The Satanic Verses is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters. The title refers to the Satanic Verses, a group of Quranic verses about three pagan Meccan goddesses: Allāt, Al-Uzza, and Manāt. The part of the story that deals with the "satanic verses" was based on accounts from the historians al-Waqidi and al-Tabari.

The book received wide critical acclaim, was a 1988 Booker Prize finalist (losing to Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda), and won the 1988 Whitbread Award for novel of the year. Timothy Brennan called the work "the most ambitious novel yet published to deal with the immigrant experience in Britain".

The book and its perceived blasphemy motivated Islamic extremist bombings, killings, and riots and sparked a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence. Fearing unrest, the Rajiv Gandhi government banned the importation of the book into India. In 1989, Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against Rushdie, resulting in several failed assassination attempts on the author, who was granted police protection by the UK government, and attacks on connected individuals, including the Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi who was stabbed to death in 1991. Assassination attempts against Rushdie continued, including an attempt on his life in August 2022.

Plot

The Satanic Verses consists of a frame narrative, using elements of magical realism, interlaced with a series of sub-plots that are narrated as dream visions experienced by one of the protagonists. The frame narrative, like many other stories by Rushdie, involves Indian expatriates in contemporary England. The two protagonists, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, are both actors of Indian Muslim background. Farishta is a Bollywood superstar who specialises in playing Hindu deities (the character is partly based on Indian film stars Amitabh Bachchan and N. T. Rama Rao). Chamcha is an emigrant who has broken with his Indian identity and works as a voiceover artist in England.

At the beginning of the novel, both are trapped in a plane hijacked by Sikh separatists, flying from India to Britain. The plane explodes over the English Channel, but the two are magically saved. In a miraculous transformation, Farishta takes on the personality of the archangel Gabriel and Chamcha that of a devil. Chamcha is arrested and passes through an ordeal of police abuse as a suspected illegal immigrant.

Both characters struggle to piece their lives back together. Farishta seeks and finds his lost love, the English mountaineer Allie Cone, but their relationship is overshadowed by his mental illness. Chamcha, having miraculously regained his human shape, wants to take revenge on Farishta for having forsaken him after their common fall from the hijacked plane. He does so by fostering Farishta's pathological jealousy and paranoid schizophrenia, thus destroying his relationship with Allie. In another moment of crisis, Farishta realises what Chamcha has done, initially going on a campaign of arson through London, before deciding to forgive Chamcha and rescuing him from a building he's set ablaze.

Both return to India. Farishta throws Allie off a high rise in another outbreak of jealousy and then dies by suicide. Chamcha, who has found not only forgiveness from Farishta but also reconciliation with his estranged father and his own Indian identity, decides to remain in India.

Dream sequences
Embedded in this story is a series of half-magic dream vision narratives, ascribed to the mind of Farishta.

One of the sequences is a fictionalised narration of the life of Muhammad (called "Mahound" or "the Messenger" in the novel) in Jahilia. At its centre is the episode of the so-called satanic verses, in which the prophet first proclaims a revelation requiring the adoption of three of the old polytheistic deities, but later renounces this as an error induced by the Devil. There are also two opponents of the "Messenger": a  priestess, Hind, and a skeptic and satirical poet, Baal. When the prophet returns to Mecca in triumph, Baal goes into hiding in an underground brothel, where the prostitutes assume the identities of the prophet's wives. Also, one of the prophet's companions claims that he, doubting the authenticity of the "Messenger", has subtly altered portions of the Quran as they were dictated to him.

The second sequence tells the story of Ayesha, an Indian peasant girl who claims to be receiving revelations from the Archangel Gabriel. She entices all her village community to embark on a foot pilgrimage to Mecca, claiming that they will be able to walk across the Arabian Sea. The pilgrimage ends in a catastrophic climax as the believers all walk into the water and disappear, amid disturbingly conflicting testimonies from observers about whether they simply drowned or were in fact miraculously able to cross the sea.

A third dream sequence presents the figure of a fanatic expatriate religious leader, the "Imam", in a late-20th-century setting (satirizing Khomeini himself).

Literary criticism and analysis
Overall, the book received favourable reviews from literary critics. In a 2003 volume of criticism of Rushdie's career, the influential critic Harold Bloom named The Satanic Verses "Rushdie's largest aesthetic achievement".

Timothy Brennan called the work "the most ambitious novel yet published to deal with the immigrant experience in Britain" that captures the immigrants' dream-like disorientation and their process of "union-by-hybridization". The book is seen as "fundamentally a study in alienation."

Muhammad Mashuq ibn Ally wrote that "The Satanic Verses is about identity, alienation, rootlessness, brutality, compromise, and conformity. These concepts confront all migrants, disillusioned with both cultures: the one they are in and the one they join. Yet knowing they cannot live a life of anonymity, they mediate between them both. The Satanic Verses is a reflection of the author's dilemmas." The work is an "albeit surreal, record of its own author's continuing identity crisis." Ally said that the book reveals the author ultimately as "the victim of nineteenth-century British colonialism." Rushdie himself spoke confirming this interpretation of his book, saying that it was not about Islam, "but about migration, metamorphosis, divided selves, love, death, London and Bombay." He has also said "It's a novel which happened to contain a castigation of Western materialism. The tone is comic."

After the Satanic Verses controversy developed, some scholars familiar with the book and the whole of Rushdie's work, like M. D. Fletcher, saw the reaction as ironic. Fletcher wrote "It is perhaps a relevant irony that some of the major expressions of hostility toward Rushdie came from those about whom and (in some sense) for whom he wrote." He said the manifestations of the controversy in Britain:

Rushdie's influences have long been a point of interest to scholars examining his work. According to W. J. Weatherby, influences on The Satanic Verses were listed as James Joyce, Italo Calvino, Franz Kafka, Frank Herbert, Thomas Pynchon, Mervyn Peake, Gabriel García Márquez, Jean-Luc Godard, J. G. Ballard, and William S. Burroughs. According to the author himself, he was inspired to write the novel by the work of Mikhail Bulgakov The Master and Margarita. Angela Carter writes that the novel contains "inventions such as the city of Jahilia, 'built entirely of sand,' that gives a nod to Calvino and a wink to Frank Herbert".

Srinivas Aravamudan's analysis of The Satanic Verses stressed the satiric nature of the work and held that while it and Midnight's Children may appear to be more "comic epic", "clearly those works are highly satirical" in a similar vein of postmodern satire pioneered by Joseph Heller in Catch-22.

The Satanic Verses continued to exhibit Rushdie's penchant for organising his work in terms of parallel stories. Within the book "there are major parallel stories, alternating dream and reality sequences, tied together by the recurring names of the characters in each; this provides intertexts within each novel which comment on the other stories." The Satanic Verses also exhibits Rushdie's common practice of using allusions to invoke connotative links. Within the book he referenced everything from mythology to "one-liners invoking recent popular culture".

Controversy

The novel has been accused of blasphemy for its reference to the Quranic Satanic Verses. Pakistan banned the book in November 1988. On 12 February 1989, 10,000 protesters gathered against Rushdie and the book in Islamabad, Pakistan. Six protesters were killed in an attack on the American Cultural Center, and an American Express office was ransacked. As the violence spread, the importing of the book was banned in India and it was burned in demonstrations in the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Racial Equality and a liberal think tank, the Policy Studies Institute, held seminars on the Rushdie affair. They did not invite the author Fay Weldon, who spoke out against burning books, but did invite Shabbir Akhtar, a Cambridge philosophy graduate who called for "a negotiated compromise" that "would protect Muslim sensibilities against gratuitous provocation". The journalist and author Andy McSmith wrote at the time "We are witnessing, I fear, the birth of a new and dangerously illiberal 'liberal' orthodoxy designed to accommodate Dr. Akhtar and his fundamentalist friends."

In September 2012, Rushdie expressed doubt that The Satanic Verses would be published today because of a climate of "fear and nervousness".

Fatwa
In mid-February 1989, following the violent riot against the book in Pakistan, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran and a Shiite scholar, issued a fatwa calling for the death of Rushdie and his publishers, and called for Muslims to point him out to those who can kill him if they cannot themselves. Although the British Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher gave Rushdie round-the-clock police protection, many politicians on both sides were hostile to the author. British Labour MP Keith Vaz led a march through Leicester shortly after he was elected in 1989 calling for the book to be banned, while the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit, the party's former chairman, called Rushdie an "outstanding villain" whose "public life has been a record of despicable acts of betrayal of his upbringing, religion, adopted home and nationality".

Journalist Christopher Hitchens staunchly defended Rushdie and urged critics to condemn the violence of the fatwa instead of blaming the novel or the author. Hitchens considered the fatwa to be the opening shot in a cultural war on freedom.

In 2021, the BBC broadcast a two-hour documentary by Mobeen Azhar and Chloe Hadjimatheou, interviewing many of the principal denouncers and defenders of the book from 1988–1989, concluding that campaigns against the book were amplified by minority (racial and religious) politics in England and other countries.

Despite a conciliatory statement by Iran in 1998, and Rushdie's declaration that he would stop living in hiding, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported in 2006 that the fatwa would remain in place permanently since fatawa can only be rescinded by the person who first issued them, and Khomeini had since died.

Violence, assassinations, and attempted murders
Hitoshi Igarashi, Rushdie's Japanese translator, was found by a cleaning lady, stabbed to death in his office at the University of Tsukuba on 13 July 1991. Ten days prior to Igarashi's killing, Rushdie's Italian translator Ettore Capriolo was seriously injured by an attacker at his home in Milan by being stabbed multiple times on 3 July 1991. William Nygaard, the Norwegian publisher of The Satanic Verses, was critically injured by being shot three times in the back by an assailant on 11 October 1993 in Oslo. Nygaard survived, but spent months in the hospital recovering. The book's Turkish translator Aziz Nesin was the intended target of a mob of arsonists who set fire to the Madimak Hotel after Friday prayers on 2 July 1993 in Sivas, Turkey, killing 37 people, mostly Alevi scholars, poets and musicians. Nesin escaped death when the fundamentalist mob failed to recognize him early in the attack. Known as the Sivas massacre, it is remembered by Alevi Turks who gather in Sivas annually and hold silent marches, commemorations and vigils for the slain.

In March 2016, the bounty for the Rushdie fatwa was raised by $600,000 (£430,000). Top Iranian media contributed this sum, adding to the existing $2.8 million already offered. In response, the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, denounced the death sentence and called it "a serious violation of free speech". This was the first time they had commented on the issue since publication.

On 12 August 2022, Rushdie was attacked onstage while speaking at an event of the Chautauqua Institution. Rushdie suffered four stab wounds to the stomach area of his abdomen, three wounds to the right side of the front part of his neck, one wound to his right eye, one wound to his chest and one wound to his right thigh. He was flown by helicopter to UPMC Hamot, a tertiary-level hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania. The attacker, Hadi Matar, was immediately taken into custody. He was charged with attempted murder and assault, pleading not guilty, and was remanded in custody. By 14 August, Rushdie was off the ventilator and able to talk. His agent Andrew Wylie reported on 23 October that Rushdie had lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand.

See also

 Censorship in India
 Censorship in Iran
 Censorship in South Asia
 Religious censorship
 Religious intolerance
 Richard Webster (British author)

References

Further reading

External links

1988 British novels
1988 in Islam
Art works that caused riots
Book censorship in India
Books critical of Islam
British magic realism novels
Censored books
Costa Book Award-winning works
Cultural depictions of Muhammad
Cultural depictions of Ruhollah Khomeini
Fiction about filmmaking
Indian diaspora in fiction
Islam in fiction
Islam in the United Kingdom
Islam-related controversies
Novels by Salman Rushdie
Novels set in Mumbai
Postmodern novels
Religious controversies in India
Religious controversies in literature
Viking Press books

The Satanic Verses


Edirne Museum is in Edirne, Turkey

Location
The museum is in the center of Edirne on Kadirpaşa Mektep street. It is next to the famous Selimiye Mosque at .

History
The museum was established in 1925 in a medrese of the Selimiye Mosque with instruction of Atatürk by Dr. Rifat Osman, Arif Dağdeviren and Necmi İğe. Although it was originally planned as an archaeology museum, it also contained  many ethnographic items.  On 25 November 1936 (the 13th anniversary of the liberation of Edirne following the Turkish War of Independence) a second medrese building was added to the museum. On 13 June 1971 the museum was moved to the new museum building which was built next to former building. The architect of the new building was İhsan Kıygı. (The medrese building was redesigned as an Islamic art museum.)

The archaeology section
The first displays are about the Paleontology. Bones of elephant, rhinoceros and horse are displayed (currently elephant and rhinoceros are extinct from Turkey). Among the archaeological displays there are some remains from the Chalcolithic age. But the Majority of the items are from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Empire ages. Especially the terra-cotta Aphrodite figurines are notable. There are also funerary steles of Thracians

The ethnography section
This section includes mostly items from the Turkish age, including the carpets in the bride and circumcision rooms, closets and various clothing. There are special sections for the hamam ("Turkish bath") and the living room of a typical old Edirne house.

References

External links

 Virtual museum

Tourist attractions in Edirne
Archaeological museums in Turkey
Buildings and structures in Edirne
1971 establishments in Turkey
Museums established in 1971
Ethnographic museums in Turkey

Edirne Museum


If I Had You (styled as If I Had U) is Adam Lambert's 3rd official mainstream single released of his debut album, For Your Entertaintment. The song was written by Max Martin, Shellback, and Savan Kotecha for Lambert's debut album, For Your Entertainment. It was released as the third single on May 5, 2010.

Music video
James Montgomery from MTV describes the video as having "a clearing in the forest, one packed with party people — of all races, colors, creeds and proclivities, naturally — who are all in the midst of a totally excellent celebration. (Most of said party people are actually Lambert's friends, from his days performing with L.A.'s "Zodiac Show.")" Montgomery states the message of the video is "Humanity can, in fact, put their differences aside and just dance."

Premier
The video premiered June 14, 2010 on VH1 and "takes the late-night wilderness party motif of Jennifer Lopez's classic "Waiting for Tonight" clip and adds more lasers, guyliner, thrashy dance moves, silver top hats and outrageously spiky shoulder pads." Bryan Barber directed the video, which was inspired by Lambert's self-proclaimed "psychedelic" experience at Burning Man.

Remixes
Remixes of the song include an instrumental remix and a radio edit. As well DJ's and producer's like Jason Nevins, Dangerous Muse, and Morgan Page.

Adam Lambert songs
2010 songs

If I Had You (Adam Lambert song)


The Saranac River is an  river in the U.S. state of New York.

Geography
In its upper reaches is a region of mostly flat water and lakes. The river has more than three dozen source lakes and ponds north of Upper Saranac Lake; the highest is Mountain Pond on Long Pond Mountain. In the last third of its length it drops two-thirds of its total drop, and is known for having navigable rapids, which make it a popular site for whitewater kayaking and canoeing.

The Saranac River empties into Lake Champlain at the City of Plattsburgh in Clinton County, New York. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from the Adirondack Mountains.

The river encompasses Upper, Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes, as well as Oseetah Lake, Lake Flower, Franklin Falls Pond and Union Falls Pond, and flows through the village of Saranac Lake; there are locks between Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes and between Lower Saranac and Oseetah, although the drop is only a few feet. Thirty-three miles further northeast, the river flows through the Town of Saranac, before winding through Plattsburgh, reaching Lake Champlain after a further 23 miles.

Origin of name
The name of the river is from the Abenaki word zalônák:tégw, composed of the free noun root zalôn, meaning "staghorn sumac cone"; -ak, the Abenaki plural suffix for nouns of the animate noun class; and the bound noun root (i.e., suffix) -tégw, meaning "river." Other names for the river are Riviere Saint Amant, Riviere Saint Arnont, Riviere Salasanac, Sal-a-sa-nac and Salasance.

Fishery
The Saranac River has a fairly diverse fishery, including northern pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rock bass, pumpkinseed, fallfish, brown bullhead, brown trout, and landlocked atlantic salmon.

Tourist attractions

The river is also part of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which begins in Old Forge, NY and ends in Fort Kent, ME.

See also
List of New York rivers
Adirondack Mountains

Gallery

References

Adirondacks
Rivers of New York (state)
Rivers of Essex County, New York
Rivers of Clinton County, New York
Rivers of Franklin County, New York
Tributaries of Lake Champlain
Northern Forest Canoe Trail

Saranac River


Dhanpur is a very small village near Nadaun, Himachal Pradesh, northern India, with a population of around 50 people. It is located on the top of a small hill. The village has a historical temple, and there is evidence of some sort of fort or palace in the area. The location of village is good and it has a pleasant climate.

Historical Importance
The importance of this village lies in it having evidence of an historical palace or fort.

The village is attempting to get India's Archaeological Department to have a look. The villagers found one buried sword near the temple while doing renovation work. The sword was sent to a museum, but still there is no progress in the way of revealing the history of village. While the Public Health department was working for digging water tank, a number of items were found - a small clay artefact, iron to make the small artifact and ash about 16 feet  (5m) underground.

Today anyone can have a look at the lime-made remains of the boundary wall and other some remains of the underground palace.
The village has the Krishi Vigyan Kendra for Hamirpur district located here helping the local economy to improve by adoption of modern methodologies in farm sector

Geography
Dhanpur has an average elevation of 650 metres (2,150 feet).

The average rainfall is 1599.6 mm (63")
The village has its nearest river Beas at Pataji Village viewed from Dhanpur heights.

How to reach
 from Hamirpur.  from Nadaun.  from Sujanpur. The nearest airport is Gagal (Kangra/Dharmshala). The nearest railway stations are Chururu-Takarla for broad gauge connection to Nangal and Ranitaal for the narrow gauge connection to Pathankot. There are direct busses from  Delhi/Chandigarh/Shimla and other major towns in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal. It is connected by a good single lane motorable road from Maloti on the Nadaun-Sujanpur road and can also be reached from Hamirpur by taking the fork off Rangas via Rail and Bara to Maloti. There is a walkable elevated old route upwards via Dhamandad from Bara Village on Sujanpur Route.

Notes

Villages in Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh

Dhanpur, Himachal Pradesh


Francis Allen (ca. 1583 – 6 September 1658) was an English financier, politician and regicide who sided with parliament in the civil War against Charles I.

By the mid-1630s he had become a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths where he became an activist against pressure for members to relocate their homes to Goldsmiths' Row, Cheapside. He was suspended and refused subsequent invitations to rejoin.

Allen was elected to the Long Parliament for Cockermouth in April 1642 and assisted with the financial administration of the English Civil War. In January 1644 he was part of a hostile demonstration against the earl of Essex.  He later became a presbyterian elder in William Strong's church.

Following the formation of the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I, Allen  was appointed one of the 135 commissioners. He was present when the death sentence was passed by all present. Though he did not sign the death warrant, he arranged payments and prepared  accounts for the execution event

Previously an active member of the Rump Parliament, Allen was one of those bitterly attacked by Cromwell during the latter's Military Coup. Allen subsequently retired from public life.

He died in September 1658, only 3 days after Cromwell, and, as a deceased regicide, was named and his estate excluded from Indemnity under the Restoration's Act of Indemnity 1660.

References

1580s births
1658 deaths
Roundheads
Regicides of Charles I
English MPs 1640–1648
English MPs 1648–1653
17th-century Presbyterians

Francis Allen (regicide)


Abraham Turner (1924 – October 25, 1962) was an American chess master. He had a chess rating over 2400 and played several times in the U.S. Chess Championship. He was best known as a blitz chess hustler, and was one of few masters who had a winning record against Bobby Fischer. The games were when Fischer was 14, which was the same year Fischer won his first U.S. Championship.  In fact, his last round draw with Turner in the 1957 Championship clinched first for the young Fischer.

Turner was born in New York City, learning how to play chess in 1943 at a naval hospital while recovering from shrapnel wounds inflicted during World War II. It was said Turner played chess mostly by grabbing a pawn and swapping pieces to reach an endgame. He frequented the Chess and Checkers Club of New York in Times Square next to the New Amsterdam Theatre,  better known as the "flea house," where anyone could play chess for ten cents an hour. Fischer also attended the club and was a student of Turner's. Turner placed second in the Manhattan Chess Club championship on five occasions. He considered his best performance to be fourth place at the U.S. Open at Long Beach, California in 1955, but tied for first shortly after at San Diego with William Lombardy and James Sherwin.

Turner was found stabbed to death in the basement of an Upper West Side building where he had been working as a clerk for Al Horowitz for the magazine Chess Review. He had sustained nine wounds and his body had been placed inside a safe. He was found by the superintendent of the building later that afternoon. After the body was discovered, the police arrested a clerk-typist employed by the publication, who said he killed Turner (and dragged the body along a corridor to the safe) because Secret Service agents had told him to.  Turner, who was 38, never married and lived with his father.

References
The New York Times, October 26, 1962, p. 24, and October 27, 1962, p. 51.

1924 births
1962 deaths
Sportspeople from New York City
American chess players
United States Navy personnel of World War II
20th-century chess players
Deaths by stabbing in New York (state)
People murdered in New York City
American murder victims
Male murder victims

Abe Turner


The British Muslim Heritage Centre, formerly the GMB National College, College Road, Whalley Range, Manchester, is an early Gothic Revival building. The centre was designated a Grade II* listed building on 3 October 1974.

History and description
The college was built as an Independent (i.e. Congregational) college in 1840–43, the architects being Irwin and Chester. The site was in the new suburb whose development had been begun about 10 years earlier by Samuel Brooks; its name later became Whalley Range. The aim of the Lancashire Independent College was a project of the Lancashire Congregational Union to provide higher education for Non-Conformists who were excluded from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge until 1871. This included a new college building and moving the staff from Blackburn Academy which was then closed. The three founders were George Hadfield, Thomas Raffles and William Roby (minister of the Grosvenor Street Chapel, London Road, Manchester). The Blackburn Academy arose from courses of lessons given to prospective Congregational ministers by William Roby who was supported by the Manchester merchant Robert Spear. When the principal, Joseph Fletcher, left for London the academy became the Lancashire Independent College and moved to Manchester. The college became known much later as the Northern Congregational College.

The similarity of design to an Oxbridge college is therefore easily understood.
The marshy nature of the area, then called Jackson's Moss, meant that 4½ feet (135 cm) of peat had to be dug away before safe construction could begin.
Nikolaus Pevsner commended the "long, very impressive, ashlar-faced, Gothic front." The wings culminate in a "tall, fanciful" tower, with a "two-storey Gothic oriel (window)." The entrance and assembly halls were re-ordered by Alfred Waterhouse in 1876–80 and Pevsner considered them "disappointing, but the rooms along the piano nobile are very charming, their Gothic fireplaces, ceilings and doorcases nicely varied."

During World War II it was used to house refugee academics, mainly from Czecho-Slovakia.
The later name of the college was the Northern Congregational College, who used the premises until 1985 when they joined the Northern Baptist College in Luther King House, Brighton Grove.

The building became the national college of the GMB in the late 20th century and trained many trades-union negotiators. The GMB sold the college in 2004 as it was considered too expensive to maintain.  After a period of uncertainty, the building was purchased by the British Muslim Heritage Centre to "serve as a focus for Muslim heritage and identity in Britain".

In January 2013 and 2014, the building was nominated for the Arts and Culture Awareness award at the British Muslim Awards.

Nasar Mahmood currently serves as a trustee of the centre. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List in 2019.

See also

Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
Listed buildings in Manchester-M16

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading
Anon. (1878) Memorial of the Opening of the New and Enlarged Buildings of Lancashire Independent College. Manchester: Tubbs and Brook
Anon. (1943) Lancashire Independent College, 1843–1943. [Manchester: the College, 1943]
Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute (1935) Souvenir programme of the garden party held on the occasion of the visit of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York on Wednesday, 10 July 1935 at the Lancashire Independent College, Whalley Range, Manchester. Manchester: Service Guild
Field, Clive D. (1989) 'Sources for the Study of Protestant Nonconformity in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester', Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, vol. 71, no. 2 (1989), pp. 108–11 (information about the college library).
Hadfield, George (1841) An Address Intended to Have Been Delivered on the Occasion of Laying the Foundation Stone of the Lancashire Independent College at Withington, near Manchester. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co.
Thompson, Joseph (1893) Lancashire Independent College, 1843–1893. Jubilee Memorial Volume. Manchester: J. E. Cornish

External links

Former theological colleges in England
GMB (trade union)
Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester
Grade II* listed religious buildings and structures
Museums in Greater Manchester
Proposed museums in the United Kingdom
Religious museums in England
Professional education in Manchester
Christianity in Manchester
Islam in Manchester

British Muslim Heritage Centre


Evan Almighty is a 2007 American comedy film, and a spin-off of Bruce Almighty (2003). The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Oedekerk, based on the characters created by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe from the original film. It stars Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman reprising their roles as Evan Baxter and God, respectively, with new cast members Lauren Graham and John Goodman. The film is a modern-day retelling of Noah's Ark, which Evan reluctantly re-enacts because God commands him to do so at the same time Evan pursues a new career in government.

Production of the film began in January 2006. Several visual effect companies were used to provide CGI for the numerous animals and the climactic flood scene. By the time the film had completed production, it had become the most expensive comedy film ever, later being overtaken by Men in Black 3.

The film opened on June 22, 2007, and was a box-office bomb, grossing $174.4 million worldwide, and received generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot
Newly elected to Congress, former local television news reporter Evan Baxter leaves his hometown of Buffalo, New York and later moves to the community of Prestige Crest, located in the fictional town of Huntsville, Virginia, where his congressional campaign officially declares that he will change the world. Evan prays to God to give him this opportunity. His wife, Joan, also prays that she, Evan, and their three sons will be closer together as a family.

On his first day in Congress, Evan receives a letter from his greedy boss, Congressman Chuck Long, who provides him with a prime office and gives him the opportunity to join him as the junior co-sponsor to his Citizens' Integration of Public Lands Act (CINPLAN) bill. Over the next several days, strange events in Evan's life occur:
 Eight vacant lots in Prestige Crest are purchased under his name, and ancient tools and gopher wood are delivered there
 Pairs of animals start following him around everywhere he goes, with birds flying into his office through the window
 He begins to grow a beard, which grows back whenever he shaves it every morning
 His hair grows uncontrollably
 His clothes are replaced with robes.
 The number 614 starts appearing in various forms throughout his daily routines

Evan comes to realize that 614 actually refers to verse 14 in chapter 6 of the Book of Genesis, where God instructs Noah to build an ark in preparation for a coming flood. Although Evan initially rejects this idea, God Himself starts appearing to Evan and assures him that a flood will come and the only way he can change the world will be through building the ark instead. Evan decides to start building the ark with the tools and materials provided, giving him an opportunity to get closer to his sons, although Joan sees this as a midlife crisis.

Although Evan still maintains his career in Congress, his appearance alienates his three staffers and the animals that follow him everywhere become more disruptive. God reappears to Evan and provides him a robe, and later warns him the flood will come mid-day on September 22. When God indefinitely exposes Evan's robe, Long gets him suspended from Congress and has his name removed from the Public Land Act bill. Believing that Evan has gone insane, Joan leaves him behind, causing Evan to continue building the ark alone. Meanwhile, God disguises himself as a waiter in a restaurant and speaks with Joan. God assures Joan that she should see this as an opportunity for the entire family to get closer to each other. Joan is inspired and finally returns to help Evan finish building the ark together to prepare for the flood.

On September 22, Evan's three staffers show him evidence that Long had planned to build Prestige Crest after damming off a nearby water source, but Long had cut many corners in building the dam. They suspect Long would do the same with the Public Land Act Bill. With the ark finally complete, the animals board two by two, the police threaten to destroy it with a wrecking ball as it violates land codes, and a small amount of rain falls. Evan realizes that the flood will not be due to the rain, but as a result of Long's dam failing, and warns the onlookers to get aboard the ark before disaster strikes. The dam fails, destroying all the homes of Prestige Crest. The ark rides the flood down the streets of Washington, D.C. and comes to a halt in front of the Capitol, interrupting the vote for the Public Land Act Bill. The flood results in Evan criticizing Long of being responsible for cost-cutting leading to the dam's failure, leading to several other members of Congress becoming displeased with Long.

The voting of the Public Land Act Bill is suspended due to an investigation on Long for profiteering. After the flood, Evan is reinstated to Congress and all the animals return to their natural habitats. With his appearance returned back to normal, Evan re-encounters God during a family hike. God states that Evan had changed his world as he prayed for and being closer to his family through his one Act of Random Kindness (ARK). God issues a new commandment to the outgoing audience: "Thou shalt do the dance", followed by the film's cast and crew dance to C+C Music Factory's hit song "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" during the closing credits.

Cast

Production

Screenplay
The film's screenplay was originally titled The Passion of the Ark and was written by Bobby Florsheim and Josh Stolberg. It became the subject of a seven-studio bidding war in April 2004. The script was sold to Sony Pictures in a deal worth $2.5 million plus a percentage of the profits, a record for a spec script from previously unproduced writers. Universal Studios immediately made a deal to co-produce the script with Sony Pictures and have Steve Oedekerk rewrite it into the sequel to Bruce Almighty. Steve Oedekerk had been involved with Bruce Almighty as an executive producer and co-writer of the screenplay (with Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, who wrote the story).  The studio later discarded the original The Passion of the Ark script completely, and Oedekerk fashioned a new script from scratch (only he received final credit on the finished film as screenwriter). Jim Carrey was asked to reprise his role as Bruce in the sequel and, when he declined, director Tom Shadyac convinced Steve Carell to accept the leading role. Shadyac, reflecting on the first film, stated "[Carell] delivered some of the funniest stuff in the movie. We thought, 'Why not take that character and spin him off into a different film?'"

Casting
Jim Carrey declined to reprise his role from the original Bruce Almighty. Although Carrey did act in a sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, he has said that he is "not a big fan of doing the same character twice." This marked the third time a sequel has been made to a film for which Carrey declined to reprise his role—the others being Dumb and Dumberer and Son of the Mask.

Budget
The initial budget, at approximately $140 million, led Evan Almighty to become the most expensive comedy film ever made. Added costs such as set construction, visual effects, and problems with filming multiple animals in a controlled location brought the budget up to $175 million. Once marketing for the film was also included, the film's entire spend was estimated to be around $200 million. The ballooning budget caused Sony to drop the project and hand it over entirely to Universal Studios. Part of the budget was Carell's payroll, where he earned a reported $5 million for his leading role. The Virginia Film Office estimates the film brought $20–25 million to Virginia, with the majority of it in the Charlottesville area. Universal defended the cost of the film, saying it was "designed as a four-quadrant film, and therefore poised for bigger [box office] returns than typical comedies."

Ark design and construction

Construction of the ark began in January 2006 and the scenes involving the ark were shot in a Crozet, Virginia, subdivision called Old Trail. The ark was designed to meet the actual measurements of the biblical ark, measuring  long,  wide, and  high. The ark's layout was also based on pictures in several children's books that crew members had read in their childhoods. When the characters were filmed during the day building the ark or were on location elsewhere, crew members would further construct the ark at night. A concrete base was built to support the weight of the large ark; after filming was completed, the ark was taken down in a week, and the base in another week.

In disassembling the set, everything that was salvageable from the ark was donated to Habitat for Humanity. "Leave no trace" was the slogan used by the director as part of the DVD's bonus features, "The Almighty Green Set".

Costumes and filming locations

To create Evan's beard and long hair, three designers would take three hours each day adding individual hairs using prosthetic adhesive and making Carell wear custom wigs. The wigs consisted of both human and yak hair. With his new look, Carell was sometimes nicknamed "Mountain Man", "Retrosexual", or "Unabomber." For his costumes, designers spoke with textile experts, researched historical information on the clothing that was likely worn at the time of Noah, and used aged fibers for the clothing.

Scenes for the film were filmed in various locations in Virginia, including areas in and around Crozet, Waynesboro, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Staunton, though some filming did take place at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California.

Effects
For the CGI used throughout the film, companies Rhythm & Hues (R&H) and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) developed different parts of the film. R&H focused on the animation of the animals, while ILM completed the final scene of the ark rushing through Washington, D.C. Lindy De Quattro, the ILM associate visual effects supervisor, revealed that "This is the first time where we had to do a whole series of shots that were happening mid-day, where you were going to get a really long look at the water and what it was doing." The company initially experienced problems creating the water effects and had to develop new tools which would choreograph the movements of the water. In addition, ILM used similar tools that were used on their prior film Poseidon. Lighting was also an issue as the characters on the ark had been filmed on a greenscreen stage, and the visual effects company had to ensure that the lighting matched that of the characters and the outside setting. Details were added to the ark for long-distance shots to make the design of the ark more appealing and relate the ark's size to scale in comparison to the amount of water. To complete the scene, ILM used thirty to sixty crew members and produced 200 shots over a yearlong period between April 2006 and May 2007.

Rhythm & Hues created 300 pairs of animals for use on the ark and fifteen pairs with higher detail for closeup shots. R&H was also assisted by C.I.S. Hollywood, another visual effects company, who provided a large number of composites, involving hundreds of greenscreen animal elements. In scenes where there are multiple species of animals, crew members would film the animals on the greenscreen and R&H and C.I.S would digitally add the animals one at a time, sometimes taking several weeks to a couple of months. Andy Arnett, the animation supervisor, declared that "The research was extensive. It took six or seven months to perfect the look and feel of the animals before we had the first shot out the door."

For the scene in Congressman Long's office, CGI was used the entire time for the fish that follow Evan around from the fish tank. Cafe FX, the visual effects company hired for the scene, ordered ten different kinds of tropical fish from a local store and studied their movements to imitate them on screen using computer animation. Jeff Goldman, the visual effects supervisor, stated "Early in the sequence, we mimicked the actual behavior of the fish in our animation, but as the scene plays out, the fish are a counterpoint to Steve Carell's comedic timing."

Marketing
In late May during production, the media learned that director Tom Shadyac angrily complained to producers, saying "I'm not seeing any ads, and I don't know why. I'm not getting answers. People are giving me information that isn't true ... I'm only hearing about all the other summer movies, and nothing about mine." Shadyac also fired his marketing consultants that he had used for prior films due to his thoughts over the mishandling of the marketing. He later apologized for his outburst with producers, and claimed that it was as a result of his nervousness before the film's release.

Grace Hill Media, a marketing firm that targets religious Americans and was also used for marketing Bruce Almighty, The Da Vinci Code, and The Passion of the Christ; held exclusive screenings of the film in mid-June in fifty cities in the United States to reach religious moviegoers. Grace Hill provided free screenings to blogs in exchange for publicity on the blogs. The film and its subsequent home video release was marketed to Christians and their churches through a "kindness campaign" called Ark ALMIGHTY.

The first trailer of the film premiered on March 29, 2007 for a marathon of The Office, which also stars Steve Carell and Ed Helms. For online advertising, an eight-minute clip of a scene was released on Yahoo! two days before the release of the film.

Environmental impact
Director Tom Shadyac felt the film reflected environmental themes of how humans are stewards of God's creation. In keeping with the themes, Evan Almighty became NBC Universal's first film to offset the production's carbon emissions. Producer Michael Bostick revealed how the emissions were offset:

We worked closely with The Conservation Fund to calculate our carbon emissions from what we used on the movie—whether from vehicles used or any of the construction equipment. Once our carbon emissions were calculated, we planted trees that will effectively zero out our climate-changing footprint left behind from the movie.

Shadyac accomplished this by requiring crew members to plant 2,050 trees at the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Warsaw, Virginia and the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge near Modesto, California. He also bought over 400 bikes for all the cast and crew, to get to work instead of driving. In addition, rather than simply demolishing sets, Shadyac tried to donate houses built for the production and had the Ark set recycled, by donating materials to Habitat for Humanity. During the premiere of the film for cast and crew at Universal Citywalk, the attendees were encouraged to donate to a campaign to plant trees in forests around the world. The after party used recycled cups and plates to offset the use of resources. Shadyac also required that when Industrial Light & Magic developed the climactic scene, that the CGI flood did not appear to harm any of the trees in the scene.

The film partnered with the website Get On Board Now, which focused on the importance of conservation during production of the film. Donations were taken at the website for The Conservation Fund, which paid for the planting of 15,000 trees.

Animal welfare

The American Humane Association oversaw the 177 species of animals that were used in the film. In scenes including both predators and prey, the animals were digitally added instead to ensure their safety. The American Humane Association gave its permission for the film to display "No animals were harmed in the making of this movie" over the closing credits.

PETA accused the film's producers of using animals that had previously been abused. Two chimpanzees who appear in the film, Cody and Sable, were surrendered by their owner to settle a lawsuit that documented allegations of beatings and mistreatment. PETA was also critical of Birds & Animals Unlimited, the primary animal supplier to the film, for alleged serious and continuing violations of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, including failure to comply with veterinary care requirements and failure to provide shelter from heat and sunlight, which PETA details and claims it can document.

The film's director, Tom Shadyac, said of PETA's criticisms "many of these animals have been rescued from other situations and can't be returned to the wild" and "There's a certain amount of hypocrisy whenever you work with animals, even to show, which we hope we're showing, that respect of all of God's creation ... I don't know. I respect their criticism."
A Universal Studios spokesperson declared:
The live animals used in the filming of Evan Almighty were supplemented by a great number of computer-generated animals, but it would have been impossible to depend on CGI exclusively as some key scenes in the film demonstrate the need for peaceful and productive co-existence between man and animals. One of the most prominent, inescapable messages of the film is the responsibility that humans have to protect and care for animals.

Release

Theatrical
The premiere for the film was held on June 10, 2007, and guests included Adam Sandler, David Hasselhoff, Kate Flannery, Eddie Murphy, Kevin James, and Mindy Kaling, among others.

Home media
The film was released on HD DVD and DVD on October 9, 2007, and was the fourth-most rented DVD of the week earning $6.4 million. In the film's first six weeks of release it earned $27,676,676 in domestic DVD sales. The HD-DVD and DVD's special features include deleted scenes, outtakes, cast interviews, and footage of the animals used in the film. The film was released on Blu-ray on August 7, 2012.

Proposed ban
Malaysia's Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) called for a ban on the film, claiming it is offensive to Islam. Secretary-General Maamor Osman claimed that the film was depicting the great flood as comedy and characterized God with the portrayal of a human, both of which are considered blasphemous in Islam. Similarly there was some public protest against Bruce Almighty being shown in theaters, but that movie was released on DVD and was also shown on television broadcasts. Evan Almighty was still released in Malaysia on August 23, 2007.

Reception

Box office
Though Evan Almighty was well hyped, especially with churchgoers, and had double the budget of Bruce Almighty, it performed under expectations. On its first weekend, it opened in 5,200 screens in 3,604 theaters and earned $31.1 million (on its first two days the film earned $11.4 million followed by $8.3 million on Sunday). The opening was less than half of the first film's $68 million weekend ($85 million counting Memorial Day). Nikki Rocco, the president of distribution for Universal Pictures declared, "We never expected it to be much higher ... it is not unusual for family films to open at a level like this and build. This film will have legs." The film managed to remain at the third spot at the box office in its second week, before dropping to fifth place in its third week.

Internationally, the film also opened in first place in Russia and Ukraine, earning $1.5 million in Russia with 329 venues and $179,000 in Ukraine at 64 locations. The gross in the opening weekends for the two countries was 10% and 11%, respectively, bigger than the opening for Bruce Almighty. Altogether, the film earned $173,418,781 worldwide with $100,462,298 in the U.S. and $72,956,483 in the international box office.

According to Box Office Mojo, the film is the second highest-grossing film in the category "Supernatural Comedies with Religious Elements", directly behind Bruce Almighty.

Critical response
Evan Almighty received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 24%, based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Big on special effects but short on laughs, Evan Almighty underutilizes a star-studded cast that includes Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 37 out of 100, based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Critic Richard Roeper commended Jim Carrey for declining to reprise his role in "three of the worst sequels of all time", which included Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, Son of the Mask and Evan Almighty. He continued: "Evan Almighty is a paper-thin alleged comedy with a laugh drought of biblical proportions, and a condescendingly simplistic spiritual message." Several reviewers credit Carell's performance to significantly improving the humor of the film. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave it 1 out of 4, calling it "shamelessly juvenile, pseudo-religious, mock-sincere" and "not that funny". He praised Carell "who projects the movie's only sense of mischief. But it's too little and too late." He later included it on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007.

Awards

Before Evan Almighty was released, it was nominated for "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Competing against seven other nominees, it lost to Transformers. At the Golden Raspberry Awards Evan Almighty was nominated for the Worst Prequel or Sequel, but lost to Daddy Day Camp.

Soundtrack

Evan Almighty: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture debuted in 2007. The soundtrack debuted on June 19, 2007. "Revolution" was performed by Rascal Flatts in the film. Their version is not on the soundtrack, but it appears as a bonus track on their album Still Feels Good. Also not included on the soundtrack are Elton John's 2006 hit, "Just Like Noah's Ark" of which only a little bit is heard during the start of building the ark, and John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change", used in the main ark-building montage. "Ready For a Miracle" was released as a single for the soundtrack by American country pop recording artist, LeAnn Rimes.

Rascal Flatts' version of "Revolution" peaked at number 57 on the Hot Country Songs charts, and "The Power of One" by Bomshel reached number 52 on the same.

The soundtrack was nominated for a Dove Award for Special Event Album of the Year at the 39th GMA Dove Awards. The song "Be the Miracle" by Room for Two was also nominated for Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year while "Ready for a Miracle" by LeAnn Rimes won the Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year.

 Note: Tracks one, two and fourteen to sixteen are taken from the film while tracks three through thirteen are inspired by the film.

References

External links

2007 films
2007 comedy films
2000s English-language films
2000s fantasy comedy films
American fantasy comedy films
American sequel films
Film spin-offs
Films scored by John Debney
Films about politicians
Films directed by Tom Shadyac
Films produced by Neal H. Moritz
Films produced by Roger Birnbaum
Films set in Virginia
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films shot in Virginia
Films shot in Washington, D.C.
Fiction about God
Fiction about government
Noah's Ark in film
Original Film films
Relativity Media films
Religious comedy films
Films about Christianity
Films with screenplays by Steve Oedekerk
Films with screenplays by Joel Cohen
Films with screenplays by Alec Sokolow
Spyglass Entertainment films
Universal Pictures films
2000s American films

Evan Almighty


Pat Bond (February 27, 1925 – December 24, 1990) was an American actress who starred on stage, television and movies. She was openly lesbian and in many cases she was the first gay woman people saw on stage. Her career spanned some 40 years.

Early life
Born Patricia Childers, she spent her childhood in Chicago. She and her family moved to Davenport, Iowa, when she was a teenager. While there she attended a Catholic women's college. She later equated this experience to "a finishing school where they finished me". She joined the Women's Army Corps in 1945. Having accepted her homosexuality by this point, she was interested in meeting other lesbians. She acted as a nurse for soldiers returning from the South Pacific and served in occupied Japan.

She earned a BA and MA in theater from San Francisco State College.

Career
Following her discharge from the Army, she moved to San Francisco and became involved in the gay culture there. She also began acting on stage and performed in many plays, but did not become nationally known until footage from an interview with her appeared in a landmark documentary about gay people, titled Word Is Out (1978). Her performance in this film, in which she spoke comically and nostalgically about her experiences in the Army, launched her career as an actress and storyteller. By the late 1970s/80s, she was performing four one woman shows in theaters around the country.

Gerty Gerty Gerty Stein Is Back Back Back was her most popular performance. She played the legendary Gertrude Stein and recounted humorous stories of Gertrude's life in Paris with her companion Alice B. Toklas. The show was a huge success and was televised repeatedly on PBS stations across the country. Her other well-known stage shows were Conversations with Pat Bond, centering mainly on reminiscences of her youth; Murder in the WAC, focusing on the Army's lesbian purge in the late 1940; and Lorena Hickock and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Love Story.

Pat's career continued to flourish throughout the 1980s. Her one-woman shows often were sold-out events, and she became famous for her incredible comic timing. Film roles in Anti-Clock and the film version of the novel The House of God garnered her several good reviews, increasing her visibility and popularity. She was on the board of directors of Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco and directed a number of plays there. She made a guest appearance on the sitcom Designing Women, playing one of Julia Sugarbaker's favorite school teachers who comes for a visit, and quickly wears out her welcome.

Personal life
In 1947, in Tokyo, 500 women were dishonorably discharged from the Army on the charge of homosexuality. During this period, many lesbians testified against each other in trial but Bond married a gay GI soldier to avoid prosecution. Her marriage to Paul Bond in San Francisco afforded Bond an honorable discharge from the Army on July 3, 1947. She later said she regretted leaving her lover in the Corps, but did so to protect her lover. Bond knew that if she stayed, her lover would be more likely to be testified against.

In 1990, Pat was honored by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in recognition of her Army tenure at the end of World War II. She died of emphysema on Christmas Eve 1990 in Marin County, California, aged 65. Her personal papers and photo albums were donated to the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society. In 1992, The Pat Bond Memorial Old Dyke Award was founded in her honor. The award recognizes Bay Area lesbians over 60 who have made outstanding contributions to the world.

References

Further reading
Pat Bond Papers, 1910-1994, bulk dates 1979-1985 (3.5 linear feet) are held in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.

External links
Pat Bond Award website

1925 births
1990 deaths
Actresses from Iowa
Actors from Davenport, Iowa
American film actresses
American television actresses
American stage actresses
American lesbian actresses
American LGBT military personnel
LGBT people from Illinois
Deaths from emphysema
20th-century American actresses
Lesbian military personnel
Women's Army Corps soldiers
20th-century American LGBT people

Pat Bond


FedExField (originally Jack Kent Cooke Stadium) is an American football stadium located in Landover, Maryland,  east of Washington, D.C. The stadium is the home of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 until 2010, it had the largest seating capacity in the NFL at over 91,000. , the capacity had been reduced to 58,000. The stadium is owned by Josh Harris and is operated by the Commanders.

History

20th century

FedExField was built as a replacement for Washington's prior venue, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. In 1994, Jack Kent Cooke sought to build a new stadium on the grounds adjacent to Laurel Park Racecourse along Whiskey Bottom and Brock Bridge roads. Lack of parking facilities and public support prompted a second site selection. The land was previously Wilson dairy farm.

The stadium opened in 1997 as Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, in honor of the recently deceased owner of the team, and the stadium site was known as Raljon from the first names of Cooke's sons – "Ralph" and "John". Notably, Cooke was able to register Raljon with the United States Postal Service as a legal alternate address for the 20785 ZIP code of Landover, Maryland, where the stadium is located, and went to some lengths to require media to use Raljon in datelines from the stadium. This ended when Daniel Snyder bought the team from the Cooke estate, and the team now gives the stadium's address as Landover.

A special exit, Exit 16 (Arena Drive), was built from Interstate 495, also known as the Capital Beltway.

After Snyder's purchase, the stadium's naming rights were sold to FedEx in November 1999 for an average of $7.6 million per year.

21st century
The waiting list for season tickets was reportedly over 160,000 names long; however, The Washington Post reported in 2009 that ticket office employees improperly sold tickets directly to ticket brokers for several years before the practice was discovered that year.

Although the team has never sold out the entire stadium, the team has not had a game blacked out on local television since 1972 when home game broadcasts were banned outright because it does not count premium club level seating when calculating sellouts. The stadium's sellout streak, excluding premium seating, dates to 1965, eight years before the new blackout rules were implemented.

From 2004 to 2010, Washington's fans set the NFL regular-season home paid attendance records. In 2005 the team drew a record 716,998 fans overall. The December 30, 2007, 27–6 win against the Dallas Cowboys was the most-watched game in franchise history, with 90,910 fans in the stands to see Washington clinch a playoff spot. The team led the NFL in attendance in 2000 and every year between 2002 and 2008.

On January 8, 2000, the Redskins defeated the Detroit Lions 27–13 in the first NFL playoff game at FedExField. In 2023, the team and stadium were acquired by a group headed by Josh Harris for $6.05 billion.

Design

The stadium has five levels: the Lower Level, the Club Level, the Upper Level, and the Lower and Upper Suite Levels. The Lower Level is named the Bobby Mitchell Level in honor of Bobby Mitchell, a Redskins running back from 1962 to 1968 and later a team executive. The Club Level is named the Joe Gibbs Club Level in honor of Joe Gibbs, the team's head coach from 1981 to 1992 and again from 2004 to 2007. The Upper Level is called the Pete Rozelle Upper Level in honor of Pete Rozelle, the commissioner of the National Football League from 1969 to 1989. The stadium has 257 suites .

Notable events

College football

FedExField hosts the annual Prince George's Classic college football game, which is a game usually between two historically black universities. It has hosted several other college football games, including the 1998 game between Notre Dame and Navy, the 2004 Black Coaches Association Classic between USC and the Virginia Tech, and the 112th Army–Navy Game.

Soccer

FedExField has been used for some international and exhibition soccer matches. On March 28, 2015, Argentina defeated El Salvador at FedExField before a crowd of 53,978. On June 7, 2014, the stadium hosted a doubleheader. In the first game, Spain, the 2010 World Cup winner, defeated El Salvador 2–0 in a warm-up match in front of a crowd of 53,267. In the second game, D.C. United played Columbus Crew to a scoreless draw in the first regular-season game United hosted at the stadium.

It hosted four preliminary matches and one quarterfinal doubleheader in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. On July 1, 1999, the United States women's national soccer team defeated Germany's women's national team 3–2 in the FIFA Women's World Cup 1999 quarterfinals.

FedExField has also hosted a number of club soccer exhibition matches. During the July 2005 World Series of Football, D.C. United hosted Chelsea F.C. there; the 31,473 spectators represented D.C. United's third-highest ever home attendance. On August 9, 2009, D.C. United hosted another international friendly against Real Madrid at FedExField. On July 30, 2011, Manchester United ended its 2011 summer tour with a 2–1 win over F.C. Barcelona at FedExField in front of 81,807 fans. This represented the largest soccer crowd in D.C.-area history. FedExField was used on July 29, 2014, in the International Champions Cup as Manchester United played Inter Milan; the game ended in a 0-0 draw and the shootout was won by Manchester United 5-3. On July 26, 2017, Manchester United played F.C. Barcelona again at the FedExField as part of International Champions Cup. This time the Catalan club secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Manchester United in front of 80,162 fans, with Neymar's last goal for F.C. Barcelona being the difference. On August 4, 2018, FedExField hosted a 2018 International Champions Cup match between Real Madrid and Juventus. Real Madrid won 3-1. On July 23, 2019, FedExField also hosted a match between Real Madrid and Arsenal. The match ended 2-2, and Real Madrid won the penalty shootout.

FedExField was being considered as a 2026 FIFA World Cup venue and was up against 16 other venues around the United States, including M&T Bank Stadium in nearby Baltimore; with the final list of 10 stadiums to be decided in 2022. However on April 22, 2022, the stadium dropped out of the bidding process, the organizers having decided instead to merge their bid with Baltimore and move the region's games to M&T Bank Stadium, though fan activities would still have been staged on the National Mall. The Baltimore bid was ultimately rejected in the final round, making it the first time since 2002 that a World Cup match was not played in the capital city.

Rugby union
FedExField hosted a rugby union match between New Zealand and the USA Eagles on October 23, 2021. This was the first time a rugby union game has been hosted at FedExField. The Eagles lost 104–14 in front of a crowd of 39,720 people.

Concerts
The stadium has hosted several major concerts, including the HFStival and George Strait Country Music Festival in 2000, the Rolling Stones with the Strokes in 2002 and with Ghost Hounds in 2019, Metallica with Deftones, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit in 2003, Bruce Springsteen in 2003, Kenny Chesney in 2005, 2011, 2012, and 2013. U2 with Muse, and Paul McCartney with Thievery Corporation in 2009.

In 2017, U2 returned to the stadium with The Lumineers. Guns N' Roses and Alice in Chains played at the stadium in 2016, Coldplay played in 2017 and 2022, Taylor Swift performed two nights in 2018 as part of her Reputation Stadium Tour with Camila Cabello and Charli XCX. Beyoncé and Jay Z performed two nights as part of the On the Run II Tour with Chloe x Halle and DJ Khaled. Childish Gambino and Lil Wayne performed in 2019 as part of the Broccoli City Festival. The Weeknd performed at the stadium on July 30, 2022, as part of the After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour. Ed Sheeran performed at the stadium on June 24, 2023, as part of his Mathematics Tour. Beyoncé performed two nights in 2023 as part of the Renaissance World Tour.

Criticisms

Many fans feel FedExField does not compare favorably with RFK Stadium, the team's previous stadium. FedExField is widely regarded as one of the worst current NFL stadiums, if not the worst current NFL stadium. FedExField was rated as the worst stadium in the NFL in a 2022 poll.

In January 2007, The Washington Post reported that former team owner Daniel Snyder met with Washington, D.C., officials and former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe about building a new stadium. In 2005, eight years after the stadium opened, 1,488 premium "dream seats" in three rows were added in front of what was the first row when the stadium was built. Because some of these seats are too low to see over the players on the sideline, occupants of these seats stand in order to see the game.

In 2011 and 2012, 14,000 seats were removed from the upper deck due to lack of demand. In June 2015, The Washington Post reported that another 4,000 to 6,000 seats in the upper decks were removed in 2015.

The stadium is about a mile away from the Morgan Boulevard station, the nearest Metro station to the stadium. Furthermore, federal regulations prohibit publicly paid shuttle service from public transit agencies when a private service is available. Since private service is not cost-effective, fans taking public transportation must walk to and from the stadium.

In 2021, three separate incidents of water leaks occurred within close or direct proximity to fans. After the conclusion of the game versus the Philadelphia Eagles,  Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was walking down the away team tunnel, a barrier separating seated fans from the away team tunnel gave way, causing several attendees to fall within close vicinity of him. According to several fans who were present for the incident, the staff on site did not show care or call for medical attention for the fans who fell; the only response was them yelling at the fans to "get the fuck off the field". The team released a statement responding to the criticisms, claiming the team did provide medical evaluations done on site, but one fan denied that they did. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was the only one who asked if they were okay. Hurts later wrote an open letter on the incident to the Commanders, who were then known as the Washington Football Team, and the NFL on the incident, asking that action be taken to prevent an incident like this from happening again.

References

External links

Sports venues completed in 1997
Navy Midshipmen football venues
Soccer venues in Maryland
1999 FIFA Women's World Cup stadiums
National Football League venues
Buildings and structures in Prince George's County, Maryland
American football venues in Maryland
Washington Commanders stadiums
Washington Football Team stadiums
Washington Redskins stadiums
Music venues in Maryland
Tourist attractions in Prince George's County, Maryland
FedEx
1997 establishments in Maryland
Sports venues in the Washington metropolitan area
Josh Harris

FedExField


Alicedes Escobar (born December 16, 1986 in La Sabana, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan baseball player. He currently plays as an infielder for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Escobar formerly played for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2008-2010 before being traded along with Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress, Jake Odorizzi for Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt.

Other websites
 Alcides Escobar at mlb.com

1986 births
Living people
Venezuelan baseball players
Kansas City Royals players
Milwaukee Brewers players

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Cardinalidae (sometimes referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the  "cardinals") is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several other genera such as the tanager-like Piranga and the warbler-like Granatellus. Membership of this family is not easily defined by a single or even a set of physical characteristics, but instead by molecular work. Among songbirds, they range from average-sized to relatively large, and have stout features, some species with large, heavy bills.

Members of this group are beloved for their brilliant red, yellow, or blue plumages seen in many of the breeding males in this family. Most species are monogamous breeders that nest in open-cup nests, with parents taking turns incubating the nest and taking care of their young. Most are arboreal species, although the dickcissel is a ground-dwelling prairie bird.

In terms of conservation, most members of this family are considered least concern by the IUCN Red List, though a few birds, such as the Carrizal seedeater, are considered to be endangered.

Field characteristics

The grosbeaks, seedeaters, and cardinals have large bills, while Granatellus and buntings have small bills. The cardinalid tanagers have stout, near pointed bills, with some species of Piranga having serrations along the edge of their upper bills. This bill shape is not always an indicator of relationships, as the various species of blue cardinalid species, like the blue grosbeak and Cyanoloxia grosbeaks are related to the buntings. Similarly, the cardinalid tanagers are closer to the cardinals and masked grosbeaks (see more in the systematics section). The head is medium to large in size, with a medium neck length. The body of cardinalids ranges from small to medium with lengths of 4.5 to 11 in (11 to 28 cm). Legs are also short to medium in length. The wings are medium and pointed. Cardinalids have nine visible primary feathers with the tenth primary feather being short in comparison.

The plumages in cardinalids are sexually dichromatic as many males of various species display bright reds, oranges, blues or blacks. In most temperate species, males will undergo molting between seasons, so that non-breeding males will somewhat resemble the females of their species. These species, such as the indigo bunting, will exhibit a complex molt cycle going through four different stages of plumage coverage within their first year of life. From spring to summer, birds start with juvenile plumage to supplemental plumage, then changing to a first basic (nonbreeding) plumage from fall to winter, and finally reaching the first alternate (breeding) plumage. Adults will typically have the basic two molt cycle changing to basic or partial in the late summer or fall, and then back to alternate again in the spring. Males of tropical species will have the same coloration year-round. Females of all species are either drabber in coloration by comparison, often having a lighter coloration of the males. The molting pattern in most cardinalids exhibits delayed plumage maturation, causing the first-year male birds to often be in non-breeding plumage or at an intermediate stage. The molting pattern in cardinalids is divided into two types. A preformative molt is a partial molt where only the body feathers get replaced, but not the wing and tail feathers, which is seen in a lot of temperate and neotropical species. The second type is an eccentric preformative molt when only the outer primary and inner secondaries are replaced. This molt is seen in some species of Cyanoloxia and Passerina.

Systematics
Traditionally, members of this group were classified as a tribe of the finch family Fringillidae (Cardinalini), characterized by heavy, conical, seed-crushing bills. The group consisted of the genera Pheucticus, Parkerthraustes, Saltator, Spiza, Cyanocompsa, Cyanoloxia, Porphyrospiza, Passerina, Caryothraustes, Periporphyrus, and Cardinalis. The issue that taxonomists had faced was that there were no unifying morphological traits that were in agreement for various studies. In 2007, a mitochondrial DNA study by Klicka, Burns and Spellman sampling all of the aforementioned genera and 34 of the total 42 species, found that the genera Parkerthraustes, Saltator, and Porphyrospiza were not members of the cardinal-lineage, but instead are found throughout in the tanager-lineage (Thraupidae). Interestingly enough the genera classified as thraupids at the time, Piranga, Habia, Chlorothraupis, and Amaurospiza, are found to be part of cardinalid radiation. In addition the genus Granatellus, originally classified as a parulid warbler, are also found to be part of Cardinalidae. The study found that with this new relationship Cardinalidae can be classified into five subgroups, which have been supported by subsequent studies. The five subclades consists of the Habia lineage (Habia and Chlorothraupis), the "masked" lineage (Piranga, Caryothraustes, Periporphyrus, Rhodothraupis, and Cardinalis), the Granatellus lineage, the "blue" lineage (Cyanocompsa, Amaurospiza, Cyanoloxia, Passerina, and Spiza), and the Pheucticus lineage. These subclades and membership of these genera have been widely supported in subsequent studies. A 2021 paper by Guallar et al. based on the preformative molting pattern of cardinalids suggested the ancestor of this group was a forest-dwelling bird that dispersed into open habitats on numerous occasions.

The cardinalids are part of a larger grouping of American endemic songbirds, Emberizoidea, which also includes the aforementioned thraupids and parulids, as well as icterids (New World blackbirds), passerellids (New World sparrows), and several families that contain one or a couple of genera. Several studies have placed cardinalids as either the sister group to Thraupidae, Mitrospingidae (a small family whose genera were formerly classified as thraupids), or the sister to a clade containing thraupids and mitrospingids. At least one study suggested that cardinalids could treated as a subfamily of Thraupidae.

Phylogeny
Phylogeny of the cardinalid genera after Klicka et al. (2007).

Species list
These 53 species and 14 genera are recognized by the IOC as of January 2023:

Natural history

Habitat, distribution and migration
The cardinalids can be found from Canada to northern Argentina and Uruguay, with Central America having the most concentrated amount of species. Species are found year-around in the Central United States and the Eastern United States down to the neotropics. Cardinalids found in the West Indies are non-breeding migrants and those in the Western United States and Canada are breeding migrants. The western tanager is the northernmost species in the family, with their breeding ranges occurring in the southern portions of the Northwest Territories. The northern cardinal has been introduced in Hawaii and Bermuda. They occupy a variety of habitats from forests to grassland and arid scrubland. Most North American cardinalid species migrate south for the winter, whether further south in the continent or extending into the neotropics, except the northern cardinal and pyrrhuloxia which stay year-round. The neotropical species are residential year-round in their range.

Feeding ecology

Cardinals, the dickcissel, seedeaters, buntings, and grosbeaks have the thicker, seed-crushing bills that enabled them to feed heavily on fruits and seeds outside of the breeding season (especially in the winter for northern species like the aforementioned dickcissel and northern cardinal). Once their breeding season begins, members of this group will supplement themselves with invertebrate prey, vital when raising their young and refueling their energetic costs of reproduction and other daily activities. The genera Chlorothraupis, Habia, Piranga, and Granatellus have slightly longer and less deep bills, which their diet mostly consists of insects, fruit, nectar and sap, less so on seeds. Cardinalids typically forage alone low level or on the ground, though some like Piranga and grosbeaks will forage high in the tree canopy. Many will come to birdfeeders especially during the winter.

Breeding and reproduction

Nearly all cardinalids are monogamous breeders and are highly territorial. Despite being monogamous this is only during the breeding season, and each year the birds might partner up with a different bird. The only exception is the dickcissel which is a polygynous species which nest in dense grasses and sedges. Other non-monogamous species include the lazuli and painted buntings which perform extra-copulation with multiple partners. The family is known for their intense brilliant songs. In some species like the lazuli bunting and indigo bunting the bird learn singing by match-based, meaning that first year breeding males will learn by copying the songs of nearby males, as opposed of learning it while they are in the nest. Even more unusual is the females of a few species, such as the scarlet tanager, northern cardinal, pyrrhuloxia, and black-headed grosbeak, which sing as well. In temperate species the breeding season is occurs annual while in tropical species it is year-around. The breeding seasons is in sync with the abundance of insects. Most species build open-cup nests made of grasses and twigs depending on the species. These nests would be in the trees, often high up in the crown. The nest building is done by both partners or by the female alone. The male and female take turns incubating the nest, often the male would feed the female. In a clutch on average there are 1 to 6 six eggs, with tropical species laying the fewest. Cardinalids produce one to three broods per season. As with other passerines, the young are born altricial and fledged between one and two weeks.

Conservation

As of 2021, the IUCN Red List has nearly 82 percent of cardinalids to be least concern. However, there are a handful of species that are of conservation concern. The rose-bellied bunting is an endemic near-threatened species as they are found in a small area of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico; the black-cheeked ant-tanager is another endemic species found in Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica and the carrizal seedeater a critically endangered species found in the spiny bamboo thickets in the understory of deciduous forest in a remote southeastern corner of Venezuela. All of these species are threatened with habitat loss and the confinement within their much smaller range. The IUCN has not yet reevaluate the other species of seedeaters in the genus Amaurospiza.

Despite the vast majority of species being classified as least concern, there has been a growing concern in how the ongoing climate crisis will affect the distribution and migration of many species across the globe. One study led by Dr. Brooke L. Bateman published in July 2020 focused on the risk North American birds will face from climate change and the measures needed to protect them. The first study assessed 604 species from the United States found that if the planet warmed by 3.0 degrees Celsius many species, especially arctic birds, waterbirds, and boreal and western forest birds, will be highly vulnerable to climate change and future conservation efforts will need to be in place. Among the species sampled, the North American species of Piranga and Pheucticus are found to be most climate vulnerable of the cardinalids. These species will either lose some substantial amount of their range or they will migrate up north to escape the sudden change in their habitat.

A possible extinct species is the controversial Townsend's bunting, a supposed enigmatic species related to the dickcissel. The Townsend's bunting is only known from a single type specimen collected from Chester County, Pennsylvania by John Kirk Townsend and described by John James Audubon in 1834. The specimen is housed in the National Museum of Natural History. Genetic work has not been done on this bird, but observation of the plumage has been done. The controversy stems from the uncertainty from authors whether the bird is an extinct species, a rare color-variant of the dickcissel, or a hybrid female dickcissel and male blue grosbeak. If the bird is indeed simply a dickcissel it lacks any of the known field characteristics seen in the species in all life stages and sexes.

References

External links

Cardinalidae videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
Cardinalidae sounds on xeno-canto.org
Northern cardinal (bird information) on petinfospot.com
Northern cardinal, including sound and video clips, on Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Taxa named by Robert Ridgway

Cardinalidae


Wilhelm of Herle (born in Herle in Dutch Limburg at an unknown date in the fourteenth century; time and place of death unknown) was a painter.

According to the statements of deeds of that period he was active in Cologne from 1358 for some fifteen or twenty years. In 1370 he was paid for paintings that he had made for the liber juramentorum of the city. Also remains of frescoes from the town hall that are now preserved in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum can certainly be traced to him. It is generally supposed that a painter, Wilhelm of Cologne, mentioned in the Limburg Chronicle as "the best painter in German lands" is Wilhelm of Herle, and it has been customary to attribute to him some of the best work in painting of early Cologne, although there is no absolute proof in any one case.

His pupil and assistant was Wynrich of Wesel, and art historian Johann Matthias Firmenich-Richartz, in particular, has ascribed to Wynrich pictures attributed to Wilhelm, although Aldenhoven and others have protested against this ascription. It is difficult to distinguish the work of Wilhelm from that of the school he founded. The most important paintings about which there is question are the Madonna with the Bean-Blossom and its variant the Madonna with the Pea-Blossom and the accompanying pictures on the wing-panels of St. Catherine and St. Elizabeth (Cologne and Nuremberg). Other paintings are the Christ on the Cross surrounded by a large number of saints (Cologne), and St. Veronica (Munich). Among the works of this school is also included the altar of St. Clare in the cathedral of Cologne, in which the Sacrifice of the Mass in the centre is surrounded by twelve scenes from the youth and Passion of Christ.

References

Dutch painters
Dutch male painters
14th-century births
People from Heerlen
Year of death unknown

de:Wilhelm von Köln

Wilhelm of Herle


Scrapbook for 19.. was an occasional programme on the BBC Home Service, devised by Leslie Baily and narrated by Freddie Grisewood. Each programme was devoted to one calendar year. It ran chronologically through the year, beginning at midnight on January 1 and ending at midnight on December  31.

Besides the narration, there would be accounts, live where possible, by people who were close to any historical events, recordings of radio broadcasts and newsreels, recordings from popular shows, singers and musicians, all related to the key events and happenings of the year.

This programme was popular because it reminded people of past events and sounds in their lives.

An example was Scrapbook for 1940. This included quotes from: Sir Winston Churchill, Earl Attlee, The Earl Of Avon, Neville Chamberlain, Lord Haw-Haw, J.B. Priestley, Constant Lambert, Herbert Morrison, Ed Murrow, Arthur Askey, Margaret Eaves, George Formby, Vera Lynn, Jack Warner and BBC war reporters & Announcers.

References

Further reading
Leslie Baily (1966), Leslie Baily's BBC scrapbooks, volume one: 1896-1914, with a calendar of significant dates, BBC

BBC Home Service programmes

Scrapbook for 19..