title: Naples, Florida

text: Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of about 375,752 as of 2020. Naples' USPS City population (i.e. the total population that lists Naples as the city on their postal address and who consider themselves residents of Naples) includes most of the communities in Collier County with the notable exceptions of Immokalee, Marco Island, Ave Maria, Everglades City and a few others, and thus Naples' USPS City population is approximately 333,083.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The city is mostly known for its high-priced homes, white-sand beaches, and numerous golf courses. Naples is the self-titled "Golf Capital of the World", as it has the second most holes per capita out of all communities, and the most holes of any city in Florida. The city is also known for being appealing to retirees, and a large percent of the population is made up of them.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Before the period of European colonization, the indigenous Calusa lived in Florida (including the region of present-day Naples) for thousands of years, from Charlotte Harbor to Cape Sable. In 1513, Spanish "conquistador" Juan Ponce de León explored the region and encountered the Calusa, who resisted attempts by de León to establish a Spanish colony in Florida. This initiated nearly two hundred years of conflict between the Spanish and the Calusa. In the early 18th century, following slave raids from Muscogee and Yamasee raiders allied with European settlers in Carolina, the majority of the remaining Calusa moved south and east to escape the raids.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The city of Naples was founded in 1886 by former Confederate general and Kentucky U.S. Senator John Stuart Williams and his partner, Louisville businessman Walter N. Haldeman, the publisher of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, magazine and newspaper stories ran stories about the area's mild climate and abundant fish and likened it to the sunny Italian peninsula. The name Naples caught on when promoters described the bay as "surpassing the bay in Naples, Italy". By the summer of 1888, Naples had a population of about 80 people, and the first hotel opened in 1889. Major development was anticipated after Collier County was established in 1923, the completion of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad extension in 1927, and the completion of the Tamiami Trail linking Naples to Miami in 1928, but did not begin until after the 1929 Stock market crash, the Great Depression, and World War II. During the war the U.S. Army Air Forces built a small airfield and used it for training purposes; it is now the Naples Municipal Airport.


title: Naples, Florida

text: After a hurricane in 1945, a fill was required to repair the damage. A local dredging company, Wyatt Brothers, created a lake north of 16th Avenue S, between Gordon Drive and Gulf Shore Boulevard. In 1949, Reginald Wyatt II asked Mr. Rust to sell him the from Jamaica Channel to today's 14th Avenue S. The Jamaica Channel was widened, one canal was dredged, and 14th Avenue S was created. That same year, Naples officially became a city.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Today, the Wyatt family is credited with the construction of Naples' first beach. Additional channels were eventually added to the south of 14th Avenue S and are named alphabetically for local water birds. The first channel south of 14th Avenue S is Anhinga Channel, then Bittern Channel is south of 15th Avenue S, Crane Channel is south of 16th Avenue S, Duck Channel is south of 17th Avenue S, and Egret Channel is north of 21st Avenue S. From the channels there are coves named Flamingo, Gull, Heron, and Ibis, as well as the original Aqua Cove. These initial channels, canals, and coves were dredged and bulldozed from the mangrove swamps. Where shallow rock precluded digging, the land was filled to create lots with navigable water.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The Aqualane Shores Association was incorporated as a non-profit corporation on February 3, 1966. It served lot owners in the area roughly bounded by the Bay of Naples to the east, Gordon Drive to the west, and the land between 14th Avenue and 21st Avenue S, as well as Marina Drive, Forrest Lane, and Southwinds Drive. Thirty years later, in 1996, a state-mandated city master plan renamed the area the Aqualane Shores Neighborhood and extended its boundary west to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Bay of Naples, and the area from 14th Avenue S all the way south to Jamaica Channel. The numerous canals and waterfront homes add a distinctive feature to the south portion of Naples and provide access to the Gulf of Mexico for many homeowners.


title: Naples, Florida

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 19,115 people, 10,797 households, and 6,441 families residing in the city.


title: Naples, Florida

text: As of the 2010 census, there were 19,537 people, 9,710 households, and 6,568 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 16,957 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.1% White, 4.5% Black, 0.12% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.5% of the population. The largest self-identified ancestry/ethnic groups in Naples were German-American 20.0%, English-American 19.2%, Irish-American 17.8% and Italian-American 9.2%.


title: Naples, Florida

text: There were 9,708 households, out of which 10.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. Thirty-four percent of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.92 and the average family size was 2.38.


title: Naples, Florida

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 10.9% under the age of 18, 2.3% from 18 to 24, 14.5% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 42.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 61 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.0 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The median income for a household in the city was $71,553, and the median income for a family was $102,262. Males had a median income of $86,092 versus $30,948 for females. The per capita income for the city was $61,141. About 3.1% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those aged 65 or over.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The economy of Naples is based largely on tourism and was historically based on real estate development and agriculture. Due to its proximity to the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands, Naples is also popular among ecotourists.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Companies based in Naples include ACI Worldwide, Beasley Broadcast Group, ASG Technologies, and Arthrex, a global medical device company, in addition to numerous small businesses. Due to the wealth present in Collier County, Naples is also home to many small non-profit organizations. The surrounding Naples metro area is also home to major private employers such as Fortune 1000 company Health Management Associates and technology company NewsBank.


title: Naples, Florida

text: In 2009, Naples placed 10th in a report by "U.S. News & World Report" titled "10 Pricey Cities That Pay Off." The report ranked cities by its "amenity value," a measurement based on the amount of satisfaction an asset brings to its owner. In 2012, a report by Kiplinger ranked Naples with the sixth-highest per capita income in the country, along with the second-highest proportion of millionaires per capita in the US.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Naples is located in southwest Florida at (26.139, −81.795) on U.S. Highway 41 between Miami to the east and Fort Myers to the north.


title: Naples, Florida

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 25.09%, is water.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Naples experiences a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification "Aw"). Naples is normally frost-free and the growing season is 365 days. Of the two tropical seasons, Naples' wet season is from approximately June through September with frequent afternoon rains, while the dry season is from approximately October through May. Of the six ecological seasons, Naples experiences only two: Vernal (spring) from approximately October through May and Estival (high summer) from approximately June through September. Within the Vernal (spring) season, October, November, February, March, April and May are mild temperate, while December and January are cool temperate. Of the six ecological seasons, Naples does not experience Prevernal (pre-spring), Serotinal (late summer), Autumnal (autumn) and Hibernal (winter) because its trees and vegetation are in a perpetual state of leaf replenishment and bloom; and large numbers of bird species are settled in Naples year-round.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Naples is served by the District School Board of Collier County and various private institutions, including the following:


title: Naples, Florida

text: While no colleges are based within the city limits, Ave Maria School of Law is located in Vineyards, and Florida SouthWestern State College has a satellite campus in Lely Resort. Also, Florida Gulf Coast University operates continuing education classes from their Downtown Naples campus, and Hodges University has a campus in North Naples. Higher education institutions close to Naples include:


title: Naples, Florida

text: Since February 2001, Naples has been served by several bus routes operated by the Collier Area Transit. Service runs seven days a week and end times depend on the route. Highways that pass through Naples are I-75 and US-41.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The city is served by the Naples Airport, and although it doesn't have any scheduled commercial service, it is one of the busiest private jet airports in the United States. The closest airport with regular-scheduled commercial service for both domestic and international destinations is Southwest Florida International Airport.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The region is served by the NCH Healthcare System, which currently has 716 beds between two hospitals, and Physician's Regional Healthcare System, which has two hospitals that contain 201 beds and is owned by the Health Management Associates, headquartered in Pelican Bay. In addition to the two hospitals, the company operates six clinics in Naples.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida (HCN) was founded in 1977 to serve migrant farmworkers and their families in Immokalee. It now provides care to over 41,000 residents of Collier County through 20 practices, including internal medicine, family practice, obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics, behavioral health and dental care.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Tourism is a major industry for the city. The Naples area is home to several major land reserves, including the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and Picayune Strand State Forest. The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is known not only for its of landscape and wildlife, but for a two-and-a-half-mile-long boardwalk winding through the sanctuary. The Naples area is also home to the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens, which dates back to 1919. Near the zoo is where the Coastland Center is located, an indoor mall with many different types of stores anchored by J. C. Penney and Macy's.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Downtown Naples is home to The Naples Players, the 5th Avenue South, and 3rd Street South shopping districts, which feature a variety of antique luxury shops. Gallery Row is a concentration among the numerous art galleries spread throughout the downtown area. Located directly off of Tamiami Trail are the Waterside Shops, an upscale open-air shopping center with popular stores such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Near downtown Naples Bay and the Gordon River is the shopping district of Tin City. This open-air shopping center specializes in antiques and handmade local novelties.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The Naples Half Marathon is a half marathon held every year in Naples since 1989, with record participation in 2013 of 2,038 runners. The race has been called one of the best half-marathons in the United States by "Runner's World" magazine.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The last LPGA golf tournament played each year, the CME Group Tour Championship, has been held in Naples since 2012. Since 2013, it has been played at the Gold Course of the Tiburón Golf Club. It claims the largest purse and the largest winner's share of any women's golf tournament, presently $5,000,000 and $1,500,000 respectively. The purse and winner's share increase in 2022, to $7,000,000 and $2,000,000 respectively.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Pickleball is an increasingly popular sport in Naples. Because of this, many parks have added pickleball courts. Naples is home to the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships, which have been held annually since 2016.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Naples has a semi-pro soccer team, Naples United FC, which was founded in 2017. They currently play in the Sunshine Conference of the National Premier Soccer League.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Naples is also the home of swamp buggy races, held three times each year at the Florida Sports Park. The swamp buggy was invented in Naples.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Naples is home to The Naples Players, Naples Shakespeare Festival (and sister company Marco Island Shakespeare Festival), Opera Naples, the Equity Theatre Companies Theatre Zone, and Gulfshore Playhouse. The Naples Philharmonic and The Baker Museum are located at Artis—Naples, which also serves as the educational campus for the Naples Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Youth Chorus, Youth Jazz Orchestra and Youth Symphony. The Holocaust Museum and Education Center of Southwest Florida educates about 155,000 students each year both in its facility and with a locally traveling exhibit.


title: Naples, Florida

text: National Weather Service records that date back to 1851, indicate 74 tropical storms have passed within 85 nautical miles of Naples, or once every 2.2 years (as of a 2014 data).


title: Naples, Florida

text: 2005 Hurricane Wilma (Category 5) – Wilma reached maximum wind strength of 185 mph but its winds were 125 mph when it made landfall near Cape Romano (below Naples, just beyond the southwestern tip of Marco Island and northwest of the Ten Thousand Islands in Collier County). Wilma caused 87 deaths and $22.4 billion in damage.


title: Naples, Florida

text: 2017 Hurricane Irma (Category 5) – Irma had maximum wind strength of 180 mph but when it made landfall near Marco Island, its winds were 115 mph. As Irma hit Florida, tropical-storm-force winds extended out to 400 miles from the center and had hurricane-force winds that extended up to 80 miles. This storm left over 7.5 million homes (70% of the state) without electricity for days. Irma caused 134 deaths and $50 billion in damage.


title: Naples, Florida

text: The beach on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico is more than long and is known for its cleanliness and pristine white sand. In 2005, Naples was voted the best all-around beach in America by the Travel Channel.


title: Naples, Florida

text: Many movies have been filmed in or around Naples, such as "Still Green", "Just Cause", "Pick-Up" and "Thunder and Lightning".


title: French franc

text: The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It was reintroduced (in decimal form) in 1795. After two centuries of inflation, it was redenominated in 1960, with each (NF) being worth 100 old francs. The NF designation was continued for a few years before the currency returned to being simply the franc. Many French residents, though, continued to quote prices of especially expensive items in terms of the old franc (equivalent to the new centime), up to and even after the introduction of the euro (for coins and banknotes) in 2002. The French franc was a commonly held international reserve currency of reference in the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 1998 and 2002, the conversion of francs to euros was carried out at a rate of 6.55957 francs to 1 euro.


title: French franc

text: The French Franc traces its origins to the Carolingian monetary system of the 8th century AD, and more specifically to the Livre Tournois, an offshoot of the same system which emerged in the 13th century. Here is a table of changes to the value of the Livre Parisis and the Livre Tournois in terms of silver or gold until the French Franc was introduced in 1795.


title: French franc

text: Emperor Charlemagne's monetary system was introduced in 781 AD to the Frankish Carolingian Empire and spread over the centuries to much of Western Europe, with a Livre (pound) of silver divided into 20 Sols or Sous (shillings) and the Sol divided into 12 Deniers (penny). Only the denier existed as a coin for the next 500 years, with the sou and livre functioning as accounting multiples of the denier. The first livre and denier weighed 407.92 g and 1.7 g, respectively, of the finest silver available.


title: French franc

text: Livres and deniers issued under the Capetian dynasty contained 305.94 g and 1.27475 g fine silver, respectively. The French Mark of 8 ounces was a unit of weight equal to 244.752 grams, and equal in weight to 192 deniers or 16 sols of this period.


title: French franc

text: In subsequent centuries the French kings would struggle to implement fixed standards for the livre over a decentralized realm of Frankish feudal rulers, many of whom claimed the right to issue currency within their own domains, and often resorting to currency debasements in moments of stringency. While monetary values as proclaimed by French kings would eventually be identified as the Livre Parisis, other regions almost always got by with currencies of lower standard. One such currency, the Livre Tournois, would eventually become the preferred accounting system under a more centralized French kingdom.


title: French franc

text: The emergence of the Livre Tournois as France's preferred accounting system occurred during the reign of King Louis IX with the issuance of the silver Gros tournois with 58 issued to a French Mark of silver of fineness (hence 4.044 g fine silver in a gros), and valued at 1 sol (12 deniers) in France's Touraine region though valued less than 1 sol Parisis. The new coin's reputation and handling convenience versus those of debased deniers assured the adoption of the gros tournois to the rest of Western Europe.


title: French franc

text: Towards the reign of King Philip IV le Bel came pressures to further debase the denier, which occurred in 1317 when the Gros Tournois was raised to 15 deniers "Tournois" or 12 deniers (1 sol) "Parisis", thus commencing the fixed parity of 4 "deniers Parisis" to 5 "deniers Tournois". While French kings would continue to prescribe coin values in multiples of 4 and 12 deniers Parisis until the end of the 15th century, the rest of France would gradually choose to recognize their increased values in multiples of 5 and 15 deniers Tournois.


title: French franc

text: The start of the Hundred Years' War against England in 1337 would increase the pressure to further debase the French livre. An attempt in 1343 to reverse earlier depreciations of circulating deniers and reinstate the old 1317-era gros tournois (forte monnaie, or strong money) caused financial havoc especially with borrowers who received depreciated coins and who then had to repay debts in forte monnaie. Lower valuations for the livre had to be accepted subsequently as the war raged on.


title: French franc

text: In 1361 the gros tournois of 15 deniers Tournois (1 sol Parisis) was minted at 84 to a French Mark of silver, 23/24 fine (hence, 2.79 g fine silver in a gros). At the same time gold flowing from Southern Europe started to become an important medium of exchange in the North, so gold francs worth 1 livre Tournois (16 sols Parisis) were minted at 63 to a French Mark of fine gold (hence, 3.885 g in a franc). Gold as circulating currency would henceforth continue in the form of Écu d’ors of varying gold content.


title: French franc

text: The gold franc worth one livre tournois was introduced in 1360 to pay the ransom of King John II of France. This coin secured the king's freedom and showed him on a richly decorated horse earning it the name "franc à cheval" (meaning "free on horse" in French). The obverse legend, like other French coins, gives the king's title as "Francorum Rex" ("King of the Franks" in Latin) and provides another reason to call the coin a franc. John's son, Charles V, continued this type. It was copied exactly at Brabant and Cambrai and, with the arms on the horse cloth changed, at Flanders. Conquests led by Joan of Arc allowed Charles VII to return to sound coinage and he revived the "franc à cheval". John II, however, was not able to strike enough francs to pay his ransom and he voluntarily returned to English captivity.


title: French franc

text: John II died as a prisoner in England and his son, Charles V was left to pick up the pieces. Charles V pursued a policy of reform, including stable coinage. An edict dated 20 April 1365 established the centrepiece of this policy, a gold coin officially called the "denier d’or aux fleurs de lis" which had a standing figure of the king on its obverse, pictured under a canopy. Its value in money of account was one livre tournois, just like the "franc à cheval", and this coin is universally known as a "franc à pied". In accordance with the theories of the mathematician, economist and royal advisor Nicole Oresme, Charles struck fewer coins of better quality gold than his ancestors. In the accompanying deflation, both prices and wages fell, but wages fell faster and debtors had to settle up in better money than they had borrowed. The Mayor of Paris, Étienne Marcel, exploited their discontent to lead the Jacquerie revolt which forced Charles V out of the city. The franc fared better. It became associated with money stable at one livre tournois.


title: French franc

text: A certain degree of peace achieved at the start of the 15th century helped settle the value of French currency. After 1422 the gros of 1 sol Parisis was minted at 96 to a French Mark, fine (hence 1.912 g per gros), while the Écu of 20 sols Parisis was minted at 64 to a French Mark, karats or fine (hence 3.585 g per écu). The gros and the écu compared favourably with England's 2-pence coin of 1.8 g silver and 40-pence (th of a pound) half-noble coin of 3.48 g gold, resulting in an approximate exchange rate of 1 pound sterling to six Livres Parisis.


title: French franc

text: Peace in the Burgundian Netherlands after the 1420s also resulted in the 1434 realignment of the Flemish monetary system with the French livre. The new Flemish Guilder (Pound) of 20 Stuiver (shilling) contained 32.6 g fine silver and was approximately par with the Livre Parisis of 20 sols (38.24 g). Such parities between the French livres to the Flemish and English currencies would persist up to the 1560s and would facilitate the issue of identical coin denominations across these countries.


title: French franc

text: The Great Bullion Famine of the mid-15th century resulted in yet another debasement during the reign of King Louis XI, with the "Livre Parisis" reduced to 1 French ounce (30.594 g) fine silver or 2.620 g fine gold. The silver gros was minted at 69 to the French Mark, fine (3.4 g fine silver) and was valued at th the Livre Parisis (or 2 sols). The gold écu au soleil was minted at 72 to the Mark, karats fine (3.2754 g fine gold), and was valued at 25 Sols Parisis. The close of the 15th century saw the beginnings of a more centralized French currency system and the discontinuation of competing currency systems within France.


title: French franc

text: The Livre Parisis of 1 French ounce approximately matched the silver content of th pound sterling (1 troy ounce of sterling silver). It would also become the model for Germany when it started issuing the 1-ounce silver Guldengroschen divided into 21 Groschen (gros, shillings) or 252 Pfennige (pence).


title: French franc

text: A considerable acceleration in the debasement of the French, English and Dutch currencies occurred during the reign of the Valois-Angoulême kings in the 16th century amidst the huge influx of precious metals from the American continent arriving through the Habsburg Netherlands. The loose enforcement of monetary standards in the Dutch provinces resulted in a significant rd reduction in the value of the French livre by 1549, with debasements continuing into the 17th century.


title: French franc

text: The French ounce (30.594 g) of fine silver was raised in value from 1 to Livre Parisis (or from 25 to sols Tournois). The écu au soleil of 3.2754 g fine gold was raised in value from 25 to sols Parisis (or to approximately 47 sols Tournois). This 50% advance was also seen in England in 1551 when it raised its troy ounce of sterling silver from 40 to 60 pence, and in the 17th century when Germany raised its one-ounce silver Thaler from 1 to silver gulden.


title: French franc

text: The 16th century saw the issuance of larger silver coins, first in testoons (9 g fine silver, valued at 11 sols Tournois in 1549), and later on in silver francs (12.3 g fine silver, valued at 1 Livre Tournois in 1577). These French coins, however, were much less popular than the 1-ounce silver coins coming out of Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, leading to the 1641 currency reform under King Louis XIII.


title: French franc

text: Henry III exploited the association of the franc as sound money worth one livre tournois when he sought to stabilize French currency in 1577. By this time, inflows of gold and silver from Spanish America had caused inflation throughout the world economy and the kings of France, who weren't getting much of this wealth, only made things worse by manipulating the values assigned to their coins. The States General which met at Blois in 1577 added to the public pressure to stop currency manipulation. Henry III agreed to do this and he revived the franc, now as a silver coin valued at one livre tournois. This coin and its fractions circulated until 1641 when Louis XIII of France replaced it with the silver écu. Nevertheless, the name "franc" continued in accounting as a synonym for the "livre tournois".


title: French franc

text: In the 17th century King Louis XIII abolished its unpopular coinage of francs and ecus in favour of Spanish-modelled coins. It also abolished the Livre Parisis system in favour of exclusive use of the Livre Tournois. The Spanish dollar was the model for the Louis d’Argent – 9 to a French Mark (244.752 g) of silver, fine (hence 24.93 g fine silver), and valued at 3 livres tournois. The Spanish doubloon or two-escudo coin was the model for the Louis d'Or – 36 to a French Mark of gold, fine (hence 6.189 g fine gold), and valued at 10 livres.


title: French franc

text: France entered another turbulent period during the War of the Spanish Succession from 1701 to 1714, resulting in another debasement of the livre tournois. Under King Louis XV's reign in 1726 the silver Écu d'Argent was issued at 8.3 to a Mark of silver, 11/12 fine (hence 27.03 g fine silver), and valued at 6 livres. A new gold Louis d'Or was also issued at 30 to a Mark of gold, 11/12 fine (hence 7.4785 g fine gold), and valued at 24 livres.


title: French franc

text: The rise in the value of gold at the onset of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and elsewhere as well as King Louis XVI's reign led to the rise in the Gold-Silver Ratio to 15.5, resulting in the reduction in the gold content of the 24-livre Louis d'Or from 1/30th to 1/32nd of a Mark, 11/12 fine. While the silver standard remained unchanged, assays of the period indicate that coins contained approximately 1.5% less bullion than officially specified. The 1795 swapping of livres to francs at the rate of 1.0125 livres = 1 franc suggest that the 6-livre ecu contained 26.67 g fine silver while the reduced 24-livre Louis contained 6.88 g fine gold.


title: French franc

text: The livre tournois was swapped in 1795 for the French Franc (or franc germinal), worth 4.5 g silver or g = 0.29032 g gold (ratio 15.5), at a rate of 1 franc = livres or 1 livre, 3 deniers.


title: French franc

text: The decimal "franc" was established as the national currency by the National Convention of Revolutionary France in 1795 as a decimal unit (1 franc = 10 décimes = 100 centimes) of 4.5 g of fine silver. This was slightly less than the livre of 4.505 g, but the franc was set in 1796 at 1.0125 livres (1 livre, 3 deniers), reflecting in part the past minting of sub-standard coins. Silver coins now had their denomination clearly marked as "5 FRANCS" and it was made obligatory to quote prices in francs. This ended the ancien régime's practice of striking coins with no stated denomination, such as the Louis d'or, and periodically issuing royal edicts to manipulate their value in terms of money of account, i.e. the Livre tournois. The franc became the official currency of France in 1799.


title: French franc

text: Coinage with explicit denominations in decimal fractions of the franc also began in 1795. Decimalization of the franc was mandated by an act of 7 April 1795, which also dealt with the decimalization of weights and measures. France led the world in adopting the metric system and it was the second country to convert from a non-decimal to a decimal currency, following Russia's conversion in 1704, and the third country to adopt a decimal coinage, also following the United States in 1787. France's first decimal coinage used allegorical figures symbolizing revolutionary principles, like the coinage designs the United States had adopted in 1793.


title: French franc

text: The circulation of this metallic currency declined during the Republic: the old gold and silver coins were taken out of circulation and exchanged for printed assignats, initially issued as bonds backed by the value of the confiscated goods of churches, but later declared as legal tender currency. The withdrawn gold and silver coins were used to finance the French Revolutionary Wars and to import food, which was in short supply.


title: French franc

text: As during the "Mississippi Bubble" in 1715–1720, too many assignats were put in circulation, exceeding the value of the "national properties", and the coins, due also to military requisitioning and hoarding, rarefied to pay foreign suppliers. With national government debt remaining unpaid, and a shortage of silver and brass to mint coins, confidence in the new currency declined, leading to hyperinflation, more food riots, severe political instability and termination of the First French Republic and the political fall of the French Convention. Then followed the economic failure of the Directoire: coins were still very rare. After a "coup d'état" that led to the Consulate, the First Consul progressively acquired sole legislative power at the expense of the other unstable and discredited consultative and legislative institutions.


title: French franc

text: In 1800 the Banque de France, a federal establishment with a private board of executives, was created and commissioned to produce the national currency. In 1803, the "Franc germinal" (named after the month Germinal in the revolutionary calendar) was established, creating a gold franc containing 290.034 mg of fine gold. From this point, gold and silver-based units circulated interchangeably on the basis of a 1:15.5 ratio between the values of the two metals (bimetallism) until 1864, when all silver coins except the 5-franc piece were debased from 90% to 83.5% silver without the weights changing.


title: French franc

text: This coinage included the first modern gold coins with denominations in francs. It abandoned the revolutionary symbols of the coinage 1795, now showing Napoleon in the manner of Roman emperors, first described as "Bonaparte Premier Consul" and with the country named as "République Française". After his coronation in 1804 coins changed the obverse legend to "Napoleon Empereur", dropping his family name in the manner of regnal names. In 1807, the reverse legend changed to name France as "Empire Français". In analogy with the old Louis d'or these coins were called Gold Napoleons. Economically, this sound money was a great success and Napoleon's fall did not change that. Succeeding governments maintained Napoleon's weight standard, with changes in design which traced the political history of France. In particular, this currency system was retained during the Bourbon Restoration and perpetuated until 1914.


title: French franc

text: France was a founding member of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU), a single currency employed primarily by the Romance-speaking and other Mediterranean states between 1865 and the First World War. The common currency was based on the franc germinal, with the name franc already being used in Switzerland and Belgium, whilst other countries minted local denominations, redeemable across the bloc with 1-to-1 parity, though with local names: e.g., the peseta. In 1873, the LMU went over to a purely gold standard of 1 franc = 0.290322581 grams of gold.


title: French franc

text: The outbreak of World War I caused France to leave the gold standard of the LMU. The war severely undermined the franc's strength: war expenditure, inflation and postwar reconstruction, financed partly by printing ever more money, reduced the franc's purchasing power by 70% between 1915 and 1920. After a brief appreciation of the franc during the Depression of 1920–1921, it depreciated a further 43% between 1922 and a balancing of the budget in 1926. This devaluation was aggravated by the insistence of the Republican U.S. federal government and World War Foreign Debts Commission that France's war debts be repaid within 25 years at a minimal 4.25 percent interest per year. The currency devaluation contributed to French demands for high reparations payments from Germany. After a brief return to the gold standard between 1928 and 1936, the currency was allowed to resume its slide, until in 1959 it was worth less than 2.5% of its 1934 value.


title: French franc

text: During the Nazi occupation of France (1940–44), the franc was a satellite currency of the German Reichsmark. The exchange rate was 20 francs for 1 RM. The coins were changed, with the words "Travail, famille, patrie" (Work, Family, Fatherland) replacing the Republican triad "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity), with the emblem of the Vichy regime added.


title: French franc

text: After the Liberation, the US attempted to impose the use of the US occupation franc, which was averted by General De Gaulle.


title: French franc

text: After World War II, France devalued its currency within the Bretton Woods system on several occasions. Beginning in 1945 at a rate of 480 francs to the British Pound (119.1 to the U.S. dollar), by 1949 the rate was 980 to the Pound (350 to the Dollar). This was reduced further in 1957 and 1958, reaching 1382.3 to the Pound (493.7 to the Dollar, equivalent to 1 franc = 1.8 mg pure gold).


title: French franc

text: The abbreviation "NF" was used on the 1958 design banknotes until 1963. Old one- and two-franc coins continued to circulate as new centimes (no new centimes were minted for the first two years). The one-centime coin never circulated widely.


title: French franc

text: Inflation continued to erode the franc's value: between 1950 and 1960, price levels increased 72 per cent (5.7% per year on average); between 1960 and 1970, it increased 51 per cent (4.2%).


title: French franc

text: Only one further major devaluation occurred (11% in August 1969) before the Bretton Woods system was replaced by free-floating exchange rates. When the Euro replaced the franc on 1 January 1999, the franc was worth less than an eighth of its original 1960 purchasing power.


title: French franc

text: After revaluation and the introduction of the new franc, many French people continued to use the term "old francs" ("anciens francs") for large sums, for example for the prices of houses, apartments, and cars. This was common until the introduction of the euro and even later. Many people, old and young – even those who had never used the old franc – still quoted prices in old francs, confusing tourists and people abroad. For example, lottery prizes were most often advertised in amounts of centimes, equivalent to the old franc, to inflate the perceived value of the prizes at stake. Multiples of 10NF were occasionally referred to as "mille francs" (thousand francs) or "mille balles" ("balle" being a slang word for franc) in contexts where it was clear that the speaker did not mean 1,000 new francs.


title: French franc

text: All franc coins and banknotes ceased to be legal tender in January 2002, upon the official adoption of the Euro.


title: French franc

text: From 1 January 1999, the value exchange rate of the French franc against the Euro was set at a fixed parity of €1 = 6.55957 F. Euro coins and notes replaced the franc entirely between 1 January and 17 February 2002.


title: French franc

text: In August 1795, the Monetary Law replaced the "livre" ("pound") with the "franc", which was divided into 10 "décimes" ("tenths") and 100 "centimes" ("hundredths"). Copper coins were issued in the denominations of 1 centime, 5 centimes, 1 décime, and 2 décimes, designed by Augustin Dupré. After 1801, French copper coins became rare.


title: French franc

text: The 5-centime copper coin was called a "sou", referring to "sole" (fr. Latin: "solidus"), until the 1920s.


title: French franc

text: During the Consulship period (1799–1804) silver francs were struck in decimal coinage. A five-franc coin was first introduced in 1801–02 (L’AN 10), half-franc, one-franc, and gold 40-franc coins were introduced in 1802–03 (L’AN 11), and quarter-franc and two-franc coins in 1803–04 (L’AN 12).


title: French franc

text: The 5-franc silver coin was called an "écu", after the six-livre silver coin of the "ancien regime", until the 1880s.


title: French franc

text: Copper coins were rarely issued between 1801 and 1848, so the quarter franc was the lowest current denomination in circulation. But during this period, copper coins from earlier periods circulated. A Napoleon 5-centime coin (in bell metal) and Napoleon and Restoration 1-décime coins were minted.


title: French franc

text: A new bronze coinage was introduced from 1848. The Second Republic Monetary Authority minted a 1-centime copper coin with a 1795 design. 2, 5 and 10-centime coins were issued from 1853. The quarter franc was discontinued, with silver 20-centime coins issued between 1849 and 1868 as the smallest silver coin produced in France.


title: French franc

text: The gold coinage also changed. 40-franc coins were last struck in 1839 (with just 23 coins minted). Several new denomination were introduced as gold coinage: 5 gold francs (1856), 10 gold francs (1850), 50 gold francs (1855), and 100 gold francs (1855). A second design for the 100 gold franc coin was released in 1878 depicting standing genius writing the constitution. The pictured example (1889) was issued as a proof and only 100 coins were struck.


title: French franc

text: The last gold 5-franc pieces were minted in 1869, and silver 5-franc coins were last minted in 1878. After 1815, the 20-franc gold coin was called a "napoléon" (royalists still called this coin a "louis"), and so that is the colloquial term for this coin until the present. During the Belle Époque, the 100-franc gold coin was called a "monaco", referring to the flourishing casino business in Monte Carlo.


title: French franc

text: World War I and the aftermath brought substantial changes to the coinage. Gold coinage was suspended and the franc was debased. Smaller, holed 5, 10, and 25-centime coins minted in nickel or cupro-nickel were introduced in 1914, finally replacing copper in 1921. In 1920, 1 and 2-centime coins were discontinued and production of silver coinage ceased, with aluminium-bronze 50-centime, 1-franc, and 2-franc coins introduced. Until 1929, these coins were issued by the chambers of commerce, bearing the phrase "bon pour" on it (meaning: "good for"). At the beginning of the 1920s, chambers of commerce also issued small change coins in aluminium. In 1929, the original "franc germinal" of 1795 was replaced by the "franc Poincaré", which was valued at 20% of the 1803 gold standard.


title: French franc

text: In 1929, silver coins were reintroduced in 10-franc and 20-franc denominations. A very rare gold 100-franc coin was minted between 1929 and 1936.


title: French franc

text: In 1933, a nickel 5-franc coin was minted, but was soon replaced by a large aluminium-bronze 5-franc coin.


title: French franc

text: The events of the Second World War also affected the coinage substantially. In 1941, aluminium replaced aluminium-bronze in the 50 centimes, and 1, 2, and 5 francs as copper and nickel were diverted into the War Effort. In 1942, following German occupation and the installation of the French Vichy State, a new, short lived series of coins was released which included holed 10 and 20 centimes in zinc. 50 centimes, and 1 and 2 francs were aluminium. In 1944 this series was discontinued and withdrawn and the previous issue was resumed.


title: French franc

text: Following the war, rapid inflation caused denominations below 1 franc to be withdrawn from circulation while 10 francs in copper nickel were introduced, followed by reduced size 10-franc coins in aluminium-bronze in 1950, along with 20 and 50-franc coins of the same composition. In 1954, copper-nickel 100 francs were introduced.


title: French franc

text: In 1960, the new franc ("") was introduced, worth 100 old francs. Stainless steel 1 and 5 centimes, aluminium-bronze 10, 20, and 50 centimes, nickel 1 franc and silver 5 francs were introduced. Silver 10-franc coins were introduced in 1965, followed by a new, smaller aluminium-bronze 5-centime and a smaller nickel -franc coin in 1966.


title: French franc

text: Nickel-clad copper-nickel 5-franc and nickel-brass 10-franc coins replaced their silver counterparts in 1970 and 1974, respectively. Nickel 2 francs were finally introduced in 1979, followed by bimetallic 10 francs in 1988 and trimetallic 20 francs in 1992. The 20-franc coin was composed of two rings and a centre plug.


title: French franc

text: A nickel 10-franc piece was issued on 22 October 1986, in an attempt to increase usability, reduce counterfeiting, and make it easier for vending machines to recognise. While 120 million were released into circulation, circulation was halted on 26 November due to confusion with the half-franc and an unpopular design. The coin was subsequently withdrawn on 19 December and became demonetized at the end of June the next year. This led to the conception of the later bimetallic model. The aluminium-bronze pieces continued to circulate until the bimetallic pieces were developed and additional aluminium-bronze coins were minted to replace those initially withdrawn. Once the bimetallic coins were circulating and produced in necessary quantities, the aluminium-bronze pieces were gradually withdrawn and demonetized.


title: French franc

text: A .900 silver 50-franc piece was issued from 1974 to 1980, known as the largest silver coin ever minted in France, (due to its face value in accordance to its size) but was withdrawn and demonetized after the price of silver spiked in 1980. Then, in 1982, a 100-franc piece, also in .900 silver, was issued, and circulated to a small extent, until the introduction of the euro.


title: French franc

text: At the time of the complete changeover to the euro on 1 January 2002, coins in circulation (some produced as recently as 2000) were:


title: French franc

text: Coins were freely exchangeable until 17 February 2005 at Banque de France only (commercial banks were not required to accept the old coins after the transition period in 2002, but some did), by converting their total value in francs to euros (rounded to the nearest cent) at the fixed rate of 6.55957 francs for 1 euro. Banknotes remained convertible up until 17 February 2012. By that date, franc notes worth some €550 million remained unexchanged, allowing the French state to register the corresponding sum as revenue.


title: French franc

text: The first franc paper money issues were made in 1795. They were assignats in denominations between 100 and 10,000 francs. These followed in 1796 by "territorial mandate promises" for 25 up to 500 francs. The treasury also issued notes that year for 25 up to 1000 francs.


title: French franc

text: In 1800, the Bank of France began issuing notes, first in denominations of 500 and 1000 francs. In the late 1840s, 100 and 200-franc notes were added, while 5, 20 and 50 francs were added in the 1860s and 70s, although the 200-franc note was discontinued.


title: French franc

text: The First World War saw the introduction of 10 and 1000-franc notes. The chambers of commerce's notgeld ("money of necessity"), from 1918 to 1926, produced 25c, 50c, 1 F, 2 F, 5 F, and 10 F notes.


title: French franc

text: Despite base-metal 5, 10 and 20 F coins being introduced between 1929 and 1933, the banknotes were not removed. In 1938, the first 5000-franc notes were added.


title: French franc

text: In 1944, the liberating Allies introduced dollar-like paper money in denominations between 2 and 1000 francs, as well as a brass 2-franc coin.


title: French franc

text: After the Second World War, 5, 10 and 20-franc notes were replaced by coins in 1950, as were the 50- and 100-franc notes in the mid-1950s. In 1954, the 10,000-franc notes were introduced.


title: French franc

text: The first issue of the new franc consisted of 500, 1000, 5000 and 10,000-franc notes overprinted with their new denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 new francs. This issue was followed by notes of the same design but with only the new denomination shown. A 500-new franc note was also introduced in 1960 representing Molière, replaced in 1969 by the yellow Pascal type (colloquially called a "pascal"). A 5-franc note was issued until 1970 and a 10-franc note (showing Hector Berlioz) was issued until 1979.


title: French franc

text: Banknotes of the series current at changeover to the Euro could be exchanged at the French central bank or other services until 17 February 2012.


title: French franc

text: Most older series were exchangeable for 10 years from date of withdrawal. As the last banknote from the previous series had been withdrawn on 31 March 1998 (200 francs, Montesquieu), the deadline for the exchange was 31 March 2008.


title: French franc

text: Along with the Spanish peseta, the French franc was also a "de facto" currency used in Andorra (which had no national currency with legal tender). It circulated alongside the Monegasque franc in Monaco, with which it had equal value. These currencies were all replaced by the euro in 2002.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidiary of Hasbro, which acquired the company in 1999. During a February 2021 reorganization at Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast became the lead part of the new "Wizards & Digital" division.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Originally a role-playing game publisher, the company originated and popularized the collectible card game genre with "" in the mid-1990s. It also acquired the popular "Dungeons & Dragons" role-playing game by buying TSR and increased its success by publishing the licensed "Pokémon Trading Card Game". The company's corporate headquarters are located in Renton, Washington, part of the Seattle metropolitan area.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Wizards of the Coast publishes role-playing games, board games, and collectible card games. They have received numerous awards, including several Origins Awards. The company also produced sports cards sets, releasing association football, baseball, basketball and American football series.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Wizards of the Coast (or WOTC) was founded by Peter Adkison in 1990 outside Seattle, Washington, and its current headquarters are located in nearby Renton. The company was named after a guild of wizards from a "Dungeons & Dragons" campaign Adkison was playing. Originally the company only published role-playing games such as the third edition of "Talislanta" and its own "The Primal Order". The 1992 release of "The Primal Order", a supplement designed for use with any game system, brought legal trouble with Palladium Books for references to Palladium's game and system. The suit was settled in 1993.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In 1991, Richard Garfield approached Wizards of the Coast with the idea for a new board game called "RoboRally", but was turned down because WOTC felt the game would have been too expensive to produce. Instead, Adkison asked Garfield if he could invent a game that was both portable and quick-playing, to which Garfield agreed.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Adkison set up a new corporation, Garfield Games, to develop Richard Garfield's collectible card game concept, originally called "Manaclash", into "". The new name kept the game sheltered from the legal battle with Palladium. Garfield Games then licensed the production and sale rights to Wizards until the court case was settled, at which point the shell company was shut down. Wizards debuted "Magic" in July 1993 at the Origins Game Fair in Dallas. The game proved extremely popular at Gen Con in August 1993, selling out of its supply of 2.5 million cards - an amount which had been scheduled to last until the end of the year. The success of "Magic" generated revenue that transformed the company in two years from a handful of employees working out of Peter's basement headquarters into 250 employees in its own offices. In 1994, "Magic" won both the Mensa Top Five mind games award and the Origins Awards for "Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game of 1993" and "Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game of 1993".


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In 1994, Wizards began an association with The Beanstalk Group, a brand licensing agency and consultancy, to license the "Magic" brand. After the success of "Magic", Wizards published "RoboRally" in 1994 and it won the 1994 Origins Awards for "Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game" and "Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game". Wizards also expanded its role-playing game line by buying "SLA Industries" from Nightfall Games and "Ars Magica" from White Wolf in 1994. In 1995, Wizards published another card game by Richard Garfield, "The Great Dalmuti", which won the 1995 Mensa "Best New Mind Game" award. In August 1995, Wizards released "Everway" before closing its roleplaying game product line four months later. In 1995, Wizards' annual sales passed US$65 million.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Wizards announced the purchase of TSR, the makers of "Dungeons & Dragons", on April 10, 1997. Wizards acquired TSR and Five Rings Publishing Group for $25 million. As part of the sale, TSR employees were offered an opportunity to relocate from Wisconsin to the west coast. Wizards continued to use the TSR brand name until 2000 and allowed the trademark to expire in 2004. Between 1997 and 1999, the company spun off several TSR campaign settings, including Planescape, Dark Sun, and Spelljammer to focus the business on what the company deemed to be the more profitable Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms lines.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In summer 1997, Wizards revisited the concept of a 3rd edition of "Dungeons & Dragons", having first discussed it soon after the purchase of TSR. Wizards released the third edition of "Dungeons & Dragons" in 2000 alongside the d20 System. With these releases came the Open Game License which allowed other companies to make use of those systems.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: The new edition of the "D&D" game won multiple Origins Awards in 2000 such as "Best Roleplaying Game" for "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Best Graphic Presentation of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure", "or Supplement" for the "Monster Manual". In 2002, Wizards sponsored a design contest which allowed designers to submit proposals to the company to produce a new campaign world. Wizards selected "Eberron", submitted by Keith Baker, and its first campaign book was released in June 2004. The "Eberron Campaign Setting" won the 2004 Origins Award for "Best Role-Playing Supplement". In 2003, Wizards released version 3.5 of "Dungeons & Dragons" and the d20 system. The 30th anniversary of the D&D game was celebrated at Gen Con Indy 2004.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: On August 2, 1997, Wizards of the Coast was granted on collectible card games. In January 1999, Wizards of the Coast began publishing the "Pokémon Trading Card Game" after acquiring the rights in August 1998. The game sold nearly 400,000 copies in less than six weeks and sold 10 times better than Wizards's initial projections. Some sports card series were discontinued in 1999 because so many printers were producing "Pokémon" cards. The game won the 1999 National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Within a year, Wizards had sold millions of copies of the "Pokémon" game and the company released a new set that included an instructional CD-ROM. Wizards continued to publish the game until 2003. One of Nintendo's affiliates, Pokémon USA, began producing a new edition for the game one day after the last of its agreements with Wizards expired September 30, and Wizards filed suit against Nintendo the following day, October 1, 2003, accusing them of "abandoning a contract with Wizards, the longtime producer and distributor of Pokémon trading-card games, and using Wizards-patented methods and technology to manufacture the games itself." The two companies resolved their differences in December 2003 without going to court.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: After the company's success in 1999 with "Pokémon", Wizards of the Coast acquired and expanded The Game Keeper, a US chain of retail gaming stores, eventually changing its name to Wizards of the Coast. The company's gaming center in Seattle was closed in March 2001. In December 2003, Wizards announced that it would close all of its stores in order to concentrate on game design. The stores were closed in the spring of 2004.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In September 1999, Hasbro bought Wizards of the Coast for about US$325 million. Avalon Hill was made a division of Wizards of the Coast, in late 1999; the company had been purchased by Hasbro in the summer of 1998. In November 1999, Wizards announced that Gen Con would leave Milwaukee after the 2002 convention. Also in November, Vince Caluori became President of Wizards of the Coast.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: On January 1, 2001, Peter Adkison resigned from Wizards. In August 2001, the company went from a semi-independent division of Hasbro to being consolidated into Hasbro's game division. "ICv2", an industry trade magazine, reported that "this is seen as a loss of autonomy for WotC by most. The Hasbro release specified that despite the consolidation at the management level, WotC will continue to operate out of its Seattle offices". Between 2001 and 2002, Hasbro sold Origins to GAMA, and in May 2002 sold Gen Con to Peter Adkison. Around this time, Wizards outsourced its magazines by licensing "Dungeon", "Dragon", "Polyhedron", and "Amazing Stories" to Paizo Publishing.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Chuck Huebner became president and CEO of Wizards of the Coast in June 2002. In 2003, the company employed 850 people. Throughout the early 2000s, Wizards won multiple Origins Awards, including: 2001 "Best Role-Playing Game Supplement" ("Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting)" and the "Best Game Related Novel" ("Clan War 7th Scroll: The Lion);" 2002 "Best Role-Playing Adventure" ("City of the Spider Queen"); 2005 "Collectible Card Game or Expansion of the Year" ("" expansion for "Magic: The Gathering") and "Gamer's Choice Best Historical Game of the Year" ("Axis and Allies Collectible Miniatures Game"), and the 2006 "Miniature or Miniatures Line of the Year" ("Colossal Red Dragon"). It also won the 2002 Gold Ennie Award for "Best Publisher" and the 2006 Silver Ennie Award for "Fan's Choice for Best Publisher".


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In 2002, Wizards of the Coast's periodicals department was spun off and Paizo Publishing got the license to produce "Dragon" and "Dungeon" magazines. The license expired in September 2007 and Wizards began publishing the magazines online. In 2003, Wizards released the "Dungeons & Dragons" miniatures collectible pre-painted plastic miniatures games. In 2004, the company added a licensed Star Wars line. In April 2004, Loren Greenwood succeeded Huebner in his positions. Also in 2004, Avalon Hill became a subsidiary of Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast division.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In early 2006, Wizards of the Coast filed a lawsuit against Daron Rutter, who was then administrator of the MTG Salvation website. The charges stemmed from Rutter publicly posting confidential prototypes for upcoming "Magic: The Gathering" card sets to the MTG Salvation forums, ten months before the cards were to be released. The lawsuit was settled out of court, according to Mark Rosewater.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Greg Leeds succeeded Greenwood as president and CEO of Wizards of the Coast in March 2008. Then on June 6, 2008, Wizards released the 4th Edition of "Dungeons & Dragons". Wizards began introducing 4th Edition online content in "Dragon" and "Dungeon" magazines. The 4th Edition was designed to offer more streamlined game play, while the new rules framework intended to reduce the preparation time needed to run a game and make the game more accessible to new players.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Throughout the 2000s, Wizards released new editions of "Magic: The Gathering" ("" in 2001, "" in 2003, in 2005, and "" in 2007). In 2009, Wizards announced a new edition called "," which coincided with the first major rules change to "Magic" since the "" was released in 1994. According to Aaron Forsythe, the new set was intended to make the game easier for players of all levels to play. "Magic 2010" was the first core set since "" to feature new cards and it was the first core set with planeswalkers.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: By 2008, the company employed over 300 people and went through a restructuring. On April 6, 2009, Wizards of the Coast suspended all sales of its products for the "Dungeons & Dragons" games in PDF format from places such as OneBookShelf and its online storefronts RPGNow and DriveThruRPG. This coincided with a lawsuit brought against eight people in an attempt to prevent future copyright infringement of their books, and included the 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons products that were made available through these places, as well as all older editions PDFs of the game.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In 2012, Ethan Gilsdorf, for the "New York Times", reported that Dungeons & Dragons sales had slumped. Despite the company not releasing sales figures, analysts and gaming experts noted that sales had been declining. That year, Wizards announced a public playtest to develop a new edition of "Dungeons & Dragons" called "D&D Next". The 5th edition of "Dungeons & Dragons" was released on July 15, 2014, with the "Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set" featuring a set of pre-generated characters, a set of instructions for basic play, and an adventure module "Lost Mine of Phandelver". In 2014, 126,870 units of the "Dungeons & Dragons" "Starter Set" were sold. In 2018, 306,670 units of the "Dungeons & Dragons" "Starter Set" were sold.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Throughout the 2010s, Wizards and its products continued to earn awards. This included multiple 2015 Origins Awards, such as: "Role-Playing Game Fan Favorite" ("Dungeon & Dragons: Players Handbook"), "Role-Playing Supplement" "Fan Favorite" ("Dungeon & Dragons: Monster Manual"), and "Collectible Card Game" ("Magic the Gathering": "Khans of Tarkir"). Wizards won the 2015 Gold Ennie Award for "Fan's Choice for Best Publisher" and won the 2017 Gold Ennie Award for "Fan's Choice for Best Publisher".


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In 2014, 20th Century Fox acquired the screen rights to "Magic the Gathering" to turn the property into a movie series with Simon Kinberg attached to the project. Wizards filed a lawsuit against Cryptozoic Entertainment and Hex Entertainment in 2014 alleging that their online card game "" was a "Magic the Gathering" clone. All three companies agreed to a settlement the following year. In 2015, it was reported that an estimated 20 million people played "Magic the Gathering" around the world and that the game had tournaments, a professional league and a weekly organized game program called Friday Night Magic.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Since the release of 5th edition, there have been over twenty "Dungeon & Dragons" books published including new rulebooks, campaign guides and adventure modules. According to "The Seattle Times", 2017 had "the most number of players in its history". In "Bloomberg," Mary Pilon reported that sales of 5th edition "Dungeon & Dragons" "were up 41 percent in 2017 from the year before, and soared another 52 percent in 2018." Also, "In 2017, 9 million people watched others play D&D on Twitch."


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In 2016, Wizards of the Coast partnered with OneBookShelf to create an online community content program called Dungeon Masters Guild (DMsGuild) that allowed creators to make and sell content using Wizards of the Coast properties. In addition to being able to purchase community content, older editions of "Dungeon & Dragons" are available to be purchased on DMsGuild as PDFs or as print on demand books.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In 2016, Chris Cocks was announced as a replacement for Greg Leeds. Giaco Furino, for "Vice", wrote of high tensions at the company over deadlines. In 2019, Wizards of the Coast became a member of the Entertainment Software Association.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In April 2019, Wizards of the Coast announced gaming industry veteran, James Ohlen, as the head of its new studio based in Austin, Texas; in January 2020 the new studio was revealed to be Archetype Entertainment. In June 2019, Netflix announced that Anthony and Joe Russo would partner with Wizards to create an animated series based on the mythology of "Magic the Gathering". The Russo brothers were executive producers on the series, with writers Henry Gilroy and Jose Molina as showrunners and Bardel Entertainment on animation. In July 2019, Joe Deaux reported in "Bloomberg" that ""Magic" is part of the [Hasbro's] 'franchise brands,' a segment that accounted for $2.45 billion in net revenue for the company last year." According to Chris Cocks, "Magic" accounted for a 'meaningful portion' of that, and KeyBanc estimated the game's contribution was more than $500 million of the franchise brands.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: In open beta testing since September 2018, Wizards released a "Hearthstone" competitor in 2019 called "" which is a free-to-play digital collectible card game with microtransaction purchases. Brett Andress, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, predicted that "Magic: The Gathering Arena" would add at least a 20% boost to earnings.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: During the Hasbro earnings call in February 2020, chief executive officer Brian D. Goldner reported that Wizards of the Coast was delivering positive results and that the company planned to double WotC's revenues between 2018 and 2023. He also reported that "Magic: The Gathering"'s revenues increased over 30%, had a strong first year and "Dungeons & Dragons" revenues grew for the seventh straight year. Also in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual play for "Dungeons & Dragons" increased 86%.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: On June 1, 2020, Wizards released a statement in support of their black fans, employees, and community members after the murder of George Floyd. This provoked a backlash as multiple open letters were published criticizing the company for their treatment of people of color and documenting many issues black and brown community members have taken with the company's actions. "The New York Times", "Polygon", and "Kotaku" reported that following this criticism Wizards banned seven "Magic: The Gathering" cards from tournament sanctioned play which were deemed racially offensive. The "D&D" team then announced that it would be making changes to portions of its 5th edition product line that fans had called out for being insensitive (including racist portrayals of a people known as the Vistani, an in-fiction analog for the Romani people) and races characterized as monstrous and evil, such as orcs and drow. The company also announced plans to be make changes to character creation to broaden the permissible spectrum of character types and added a sensitivity disclaimer to some legacy products that feature cultures inspired by Asia, Mesoamerica, and the Middle East. "The Washington Post" reported that the tabletop community has widely approved these changes, although "Wired" criticized some of the change attempts as often feeling "like lip service".


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: During the 2021 Investor Event, Hasbro announced a company reorganization with three divisions: Consumer Products, Entertainment, and Wizards & Digital. The announcement was paired with a rebrand including a new logo and refreshed website for Wizards of the Coast. Wizards opened a new development video game studio in 2021; the first project being a high-budget game based on the "G.I. Joe" franchise. In 2022, Chris Cocks became the CEO of Hasbro; Cynthia Williams replaced him as president of Wizards & Digital. In June 2022, Hasbro defeated a board challenge from activist investor Alta Fox Capital Management LLC. The hedge fund company, which owns a 2.5% stake of Hasbro, had been pushing to spin out Wizards of the Coast "into its own company in an attempt to create what they saw was more value by making a second publicly traded company with a more profitable line of business". In July 2022, Wizards of the Coast announced that they were establishing a new video game studio called Skeleton Key which will focus on AAA games; Christian Dailey, formally of BioWare, will be head of the studio.


title: Wizards of the Coast

text: Hasbro also announced that Wizards would acquire the D&D Beyond digital toolset and game companion from Fandom. The official transfer to Wizards occurred in May 2022. At the Hasbro Investor Event in October 2022, it was announced that Dan Rawson, former COO of Microsoft Dynamics 365, was appointed to the newly created position of Senior Vice President for the "Dungeons & Dragons" brand; Rawson will act as the new head of the franchise. "Dicebreaker" highlighted that Rawson's role is "part of Wizards' plans to apply more resources to the digital side of D&D" following the purchase of D&D Beyond by Hasbro earlier in the year.


title: Gay-friendly

text: Gay-friendly or LGBT-friendly places, policies, people, or institutions are those that are open and welcoming to gay or LGBT people. They typically aim to create an environment that is supportive, respectful, and non-judgmental towards the LGBT community. The term "gay-friendly" originated in the late 20th century in North America, as a byproduct of a gradual implementation of gay rights, greater acceptance of LGBT people in society, and the recognition of LGBT people as a distinct consumer group for businesses.


title: Gay-friendly

text: Many businesses now identify as gay-friendly, allowing for a more diversified employee and customer base. The Human Rights Campaign works to achieve equality for gays, lesbians, and other marginalized minorities, and publishes a list of companies in relation to issues concerning LGBT people. Companies that are noted for gay-friendly work environments include Dell and Coca-Cola. Companies such as R Family Vacations, Manspray, Volkswagen, Ginch Gonch, and numerous others offer niche products and services for gay customers. Others, such as LOT Polish Airlines sends the message of gay-friendliness by offering travel to major gay destinations with a rainbow flag. Studies have shown that LGBT communities tend to favor gay-friendly businesses, even if the cost of a particular product or service is higher.


title: Gay-friendly

text: The Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2019 to measure levels of acceptance of LGBT around the globe.


title: Gay-friendly

text: Researchers at the Williams Institute at UCLA released a report in 2021 after analyzing findings from different surveys to develop their own LGBTQ Global Acceptance Index (GAI).


title: Gay-friendly

text: The "Spartacus International Gay Guide" publishes the Gay Travel Index, a ranking of gay-friendly countries. Points are added to countries for anti-discrimination legislation, equal marriage, partnership and adoption laws, and LGBT marketing. Meanwhile, points are subtracted for anti-LGBT laws, HIV travel restrictions, religious influence, and prosecution, murders, and death sentences.


title: Gay-friendly

text: In 2021, the "Spartacus Gay Travel Index" featured a majority of Western European countries in the top 10 spots (Malta, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Portugal, United Kingdom, and Spain), rounded out by Australia, Canada and Uruguay. The bottom 4 countries were Yemen, Iran, Somalia and Saudi Arabia with Chechnya being the overall worst-ranked region for LGBT people.


title: Gay-friendly

text: "Spartacus" also publishes a Gay Travel Index for US states, listing the 50 states plus the District of Columbia with the same criteria as the country rankings. In 2021, the top spot was shared by California and Illinois, while the bottom nine states were mainly from the Southeast and the Mountain states.


title: Frank Zane

text: Frank Zane (born June 28, 1942) is a retired American professional bodybuilder and author. He is a three-time Mr. Olympia, and his physique is considered one of the greatest in the history of bodybuilding due to his meticulous focus on symmetry and proportion. He was inducted in the IFBB Hall of Fame in 1999.


title: Frank Zane

text: Zane was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania on June 28, 1942. He started bodybuilding as a teenager after reading "Muscle Magazine". He went from at 14 to at 17 through weightlifting. In 1964, he received a Bachelor of Science from Wilkes University. For 13 years, he taught mathematics and chemistry while living in Florida and California. He also taught mathematics and chemistry at Watchung Hills Regional High School (in New Jersey) for the 1965–1966 school year. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University, Los Angeles in 1977. Zane was awarded a master's degree in experimental psychology from California State University, San Bernardino in 1992.


title: Frank Zane

text: Zane is a three-time Mr. Olympia (1977 to 1979). His reign represented a shift in emphasis from mass to aesthetics. Zane's physique featured the second-thinnest waistline of all the Mr. Olympias (after Sergio Oliva), with his wide shoulders making for a distinctive V-taper. He stood at and had a competition weight of less than 190 pounds when he won all three of his Mr. Olympias. He was given the nickname "The Chemist" due to his Bachelor of Science degree and, as he puts it: "Back in the day I took a lot of supplements and tons of amino acids. Still do. But back then it was pretty unusual. That's how I got the nickname The Chemist."


title: Frank Zane

text: He famously trained with light weights which saw him to many victories, but Joe Weider urged him to train with heavier weights. Zane then found the size necessary for success at the Olympia. After his three consecutive Mr. Olympia titles came the 1980 Mr. Olympia. Shortly before the competition he suffered a poolside accident in his home and he lost of muscle mass. This saw the end to his reign, as Arnold Schwarzenegger controversially placed at the top of the podium in his comeback, with Zane in third.


title: Frank Zane

text: Zane is one of only three men to have beaten Schwarzenegger (with Chester Yorton and Sergio Oliva) in a bodybuilding contest and one of the very few Mr. Olympia winners under . Overall, he competed for over 20 years (retiring after the 1983 Mr. Olympia) and won Mr. America, Mr. Universe, Mr. World, and Mr. Olympia during his career.


title: Frank Zane

text: In 1985, Frank and his wife Christine owned and operated "Zane Haven" in Palm Springs, California where they conducted one-on-one sessions with clients who wished to possess a symmetrical physique. Today, the Zanes live in San Diego, California, and his learning center is now called "Zane Experience". He is the founder of Zane Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA which features bodybuilding art and photography and is dedicated to bringing Golden Era Bodybuilding back into the mainstream. In addition to this, he operates a commerce site selling books, supplements and training equipment.


title: Frank Zane

text: In 1994, Zane was inducted into the Joe Weider Hall of Fame. Since 1998, Zane has written a newsletter entitled "Frank Zane Newsletter", that provides the latest information in all aspects of bodybuilding. He received the Arnold Schwarzenegger Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2003 Arnold Classic for his dedication and longtime support of the sport.


title: Frank Zane

text: In 2005, Zane played the IFBB Announcer and worked as the consulting producer in the movie "See Arnold Run". As of 2006, Zane currently runs his own website, and appears at seminars and book signings. In 2011 Frank Zane appeared in the documentary "Challenging Impossibility" describing the weightlifting odyssey of spiritual teacher and peace advocate Sri Chinmoy. The film was an official selection of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.


title: Frank Zane

text: In June 2020, Frank Zane began filming a feature documentary on his life directed and produced by filmmaker Alex Ardenti.


title: Harivansh Rai Bachchan

text: Harivansh Rai Bachchan (; 27 November 1907 19 December 2002) was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is best known for his early work "Madhushala". He was also the husband of social activist, Teji Bachchan, father of Amitabh Bachchan and Ajitabh Bachchan, and grandfather of Abhishek Bachchan. In 1976, he received the Padma Bhushan for his service to Hindi literature.


title: Harivansh Rai Bachchan

text: Bachchan was born at Babupatti, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in British India on 27 November 1907 into an Awadhi Hindu Kayastha family. His family name was Srivastav. He began using the pen name "Bachchan" (meaning child) instead of Srivastava when he wrote Hindi poetry. From 1941 to 1957, he taught in the English Department at the Allahabad University and after that, he spent the next two years at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, Cambridge University completing a PhD on W.B. Yeats.


title: Harivansh Rai Bachchan

text: Bachchan was fluent in several Hindi languages, namely standard Hindustani and the local Awadhi dialect. He incorporated a broadly Hindustani vocabulary, written in Devanagari script. While he could not read Persian script, he was influenced by Persian and Urdu poetry, particularly Omar Khayyam.


title: Harivansh Rai Bachchan

text: Bachchan's work has been used in movies and music. For example, couplets of his work "Agneepath" are used throughout the 1990 blockbuster movie "Agneepath", featuring his son Amitabh Bachchan, and also later in the 2012 remake "Agneepath", starring Hrithik Roshan. and recently in the TV Serial Ishqbaaz.


title: Roja (film)

text: Roja () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. It stars Arvind Swami and Madhoo, with the latter in the title role. It follows a simple girl from a village in Tamil Nadu, making desperate efforts to find her husband after he is kidnapped by militants during a secret undercover mission in Jammu and Kashmir.


title: Roja (film)

text: The film was produced by K. Balachander under his Kavithalayaa Productions and distributed by G. Venkateswaran. The film's cinematography was handled by Santhosh Sivan, music by A.R.Rahman and editing done by Suresh Urs. The film released on 15 August 1992, to positive reviews, receiving praise for its patriotic theme and critically acclaimed soundtrack. It was featured in the Indian panorama section of the 24th IFFI.


title: Roja (film)

text: Roja won three National Film Awards, including Best Film on National Integration, catapulting Ratnam to national acclaim. The film also gained international acclaim with its nomination for Best Film at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival. The film was re-released for international audiences in light of the growing fear of terrorist attacks across the world. It is the first in Mani Ratnam's Trilogy of films, with the others being "Bombay" (1995) and "Dil Se.." (1998), that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics.


title: Roja (film)

text: A. R. Rahman debuted as a film composer with this film. He won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction, Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director for his work.


title: Roja (film)

text: In Srinagar, a Kashmiri terrorist, Wasim Khan, is captured by a team led by Colonel Rayappa. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, 18-year old Roja is a simple village girl born and brought up in Sundarapandiapuram in Tenkasi district/Bhanpur (Hindi). Roja fervently wishes that her sister Shenbagam's marriage proposal with Rishikumar, a cryptologist working with the R.A.W. agency of Indian Intelligence, goes smoothly. Unknown to her and her family, Shenbagam is in love with the son of her maternal uncle.


title: Roja (film)

text: When Rishi wishes to speak to Shenbagam alone, she gathers enough courage to convey this and politely asks him to reject her in front of her parents, to which he obliges. To everyone's surprise, Rishi requests Roja's hand in marriage instead. Being unaware of Shenbagam's love affair, Roja is not willing to accept Rishi's proposal as she believes that he is the best match for Shenbagam but she marries Rishi, and the couple go to live in Madras while Shenbagam marries her cousin.


title: Roja (film)

text: Initially, Roja does not like what Rishi did, but when she learns of Shenbagam's love story and consequent rejection of Rishi, she apologises and starts seeing him in a new light. Love blossoms and life is blissful for the couple for a short while. Meanwhile, due to the illness of his Chief, Rishi is assigned to an army communications centre in Baramulla to intercept military intelligence. The couple finds themselves in a beautiful yet alien land. Roja's world turns upside down when Rishi is kidnapped by terrorists whose agenda is to separate Kashmir from India and free their leader, Wasim Khan, from judicial custody.


title: Roja (film)

text: Faced with the daunting task of rescuing her husband, Roja runs from pillar to post, pleading with politicians and the military for help. Further complicating matters is the language barrier: She can't speak their language, and they can't speak hers. Meanwhile, Rishi, held captive by a group of terrorists led by Liaqat, an associate to Wasim Khan, tries to reason with the terrorists, about their misdirected motive for the liberation of Kashmir. Liaqat's sister shows a little compassion towards him. Initially, when Roja's efforts fail, the Indian government denies any negotiations with the terrorists for the release of Rishi in the media.


title: Roja (film)

text: The angered terrorists attempt to burn an Indian flag. Rishi risks his life to put out the fire and shows the terrorist how much the country means to him, a regular citizen. When Liaqat's younger brother, who with a few other youths from his village was sent across the border to Pakistan for training, is shot by the Pakistan Army, Liaqat's strong belief is shaken, but he still manages to convince himself of the cause. Consequently, Roja's efforts to apprise the politicians of her suffering and pain are successful as a minister pities her and offers to help.


title: Roja (film)

text: Much to the chagrin of Rayappa, the government decides to release Wasim Khan in exchange for Rishi. Rishi, not wanting to be used as a pawn to release a dangerous terrorist, gets help from the sympathetic Liaqat's sister and escapes — with Liaqat and his men chasing him. Rayappa, Roja, and other army officers get to the hostage exchange spot with Wasim Khan, but Liaqat does not show up. The Army locks Wasim Khan up in the prison.


title: Roja (film)

text: Rishi has managed to get close to the exchange spot on his own after evading the terrorists. During his escape, Rishi subdues two terrorists. Liaqat catches up with him and holds him at gunpoint. Rishi reasons with Liaqat further and convinces him that his war is immoral. Liaqat lets Rishi go and he goes to the exchange spot. Liaqat escapes from the Indian Army while Rishi and Roja are united once again.


title: Roja (film)

text: On 28 June 1991, K. Doraiswamy, an executive of the Indian Oil Corporation, was kidnapped by Kashmiri militants and put in captivity for two months. This inspired Mani Ratnam to make the film "Roja". Doraiswamy's wife was fighting for his release, and according to Ratnam, it was her plight that the film was based on.


title: Roja (film)

text: During the making of "Anjali" (1990), Ratnam told actor and director Kitty the outline of "Roja" and offered him to direct the film. Kitty declined, as he wanted to do something of his own. As Ratnam was telling him the outline, the subject became more crystallised. Kitty did not pick it up and when filmmaker K. Balachander asked Ratnam, he told him the outline. All the developments happened after that. It was Balachander who approached Ratnam to make a film for his banner. As Balachander was the inspiration and the reason for Ratnam entering Tamil films, when he asked him to make a film for his banner, Ratnam wanted it to be one of the best films they had produced. Ratnam was keen that it needed to be of Balachander's standard. Balachander instantly approved the outline of the film when Ratnam narrated. However, he disliked the title "Roja" (Rose) as he felt it sounded similar to the name of a brand of crushed betel nut. Ratnam thought the title represented Kashmir because "the rose is something beautiful but with thorns". To satisfy Balachander, he suggested another title "Irudhi Varai" (Till the end), but Balachander preferred "Roja", which was finalised.


title: Roja (film)

text: "Roja" was the first film for which Ratnam used a Steadicam, in the shot that introduces the terrorists' hideout to the audiences. The film was made on a shoestring budget. The technicians worked for less money with the understanding that the film would also be sold for less money. It was not thought of as something that would work on a big scale. The film was composed mostly of newcomers, a new music director, and it was about Kashmir which, according to Ratnam, not much was known to Tamil people at that time. He called the film "a bit of an experiment". It is also the first in Ratnam's trilogy of films that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics, including "Bombay" (1995) and "Dil Se.." (1998). "Roja" is a contemporary adaptation of the story of Savitri and Satyavan. According to Ratnam, it was not originally planned as a political film: "It was a phase India was going through and these things affected me and found their way into my work."


title: Roja (film)

text: Arvind Swami was signed on to play the lead role in "Roja" after Rajiv Menon declined. Aishwarya and Ayesha Jhulka were initial choices for the female lead, but declined due to date issues; the role went to Madhoo, credited as Madhubala. Aishwarya later revealed that she deeply regretted her decision, which was made by her grandmother against her will, for a Telugu film which was later cancelled. Ratnam wanted a North Indian actor to portray Liaqat, a Kashmiri character, and Pankaj Kapur accepted when approached. Ratnam approached Karisma Kapoor to play a Kashmiri girl, but ultimately decided not to cast her, believing she was "far too expensive for a Tamil film"; the role went to another actress.


title: Roja (film)

text: Ratnam had planned to shoot "Roja" in Kashmir, but extreme terrorism there forced him to shoot the film in other hill stations resembling it. Shooting locations included Coonoor, Ooty, and Manali, Himachal Pradesh. The film's cinematographer Santosh Sivan said that a lot of images were written in at the script level. Even in the Kashmir sequences, the audience only sees the snow when Roja sees it for the first time. These things were written into the script. The song "Chinna Chinna Aasai" was shot at Hogenakkal Falls in Dharmapuri and in the Banatheertham falls in Papanasam R.F., Tamil Nadu. Shakti Singh dubbed for Arvind Swami in the Hindi version of the film, while Madhubala dubbed for herself. The whole film was completed in less than 60 days. The final length of the film was .


title: Roja (film)

text: Writing for the magazine "Jump Cut", Kumudan Maderya noted that "Roja" celebrates "the middle-class yuppie hero’s nationalistic fervor" and positions the "anti-national communalist terrorists in Kashmir" as key threats to India as a whole. Vairamuthu, who was signed as the lyricist, felt the film's "tense and action-packed" content was in sharp contrast to the "poetic" title. Journalist Malini Mannath and a writer for "Bangalore Mirror" compared "Roja" to "Held Hostage" (1991), a television film about the kidnapping of journalist Jerry Levin whose rescue was organised by his wife.


title: Roja (film)

text: The soundtrack and background score for the film was composed by A. R. Rahman in his debut as a music director. Mani Ratnam, who previously worked with Ilayaraaja in his earlier films, replaced him with Rahman, who worked as a keyboard programmer for Ilayaraaja for his film "Moodu Pani" (1980), also marking their first collaboration as well. The album features seven tracks in Tamil and Hindi, and six tracks in Telugu, Malayalam Marathi and five tracks in the instrumental adaptation album.


title: Roja (film)

text: The song "Thamizha Thamizha" is a poem written by Subramanya Bharathi. "Chinna Chinna Aasai" was the first song Rahman had composed for the film. The song "Kadhal Rojave" has two versions in both Tamil and Hindi; a solo and a duet in the former. The Hindi version of the song, titled "Roja Jaaneman", has two versions – one by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and the other by Hariharan.


title: Roja (film)

text: The album received critical acclaim and was also listed in "Time" magazine's "10 Best Soundtracks" of all time. The Tamil and Hindi versions of the album sold over 3.0million units in India, with the Tamil version selling over 200,000 units and the Hindi version selling 2.8million units.


title: Roja (film)

text: "Roja" was released on 15 August 1992, and distributed by GV Films. In August 2015, it was screened at the 2015 London Indian Film Festival, in the retrospective series "Politics as Spectacle: The Films of Mani Ratnam", along with "Bombay" and "Dil Se". Owing to the film’s success, the film was dubbed and released in Hindi, Telugu, Marathi and Malayalam languages.


title: Roja (film)

text: "Roja" received positive reception for its patriotic themes. On 26 September 1992, K. Vijayan of "New Straits Times" wrote, "Under Mani Ratnam's direction, Arvind and Madhoo gave their best ... The excellent photography by Santhosh Sivan [who was also the cameraman for "Thalapathi"] makes us appreciate the beauty we take for granted in the villages. The snow-capped mountains and flower-covered valleys of Kashmir are also an eyeful." Writing for "The Indian Express", Malini Mannath compared "Roja" unfavourably to "Held Hostage"; she praised Arvind Swami's performance, calling him "dignified and natural", but criticised Madhubala's performance in the scenes where Roja pleads for her husband's rescue, saying, "Her tremulous whisper praying for help, sounds contrived". She also felt that Pankaj Kapoor looked "lost in his role", but lauded the cinematography by Santosh Sivan and the editing by Suresh Urs. T. N. Seshan, then the Chief Election Commissioner of India declared, "This is a film that every Tamilians should see." S. R. of "Kalki" wrote "Amazing cinematography, superb direction, heart touching songs, lilting music (debutant Rahman), humourous and strong dialogues, natural acting + good story".


title: Roja (film)

text: "Roja" emerged a commercial success in the Tamil market. The Hindi dubbed version of the film was also an equal success.


title: Roja (film)

text: Madhoo's performance took her close to winning in the category of Best Actress, but she eventually lost to Dimple Kapadia.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: A Christmas Carol is a 2009 American computer-animated Christmas fantasy film written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by ImageMovers Digital and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on Charles Dickens's 1843 novel of the same name, the film was animated through the process of motion capture, a technique used in Zemeckis's previous films "The Polar Express" (2004) and "Beowulf" (2007), and stars the voices of Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn and Cary Elwes. It is Disney's third adaptation of the novel, following "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983) and "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992), and the first of two films produced by ImageMovers Digital.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: "A Christmas Carol" was officially released in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D on November 6, 2009. Its world premiere in London coincided with the switching-on of the annual Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights. The film grossed $325 million on a $175–200 million budget and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its visuals, Alan Silvestri's musical score and the performances of Carrey and Oldman, but criticized its dark tone. Due to the film's unsatisfactory box office performance, ImageMovers Digital was shut down by Disney after the release of its next film, "Mars Needs Moms" (2011), and re-absorbed into ImageMovers.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: On Christmas Eve 1843, in London, miserly businessman Ebenezer Scrooge refuses to partake in the merriment of Christmas, declining his nephew Fred's invitation to an annual Christmas dinner party and refusing to make a donation to the poor. His employee, Bob Cratchit, asks Scrooge to give him a day off on Christmas Day to spend time with his family, to which Scrooge reluctantly agrees. Returning home that night, Scrooge encounters the ghost of Jacob Marley, his business partner who died seven years earlier, bound in heavy chains. Marley warns Scrooge to change his wicked ways or be condemned to a worse fate. Before leaving, Marley informs Scrooge that he will be haunted by three spirits over three nights.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time and makes him relive his lonely childhood in a boarding school. The spirit then shows his beloved younger sister Fan, Fred's future mother, and how he became an employee under Fezziwig, and became engaged to a woman named Belle, who left him after he developed his obsession with wealth. Overwhelmed, Scrooge extinguishes the spirit with his candle snuffer cap and is rocketed back to his house.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows him the joys of Christmas. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Bob's house, learning that his family is content with their small dinner, and Scrooge starts to take pity on Bob's ill son Tiny Tim, whom the Ghost comments will likely not survive until next Christmas. The Ghost slowly begins to age as they next visit Fred's Christmas party, where Fred insists that they raise a toast to Scrooge in spite of his cold demeanor. Arriving in Big Ben, the Ghost warns Scrooge the evils of "Ignorance" and "Want" before dying when Big Ben begins tolling midnight. "Ignorance" and "Want" manifest themselves before Scrooge as two wretched children who grow into violent, insane individuals, leaving the spirit laughing as he withers away.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come then arrives, appearing as a dark shadow, and takes Scrooge into the future. He witnesses a group of businessmen discussing an unnamed colleague's death, saying they would only attend the funeral if lunch is provided. After being chased across London by the Ghost riding a hearse, Scrooge recognizes his charwoman Mrs. Dilber selling the stolen possessions of the deceased. Shortly after, Scrooge sees the aforementioned colleague's body on a bed, but is too anxious to see his identity. Scrooge then asks to see emotion connected to the death, and is shown a family who is relieved that he is dead, as they now have more time to pay off their debt. When Scrooge asks to see tenderness connected to death, he is shown the Cratchit family, who are in mourning over the passing of Tiny Tim. Scrooge is then escorted to a cemetery, where the Ghost points out the man’s neglected grave, revealing Scrooge as the man who died. Devastated, Scrooge promises to change his ways as the Ghost causes him to fall into his empty coffin above Hell, but before he strikes the coffin, he finds himself back in his own room.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: Learning it is Christmas Day, Scrooge gleefully sends Bob's family a turkey dinner while anonymous, ventures out with the charity workers and the citizens of London to spread cheer in the city, and later attends Fred's Christmas dinner, where he is warmly welcomed. The following day, he gives Bob a raise. As Scrooge celebrates, Bob addresses the audience how Scrooge became a father figure to Tiny Tim, who escapes death, and that Scrooge now treats everyone with kindness, generosity, and compassion, thus embodying the spirit of Christmas.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: After making "The Polar Express" (2004), Robert Zemeckis stated that he "fell in love with digital theater" and tried finding an avenue in order to use the format again. He eventually decided that an adaptation of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" would be an opportunity to achieve this. Upon rereading the story, he realized that "the story has never been realized in a way that it was actually imagined by Charles Dickens as he wrote it," as well as that "it's as if he wrote this story to be a movie because it's so visual and so cinematic." Zemeckis has stated previously that "A Christmas Carol" is one of his favorite stories dealing with time travel. Carrey has described the film as "a classical version of "A Christmas Carol" […] There are a lot of vocal things, a lot of physical things, I have to do. Not to mention doing the accents properly, the English, Irish accents […] I want it to fly in the UK. I want it to be good and I want them to go, 'Yeah, that's for real.' We were very true to the book. It's beautiful. It's an incredible film."


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: Disney partnered with Amtrak to promote the film with a special nationwide train tour, starting in May 2009 and visiting 40 cities, finishing in New York in November.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: "A Christmas Carol" opened London on November 3, 2009, and was theatrically released on November 6, 2009, in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: Disney released the film on November 23, 2010 in a single-disc DVD, two-disc 2D Blu-ray/DVD combo and in a four-disc combo pack that includes a Blu-ray 3D, a Blu-ray 2D, a DVD and a digital copy. This marked the first time that a film was available in Blu-ray 3D the same day as a standard Blu-ray 2D, as well as Disney's first in the Blu-ray 3D market along with "Alice in Wonderland". The DVD contains deleted scenes and two featurettes called "On Set with Sammi" and "Capturing "A Christmas Carol"". The Blu-ray 2D also has a "Digital Advent Calendar" and the featurette "Behind the Carol: The Full Motion-Capture Experience". The Blu-ray 3D has an exclusive 3D game called "Mr. Scrooge's Wild Ride".


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: "A Christmas Carol" grossed $137.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $187.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $325.3 million. Due to its high production and marketing costs, the film lost the studio an estimated $50–100 million, and forced Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group and the head of worldwide marketing, to resign.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: The film opened at #1 in 3,683 theaters, grossing $30.1 million its opening weekend, with an average of $8,159 per theater.


title: A Christmas Carol (2009 film)

text: In the United Kingdom, "A Christmas Carol" topped the box office on two occasions; the first was when it opened, the second was five weeks later when it leapfrogged box office chart toppers "2012", "" and "Paranormal Activity" despite family competition from "Nativity!", another Christmas-themed film.