The Polar Express is a 2004 American animated Christmas musical fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, who co-wrote the screenplay with William Broyles Jr., based on the 1985 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. It stars Tom Hanks in multiple roles, with Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen in supporting roles. The film features human characters animated using live action and motion capture computer animation, with sequences for the latter taking place from June 2003 to May 2004. Set on Christmas Eve in the 1950s, it tells the story of a young boy who sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited aboard by its conductor. He joins other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas.

The Polar Express was released in the United States on November 10, 2004 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics and initially the film had grossed $286 million against a record-breaking $165–170 million budget, the biggest sum for an animated feature at the time; later re-releases helped propel the film's gross to $314 million worldwide. It was later listed in the 2006 Guinness World Records as the first all-digital capture film. The film also marks Michael Jeter's last acting role before his death, and was thus dedicated to his memory.

Plot

In a suburban neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the night of Christmas Eve in the late 1950s, a passenger train known as the Polar Express stops at the house of a boy who is growing skeptical about the existence of Santa Claus. The conductor says the train is traveling to the North Pole, and the boy, although reluctant at first, climbs aboard and meets a spirited girl and a know-it-all boy. The train then stops to pick up a boy named Billy, who initially declines to board, but changes his mind as the train is leaving. The boy applies the emergency brake, and Billy is allowed on, but he has to sit alone in the observation car. The children are then served hot chocolate by a platoon of dancing waiters, and the girl saves a cup for Billy.

When the conductor and the girl go to give Billy his cup, the boy notices that the girl's ticket has not yet been validated and tries to return it to her. In doing so, the wind blows the ticket out into the wilderness, but it soon finds its way back to the train. After the girl discovers that her ticket is missing, the conductor leaves with her. Assuming that she will be thrown off the train, the boy finds the ticket and traverses the rooftops to find the girl. There, he encounters a mysterious ghostly hobo that helps him reach the engine. The boy finds that the girl has been put in charge while the engineer and fireman are replacing the engine's headlight. The boy applies the brakes before a herd of caribou blocks the tracks. As the train continues, it moves at an extreme speed due to the cotter pin shearing off. Once they reach a frozen lake, the cotter pin is replaced and the driver narrowly gets the train back onto the tracks as the ice breaks.

The conductor takes the boy and girl back to their seats and they join Billy in the observation car. The train arrives at the North Pole, where the conductor announces that one of the children will be chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas from Santa himself. While the girl and boy attempt to convince Billy to join them, the boy accidentally uncouples the car, sending it hurtling along a route towards a railway turntable inside Santa's workshop. The children make their way through an elf command center and a gift-sorting office facility, where Billy finds a present in his name. They are dumped into a giant sack of presents, where they also find the know-it-all. After the sack is loaded onto Santa's sleigh, the elves escort them out before Santa and his reindeer arrive.

A bell flies loose from the galloping reindeer's reins; the boy initially cannot hear it ring, until he finds it within himself to believe. He returns the bell to Santa, who selects him to receive the first gift of Christmas. Santa agrees to let him keep the bell. As the children board to go home, the boy discovers that he lost the bell through a hole in his pocket. The boy arrives home, and the conductor wishes him a Merry Christmas. He awakens on Christmas morning to find a present containing his lost bell with a note from Santa. He and his younger sister Sarah joyfully ring the bell, but their parents do not hear it because they do not believe in Santa. The boy reflects on his friends and sister eventually growing deaf to the bell over the years as their belief faded. However, despite the fact he is now an adult, the bell still rings for him, as it does "for all who truly believe."

Voice cast

 Tom Hanks as Hero Boy (Chris) (adult voice and motion-capture), Hero Boy's father, Conductor (James), Hobo, Santa Claus, and Ebenezer Scrooge puppet
  Daryl Sabara as Hero Boy (child voice)
 Josh Hutcherson as Hero Boy (additional motion-capture)
 Nona Gaye as Hero Girl (Holly)
 Darrian O Driscoll as Hero Girl (additional motion-capture)
 Meagan Moore as Hero Girl (singing voice)
 Tinashe as Hero Girl (motion-capture model)
 Peter Scolari as Billy the Lonely Boy (motion-capture)
 Hayden McFarland as Billy the Lonely Boy (additional motion-capture)
 Jimmy Bennett as Billy the Lonely Boy (voice)
 Matthew Hall as Billy the Lonely Boy (singing voice)
 Eddie Deezen as Know-it-all (Lenny)
 Jimmy Pinchak as Know-it-all (additional motion-capture)
 Michael Jeter as Smokey and Steamer (voice)
 André Sogliuzzo as Smokey and Steamer (additional voice)
 Leslie Zemeckis as Sister Sarah (motion-capture) and Hero Boy's mother
 Isabella Peregrina as Sister Sarah (voice)
 Ashly Holloway as Sister Sarah (additional motion-capture)
 Dylan Cash as Boy on Train (voice)
 Brendan King and Andy Pellick as Pastry Chefs
 Josh Eli, Rolandas Hendricks, Jon Scott, Sean Scott, Mark Mendonca, Mark Goodman, Gregory Gast, and Gordon Hart as Waiters
 Julene Renee as Red Head Girl and an Elf
 Chris Coppola as Gus the Toothless Boy and an Elf
 Connor Matheus as Toothless Boy (additional motion-capture)
 Phil Fondacaro, Debbie Lee Carrington, Mark Povinelli, and Ed Gale as Elves
 Charles Fleischer as Elf General
 Steven Tyler as Elf Lieutenant and Elf Singer

Production

Development
Hanks optioned the book in 1999 with the hopes of playing the conductor and Santa Claus. One of the conditions of the sale was that the resulting film not be animated. Zemeckis, however, felt that a live-action version was unfeasible, claiming that it "would look awful, and it would be impossible – it would cost $1 billion instead of $160 million." Zemeckis felt that such a version would rob the audience of the art style of the book which he felt was "so much a part of the emotion of the story". The two acquired the rights to the book the following year. In order to keep his vision a new process was created by which actors would be filmed with motion capture equipment in a black box stage which would then be animated to make the resulting film. Hanks stated that this method of working was "actually a return to a type of acting that acting in films does not allow you to do", comparing the process to performing a play in the round. The idea of a Scrooge puppet was conceived when Zemeckis looked at his toys he used to have, one of which was a puppet.

Hanks plays five roles in the film including that of a small child (whose voice would later be dubbed in by Daryl Sabara). Initially Zemeckis considered having him play every role, but after trying this, Hanks grew exhausted, and they whittled down the number. Principal photography of the motion-capture sequences began in June 2003, and wrapped in May 2004.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film, titled The Polar Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released on November 2, 2004 by Reprise Records, Warner Music Group and Warner Sunset Records. The song, "Believe", written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri, was nominated for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy Awards. It was sung at the 77th Academy Awards show by original performer Josh Groban with Beyoncé. It gained a Grammy Award in 2006.

The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in November 2007. Having sold 724,000 copies in the United States, it is the best-selling film soundtrack/holiday album hybrid since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991.

Most of the original orchestral score featured in the film was not released on the soundtrack and has never been released. The soundtrack mostly comprises only songs featured in the film. A limited number of promotional "For Your Consideration" CDs, intended to showcase the film's score to reviewers of the film, were released in 2005. This CD contained nearly the complete score, but none of the film's songs. Various bootleg versions of the soundtrack, combining both the official soundtrack album and the orchestral-only CD, have since surfaced.

Architecture

The buildings at the North Pole refer to a number of buildings related to American railroading history.  The buildings in the square at the city's center are loosely based on the Pullman Factory in Chicago's Pullman neighborhood.

The Polar Express Locomotive

The locomotive featured in the film is an American 2-8-4 Berkshire type steam locomotive modeled after the Pere Marquette 1225, which had spent many years on static display near Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan on the campus of Michigan State University, where Chris Van Allsburg recalled playing on the engine when attending football games as a child. The engine in the movie, however, has noticeable differences from the real Pere Marquette 1225, and looks somewhat like an S-1 from the Erie Railroad. These include the headlight being mounted inside the smokebox, like many Delaware & Hudson steam locomotives, instead of being on a platform or on the pilot. The whistle is mounted on the upper right hand side of the boiler positioned upright, instead of on top of the boiler, positioned horizontally. It also lacks the feedwater heater, marker lights, number boards, and builders plates the real Pere Marquette 1225 has. The cow catcher is also bigger than it is in real life, with slats extending to the pilot beam, and it also lacks a front coupler.

In July 2002, Warner Bros. approached the locomotive's owner, the Steam Railroading Institute, to study the engine. The engine in the film is modeled from the PM No. 1225's drawings and the sounds from recordings made of the 1225 operating under steam.

Marketing

Video game

A video game based on the film was released on November 2, 2004 for GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2 and Windows, developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment and published by THQ. The plot of the game is somewhat different than the film version. Within the game, the Ebenezer Scrooge puppet—who is set as the main antagonist of the game—attempts to prevent the children from believing in Santa Claus by stealing their tickets and trying to prevent the children from making it to the North Pole.

Merchandise
Model railroad manufacturer Lionel produces a variety of Polar Express train sets and equipment, including locomotives, train cars, and trackside buildings. Most of these are in O scale, running on Lionel's 3-rail track, but they also produce an HO scale version, an S scale American Flyer version, and a simplified plastic toy version that runs on G scale (or #1 gauge) track. In all of these sets, the locomotive model is based on the film rather than the real Pere Marquette 1225, and thus incorporates of the cosmetic changes made for the film (such as the longer cowcatcher and recessed headlight housing).

Before the film was released, Bachmann, another major model train manufacturer, also sold a G scale Polar Express train set based on the book. Apart from the paint scheme, this set made no effort to resemble the book illustrations, and used the same 4-6-0 locomotive and open-platform passenger cars as most of Bachmann's other G scale train sets. Bachmann's G scale 4-6-0 is based on ET&WNC "Tweetsie" #12, a narrow-gauge locomotive that looks very different from Pere Marquette 1225. This set was discontinued before the release of the film.

Various manufacturers have produced look-alike train sets based on the Polar Express, but as these are not officially licensed, they cannot use the name. A typical example is Bachmann's more recent HO scale "North Pole Express", which includes a 2-6-2 locomotive (their existing USRA 0-6-0 model with pilot and trailing trucks added) and two passenger cars in a Polar Express-inspired paint scheme. Bachmann also produces an HO scale model of Pere Marquette 1225, but it is not available in Polar Express livery.

Brio has produced several wooden Polar Express train sets for small children - some unpowered, others with a battery-operated locomotive. Although both locomotives were based on existing Brio products, the Polar Express versions were given center-mounted headlights to loosely suggest the appearance of Pere Marquette 1225. Instead of black, they were painted dark blue to resemble the color palette of the film. Both sets have since been discontinued.

Train trips

The film has also spawned multiple real-world holiday train-travel experiences based loosely on the film's train journey all over the United States, as well as Canada, and even the United Kingdom under license from Rail Events Inc.

These include the Polar Express train rides held at the Grand Canyon Railway, Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, Texas State Railroad, Whippany Railway Museum, and the Aspen Crossing, among others. The Pere Marquette 1225 itself pulls a similarly-themed Christmas train, albeit under the name of the North Pole Express.

The UK's first Polar Express train rides were hosted on the Dartmoor Railway and the Weardale Railway which were both owned by the company British American Railway Services. These services were all diesel hauled, however in 2016, Telford Steam Railway became the first UK line to run the Polar Express with steam, powered by one of two American-built S160 2-8-0 locomotive's No's. 5197 & 6046 courtesy of Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire.

 PNP Events Ltd operates The Polar Express Train Rides in Oxfordshire (Cholsey and Wallingford Railway), the Yorkshire Dales (Wensleydale Railway), South Devon (South Devon Railway), Royal Tunbridge Wells (Spa Valley Railway) and new for 2023, Edinburgh Waverley on the UK Mainline Network.

The Polar Express Train Ride also operates on the Mid-Norfolk Railway, and the Seaton Tramway operate the "Polar Express Tram Ride".

Alongside the steam operated Polar Express trains run at numerous Heritage Railway's over the UK, Vintage Trains run their trains on the UK Mainline Network. Their trains have been operated with a selection of steam locomotives which has included Great Western 4-6-0 Hall class No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall for the ride, albeit being renamed Polar Star (this name was originally worn by 4005 "Polar Star" & later 70026 "Polar Star"), as of 2022 these trains still run with their latest programme of trains being hauled by Great Western 4-6-0 Castle Class No. 7029 Clun Castle. These trains run between Birmingham Moor Street and Dorridge.

Concert presentations
In 2021, CineConcerts in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products presented The Polar Express in Concert, being symphony hall showings of the movie backed by a live symphony orchestra and choir.

The Polar Express Experience
In November 2007, SeaWorld Orlando debuted the Polar Express Experience, a motion simulator ride based on the film. The attraction was a temporary replacement for the Wild Arctic attraction. The building housing the attraction was also temporarily re-themed to a railroad station and ride vehicles painted to resemble Polar Express passenger cars. The plot for the ride revolves around a trip to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Guests feel the motion of the locomotive as well as the swinging of the train on ice and feeling of ice crumbling beneath them. The attraction was available until January 1, 2008, and was open annually during the Christmas season. 2015 was the final year of operation for the Polar Express Experience and Wild Arctic has since operated on a year-round schedule.

The 4D film, distributed by SimEx-Iwerks, has been shown at other amusement parks around the world including Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Stone Mountain, Dollywood (during the annual Smoky Mountain Christmas event), Vancouver Aquarium (2009—2010).

Release

Theatrical
The Polar Express premiered at the 40th Chicago International Film Festival on October 21, 2004.  It opened on November 7 and went into wide distribution on November 10. In addition to standard theatrical 35mm format, a 3-D version for IMAX was also released, generated from the same CGI digital models used for the 2-D version.

Home media
The film was released on DVD as separated widescreen and full-screen versions in single and two-disc special editions (with bonus features) and on VHS on November 22, 2005, one year after the film originally came out in theaters. It was released on HD-DVD with bonus features in 2006 and on Blu-ray with bonus features on October 30, 2007, both presented in the original widescreen aspect ratio. It was also released in Anaglyph 3D Blu-ray and DVD on October 28, 2008, labeled as "The Polar Express: Presented in 3-D". This version includes an Anaglyph Version of the Film and the Original Theatrical Presentation. The film was later released to Blu-ray 3D on November 16, 2010, and to Ultra HD Blu-ray on November 1, 2022.

Reception

Box office
The film opened at #2 behind The Incredibles, and earned $23.3 million from approximately 7,000 screens at 3,650 theaters, for a per-theater average of $6,390 and a per-screen average of $3,332 in its opening weekend. It also brought in a total of $30.6 million since its Wednesday launch. The weekend total also included $2.1 million from 59 IMAX theaters, for an IMAX theater average of $35,593, and had a $3,000,000 take since Wednesday. According to president Dan Fellman, Titanic had put a different spin on the numbers for The Polar Express. Among holiday movies, The Santa Clause 2 opened in 2002 to $29 million and grossed $140 million, while Elf debuted the next year at $31 million on its way to a $175-million take. The studio had high hopes for the movie, particularly since Zemeckis and Hanks had a history of success with Forrest Gump and Cast Away. By comparison from the weekend the previous year, the top 12 movies had taken in $136.1 million down to 5% following the debuts of The Matrix Revolutions, Brother Bear and Elf. Since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released in 2001, Warner Bros. had released 10 major films and all of them had dropped off at least 36% in their second weekend, but only seven dropped off at least 49%. Not one of them had a lower three-day opening weekend total gross as The Polar Express itself. The overseas prospects for the film were not especially encouraging, even though The Last Samurai went on to make a considerable sum of money across the globe and was prematurely labeled a flop by the media. In its second weekend, The Polar Express dropped to 33%, and grossing $15.7 million, averaging $4,293 from 3,650 venues and boosting the 12-day cumulative gross to $51.5 million. In its third weekend, which was Thanksgiving weekend, the film increased by 24%, earning $19.4 million, averaging $5,312 from 3,650 venues and raising the 19-day cumulative gross to $81.5 million. With a total gross of $71 million, The Polar Express would hold the record for having the highest IMAX gross of any film until it was taken by Avatar five years later in 2009. The film has made $187.9 million in North America, and $126.3 million overseas for a total worldwide gross of $314.2 million (including all re-releases).

Critical response
  The Independent reported in 2011 that the film "is now seen by many as a classic". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film his highest rating of four stars, saying, "There's a deeper, shivery tone, instead of the mindless jolliness of the usual Christmas movie", and "it has a haunting, magical quality". Acknowledging comments by other reviewers, Ebert said, "It's a little creepy. Not creepy in an unpleasant way, but in that sneaky, teasing way that lets you know eerie things could happen." Richard Roeper and Mick LaSalle also gave highly positive reviews to the film, with the former saying that it "remains true to the book, right down to the bittersweet final image" and the latter giving it his highest rating of five stars, calling it, "an enchanting, beautiful and brilliantly imagined film that constitutes a technological breakthrough." James Berardinelli gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, stating that it is "a delightful tale guaranteed to enthrall viewers of all ages", and ranked it as the 10th best film of 2004, tying with The Incredibles. Ian Nathan of Empire gave the film three out of five stars, and said, "For all the fairy-lit wonder, some will rail at the idea of Back to the Futures director dabbling with such a schmaltzy tale. Cynics will sneeze in shock; children will cuddle up and dream along." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also gave the film three out of five stars, saying, "After a promising and distinctive start, a railway adventure to meet Santa runs off the rails."

The character design and animation were criticized for dipping into the uncanny valley. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 1 star out of 4, and called it "a failed and lifeless experiment in which everything goes wrong". Stephanie Zacharek of Salon gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 and said, "I could probably have tolerated the incessant jitteriness of The Polar Express if the look of it didn't give me the creeps." Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star stated, "If I were a child, I'd have nightmares. Come to think of it, I did anyway." Paul Clinton from CNN called it "at best disconcerting, and at worst, a wee bit horrifying". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "There's no way of knowing whether they drank the company Kool-Aid. Still, from the looks of The Polar Express it's clear that, together with Mr. Zemeckis, this talented gang has on some fundamental level lost touch with the human aspect of film."

Accolades
The film was nominated at the 77th Academy Awards in the categories of Best Sound Editing (Randy Thom and Dennis Leonard), Best Sound Mixing (Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands and William B. Kaplan), and Best Original Song for "Believe" (music and lyrics by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri). The film was nominated at the 3rd Visual Effects Society Awards in the category of "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture."

In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated The Polar Express for its Top 10 Animated Films list.

See also
 List of Christmas films
 Santa Claus in film

References

Further reading

External links

2004 films
2004 computer-animated films
2000s English-language films
2004 3D films
3D animated films
2000s American animated films
2000s musical fantasy films
2000s fantasy adventure films
2000s Christmas films
2000s children's animated films
American fantasy adventure films
American 3D films
American Christmas films
American computer-animated films
American children's animated fantasy films
Animated Christmas films
Animated films about trains
Animated films based on children's books
American ghost films
Films based on works by Chris Van Allsburg
Christmas adventure films
Films set in Michigan
Animated films set in Canada
Animated films set in the Arctic
Films set on trains
Animated films set in the 1950s
IMAX films
Films using motion capture
Santa Claus in film
Films directed by Robert Zemeckis
Films produced by Gary Goetzman
Films with screenplays by Robert Zemeckis
Films scored by Alan Silvestri
Animated films about elves
ImageMovers films
Playtone films
Shangri-La Entertainment films
Castle Rock Entertainment films
Warner Bros. animated films
Culture of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Films produced by Robert Zemeckis
Animated films about children
Animated films set in the Midwestern United States

The Polar Express (film)


David John Chandler Price (born 1969) is a British choral conductor and organist.

Early life and education
Price was a chorister at Bath Abbey and played the organ for services at Christ Church, Bath, before moving to London to study music at Trinity College of Music, graduating in 1991. He was also organ scholar at Croydon Parish Church. During his last year at Trinity, he was organ scholar at Rochester Cathedral under Barry Ferguson. Upon graduating, he became assistant organist at Ely Cathedral, succeeding Jeremy Filsell (who had been appointed  Director of Music at St Luke's Church, Chelsea).

Career

Ely
Price started at Ely Cathedral in September 1991 under Paul Trepte. A recording of Amner's choral music is among four CDs recorded while Price was at Ely. He also helped to re-establish and direct the Ely Consort in 1994. He was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Portsmouth Cathedral in 1996, following Adrian Lucas's appointment at Worcester Cathedral.

Portsmouth
Price's tenure has seen a number of major changes to the Music Department: the number of sung services has been increased, a girls' choir, called "Cantate", was established in 2006, and a gap year scheme for choral scholars has been introduced, in partnership with The Portsmouth Grammar School. Price has also overseen the installation of the West Great organ in 2001 and a chamber organ in 2007. In addition, the choir have moved from the Song School in the north cloister of the cathedral to a new suite in Cathedral House opposite. In 2017, a major refurbishment was undertaken on the cathedral organ, including the addition of a set of West End en chamade trumpets.

During his tenth year in Portsmouth in 2007, Price was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by the University of Portsmouth in recognition of his contribution to the musical life of the city, which has included not only work in the daily cathedral services, but also special civic and national events, university graduations and the Portsmouth Festivities.

Price was made an honorary fellow of the Academy of Saint Cecilia for his contribution to the performance of early music through his work at Portsmouth. In 2013, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians.

Personal life
Price is the son-in-law of the late Kenneth Stevenson, a former Bishop of Portsmouth, and is married to Katharine "Kitty" Price.

Discography
 2018 - Te Deum Laudamus The Nicholson Organ in Portsmouth Cathedral Part 2
 2018 - Verbum caro factum est with Portsmouth Cathedral Choir
 2015 – James Dunlop: Ascension, with Alice Burn (Northumbrian smallpipe), Portsmouth Cathedral Choir and Cantate, for Riverwood Air
 2014 – Plainsong: The Echo Of Angels, with Oliver Hancock (organ), William Wallace (organ), Anna Wynne (harp), Portsmouth Cathedral Choir and Cantate, for Convivium Records
 2013 – The Choral Music of June Clark: To Sing Thy Love, with William Drakett (organ and piano), Portsmouth Cathedral Choir and Cantate, for Convivium Records
 2012 – Baltic Exchange: Music For Seafarers, with Marcus Wibberley (organ), Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, Cantate and the Convivium Singers, for Convivium Records
 2010 – In Your Image: Carols For Christmastide, with Marcus Wibberley (organ) and Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, for Convivium Records
 2009 – Valete in Pace, with Andrew Parrott, Mark le Brocq (tenor), Britten Sinfonia, Portsmouth Cathedral Choir and the Choir of Clare College Cambridge, for Smudged Discs
 2009 – Sing to the Lord, with Andrew Cleary, Marcus Wibberley (organ), Portsmouth Cathedral Choir and Cantate, for Convivium Records
 2004 – Portsmouth Remembers, with Anthony Froggatt, David Thorne (organ), Rosemary Field (organ) and Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, for Guild Music
 2001 – The Nicholson organs in Portsmouth Cathedral, for Herald AV Publications
 2000 – I look from afar: A Sequence for Christmas, with Rosemary Field (organ) and Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, for Herald AV Publications
 1999 – The State Funeral of Horatio, Lord Viscount Nelson, K.B., with David Thorne (organ) and Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, for Herald AV Publications
 1998 – Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis Vol 14, with Paul Trepte and Ely Cathedral Choir, for Priory Records
 1997 – Lord of all hopefulness: Hymns from Portsmouth Cathedral, with David Thorne (organ) and Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, for Herald AV Publications
 1995 – Cathedral Music by Amner, with Paul Trepte and Ely Cathedral Choir, for Hyperion Records
 1995 – Carols From Many Lands, with Paul Trepte and Ely Cathedral Choir, for Priory Records
 1993 – "Praise the Lord O my Soul": Psalms of David Vol 8, with Paul Trepte and Ely Cathedral Choir, for Priory Records

References

1969 births
English conductors (music)
British male conductors (music)
English classical organists
British male organists
Musicians from Bath, Somerset
Living people
21st-century British conductors (music)
21st-century organists
21st-century British male musicians
Male classical organists

David Price (musician)


Poncri Auxiliary Aerodrome is a former airport in Panama.

During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force as an auxiliary of Howard Field as part of the defense of the Panama Canal.  Known as Pocri Airfield, the XXVI Fighter Command 28th Fighter Squadron flew P-39 Airacobras from the airfield from 22 February – 2 August 1944.

The airfield has been overbuilt with housing.

References

 Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .

External links

Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Panama

Poncri Auxiliary Aerodrome


Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 32 (P. Oxy. 32) is a letter to a tribunus militum, written in Latin. It was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the second century. It is housed in the Bodleian Library. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.

The letter was written to Julius Domitius, military tribune of the legion, by Aurelius Archelaus.

The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The measurements of the fragment are 196 by 105 mm. The text is written in a cursive hand. The writing is very clear and easy to decipher.

See also
 Oxyrhynchus Papyri
 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 31
 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 33

References

032
2nd-century manuscripts

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 32


The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation is a Communist political party in India.

Origin
In 1973, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) split into two different parties. Vinod Mishra was in one of those parties but in 1974 he left it to co-create a new party with Subrata Dutta which was Communist but didn't like Lin Biao, the Communist Party of India Marxist Leninist Liberation.

History
In 1975, Subrata Dutta was killed and Vinod Mishra took over the party. In 1976, Mishra decided that it would support violent revolution but would also use elections and democracy to oppose the Indian National Congress.

In the 1980s, they created many different political parties to be a front for them. In the 1990s, they started running in elections themselves.

Present Day
It is now led by Dipankar Bhattacharya.

Communist parties in Asia
Political parties in India

Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation


Broadspeed Engineering Ltd was a British automobile tuning and engineering company that operated from Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England, principally during the 1960s and 1970s. It was started and run by Ralph Broad, and first became well known for its success in campaigning MkI BMC Minis during the early 1960s. The company also offered a variety of different road- and race-tuning packages for BMC and Ford engines.

History
Ralph Broad began racing in 1955, when he was in his late twenties. In 1959, he bought an early BMC Mini and immediately began to see success racing it, which helped him to sell racing conversion packages to other Mini owners. This arrangement developed into the 1962 establishment of Team Broadspeed, for which Broad himself remained one of the drivers. The Broadspeed cars were often seen as being competitive with the factory works Coopers, especially at the hands of John Fitzpatrick, who had become the team's top driver.

In 1965, Broadspeed began to transition its support from BMC to Ford products after Broad was approached by Ford with an offer to begin campaigning the Ford Anglia, and later the Escort. In 1971, John Fitzpatrick would win four British Touring Car Championship races in a Broadspeed Anglia. Eventually, the company was also offering engineering consultancy work that led to such creations as a turbocharged version of the Essex V6 engine, which appeared in the TVR M Series. This turbocharged engine was also used in the Broadspeed Bullitt, which was a modified Ford Capri Mk I. Broadspeed became reacquainted with BMC in 1974, by which time the manufacturer had become part of British Leyland. Driver Andy Rouse then won the manufacturer's title in a Triumph Dolomite Sprint.

In 1975, Broad got a contract to prepare Jaguar XJ Series II V12 Coupes for entry in the Group 2 class of the European Touring Car Championship. Despite being well-driven by Andy Rouse and Derek Bell, they were not competitive with the much lighter BMW 3.0L CSL. For financial reasons, British Leyland elected to discontinue support for the Jaguar racing entries in the ETCC, and in 1977 Ralph Broad sold Broadspeed to a former Mini-racing colleague before retiring to Portugal.

While living in Portugal, Broad worked for Fogo Montanha, a manufacturer of woodburning stoves. He died on 17 September 2010.

Broadspeed GT 2+2

In 1966, the company introduced a car which they sold under their own name, the Broadspeed GT 2+2. It was not an entirely new car, but rather a heavily modified Mini with a distinctive aerodynamic tail section made of fiberglass that replaced the original steel bodywork at the rear. The interior of the car was redesigned as well, with Restall front seats and a fold-down rear seat that provided access to the boot, which was no longer accessible from outside the car as a result of the new rear body shell. Mechanically, performance was enhanced with a reworked cylinder head using larger inlet valves and polished tracts, a Broadspeed camshaft, a rear anti-roll bar, and other changes.

The GT 2+2 was available in four different versions that represented different levels of performance, and a total of twenty-eight cars were built before production ended in 1968.

References

Technology companies established in 1962
1962 establishments in England
Auto tuning companies
Technology companies disestablished in 1977
1977 disestablishments in England
1977 mergers and acquisitions

Broadspeed


Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962) is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016, he won the 2021 presidential election with 59.02% of the vote. He has led the United Party for National Development since 2006 following the death of the party founder Anderson Mazoka.

Prior to his election, Hichilema was a major opponent of Edgar Lungu, the president of Zambia from 2015 to 2021. On 11 April 2017, Hichilema was arrested and charged with treason, a move that was seen as an illegitimate act by Lungu to silence a political rival. The arrest and charge were widely condemned, with protests held in Zambia and abroad, demanding Hichilema's release and condemning the increasing authoritarianism of Lungu's regime. Hichilema was released from prison on 16 August 2017, and the charge of treason was dropped.

Early life and career
Hichilema was born in a village in Monze District in present-day Zambia. He received a scholarship to study at the University of Zambia and graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Administration. He thereafter pursued an MBA in Finance and Business Strategy at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

He served as the chief executive officer of both Coopers and Lybrand Zambia (1994–1998) and Grant Thornton Zambia (1998–2006).

Political career
Hichilema is a member of the ruling United Party for National Development, a liberal political party. Following the death of Anderson Mazoka in 2006, he was elected as the party's new President. He also served as the leader of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), an alliance of three opposition political parties.

In the 2006 election, Hichilema was the candidate of the UDA and ran against incumbent president Levy Mwanawasa of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy and Patriotic Front candidate Michael Sata. He received the endorsement of former President Kenneth Kaunda. The election was held on 28 September 2006 and Hichilema took third place with about 25% of the vote.

Hichilema ran as the UPND candidate in the 2008 election, which was called following the death of President Levy Mwanawasa. He came 3rd with 19.7% of the vote. In June 2009, Hichilema's party, the UPND, formed a pact with Michael Sata's Patriotic Front (PF) to contest the 2011 election together. However, indecision on the pact candidate, deep mistrust, and accusations of tribalism from both sides resulted in the collapse of the pact in March 2011.

He was one of the two main candidates in the January 2015 presidential election, which he lost by a narrow margin of 27,757 votes (1.66%) against the ruling party's candidate, Edgar Lungu. Hichilema denounced the election as a sham and urged his supporters to remain calm. He again faced Lungu as the main opposition candidate in the August 2016 presidential election, and was again narrowly defeated.

In April 2017, he was arrested on suspicion of treason and charged with attempting to overthrow the government. He was in prison for four months before being given a nolle prosequi.

Arrest and treason charge
Hichilema was arrested on 11 April 2017.  On the night of 11 April 2017 the Zambian Police broke into Hichilema's compound to arrest the country's main opposition leader, ordered by President Edgar Lungu's government and charged with treason after he was accused of endangering the president's life after his motorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one transporting Lungu, a case which many viewed as a minor traffic offence and not one that could amount to treason. Hichilema strongly denied the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of death penalty.

The police used excessive force to enter Hichilema's residence damaging his home and property, beat up all his workers, stole money, jewellery, as well as underwear, shoes, speakers, blankets, carpets and food from the kitchen and defecated on Hichilema's bed.

Teargas canisters were thrown inside Hichilema's home gassing Hichilema, his asthmatic wife, and his children, who collapsed several times due to inhaling the gas.

Time in jail
Hichilema said in an interview on HARDtalk that during his time in prison he was held in solitary confinement for eight days without food, water, light, or visitation, was tortured by having his penis pepper sprayed, and accused President Lungu of having tried to kill him.

The arrest was the subject of the episode of Al Jazeera's  The Stream TV program titled Is Zambia's Democracy in Danger?, which aired on 30 May 2017.

Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda was turned away by prison officials when he visited Hichilema in Prison.

Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance (South Africa) was also turned away by Zambia Police when he came to Zambia to attend Hichilema's court appearance. He was not allowed to disembark from the plane, had his phone confiscated, and was roughed up. This prompted South Africa's Foreign Ministry to summon Zambia's Ambassador to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba to explain the actions of the Zambian regime.

Former President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo visited Hichilema in prison.

Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland visited Hichilema in prison twice.

State of emergency
While Hichilema was in jail, President Lungu imposed a state of emergency, a move critics saw as an effort to tighten his grip on power.

Condemnation and protests
Hichilema's arrest was widely condemned. The United States, the European Union and the European Parliament denounced the arrest. The Africa Liberal Network condemned the arrest as an attempt by President Lungu to silence dissent and opposition. The Catholic bishops strongly condemned the arrest and said Zambia had become a dictatorship under President Edgar Lungu. Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa's EFF party, accused Zambia's president Edgar Lungu of apartheid style repression for detaining Hichilema on treason charges and called president Lungu a "coward". Mmusi Maimane, the leader of South Africa's DA party, who was denied entry into Zambia to visit Hichilema in Jail (stopped from exiting the plane at Lusaka's Kenneth Kaunda International Airport) strongly denounced the trumped up charges against Hichilema.

Protests broke out in Zambia, South Africa and the United Kingdom demanding the release of Hichilema and condemning Edgar Lungu's authoritarian rule and deteriorating human rights in Zambia.

Release from prison
Celebrations took place throughout Zambia when Hichilema was released from prison on 16 August 2017 and scores of people lined up the roads of Lusaka to have a glimpse of Hichilema as his motorcade left prison.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, congratulated the Zambian authorities for dropping the treason charges against Hichilema and releasing him from prison.

Thanksgiving prayers were held to celebrate Hichilema's release from jail at the Cathedral of Holy Cross in Lusaka on 29 August 2017 and Hichilema was present at the event which drew large crowds and was aired live on television. The event was originally scheduled to take place the previous week on 24 August but was blocked by heavily armed state police who sealed off the venue.

Hichilema became more popular after his release and was awarded the Africa Freedom Award in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was invited to speak at Catham House in London and was also invited to speak in South Africa by Democratic Alliance Members of Parliament.

A book about Hichilema's time in a prison called Hakainde Hichilema's Prison Diary was released on 29 September 2017 by journalist Fredrick Misebezi. Hichilema endorsed the book and urged the public to read it.

Police warning and caution in 2020
On 23 December 2020, Hichilema received a warning and caution at the Zambian Police Headquarters in Lusaka for an alleged offence of "conspiracy to defraud contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code, Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia", relating to the purchase of a property in 2004. As Hichilema arrived for questioning, police clashed with UPND supporters. In an attempt to disperse the crowd, police reportedly shot dead a State Prosecutor and a UPND supporter.

Presidency

Hichilema ran for President for the sixth time in the election held on 12 August 2021. The electoral commission chairman Esau Chulu declared that he had won the election in the early hours of 16 August.

Following his victory, Hichilema declared his wish to appoint qualified Zambians into his administration. Among his appointments were those of Sylvia Masebo, Situmbeko Musokotwane, and Jito Kayumba, among others.

Honours, awards and recognition

Awards

 Africa Freedom Award - Hichilema was conferred with the Africa Freedom Award by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom on 27 October 2017 at an event held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Honorary academic awards

Interviews
Hichilema was featured on the BBC television program HARDtalk on 1 November 2017 and was interviewed by Stephen Sackur. He was the first Zambian opposition political leader to be hosted on HARDtalk and the third Zambian politician featured after former President Levy Mwanawasa and former Vice-President Guy Scott.

On 17 December 2017, Hichilema featured on ZNBC's Sunday Interview, making him the first opposition political leader to be hosted on that program. This was after management at ZNBC had granted a request by the UPND through its spokesman, Charles Kakoma, who had written to ZNBC Director General Richard Mwanza requesting that Mr. Hichilema is featured on the Sunday Interview on 17 December. The program was prerecorded on a Thursday before at 10:30 and was aired on Sunday evening.

Speeches
Hichilema was invited to speak at The Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House, on 31 October 2017. He returned to Chatham House following his election as President, on 5 November 2021.

Personal life

Hichilema is married to Mutinta and has three children. He is a baptized member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and on 12 December 2020, he and his wife got invested as Master Guides in Lusaka. Hichilema is a millionaire and the second-largest cattle rancher in Zambia.

In December 2014, he denied being a Freemason and labeled people accusing him as malicious. He also sued Bishop Edward Chomba of the Eastern Orthodox Church for defamation after the former called him a Satanist and a Freemason.

Hichilema was named in the Panama Papers, with the leak stating that he was the director of Bermuda-based company AfNat Resources Ltd from March to August 2006. The company engaged in nickel exploration in Zambia and other African countries. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, "the company was listed on London's alternative investment market until 2010 when it was purchased by Canadian mining company Axmin for about $14 million."

See also
 United Party for National Development
 Sylvia Masebo

References

External links

 Hakainde Hichilema on Facebook
 Hakainde Hichilema on Twitter

1962 births
Living people
Zambian economists
Zambian businesspeople
Hakainde Hichilema
United Party for National Development politicians
University of Zambia alumni
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Zambian Seventh-day Adventists
Coopers and Lybrand people
Grant Thornton people
People from Monze District
People named in the Paradise Papers
Presidents of Zambia

Hakainde Hichilema


The Orissa Tributary States, also known as the Garhjats and as the Orissa Feudatory States, were a group of princely states of British India now part of the present-day Indian state of Odisha.

The Orissa Tributary States were located in the Garhjat Hills, the hilly and former heavily forested region of eastern Orissa, on the border with present-day Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states.

History

In the 18th century, the entire region came under the control of the Maratha Empire, in particular the Bhonsle maharajas of Nagpur. Meanwhile, the British had become established in Bengal, and were expanding their influence into the lowland tracts of Orissa. The British and the Marathas came into conflict in the late 18th century, and at the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803, the Maharaja of Nagpur ceded Orissa to the British. Some of the former Maratha territory was ruled directly by the British, and attached to the Bengal Presidency; other territories became princely states, under the control of local rulers under a treaty of subsidiary alliance to the British monarch following the annexation in 1803. The local chiefs' status was recognised by the British as 'tributary chiefs' and their estates became the 'Tributary Mahals' of Orissa.

These territories were managed the Political Department and were not subject to any regular Settlement and Revenue system. Originally there were nineteen Tributary States, but two of them were confiscated and annexed by the British; Angul State in 1847 for the rebellion of its Raja when he opposed the British officers that had been sent to suppress the Meriah sacrifice among the Khonds, and Banki State in 1840, after its ruler had been convicted of murder.

The status of the Orissa Tributary States, the largest of which were Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Baudh, and Nayagarh, was unclear until 1888, when the Secretary of State for India accepted the view that they did not form part of British India, and modified powers were handed over to the Orissa chiefs under the control of a superintendent.

In 1905 five Oriya-speaking states of Bamra, Rairakhol, Sonpur, Patna, and Kalahandi State) were added from the Central Provinces and two states, Gangpur and Bonai, from the Chota Nagpur States. With the addition of these states, the total area was  and the population was 3,173,395 per the 1901 census.

In 1912, the province of Bihar and Orissa was detached from Bengal, and the Orissa Tributary States were under the authority of the governor of Bihar and Orissa. In 1936 Orissa became a separate province, but the Orissa Tributary States were merged into the Eastern States Agency, which was under the direct authority of the Governor-General of India rather than that of the provincial governor. After the Indian independence in 1947, the rulers of the states acceded to the Government of India. They established the Eastern States Union in the same year. Their aim was to establish a unit that would be large enough to exist as a separate state within the Indian Union. But the union failed and the former Orissa Tributary States, except the Oriya speaking princely states of Saraikela and Kharsawan, were integrated into the state of Orissa.

Princely states
The list of princely states under Orissa States Agency:

See also
Sambalpur State
Banki State
Eastern States Agency
Chota Nagpur Tributary States
Political integration of India

References

Princely states of Odisha
Bengal Presidency
1888 establishments in India

Orissa Tributary States


Ernest Ludwig Eliel (December 28, 1921 – September 18, 2008) was an organic chemist born in Cologne, Germany.  Among his awards were the Priestley Medal in 1996  and the NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society in 1997.

When the Nazis came to power, he left Germany and moved to Scotland, then Canada, then Cuba. He received his B.S. from the University of Havana in 1946. He moved to the United States in 1946 and taught at the University of Notre Dame from 1948. In 1972 he moved to be the W.R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until his retirement in 1993. Eliel was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1980. In 1981, Eliel became a founding member of the World Cultural Council. He served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1992. In 1995 he received the George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education, and in 1996 he was awarded the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society. He died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

His research focussed on the stereochemistry and conformational analysis of flexible organic molecules, including derivatives of cyclohexane and saturated heterocyclic rings, using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) extensively. His 1962 textbook Stereochemistry of Carbon Compounds influenced generations of organic chemists. The most recent edition is Stereochemistry of Organic Compounds, co-authored in 1994 with Samuel H. Wilen.

References

External links

 Jeffrey I. Seeman, "Ernest L. Eliel", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2014)

1921 births
2008 deaths
Organic chemists
Presidents of the American Chemical Society
University of Notre Dame faculty
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Founding members of the World Cultural Council
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Scientists from Cologne
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
Stereochemists
20th-century American chemists

Ernest L. Eliel