jonathan Weston; Bowie and Hutchinson were joined by Colin Wood on Hammond organ, Mellotron and flute; Dave Clague on bass and Tat Meager on drums. As in the early demos, Bowie and Hutchinson shared lead vocals, with Bowie voicing Major Tom's dialogue and Hutchinson singing Ground Control's lines. Bowie also played an ocarina solo for this recording, which Hutchinson later called "just silly". According to Pegg, this version is significantly inferior to the "David Bowie" recording.


title: Space Oddity

text: In June 1969, after Bowie left Deram, Pitt negotiated a one-album deal, with options for a further one or two albums, with Mercury Records and its UK subsidiary Philips. Mercury executives had heard an audition tape that included the demo of "Space Oddity" Bowie and Hutchinson recorded in early 1969. The search for a producer began. After Beatles' producer George Martin turned down the project, Pitt hired Tony Visconti, who produced Bowie's later Deram sessions, to produce the album. Before recording for the album began, "Space Oddity" had been selected as the lead single. Visconti, however, saw it as a "novelty record"; in 2016, he told Yahoo! Music he found it derivative of works by the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, calling it "a cheap shot – a gimmick to cash in on the moonshot". Visconti produced the rest of the album but passed production responsibility for "Space Oddity" to Bowie's former engineer Gus Dudgeon. Dudgeon had worked as an engineer with Bowie on his Deram recordings. On hearing Bowie's demo, Dudgeon said it was "unbelievable"; he and Bowie then planned "every detail" of the recording.


title: Space Oddity

text: Work on the album version of "Space Oddity" and its B-side "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" began at Trident Studios in London on 20 June 1969. Bowie fell ill with conjunctivitis and overdubs were completed a few days later. Mercury insisted the single was released the following month, ahead of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Guitarist Mick Wayne of the British band Junior's Eyes and keyboardist Rick Wakeman were brought on at Visconti's suggestion while composer Paul Buckmaster was hired to arrange the orchestra, which consisted of eight violins, two violas, two cellos, two arco basses, two flutes and an organ. Buckmaster became an integral part in Bowie's songwriting; he advised Bowie to focus on creating the overall sound rather than the narrative. Dudgeon hired bassist Herbie Flowers and drummer Terry Cox of the folk band Pentangle, and Bowie on acoustic guitar and Stylophone completed the lineup. Bowie later said he added the Stylophone at Marc Bolan's suggestion; "[Bolan] said, you like this kind of stuff, do something with it. And I put it on 'Space Oddity', so it served me well."


title: Space Oddity

text: Dudgeon outlined a plan for the Stylophone and Mellotron parts by scribbling notes on paper; he later told biographer Paul Trynka; "When we hit that studio we knew exactly what we wanted – no other sound would do." At one point in the session, Wayne thought he had finished his guitar take early so began retuning one of the strings. Dudgeon like the warped effect of the retuning and asked Wayne to repeat it on the next take. According to Trynka, towards the end of the session, the musicians knew they were a part of something special. Wakeman recorded his part in two takes after hearing the demo once; he later said; "it was one of half a dozen occasions where it made the hair stand up on your neck and you know you're involved in something special. 'Space Oddity' was the first time it ever happened to me". Cox also felt a sense of excitement after the session finished.


title: Space Oddity

text: The session cost £500. Dudgeon was paid £100 for his work on the two songs; in June 2002, he instigated a lawsuit against Bowie claiming he did not receive the agreed two percent of royalties for "Space Oddity". Dudgeon intended to sue for a settlement of £1 million; the suit, however, was halted after Dudgeon's death in a car accident the following month. Dudgeon had told biographer David Buckley he felt "Space Oddity" was among the finest work of Bowie's career.


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" was mixed in both mono and stereo formats, a rarity for radio singles at the time. Wakeman later said it was Bowie's idea to mix it in both formats, according to him: "To the best of my knowledge nobody released stereo singles at that time, and they pointed that out to David ... and I can remember David saying, 'That's why this one will be stereo!' And he just stood his ground ... he wasn't being awkward, but he had a vision of how things should be." Biographer Kevin Cann stated stereo copies were given to the media and radio stations while mono copies were given to retailers. According to Nicholas Pegg, the stereo single was sold only in specific territories, including Italy and the Netherlands; the mono single appeared in both Britain and America.


title: Space Oddity

text: Philips Records released "Space Oddity" as a single on 11 July 1969 with the catalogue number Philips BF 1801 and "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" as the B-side. Mercury handled its US release. Despite being a rarity for singles at the time, in some territories, the single's sleeve included a photograph of Bowie playing an acoustic guitar. The label rush-released the single to capitalise on the Apollo 11 Moon mission, which was launched five days later. According to Bowie: "It was picked up by British television and used as the background music for the landing itself in Britain ... Though I'm sure they really weren't listening to the lyric at all; it wasn't a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did." Upon realising the dark lyrics, the BBC ceased playing it until the Apollo 11 crew safely returned home.


title: Space Oddity

text: Shortly after its release, "Space Oddity" received some glowing reviews. Penny Valentine of "Disc and Music Echo" predicted the record was "going to knock back everyone senseless", and later named "Space Oddity" as the magazine's record of the year. In "Melody Maker", Chris Welch wrote: "This Bee Geeian piece of music and poetry is beautifully written, sung and performed. Strangely, it could be a hit and escalate Bowie to the top." Despite the positive reviews and Pitt's attempts at chart rigging, the single initially failed to sell. In September 1969, the single debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 48. Mercury's publicist Ron Oberman wrote a letter to American journalists describing "Space Oddity" as "one of the greatest recordings I've ever heard. If this already controversial single gets the airplay, it's going to be a huge hit." Despite this, the single failed to sell in the US, peaking at 124, which Pitt attributed to Oberman's use of the word "controversial" in his statement, causing it to be banned by multiple US radio stations.


title: Space Oddity

text: The single's success in the UK earned Bowie a number of television appearances in the latter half of 1969, starting with a performance on Dutch television show "Doebidoe" on 25 August 1969 that was broadcast five days later. This was followed by his first appearance on the BBC's "Top of the Pops" on 2 October, for which Bowie was filmed in a separate studio so his image could be interspersed with NASA space footage. He played Stylophone and guitar over backing tracks prepared by Dudgeon, who was in charge of synchronising the BBC Orchestra to the backing track. According to Dudgeon in 1991, it was a "nightmare": they were given enough time for only two takes, the second of which had a tighter orchestra but sloppy cohesion between the space footage and Bowie. Dudgeon stated, "If we had had the chance of a third take it would have been brilliant". The performance was broadcast on 9 October and repeated on 16 October; it helped "Space Oddity" peak at number five by early November. The "Top of the Pops" performance was followed by performances on Germany's "4-3-2-1 Musik Für Junge Leute" on 22 October (broadcast on 22 November) and on Switzerland's "Hits A-Go-Go" on 3 November. On 10 May 1970, Bowie performed "Space Oddity" at the Ivor Novello Awards, where he was awarded with Most Original Song.


title: Space Oddity

text: Philips released "David Bowie" in the UK, with "Space Oddity" as the opening track on 14 November 1969. According to biographer Christopher Sandford, despite the commercial success of "Space Oddity", the remainder of the album bears little resemblance to it, resulting in its commercial failure on its initial release. Although Bowie was named 1969's Best Newcomer in a readers' poll for "Music Now!", "David Bowie" sold just over 5,000 copies by March 1970. In mid-December 1969, Philips requested a new version of "Space Oddity" with Italian lyrics after learning that one had already been recorded in Italy. Pitt thought the idea was "ridiculous" and said, "it was explained to us that 'Space Oddity' could not be translated into Italian in a way that the Italians could understand". The Italian version was recorded on 20 December at Morgan Studios with accent coach and producer Claudio Fabi producing and lyrics being translated by Italian lyricist Mogol. This version, titled "Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola" (), was released as a single in Italy in 1970 and failed to chart.


title: Space Oddity

text: When asked about the single's success, Visconti said: "[I was surprised] and years later [Bowie] and I joked about it so much. But the one thing I predicted was that he would not have a hit after that." Bowie did not have another hit after "Space Oddity" for three years until the release of "Starman". According to Pegg, in a year of novelty hits that began with the Scaffold's "Lily the Pink" and ended with Rolf Harris's "Two Little Boys", "Space Oddity" was destined for the same fate; nothing more than a novelty hit. He also noted by 1969, numerous space-themed songs, including Zager and Evans's "In the Year 2525", which was number one in the UK for the three weeks immediately before "Space Oddity"'s entry into the top 40, had already charted. Only later did it "transcend" the novelty hit to be regarded as a "genuine classic".


title: Space Oddity

text: After the commercial breakthrough of Bowie's fifth studio album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", RCA Records undertook a reissue campaign for his Mercury albums that included repackaging "David Bowie" with the title "Space Oddity". To promote this release, in the US on 13 December 1972, RCA re-released "Space Oddity" as a single backed by "The Man Who Sold the World" with the catalogue number 74-0876. The single reached number 15 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, becoming Bowie's first hit single in the country. In Canada, it reached number 16. RCA again reissued the song in the UK on 26 September 1975 as a maxi single, in which it was backed by "Changes" and the then-unreleased 1972 outtake "Velvet Goldmine"; its catalogue number is RCA 2593. The UK reissue was Bowie's first number-one single in the country, replacing "I Only Have Eyes for You" by Art Garfunkel at number one in November.


title: Space Oddity

text: In December 1979, Bowie re-recorded "Space Oddity" for the ITV New Year special ""Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It to 1980? Show". The idea came from the show's director, David Mallet. Bowie recalled:


title: Space Oddity

text: I agreed as long as I could do it again without all its trappings and do it strictly with three instruments. Having played it with just an acoustic guitar on stage early on, I was always surprised at how powerful it was just as a song, without all the strings and synthesisers. I really wanted to do it as a three-piece song.


title: Space Oddity

text: Visconti produced this new version; he stripped the original recording to acoustic guitar, bass, drums and piano. Doggett said this instrumentation mirrors John Lennon's 1970 album "Plastic Ono Band", which had influenced Bowie's vocal performance on his 1977 album ""Heroes"". The new recording has a number of differences from the original; replacing the liftoff sequence is 12 seconds of silence and a snare drum fade-out ends the song. O'Leary said while the original "Space Oddity" ends "unresolved", the 1979 version leaves empty space. This version was issued in February 1980 as the B-side of Bowie's single "Alabama Song", which Visconti later said was "never meant" to occur.


title: Space Oddity

text: In July 2009, EMI issued the digital-only extended play (EP) "Space Oddity 40th Anniversary EP" to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original single. The EP includes the original UK and US mono single edits, the 1979 re-recording and eight stem tracks that isolate the lead vocal, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, string, bass and drums, flute and cellos, Mellotron and Stylophone. These stem tracks are accompanied with a mobile app that allows users to create their own remixes. Pegg said the EP "provid[es] a fascinating insight into the component sounds of a classic recording". The song's 50th anniversary was marked on 12 July 2019 by the release of digital and vinyl singles of a new remix of the song by Tony Visconti. The vinyl version was issued in a box set that also includes the original UK mono single edit.


title: Space Oddity

text: Several demo versions of "Space Oddity" have been commercially released. Two early demos, including a fragment that may be the first-recorded demo of the song, were released for the first time in April 2019 on the box set "Spying Through a Keyhole". The January 1969 demo remained officially unreleased for more than 40 years until it appeared on the 2009 two-CD special edition of "David Bowie", and was debuted on vinyl in May 2019 in the box set "Clareville Grove Demos". An edited version of the April 1969 demo originally appeared as the opening track on the 1989 box set "Sound + Vision". The unedited recording was released in June 2019 on the album "The 'Mercury' Demos". All the abovementioned demos and another previously unreleased one were compiled for the 5-CD box set "Conversation Piece", which was released in November 2019.


title: Space Oddity

text: The February 1969 studio recording became commercially available in 1984 on a VHS release of the film "Love You till Tuesday" and its accompanying soundtrack album. A shorter edit later appeared on the compilation album "The Deram Anthology 1966–1968". The original UK mono single edit was included on "Re:Call 1", as part of the box set "Five Years (1969–1973)" (2015). In 1992, the 1979 recording was released in a remixed form on the Rykodisc reissue of "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)", and, in 2017, it was re-released on "Re:Call 3", part of the compilation "A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)".


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" remained a concert staple and a live favourite throughout Bowie's career. On 22 May 1972, Bowie played the song for BBC Radio 1's "Johnny Walker Lunchtime Show" but the recording was not broadcast. It was eventually released on the 1996 compilation "BBC Sessions 1969–1972 (Sampler)" and "Bowie at the Beeb" (2000). For the BBC session, Bowie inserted "I'm just a rocket man!" between verses; Elton John had recently released "Rocket Man", which is also about an astronaut and was also produced by Gus Dudgeon.


title: Space Oddity

text: A version of the song that was recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 during the Ziggy Stardust Tour was first released on "Santa Monica '72" before becoming officially available in 2008 on "Live Santa Monica '72". A live performance that was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on 3 July 1973 was released on "" (1983). During the 1974 Diamond Dogs Tour, Bowie sang "Space Oddity" while being raised and lowered above the stage by a cherry picker crane and used a radio microphone that was disguised as a telephone. A July 1974 performance of the song was released on the 2005 reissue of "David Live" while a September performance from the same tour was released in 2017 on "Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)".


title: Space Oddity

text: A concert performance that was recorded on 12 September 1983 was included on the live album "Serious Moonlight (Live '83)", which was included in the 2018 box set "Loving the Alien (1983–1988)" and released separately the following year. The same performance appears on the concert video "Serious Moonlight" (1984). Bowie effectively retired the song from live performances during his 1990 Sound+Vision Tour, after which he sang it on a few occasions, most notably closing his 50th birthday party concert in January 1997 with a solo performance on acoustic guitar; this version was released on a limited edition CD-ROM that was issued with "Variety" magazine in March 1999. He then performed it at the Tibet House US benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in February 2002; this new version includes an orchestra conducted by Visconti, with string arrangements played by Scorchio and Kronos Quartet. Bowie's final performance of "Space Oddity" was at Denmark's Horsens Festival during the 2002 Heathen Tour.


title: Space Oddity

text: On 6 February 1969, a clip of the first version of "Space Oddity" for "Love You till Tuesday" was filmed at Clarence Studios. Bowie plays both the tee-shirt-wearing Ground Control character and Major Tom; he wears a silver suit, a blue visor and breast plate. Final touches were made the following day. RCA used this clip to promote the September 1975 UK single reissue.


title: Space Oddity

text: To promote RCA's December 1972 US reissue of "Space Oddity", a new promotional video was created at RCA's New York studios by photographer Mick Rock; Bowie, who was tired and wore little makeup, mimes to the song with a guitar. Bowie later said:


title: Space Oddity

text: I really hadn't much clue why we were doing this, as I had moved on in my mind from the song, but I suppose the record company were re-releasing it again or something like that. Anyway, I know I was disinterested in the proceedings and it shows in my performance. Mick's video is good, though."


title: Space Oddity

text: A promotional video for the 1979 version was debuted in the UK on 31 December 1979 on the "Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It to 1980? Show", and in the US on "Dick Clark's Salute to the Seventies". A fourth video, which was directed by Tim Pope and combines footage from Bowie's 50th birthday concert in Madison Square Garden with backdrop footage choreographer Édouard Lock filmed for the Sound+Vision Tour (1990), was created for the 2019 remix of the song to promote the box set "Conversation Piece". The video was premiered at the Kennedy Space Center and in Times Square on 20 July, and uploaded to YouTube hours later.


title: Space Oddity

text: Bowie revisited the character Major Tom in the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes", from "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" (1980). In the song, Major Tom is described as a "junkie" who is "strung out in heaven's high, hitting an all time low" but Ground Control still believes Major Tom is doing as well as he was ten years prior. The song has been interpreted as Bowie's confrontation of his past; after years of drug addiction in the 1970s, he used those struggles as a metaphor for Major Tom becoming a drug addict. The song's music video reuses visual elements from the December 1979 television performance of "Space Oddity".


title: Space Oddity

text: The 1996 Pet Shop Boys remix of the single "Hallo Spaceboy", from "Outside" (1995), also revisits Major Tom. The idea for the song came from Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant, who informed Bowie he would be adding "Space Oddity"-related lines to the remix. Although Bowie was hesitant at first, he accepted. Tennant sang the "Space Oddity"-related lines in the remix: "Ground to Major, bye-bye Tom / Dead the circuit, countdown's wrong".


title: Space Oddity

text: Major Tom may have influenced the music video for Bowie's 2015 single "Blackstar", the title track from his final album "Blackstar" (2016). The video, a surreal, ten-minute short film that was directed by Johan Renck, depicts a woman with a tail (Elisa Lasowski), who discovers a dead astronaut and takes his jewel-encrusted skull to an ancient, otherworldly town. The astronaut's bones float towards a solar eclipse while in the town's centre, a circle of women perform a ritual with the skull. Renck initially refused to confirm or deny that the astronaut in the video is Major Tom but he later said on a BBC documentary: "to me, it was 100% Major Tom".


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" remains one of Bowie's most-popular songs and has frequently been listed by publications as one of his greatest songs. In 2015, "Mojo" magazine rated it Bowie's 23rd-best track in a list of his 100 greatest songs. Following Bowie's death in 2016, "Rolling Stone" named "Space Oddity" one of the 30 most-essential songs of Bowie's catalogue. A year later, the staff of "Consequence of Sound" voted it Bowie's tenth-best track. In 2017, the readers of "NME" voted "Space Oddity" Bowie's seventh-best track while the publication's staff placed it at number 18 in a list of Bowie's 40 best songs.


title: Space Oddity

text: "The Guardian" Alexis Petridis voted "Space Oddity" number 25 in his list of Bowie's 50 greatest songs, writing: "Bowie perfectly inhabits its mood of blank-eyed, space-age alienation". In 2020, Tom Eames of Smooth Radio listed "Space Oddity" as Bowie's fifth-greatest song. Both "Ultimate Classic Rock" and "The Telegraph" listed it as Bowie's greatest song in 2016 and 2021, respectively. Spencer Kaufman wrote: "The song was revolutionary for its time, musically and lyrically, and helped introduce the masses to one of the most dynamic and creative music acts we will ever know." In a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best, "Ultimate Classic Rock" placed "Space Oddity" at number four.


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" has appeared on numerous best-of lists. In a 2000 list compiling the 100 greatest rock songs, VH1 placed "Space Oddity" at number 60. In 2012, "Consequence of Sound" included it in their list of the 100 greatest top songs of all time, ranking it number 43. In lists ranking the greatest songs of the 1960s, "NME" ranked "Space Oddity" at number 20, "Pitchfork" placed it at number 48, "Paste" magazine ranked it number three and "Treble" magazine placed it at number two. In 2021, "Rolling Stone" ranked "Space Oddity" at number 189 in their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The magazine stated as Bowie's first hit, it "offer[ed] just a glimpse of the ever-evolving star he would become". Several publications, including "Mojo" (39), "NME" (67), and "Sounds" (41), have also listed "Space Oddity" as one of the greatest singles of all time. "Channel 4" and "The Guardian" similarly ranked it the 27th-greatest British number-one single in 1997 while "NME" ranked it number 26 in their 2012 list of the greatest number-one singles in history.


title: Space Oddity

text: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included "Space Oddity" in their list of "The 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018. Based on "Space Oddity"'s appearances in professional rankings and listings, the review-aggregation website Acclaimed Music lists the song as the third-most-acclaimed song of 1969, the 23rd-most-acclaimed song of the 1960s and the 56th-most-acclaimed song in history.


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" has been covered by numerous artists. Performers on the original recording Rick Wakeman and Terry Cox, specifically the latter's band Pentangle, have covered the song. One of Bowie's favourite versions was a recording by the Langley Schools Music Project, a 60-voice choir of Canadian children who were recorded in the late 1970s and reissued on CD in 2002. Bowie said: "The backing arrangement is astounding. Coupled with the earnest if lugubrious vocal performance, you have a piece of art that I couldn't have conceived of, even with half of Colombia's finest export products in me." Many artists have written songs that reference or develop the story of "Space Oddity"; these include German singer Peter Schilling's 1983 song "Major Tom (Coming Home)", Panic on the Titanic's "Major Tom", and Def Leppard's 1987 single "Rocket". English singer-songwriter Jonathan King released a mashup of "Space Oddity" together with Peter Schilling's "Major Tom (Coming Home)" titled "Space Oddity / Major Tom (Coming Home)". This release reached No. 77 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1984.


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" has been heard and referenced in numerous films and television series, including the American sitcom "Friends", the British series "EastEnders" and "Shooting Stars", and the films "Mr. Deeds" (2002), "The Mother" (2003) and "C.R.A.Z.Y." (2005). The original single version is heard on the soundtrack of the 2004 film "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and a 2015 episode of the American drama series "Mad Men". It was also featured in a 2011 Renault Clio commercial and played on the radio of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster during its launch aboard the Falcon Heavy's maiden flight in February 2018.


title: Space Oddity

text: The song plays a pivotal role in the 2013 film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", in which Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is frequently referred to as "Major Tom" for daydreaming while at work. "Space Oddity" is featured in a scene in which Mitty decides to leap onto a helicopter after imagining his coworker Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) singing the song. For the scene, Wiig's vocal was mixed into Bowie's original track. Stiller said about the importance of "Space Oddity" in the scene:


title: Space Oddity

text: I felt like the way it fits into the story, we got to this point and this scene which was sort of how the fantasy and reality come together for Walter, and that was what that came out of. That song, and what he mentioned in his head, and what he imagines and what he does, it all just seemed to come together over that song.


title: Space Oddity

text: "Space Oddity" was played throughout the entire opening montage for the 2017 film "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets", which showed humans making contact with extraterrestrial life. Director Luc Besson timed the sequences of the scene to the guitar chords of "Space Oddity", and it took many hours for the shots from the film to be synched with the song, and the bass riff was used to signify humanity's first contact with aliens. The opening sequence had originally been storyboarded with the intention of 'Space Oddity' being played in the background, with Besson saying "It's almost a music video; I matched the song to the image." Besson previously worked with Bowie on "Arthur and the Invisibles" (2006), and the singer agreed to allow Besson to use "Space Oddity" in "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets", although Bowie died before the film was released.


title: Space Oddity

text: In May 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander of Expedition 35 to the International Space Station (ISS), recorded a video of "Space Oddity" on the ISS that went viral and generated a great deal of media exposure. It was the first music video to be recorded in space. In the video, which was filmed at the end of Hadfield's time at the ISS, Hadfield sang and played guitar while floating around the space station. On Earth, Joe Corcoran produced and mixed the backing track with a piano arrangement by multi-instrumentalist Emm Gryner, who worked with Bowie during his 1999–2000 concert tours. Gryner said she was "so proud to be a part of it".


title: Space Oddity

text: The lyrics were somewhat altered; rather than losing communication with Ground Control and being lost in space as a result, Major Tom receives his orders to land and does so safely, reflecting Hadfield's imminent return from his final mission to the ISS. Hadfield announced the video on his Twitter account, writing: "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World." Bowie is also thanked in the closing credits. Bowie's social media team responded to the video, tweeting back to Hadfield, "Hallo Spaceboy ...", and later called the cover "possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created".


title: Space Oddity

text: Hadfield's performance was the subject of a piece by Glenn Fleishman in "The Economist" on 22 May 2013 analyzing the legal implications of publicly performing a copyrighted work of music while in Earth orbit. The song is the only one of Bowie's for which he did not own the copyright. Bowie's publisher granted Hadfield a one-year licence to the song. On 13 May 2014, when the one-year licence expired, the official video was taken offline despite Bowie's explicit wishes for the publisher to grant Hadfield a licence at no charge to record the song and produce the video. Following negotiations, the video was restored to YouTube on 2 November 2014 with a two-year licence agreement in place. According to Pegg, Hadfield's video is "Breathtakingly beautiful and extraordinarily moving, [and] offers a rare opportunity to deploy that overused adjective 'awesome' with complete justification".


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: The beluga (), also known as the beluga sturgeon or great sturgeon (Huso huso), is a species of anadromous fish in the sturgeon family (Acipenseridae) of order Acipenseriformes. It is found primarily in the Caspian and Black Sea basins, and formerly in the Adriatic Sea. Based on maximum size, it is the third-most-massive living species of bony fish. Heavily fished for the female's valuable roe, known as beluga caviar, wild populations have been greatly reduced by overfishing and poaching, leading IUCN to classify the species as critically endangered.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: The common name for the sturgeon, as for the unrelated beluga whale, is derived from the Russian word белый ("belyj"), meaning "white," probably referring to the extensive pale colour on the flanks and belly in beluga compared to that of other sturgeons.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: "Huso huso" shows typical characteristics of other sturgeon, such as an elongated body, heterocercal tail, partially cartilaginous skeleton, naked skin and longitudinal series of scutes.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: The dorsal fin has 48 to 81 soft rays, and the anal fin, much shorter, has 22 to 41 soft rays. There are five in a series of longitudinal scutes: dorsal (one series, 9-17 scutes), lateral (two series, one per side, 28-60 scutes each) and ventral series (two series, one per side, 7-14 scutes each). The surface of the skin is covered by fine denticles. The rostrum is conical and contains numerous sensory pits on both ventral and dorsal surfaces. The mouth is large, crescent-shaped and protractile, with the upper lip continuous while the lower lip is interrupted by a large gap. The barbels are laterally compressed with foliate appendages, arranged in two pairs, originating midway or closer to the mouth than to the tip of the snout.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Among all extant bony fishes, the beluga sturgeon rivals the ocean sunfish ("Mola" sp.) as the most massive fish and is the second-longest fish after the giant oarfish ("Regalecus glesne"). It is the largest freshwater fish in the world. The beluga also rivals the great white shark ("Carcharodon carcharias") and the greenland shark ("Somniosus microcephalus") for the title of largest actively predatory fish.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: The largest accepted record is of a female taken in 1827 in the Volga estuary at and . Another specimen reportedly weighed and measured in length. Claims about bigger length (, or even ); and weight (, or , or even ) are disputed and unconfirmed; but they are not impossible. Several other records of aged sturgeon exceed . Among sturgeons, only the closely related Kaluga ("Huso dauricus") can attain similar size, with a maximum weight of .


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Beluga of such great sizes are very old (continuing to grow throughout life) and have become increasingly rare in recent decades because of heavy fishing of the species. Today, mature belugas that are caught are generally long and weigh . The female beluga is typically 20% larger than the male. An exceptionally large beluga recently caught weighed and measured .


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Like most sturgeons, the beluga is anadromous, migrating upstream in rivers to spawn on clean, hard substrate, which offers both support and cover to their sticky and adhesive eggs. Spawning biology and development of larval stages of the sturgeon, the most ancient fish of the Danube, co-evolved with the formation of the Danube valley, resulting in very different survival strategies in its early life stages. This appears to explain why different individuals of the same long-migratory species spawn as far upstream as 1,700 km upstream, while others spawn just 100 km. To make the long journey to very distant spawning grounds, the sturgeon adapted a two-stage migration strategy, beginning in the fall when they enter the Danube River overwinter in the river and the second stage is their spawning which takes place in the spring the river in fall and staying over winter in reaches of the river offering adequate substrate and water-flow resting conditions. Very few locations of existing wintering and spawning grounds for sturgeon are presently known in the lower Danube, and none are known to exist in the river's upper reaches. The same situation concerns nursery sites upon which young sturgeon depend during their journey to the Black Sea.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Males attain sexual maturity at 12–16 years of age, whereas females do so at 16–22 years. They will spawn every four to seven years. At one time, beluga sturgeons could migrate up to upriver to spawn, but dams in almost every major tributary that they utilize have impeded historic spawning routes. The female lays her eggs on gravel from underwater. Upon hatching, the embryo are long, and 10–14 days later when they absorb their yolk sack, the length is . Thereafter, the larvae usually subsist on benthic invertebrates, but when reaching at least in length, they will switch to a fish-based diet. While swimming back to the ocean, the young sturgeon may cover up to a day.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: "Huso huso" is a pelagic predator whose local distribution is not influenced by the nature of the substrates, unlike with most of the sturgeons that show demersal attitude. The prey is sucked into the mouth opening extremely quickly.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Juveniles feed on benthic invertebrates in rivers and shallow coastal waters, where they grow quickly. At the length of 8–10 cm, they become largely piscivorous.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Different diets have been observed throughout the distribution range of beluga sturgeon, as well as according to spawners' migration stage. Adults mainly eat a great diversity of large fish (73% of the diet). Additional food items may include molluscs and crustaceans, aquatic birds and young seals (Caspian seals, "Pusa caspica").


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: The piscivorous diet of beluga sturgeon tends to change with age: in the Caspian Sea, it mainly consists of "Clupeonella" sp. for juveniles smaller than 40 cm, different species of Gobiidae for fish ranging between 40 and 280 cm and then mullets, "Alosa" sp. and other sturgeons for the largest.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: In brackish environments of the Ponto-Caspian basin, the genera "Alosa", "Aspius" and "Engraulis" are the preferred prey. In estuaries and rivers of the same area, migrating spawners eat various cyprinids, mainly "Cyprinus carpio" and "Rutilus rutilus", "Sander lucioperca" and, among sturgeons, "Acipenser ruthenus" is the main prey.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Little is known about the diet of the Adriatic population. It has been reported that in marine and brackish environments, adult "H. huso" forage primarily on molluscs (Cephalopoda, of which common cuttlefish, "Sepia officinalis," and European squid, "Loligo vulgaris," are particularly common in the Adriatic Sea) and fish belonging to the families Gadidae, Pleuronectidae, Gobiidae, Clupeidae, Scombridae and Mugilidae, but also on big crustaceans; in the rivers, they feed mainly on local Cyprinidae.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Beluga caviar is considered a delicacy worldwide. The flesh of the beluga is not particularly renowned, but it is a hearty white meat similar to that of swordfish. Beluga caviar has long been scarce and expensive and the fish's endangered status has made its caviar even more expensive throughout the world.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: IUCN classifies the beluga as critically endangered. It is a protected species listed in Appendix III of the Bern Convention, and its trade is restricted under CITES Appendix II. The Mediterranean population is strongly protected under Appendix II of the Bern Convention, prohibiting any intentional killing of these fish.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has banned imports of beluga caviar and other beluga products from the Caspian Sea since 6 October 2005, after listing beluga sturgeon under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: In July 2016, Sturgeon Aquafarms in Bascom, Florida became the first and only facility in the world to obtain a permit exemption for the sale of beluga sturgeon and its caviar in the U.S. Since 2017, the company has assisted in beluga sturgeon repopulation efforts across the world by providing over 160,000 fertilized eggs to the Caspian Sea region.


title: Beluga (sturgeon)

text: Following a World Wildlife Fund crowdfunding appeal, over 7,000 three month-old beluga sturgeons were released into the Danube River. Despite repopulation efforts, the beluga sturgeon continues to face poaching threats. In 2021, two Romanian men in Grindu, Ialomita were caught trying to smuggle a 140 kilogram, 2.5-metre beluga sturgeon in a wagon; the fish was later safely returned to the river.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Ryan Terry Clark (born October 12, 1979) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Louisiana State University (LSU), and was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Clark also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and for the Washington Redskins. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, and made a Pro Bowl in 2011.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Clark has a sickle cell trait condition which made it dangerous for him to play at high altitudes, such as in Denver, Colorado.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Clark was born in Marrero, Louisiana. From 1993 to 1997, he attended Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: At Louisiana State University, Clark started 36 consecutive games for the LSU Tigers football team. In 2000, he was selected to the All-SEC second team by the league's coaches. Clark ranked third on the Tigers in 2001 with 88 tackles, including 63 solo, and also intercepted three passes. He recorded five tackles, including a 13-yard sack, in the Sugar Bowl and was LSU's Special Teams Player of the Year in 1998.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: On April 26, 2002, the New York Giants signed Clark to a three-year, $906,000 contract as an undrafted free agent that included a signing bonus of $1,000.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: During training camp, Clark delivered a late hit to teammate and rookie wide receiver Tim Carter that sidelined the second round pick for six weeks. Head coach Jim Fassel named Clark a backup safety and a part of the special teams unit to begin his rookie season. Clark made his professional regular season debut during the New York Giants' 16-13 loss against the San Francisco 49ers. The following week, Clark made his first career tackle as the Giants defeated the St. Louis Rams 26-21. On October 21, 2002, the New York Giants released Clark and replaced him with veteran safety Johnnie Harris. On October 23, 2002, the New York Giants signed Clark to their practice squad where he would remain for the rest of his rookie season.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Throughout training camp in 2003, Clark competed for a roster spot against Shaun Williams and Ike Charlton. Head coach Jim Fassel named Clark the primary backup safety to begin the regular season, behind starters Shaun Williams and Omar Stoutmire. On October 19, 2003, Clark earned his first career start and deflected a single pass during a 14-10 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7. In Week 12, he collected a season-high five solo tackle as the Giants lost 19-13 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On December 28, 2003, Clark recorded three solo tackles and made his first career sack during a 37-24 loss against the Carolina Panthers in Week 17. Clark sacked Panthers' quarterback Jake Delhomme for a seven-yard loss in the third quarter. Clark finished the 2003 NFL season with 21 combined tackles (19 solo), two pass deflections, and one sack in 16 games and four starts.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: On July 31, 2004, the Washington Redskins signed Clark to a two-year, $835,000 contract as an unrestricted free agent. Head coach Joe Gibbs named Clark a backup safety behind Matt Bowen, Andre Lott, and rookie Sean Taylor. In Week 6, Clark became the starting free safety, alongside strong safety Sean Taylor, after season-ending injuries sidelined Matt Bowen and Andre Lott. On November 14, 2004, Clark collected a season-high 11 combined tackles (ten solo) during a 17-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Clark finished the 2004 NFL season with 81 combined tackles (65 solo) and a pass deflection in 15 games and 11 starts.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Throughout training camp in 2005, Clark competed to be a backup safety against Pierson Prioleau. Clark began the season as the backup strong safety and was inactive for the first two games due to a sprained knee. In Week 4, Clark became the starting strong safety after Prioleau sustained a hamstring injury. Clark was inactive for the Redskins' Week 6 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs due to a chest injury. On October 30, 2005, Clark collected a season-high 11 solo tackles, deflected one pass, and made his first career interception during a 36-0 loss at the New York Giants in Week 8. He intercepted a pass by Giants' quarterback Eli Manning that was initially intended for wide receiver Plaxico Burress during the first quarter. The following week, Clark recorded four combined tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Donovan McNabb during the fourth quarter of a 17-10 win against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9. Clark finished the 2005 NFL season 57 combined tackles (42 solo), a career-high three interceptions, two pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and was credited with half a sack in 13 games and 13 starts.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: While he played well for Washington and wanted to re-sign with the team, the Redskins decided to cut ties with him and signed Adam Archuleta to be their new starting safety; the signing would be cited years later by NFL Network as one of the worst free agent signings in NFL history, along with other free agent busts by the Redskins including Deion Sanders and Albert Haynesworth.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: On March 14, 2006, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Clark to a four-year, $7 million contract that included a signing bonus of $1.65 million. Clark was signed as a replacement for Chris Hope, who declined the Steelers' contract offer and opted to sign with the Tennessee Titans. Throughout training camp, Clark competed to be the starting free safety against Tyrone Carter. Head coach Bill Cowher named Clark the starting free safety to begin the regular season, alongside strong safety Troy Polamalu.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: On October 8, 2006, Clark recorded nine combined tackles (six solo), one pass deflection, and made his first interception as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers during a 23-12 loss at the San Diego Chargers in Week 5. He intercepted a pass by Chargers' quarterback Philip Rivers during the first quarter. Clark was inactive for two games (Weeks 16-17) due to a groin injury.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: In 2006, Clark made 72 tackles playing free safety for the Steelers, along with one interception and three fumble recoveries. He played 13 games and started 12 of them, missing the final three with a groin injury. During training camp before the 2007 season, he remained a starter despite a position battle with second year player Anthony Smith.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: During a 2007 game against the Denver Broncos at Invesco Field at Mile High, Clark developed severe pain in his left side and had to be rushed to the hospital. It turned out that Clark had suffered a splenic infarction due to the sickle cell trait from which he has suffered since he was a child; these are usually a risk at high altitudes. Clark had to have his spleen and gall bladder removed, ending his season. He lost 30 pounds after the removal, but returned to the Steelers in 2008. Although Clark was medically cleared to play in Denver's thin air without any complications, the Steelers took the precautionary measure of deactivating him for the four games played in Denver thereafter during Clark's career with the team—a 2009 Monday Night game, a 2010 preseason game, a 2011 playoff game and the 2012 season opener.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Clark was the Steelers' recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award in 2008. After the 2008 season, Clark started in Super Bowl XLIII where the Steelers won against the Arizona Cardinals, recording five total tackles. After the 2010 season, he started in the Steelers' appearance in Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers, where he recorded eight total tackles in the 31–25 loss.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Set to become a free agent in the 2014 offseason, the Steelers made no attempt to resign Clark. The Steelers proceeded with their plans to replace him after they signed Mike Mitchell to a long-term contract on March 11, 2014 to become the team's new starting free safety.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: On March 31, 2014, Clark returned to Washington on a one-year contract. With DeAngelo Hall on injured reserve, he was named the team's defensive captain in his place. He recorded his only interception of the season against quarterback Andrew Luck in the loss against the Indianapolis Colts on November 30.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: On February 18, 2015, Clark announced his retirement from the NFL. He signed a one-day contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers to ensure he retired a Steeler.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: In March 2015, Clark was signed by ESPN as an NFL analyst to appear on "NFL Live", "SportsCenter", ""Get Up!"" and "First Take."


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: In July 2021, Clark and former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier began hosting the weekly MMA podcast "DC & RC" on ESPN.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Clark is married to Yonka Clark. The couple have three children together: Jaden, Jordan, and Loghan. Jordan plays football at Arizona State.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Clark was active in the community and while with the Giants, participating in the 2002 United Way Hometown Huddle by conducting a football clinic at the Highbridge Center for members of Alianza Dominicana, a local United Way agency that services families in Washington Heights. He joined forces with students from the Leadership In Public Services High School located at Ground Zero for "Operation PaintFest." Sponsored by the Foundation for Hospital Art, the participants created paintings of hope that would later be donated to the five New York City hospitals involved in the September 11th tragedies.


title: Ryan Clark (American football)

text: Since recovering from his crisis in 2007, Clark has been involved with sickle cell disease awareness, research, treatment and programming in Pittsburgh. In 2012, he announced the formation of Ryan Clark's Cure League to raise awareness about sickle cell trait and eventually find a cure.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in the Indian Wars. The term eventually became synonymous with all of the African-American regiments formed in 1866:


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Although several African-American regiments were raised during the Civil War as part of the Union Army (including the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the many United States Colored Troops Regiments), the "Buffalo Soldiers" were established by Congress as the first peacetime all-black regiments in the regular U.S. Army.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: On September 6, 2005, Mark Matthews, the oldest surviving Buffalo Soldier, died at the age of 111. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Sources disagree on how the nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" began. According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum the name originated with the Cheyenne warriors in the winter of 1877, the actual Cheyenne translation being "Wild Buffalo". However, writer Walter Hill documented the account of Colonel Benjamin Grierson, who founded the 10th Cavalry regiment, recalling an 1871 campaign against Comanches. Hill attributed the origin of the name to the Comanche, due to Grierson's assertions. The Apache used the same term ("We called them 'buffalo soldiers,' because they had curly, kinky hair ... like bison") a claim supported by other sources. Another possible source could be from the Plains Indians who gave them that name because of the bison coats they wore in winter. The term Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all black soldiers. It is now used for U.S. Army units that trace their direct lineage back to any of the African-American regiments formed in 1866.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: During the Civil War, the U.S. government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, composed of black soldiers and Native Americans. The USCT was disbanded in the fall of 1865. In 1867 the Regular Army was set at ten regiments of cavalry and 45 regiments of infantry. The Army was authorized to raise two regiments of black cavalry (the 9th and 10th (Colored) Cavalry) and four regiments of black infantry (the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st (Colored) Infantry), who were mostly drawn from USCT veterans. The first draft of the bill that the House Committee on Military Affairs sent to the full chamber on March 7, 1866, did not include a provision for regiments of black cavalry, however, this provision was added by Senator Benjamin Wade prior to the bill's passing on July 28, 1866. In 1869 the Regular Army was kept at ten regiments of cavalry but cut to 25 regiments of Infantry, reducing the black complement to two regiments (the 24th and 25th (Colored) Infantry). The 38th and 41st were reorganized as the 25th, with headquarters in Jackson Barracks in New Orleans, Louisiana, in November 1869. The 39th and 40th were reorganized as the 24th, with headquarters at Fort Clark, Texas, in April 1869. The two black infantry regiments represented 10 percent of the size of all twenty-five infantry regiments. Similarly, the two black cavalry units represented 20 percent of the size of all ten cavalry regiments.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: During the peacetime formation years (1865–1870), the black infantry and cavalry regiments were composed of black enlisted soldiers commanded by white commissioned officers and black noncommissioned officers. These included the first commander of the 10th Cavalry Benjamin Grierson, the first commander of the 9th Cavalry Edward Hatch, Medal of Honor recipient Louis H. Carpenter, and Nicholas M. Nolan. The first black commissioned officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers and the first black graduate of West Point, was Henry O. Flipper in 1877.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: From 1870 to 1898, the total strength of the US Army totaled 25,000 service members, with black soldiers maintaining their ten percent representation.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: From 1867 to the early 1890s, these regiments served at a variety of posts in the Southwestern United States and the Great Plains regions. They participated in most of the military campaigns in these areas and earned a distinguished record. Thirteen enlisted men and six officers from these four regiments earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. In addition to the military campaigns, the Buffalo Soldiers served a variety of roles along the frontier, from building roads to escorting the U.S. mail. On April 17, 1875, regimental headquarters for the 10th Cavalry was transferred to Fort Concho, Texas. Companies actually arrived at Fort Concho in May 1873. The 9th Cavalry was headquartered at Fort Union from 1875 to 1881. At various times from 1873 through 1885, Fort Concho housed 9th Cavalry companies A–F, K, and M, 10th Cavalry companies A, D–G, I, L, and M, 24th Infantry companies D–G, and K, and 25th Infantry companies G and K. From 1879 to 1881, portions of all four of the Buffalo Soldier regiments were in New Mexico pursuing Victorio and Nana and their Apache warriors in Victorio's War. The 9th Cavalry spent the winter of 1890 to 1891 guarding the Pine Ridge Reservation during the events of the Ghost Dance War and the Wounded Knee Massacre. Cavalry regiments were also used to remove Sooners from native lands in the late 1880s and early 1890s.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: A lesser known action was the 9th Cavalry's participation in the fabled Johnson County War, an 1892 land war in Johnson County, Wyoming, between small farmers and large, wealthy ranchers. It culminated in a lengthy shootout between local farmers, a band of hired killers, and a sheriff's posse. The 6th Cavalry was ordered in by President Benjamin Harrison to quell the violence and capture the band of hired killers. Soon afterward, however, the 9th Cavalry was specifically called on to replace the 6th. The 6th Cavalry was swaying under the local political and social pressures and was unable to keep the peace in the tense environment.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The Buffalo Soldiers responded within about two weeks from Nebraska, and moved the men to the rail town of Suggs, Wyoming, creating "Camp Bettens" despite a hostile local population. One soldier was killed and two wounded in gun battles with locals. Nevertheless, the 9th Cavalry remained in Wyoming for nearly a year to quell tensions in the area.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: After most of the Indian Wars ended in the 1890s, the regiments continued to serve and participated in the 1898 Spanish–American War (including the Battle of San Juan Hill) in Cuba, where five more Medals of Honor were earned.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The men of the Buffalo Soldiers were the only African Americans that fought in Cuba during the war. Additionally, the 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment had a company of African-American soldiers, company L, that saw action in Puerto Rico. Up to 5,000 "Black men" enlisted in volunteer regiments in the Spanish–American War in Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, and some had all black officers. Several other African-American regiments of United States Volunteer Infantry (USVI) were formed and nicknamed "Immune Regiments", as they were mistakenly believed to be resistant to tropical diseases, but only the 9th Immunes served overseas in the war.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The Buffalo Soldier regiments also took part in the Philippine–American War from 1899 to 1903 and the 1916 Mexican Expedition. There was strong opposition to war in the Philippines among African Americans. Many black soldiers established a rapport with "the brown-skinned natives on the islands," and an unusually large number of black troops deserted during the campaign, some of whom joined the Filipino rebels, of whom the most famous was the celebrated David Fagen.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: In 1918, the 10th Cavalry fought at the Battle of Ambos Nogales during the First World War, where they assisted in forcing the surrender of the federal Mexican and Mexican militia forces. In 1917, after being stationed in Houston, Texas, members of the 24th Infantry Regiment participated in the Houston riot of 1917 in which soldiers mutinied and marched on the city of Houston, killing over a dozen whites.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Buffalo soldiers fought in the last engagement of the Indian Wars, the small Battle of Bear Valley in southern Arizona which occurred in 1918 between U.S. cavalry and Yaqui natives.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Another little-known contribution of the Buffalo Soldiers involved eight troops of the 9th Cavalry Regiment and one company of the 24th Infantry Regiment who served in California's Sierra Nevada as some of the first national park rangers. In 1899, Buffalo Soldiers from Company H, 24th Infantry Regiment briefly served in Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, and General Grant (Kings Canyon) National Parks.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: U.S. Army regiments had been serving in these national parks since 1891, but until 1899, the soldiers serving were white. Beginning in 1899, and continuing in 1903 and 1904, African American regiments served during the summer in the second and third oldest national parks in the United States (Sequoia and Yosemite). Because these soldiers served before the National Park Service was created in 1916, they were "park rangers" before the term was coined.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: A lasting legacy of the soldiers as park rangers is the campaign hat they wore (popularly known as the Smokey Bear hat). Although not officially adopted by the Army until 1911, the distinctive hat crease, called a Montana peak, (or pinch) can be seen being worn by several of the Buffalo Soldiers in park photographs dating back to 1899. Soldiers serving in the Spanish–American War began to re-crease the Stetson hat with a Montana "pinch" to better shed water from the torrential tropical rains. Many retained that distinctive crease upon their return to the U.S. The park photographs, in all likelihood, show Buffalo Soldiers who were veterans from that war.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: One particular Buffalo Soldier stands out in history: Captain Charles Young, who served with Troop I, 9th Cavalry Regiment in Sequoia National Park during the summer of 1903. Young was the third African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy. At the time of his death, he was the highest-ranking African American in the U.S. military. He made history in Sequoia National Park in 1903 by becoming Acting Military Superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks. Young was also the first African American superintendent of a national park. During Young's tenure in the park, he named a giant sequoia for Booker T. Washington. Recently, another giant sequoia in Giant Forest was named in Captain Young's honor. Some of Young's descendants attended the ceremony.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: In 1903, 9th Cavalrymen in Sequoia built the first trail to the top of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. They also built the first wagon road into Sequoia's Giant Forest, the most famous grove of giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: In 1904, 9th Cavalrymen in Yosemite built an arboretum on the South Fork of the Merced River in the southern section of the park. This arboretum had pathways and benches, and some plants were identified in both English and Latin. Yosemite's arboretum is considered to be the first museum in the National Park System. The NPS cites a 1904 report, where Yosemite superintendent (Lt. Col.) John Bigelow, Jr. declared the arboretum "To provide a great museum of nature for the general public free of cost ..." Unfortunately, the forces of developers, miners, and greed cut the boundaries of Yosemite in 1905 and the arboretum was nearly destroyed.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: In the Sierra Nevada, the Buffalo Soldiers regularly endured long days in the saddle, slim rations, racism, and separation from family and friends. As military stewards, the African American cavalry and infantry regiments protected the national parks from illegal grazing, poaching, timber thieves, and forest fires. Yosemite Park Ranger Shelton Johnson researched and interpreted the history in an attempt to recover and celebrate the contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers of the Sierra Nevada.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: On March 23, 1907, the United States Military Academy Detachment of Cavalry was changed to a colored unit. It had been proposed in 1897 at the "Cavalry and Light Artillery School" at Fort Riley, Kansas that West Point cadets learn their riding skills from the black noncommissioned officers who were considered the best. The 100-man detachment from the 9th, and 10th Cavalry served to teach future officers at West Point riding instruction, mounted drill, and tactics until 1947.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The West Point "Escort of Honour" detachment of the 10th Cavalry was distinguished in 1931 by being the last regular army unit to be issued with the M1902 blue dress uniform for all ranks. This parade uniform had ceased to be worn by other regiments after 1917.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The last commanding officer of the West Point detachment of the Buffalo Soldiers, (9th and 10th Cavalry,) was Lt. Col. John "Duke" Nazzaro. Nazzaro was known and recognized for standing with his detachment on and off the field. He established a college scholarship for descendants of the Buffalo Soldiers in his son, Thomas Nazzaro's name.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The Buffalo Soldiers were often confronted with racial prejudice from other members of the U.S. Army. Civilians in the areas where the soldiers were stationed occasionally reacted to them with violence. Buffalo Soldiers were attacked during racial disturbances in Rio Grande City, Texas, in 1899, Brownsville, Texas, in 1906, and Houston, Texas, in 1917.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: During the Spanish-American War, the 9th Cavalry faced violent conflict with white citizens in multiple cities in Florida including Lakeland and Tampa.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: During the Indian Wars from 1866 to 1891, 416 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor. Although the Buffalo Soldiers comprised 12% of the U.S. Army infantry force and 20% of the cavalry force in this era, Buffalo Soldiers were awarded less than 4% of all Medals of Honor awarded. Other regiments during the era received a greater number of Medals of Honor but were not distinguished enough to see duty in Cuba for the Spanish–American War. For example, the 8th Cavalry Regiment with 84 Medals of Honor, were not assigned duty to fight in Cuba in 1898. Scholars have hypothesized that commanders were reticent to award behavior that they expected from soldiers, the bureaucracy impeded awards, and the posting of black soldiers to remote outposts reduced the visibility of black soldiers (the 1st Cavalry participated in twenty-one campaigns and the 2nd cavalry participated in nineteen campaigns during this era, compared to the 9th Cavalry's eight campaigns). Historian Thomas Philips counted 2,704 engagements with native tribes during this era, of which the four black regiments participated in 141 or about 4%.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: General of the Armies John J. Pershing is a controversial figure regarding the Buffalo Soldiers. He served with the 10th Cavalry Regiment from October 1895 to May 1897, starting as a first lieutenant when he took command of a troop of the 10th in October 1895.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: In 1897, Pershing became an instructor at West Point, where he joined the tactical staff. West Point cadets upset over Pershing's disciplinary treatment and high standards took to calling him "Nigger Jack", because he had learned to have full respect for black soldiers while leading them. Later during the Spanish–American War, where Pershing served with the 10th for six months in Cuba, the press softened the term to "Black Jack", which they continued to use in World War I.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: At the start of the Spanish–American War, First Lieutenant Pershing was offered a brevet rank and commissioned a major of volunteers on August 26, 1898. He fought with the 10th Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers) on Kettle and San Juan Hills in Cuba and was cited for gallantry.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: During World War I, Pershing was the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) on the Western Front. While earlier a champion of the African-American soldier, at this time he did not defend their full participation on the battlefield, but bowed to the racist policies of President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, and the Southern Democratic Party with its "separate but equal" philosophy.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Baker was cognizant of the many problems of domestic and allied political involvement in military decision-making during wartime, and gave Pershing unmatched authority to run his command as he saw fit, but Pershing practiced careful realpolitik where black participation was concerned, not engaging in issues that might distract or diminish his command. Even so, Pershing allowed American soldiers (African Americans) to be under the command of a foreign power for the first time in American history.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 against the long-time rule of President Porfirio Díaz initiated a decade-long period of high-intensity military conflict along the U.S.–Mexico border as different political/military factions in Mexico fought for power. The access to arms and customs duties from Mexican communities along the U.S.–Mexico boundary made border towns such as Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, and Nogales, Sonora, important strategic assets. As the various factions in Mexico vied for power, the U.S. Army, including the Buffalo Soldier units, was dispatched to the border to maintain security. The Buffalo Soldiers played a key role in U.S.–Mexico relations as the maelstrom that followed the ousting of Díaz and the assassination of his successor Francisco Madero intensified.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: By late 1915, the political faction led by Venustiano Carranza received diplomatic recognition from the U.S. government as the legitimate ruling force in Mexico. Francisco "Pancho" Villa, who had previously courted U.S. recognition and thus felt betrayed, then attacked the rural community of Columbus, New Mexico, directly leading to further border tensions as U.S. President Woodrow Wilson unilaterally dispatched the Punitive Expedition into Chihuahua, Mexico, under General John Pershing to apprehend or kill Villa. The 9th and 10th regiments were deployed to Mexico along with the rest of Pershing's units. Although the manhunt for Villa failed, small-scale confrontations in the communities of Parral and Carrizal nearly brought about a war between Mexico and the United States in the summer of 1916. Tensions cooled through diplomacy as the captured Buffalo Soldiers from Carrizal were released. Despite the public outrage over Villa's Columbus raid, Wilson and his cabinet felt that the U.S.'s attention ought to be centered on Germany and World War I, not the apprehension of the "Centauro del Norte". The Punitive Expedition exited Mexico in early 1917, just before the U.S. declaration of war against Germany in April 1917.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The Buffalo Soldiers did not participate with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I, but experienced noncommissioned officers were provided to other segregated Black units for combat service—such as the 317th Engineer Battalion. The soldiers of the 92nd and the 93rd infantry divisions were the first Americans to fight in France. The four regiments of the 93rd fought under French command for the duration of the war.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: On August 27, 1918, the 10th Cavalry supported the 35th Infantry Regiment in a border skirmish in the border towns of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, between U.S. military forces, Mexican Federal troops, and armed Mexican civilians (militia) in the Battle of Ambos Nogales. This was the only incident in which German military advisers allegedly fought along with Mexican soldiers against United States soldiers on North America soil during World War I.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The 35th Infantry Regiment was stationed at Nogales, Arizona, on August 27, 1918, when at about 4:10 p.m., a gun battle erupted unintentionally when a Mexican civilian attempted to pass through the border, back to Mexico, without being interrogated at the U.S. Customs house. After the initial shooting, reinforcements from both sides rushed to the border. On the Mexican side, the majority of the belligerents were angry civilians upset with the killings of Mexican border crossers by the U.S. Army along the vaguely defined border between the two cities during the previous year (the U.S. Border Patrol did not exist until 1924). For the Americans, the reinforcements were the 10th Cavalry, off-duty 35th Regiment soldiers, and militia. Hostilities quickly escalated, and several soldiers were killed, and others wounded on both sides, including the mayor of Nogales, Sonora, Felix B. Peñaloza (killed when waving a white truce flag/handkerchief with his cane). A cease-fire was arranged later after the US forces took the heights south of Nogales, Arizona.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Due in part to the heightened hysteria caused by World War I, allegations surfaced that German agents fomented this violence and died fighting alongside the Mexican troops they led. U.S. newspaper reports in Nogales before the August 27, 1918, battle documented the departure of part of the Mexican garrison in Nogales, Sonora, to points south that August in an attempt to quell armed political rebels.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Despite the Battle of Ambos Nogales controversy, the presence of the Buffalo Soldiers in the community left a significant impact on the border town. The famed jazz musician Charles Mingus was born in the Camp Stephen Little military base in Nogales in 1922, son of a Buffalo Soldier. The African American population, centered on the stationing of Buffalo Soldiers such as the 25th Infantry in Nogales, was a significant factor in the community, though they often faced racial discrimination in the binational border community in addition to racial segregation at the elementary-school level in Nogales's Grand Avenue/Frank Reed School (a school reserved for black children). The redeployment of the Buffalo Soldiers to other areas and the closure of Camp Little in 1933 initiated the decline of the African American community in Nogales.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Before World War II, the black 25th Infantry Regiment was based at Ft Huachuca. During the war, Ft Huachuca served as the home base of the Black 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions. The 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments were mostly disbanded, and the soldiers were moved into service-oriented units, along with the entire 2nd Cavalry Division. The 92nd Infantry Division, the "Buffalo Division", served in combat during the Italian campaign. The 93rd Infantry Division—including the 25th Infantry Regiment—served in the Pacific theater. Separately, independent Black artillery, tank, and tank destroyer battalions, as well as quartermaster and support battalions served in World War II. All of these units to a degree carried out the traditions of the Buffalo Soldiers.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Despite some official resistance and administrative barriers, Black airmen were trained and played a part in the air war in Europe, gaining a reputation for skill and bravery (see Tuskegee Airmen). In early 1945, after the Battle of the Bulge, American forces in Europe experienced a shortage of combat troops, so the embargo on using black soldiers in combat units was relaxed. The American Military History says:


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: In 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the military and marked the first federal piece of legislation that went against the societal norms implemented through Jim Crow laws. During the Korean War, black and white troops operated in integrated units for the first time.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: The 24th Infantry Regiment saw combat during the Korean War and was the last segregated regiment to engage in combat. The 24th was deactivated in 1951, and its soldiers were integrated into other units in Korea. On December 12, 1951, the last Buffalo Soldier units, the 27th Cavalry and the 28th (Horse) Cavalry, were disbanded. The 28th Cavalry was inactivated at Assi-Okba, Algeria, in April 1944 in North Africa, and marked the end of the regiment.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Monuments to the Buffalo Soldiers are in Kansas at Fort Leavenworth and Junction City. Then–Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, who initiated the project to get a statue to honor the Buffalo Soldiers when he was posted as a brigadier general to Fort Leavenworth, was guest speaker for the unveiling of the Fort Leavenworth monument in July 1992.


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: In the 21st century, the employment of the Buffalo Soldiers by the United States Army in the Indian Wars has led some to call for the critical reappraisal of the African American regiments. In the opinion of some, the Buffalo Soldiers were used as mere shock troops or accessories to the forceful expansionist goals of the U.S. government at the expense of the Native Americans and other minorities. However, there is little evidence to support these opinions. In fact, many Buffalo Soldiers, such as Lieutenant Henry Flipper (the first black man to graduate from the West Point Military Academy), willingly pursued military careers. A poem written by one of the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry reads:


title: Buffalo Soldier

text: Further evidence of their willing participation and their skill can be found in a letter written by Francis Roe, an officer's wife, writing in 1873. Her letter was the first recorded text to refer to the Buffalo Soldiers by their common name. She writes: "These 'Buffalo Soldiers' are active, intelligent, and resolute men; are perfectly willing to fight the Indians, whenever they may be called upon to do so, and appear to me to be rather superior to the average of white men recruited in time of peace." Other primary sources include the letters of Lt. Powhattan H. Clarke, who served with the 10th Cavalry in Arizona. He swore that "There is not a troop in the U.S. Army that I would trust my life to as quickly as this K troop of ours", and an Army paymaster ambushed in 1889 and saved by the Buffalo Soldiers later remarked, "I never witnessed better courage or better fighting than shown by these colored soldiers." Such accounts led to their reputation as legendary soldiers.