Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and A&R. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, later that year.

Goulding released her debut studio album, Lights, in 2010; it debuted at  on the UK Albums Chart and has sold over 850,000 copies in the UK. In November 2010, the album was reissued as Bright Lights, spawning two singles: a cover of Elton John's "Your Song", which reached  on the UK Singles Chart; and "Lights", which peaked at  on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her highest-charting single to date. Goulding's second studio album, Halcyon, was released in 2012 and preceded by its lead single "Anything Could Happen". The album debuted at  on the UK Albums Chart, and topped the chart after 65 weeks. Halcyon Days, a repackaged edition of Halcyon, was released in 2013 and produced the single "Burn", which became her first  single in the UK. She released her third studio album, Delirium, in 2015, with "On My Mind" as the album's lead single. That year, she received her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance for her single "Love Me like You Do".

In 2017, at the end of her Delirium World Tour, Goulding announced that she was going on indefinite hiatus. It was later revelead that she was dealing with an anxiety disorder, as well struggles with media scrutinity faced during that time over false claims on her personal life. During her five-year hiatus, Goulding released several stand-alone singles, including her cover of Joni Mitchell's "River", which would become her third UK No. 1 and was crowned as the last number one of the decade (10s) in the United Kingdom. After the hiatus, she released her fourth studio album, Brightest Blue (2020), which became her third album to top the UK Albums Chart, and her fourth consecutive RIAA–certified album. It spawned several singles, including the hits "Close To Me" (with Diplo & Swae Lee), "Sixteen" and "Hate Me" (with Juice Wrld), the latter became Goulding's 14th entry on the Hot 100, making her the British Female artist with most entries on the US Chart (record currently hold by Dua Lipa).

In 2022, Goulding released the song "Easy Lover" featuring rapper Big Sean as the lead single of her fifth studio album. In March 2023, Goulding released her third collaboration with DJ Calvin Harris, titled "Miracle", the song debuted at number No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, with the song entry Goulding made history as the British Female Solo Act with most entries in the UK, surpassing Dame Shirley Bassey, with a total of 35 chart entries. Her fifth studio album, Higher Than Heaven, was released on 7 April 2023.

Early life
Elena Jane Goulding was born on 30 December 1986 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England to Arthur and Tracey Goulding, and was brought up in the small village of Lyonshall, in Herefordshire. She has a brother, Alex, and two sisters, Isabel and Jordan. When she was five years old, her parents separated. Afterwards, she had little contact with her father, a funeral director. Goulding and her siblings were raised by their mother on a council estate, with Goulding describing the family as "super poor". She stated that she has a "difficult" relationship with her mother.

Goulding began playing the clarinet at age nine and learning guitar at age 14. She attended Lady Hawkins' High School in Kington, Herefordshire and, by the age of 15, started writing songs. She took A levels in English, politics, drama and music, and passed the first 3 with "A" grades but failed music. After enrolling on a degree in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Kent and remaining until her final year, she met Jamie Lillywhite. He became her manager and introduced her to the producer Starsmith, who would become her chief collaborator and the primary producer of Lights.

Career

2009–2011: Lights and Bright Lights

Although Ellie Goulding signed to Polydor Records in July 2009, her debut single, "Under the Sheets", was released through the independent label Neon Gold Records, appearing digitally in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2009. The single peaked at  on the UK Singles Chart following a successful appearance on Later... with Jools Holland (performing "Under the Sheets" and "Guns and Horses") and a UK tour supporting Little Boots. "Wish I Stayed" was available as a free download as Single of the Week on iTunes Store UK from 22 to 28 December 2009.

Before the release of her debut album, Goulding won the BBC Sound of 2010 poll, which showcases the music industry's top choices for rising stars. She also won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 Brit Awards, making her the second artist to win both in the same year.
Goulding co-wrote "Love Me 'Cause You Want To" for Gabriella Cilmi's second album, Ten, and three songs ("Remake Me + You", "Notice", "Jumping into Rivers") for Diana Vickers's debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree. Her song "Not Following" was used by German singer Lena on her debut album My Cassette Player. Goulding was featured on rapper Tinie Tempah's single "Wonderman" from his debut studio album Disc-Overy (2010).

Goulding's debut album Lights was released in March 2010, reaching  on the UK Albums Chart and  on the Irish Albums Chart. Its singles "Starry Eyed", "Guns and Horses", and "The Writer" peaked at , 26, and 19. As of June 2012, the album had sold over 850,000 copies in the UK and 1.6 million copies worldwide. In August 2010, she released a second EP, Run into the Light, containing remixes of songs from Lights. The album was supported by Nike and was released through Polydor as a running soundtrack in an effort to get her music taken up by the running subculture. In November 2010, Lights was re-released as Bright Lights, with six new tracks added. It was originally announced that the lead single from Bright Lights would be the new edit of the title track with a release scheduled for 1 November 2010. This plan was ultimately scrapped to allow her cover of Elton John's "Your Song" to be released in conjunction with the John Lewis Christmas advert in the UK in 2010. The single became her second highest-charting single to date, reaching  on the UK Singles Chart. It also charted in some European countries. In January 2011, it was announced that the title track from Lights would serve as the second single from Bright Lights. "Lights" reached  on the UK Singles Chart, while becoming Goulding's first song to chart in the United States, as well as her highest-charting song to date, peaking at  on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 2012.

Goulding toured in support of Lights and supported Passion Pit in March 2010 and John Mayer during his British tour in May 2010. During the summer she performed at a number of festivals. On 29 May she performed at the Dot to Dot Festival in Bristol. She performed a set on 25 June at the Glastonbury Festival 2010 on the John Peel Stage. Her third EP was a live recording of part of her set at the iTunes Festival 2010. The whole set was ultimately included as bonus content on the iTunes version of Bright Lights. She made her T in the Park debut on 11 July.
In early 2011, she recorded an original song for the film Life in a Day. Ellie Goulding was  on Rolling Stones annual hot list in February 2011. In February 2011, she returned to the Brit Awards where she was nominated for Best British Female and Best British Breakthrough Act but lost out to Laura Marling and to Tinie Tempah.

In April 2011, Goulding played live at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. She also made her American television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 7 April 2011 performing "Starry Eyed". She appeared as the musical guest on the 700th episode of the Saturday Night Live, broadcast 7 May 2011 and hosted by Tina Fey. She performed at the wedding reception of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011, and performed what she recalled as "about 14 songs", including her cover of "Your Song".

Goulding collaborated with American electronic artist and producer Skrillex on a song titled "Summit", included on his 2011 EP Bangarang. She travelled with Skrillex on his South American tour
She headlined the 2011 Wakestock Festival in Wales, performing on 8 July. In August, she performed at the V Festival for her second year in a row. Following the re-release of Lights and the American release of the album, Goulding said she would soon begin work on a second studio album with an expected release of September 2011.
On 6 August 2011, she performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago. She performed at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert on 11 December 2011 in Oslo, Norway. On 1 December 2011, she performed at the White House during the National Christmas Tree lighting, alongside Big Time Rush and will.i.am. On 19 September 2011, it was announced that she would open for Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour, replacing Jessie J who withdrew due to a foot injury.

2012–2014: Halcyon and Halcyon Days

In 2012, Goulding appeared on "Fall into the Sky" from Zedd's debut album Clarity and on Calvin Harris's song "I Need Your Love" which is included on Halcyon and also Harris's album 18 Months. On 10 July 2012, Goulding released a cover of Active Child's song "Hanging On", featuring Tinie Tempah, as a free download on her SoundCloud page. In late July 2012, it was announced that Goulding's second album is titled Halcyon and it would be released on 8 October 2012. The album was preceded by the lead single "Anything Could Happen" on 21 August. The lyric video for "Anything Could Happen" premiered on 9 August 2012, consisting of a series of fan-submitted Instagram pictures.
On 19 November 2012, the music video for Goulding's second single from Halcyon, titled "Figure 8" was released. The single was released digitally in the UK on 12 December 2012. The song charted before it was released, and made its way into the top 40 in the UK, peaking at .

Goulding contributed a track titled "Bittersweet" (produced by Skrillex) to the soundtrack of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, released on 13 November 2012. It was announced on 12 February 2013, that in May 2013, she would be supporting Bruno Mars on his Moonshine Jungle World Tour on selected dates. On 20 May 2013, Goulding announced she would embark on a seven-date tour in the UK during October that year. On 28 May 2013, Goulding's cover of Alt-J's song "Tessellate" was released via her SoundCloud page. Goulding has also been reported to have filmed a music video for this track in Paris earlier that month. She claimed to be "making a video for a song that isn't on my record".
In June 2013, Goulding performed at previous festivals and concerts including RockNess festival in Inverness, Capital FM Summertime Ball and Firefly Music Festival at The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware. On 2 July 2013, Goulding premiered a song titled "You My Everything" in the first episode of Skins Fire and that same day Goulding confirmed to Elle magazine that Halcyon would be re-released later that year.

On 5 July 2013, Digital Spy confirmed the release of Halcyon Days, a repackaged edition of Halcyon, which was released on 23 August 2013. The re-release, featuring ten additional tracks, was preceded by the single "Burn", which had been uploaded to Goulding's SoundCloud page the previous day. On 7 July 2013, the official music video for "Burn" premiered on Goulding's Vevo channel on YouTube. "Burn" became Goulding's first single to top the UK's Official Singles Chart.
Goulding was performing at V Festival Chelmsford when news of her first UK  broke; Rita Ora surprised Goulding with her Official Number 1 Award.
On 9 September 2013, Goulding released a music video for "How Long Will I Love You" for the film About Time. Goulding appeared on the soundtrack for the film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with the track "Mirror".
On 15 October 2013, Goulding confirmed on Fearne Cotton's radio show that "How Long Will I Love You" would be the next single for BBC's Children in Need. On the same day, the Active Child song "Silhouette", on which Goulding features, was also released. On 28 October 2013, Goulding posted an alternative video of "How Long Will I Love You" on her Vevo channel for the short film Tom & Issy, in which she also stars. On the final episode of The X Factor on 14 December, Goulding performed a duet with finalist Luke Friend.

On 5 January 2014, Goulding premiered the music video for her song "Goodness Gracious" on her Vevo channel, later confirming that it would be her sixth single released from Halcyon Days. On 22 January 2014, Goulding confirmed through her Facebook page that she had contributed the song "Beating Heart" to the soundtrack for the film Divergent, based on the novel of the same name by Veronica Roth.
On 3 February 2014, Goulding released a cover of the James Blake song "Life Round Here" featuring rapper Angel Haze through her SoundCloud page. On 19 February, Goulding won Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2014 Brit Awards.
On 20 October 2014, she stated via Facebook that she will appear on the new Calvin Harris album, Motion, with a new song called "Outside". The song was released as the album's fourth single on 20 October 2014. Goulding also featured in Iggy Azalea's song "Heavy Crown", which was released on 21 November 2014 on Azalea's Reclassified, a reissue of her debut album The New Classic.

2015–2021: Delirium and Brightest Blue
In November 2014, Goulding announced that she was focusing on a third studio album. In early 2015, Goulding released the song "Love Me like You Do", which was featured in the soundtrack to the film Fifty Shades of Grey, adapted from the erotic novel of the same name. The video was released to YouTube on 22 January, to precede an official release date of 15 February. The single has been a commercial success, spending four weeks at  on the UK Singles Chart, topping the charts in many other nations including Australia, New Zealand, and Germany, and reaching  on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single held the record for the most-streamed track in a single week in the United Kingdom (streamed 2.58 million times), and worldwide (streamed 15.5 million times). On 7 December 2015, "Love Me like You Do" earned Goulding a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance. In the nominations for the 2016 Brit Awards announced on 14 January 2016, the song was among the nominees for British Single of the Year, and Best British Video. Goulding starred in the music video for Taylor Swift's song "Bad Blood", which was released in May 2015.

Goulding appeared on the Major Lazer album Peace Is the Mission on the track "Powerful", alongside Tarrus Riley. The track was released together with the album on 1 June 2015. A preview of the single was revealed on 23 April 2015. Having finished recording new material on 27 July 2015, Goulding tweeted a link to an Instagram post of her leaving Abbey Road Studios captioned, "That's a wrap!". On 5 August 2015 at the iHeartRadio Music Summit, Interscope unveiled the title of Goulding's new single, "On My Mind". A preview of the new track was released online via Goulding's Facebook page on 15 September 2015, with a confirmed single release date of 17 September 2015. The following day, another video teaser was uploaded revealing the title and cover art for Goulding's third studio album, Delirium.

On 7 September 2015, it was announced that Goulding would be performing at the 2015 AFL Grand Final, along with Canadian musician Bryan Adams and American musician Chris Isaak. On 17 September, Goulding debuted her single, "On My Mind", the lead track from Delirium, on BBC Radio 1's Breakfast Show. She also announced that Delirium would be released on 6 November. Goulding subsequently performed "On My Mind" at the Apple Music Festival later that week.

Goulding also appeared on the Australian X Factor on 6 October where she performed "On My Mind". On 15 October 2015, it was announced that "Army" would serve as the second official single from the album; the song's music video was later released on 14 January 2016. Third single, "Something in the Way You Move" was first released as a promotional single from the album on 9 October 2015. It was then released on 19 January 2016, its original music video was released on 23 February 2016 and other music video directed by Emil Nava was released on 21 June 2017.

On 19 August 2016 she released the song "Still Falling for You" for the soundtrack to the film Bridget Jones's Baby, and its music video premiered on 25 August 2016. It received moderate commercial success worldwide managing to reach number 11 in the UK.

After a long gap, in 2017, she performed at the opening of 16th edition of Mawazine Festival, held in Rabat from 12 to 20 May. The event saw the debut live performance of her Kygo collaboration "First Time", which was released on 28 April.

In 2018, Goulding joined Tap Management after almost a decade with First Access Management. She appeared on a collaboration with Sean Paul on his Mad Love the Prequel EP titled "Bad Love", released on 29 June 2018.

Goulding collaborated with Diplo and Swae Lee on the single "Close to Me", which was released on 24 October 2018. On 1 January 2019, The Guardian reported that she has been working on her fourth album, set to release in the same year. On 1 March, she released the next single "Flux". She said regarding the album, "It's very much written by me".

On 12 April 2019, Goulding released the single "Sixteen". Goulding said of the single, "...That age was such a pivotal year for me in many ways and this song is so close to my heart. It takes me back to the reckless days of being a teenager and I hope it reminds us all about the innocence of youth."

Goulding released "Hate Me" with American rapper Juice Wrld on 26 June 2019. It was premiered by Zane Lowe as his 'World Record' on Beats 1. In July, Goulding stated that her next material to be released would be the songs "Woman I Am" and "Start". In November, she released her rendition of Joni Mitchell's Christmas song "River", which topped the UK Singles Chart, becoming her third UK number one single and the last UK number one song of the 2010s.

On 13 March 2020, Goulding released the new single "Worry About Me" which was created in-collaboration with Blackbear. In a radio interview with Heart the same month, she revealed that the album "kind of comes in two parts", adding that "the first side is something written entirely by me which was fun and I wrote most of it in New York when I was living there a few years back. I play the guitar and I play the bass and piano and then I'm singing a lot of vocals. It's very classically influenced because I love classical music. There's a lot going on, it's a big soundscape and one big film. The second half is my kind of alter ego songs."
On 21 May she released single "Power" and on 30 June single "Slow Grenade" with Lauv.

Goulding released her fourth studio album, Brightest Blue, on 17 July 2020. Originally scheduled for 5 June 2020, the album's release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The album debuted at the top of the UK Album Chart, becoming Goulding's third album to do so, as well as at No. 2 in Scotland. It reached the top 10 in Ireland as well as the top 40 in over ten countries including Australia, Germany and the United States.

Goulding announced on an Instagram Q&A that she would be releasing new music which was not part of the Brightest Blue era at the end of January 2021. On 21 January, she released a collaboration with electronic duo Silk City, titled "New Love". On 30 September, Goulding performed "Anything Could Happen" as part of the opening ceremony for Expo 2020, held in Dubai.

2022–present: Higher Than Heaven
On 19 June 2022, Goulding performed at Rock in Rio in Lisbon, Portugal. After the concert, she announced that she would be releasing new music in July. The following day, she blacked out all her social media profiles. Back in July 2021, during an interview with Joe Wicks, she described the forthcoming album as "a dance record. It's electronic pop, a dance thing from outer space". On 4 July 2022, she announced the release of "Easy Lover" featuring Big Sean, which was released on 15 July. The single did not enter the UK Singles Top 100, but peaked at number 31 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart Top 100. It was followed by "All by Myself", a collaboration between Goulding and producers Alok and Sigala, on 7 October. Goulding released the single "Let It Die" along with its video on 19 October and announced the same day that her fifth studio album, Higher Than Heaven, would be released on 3 February 2023. It was delayed multiple times and released on 7 April 2023.

On 22 March 2023, Goulding released the single "By the End of the Night". On 14 September, Goulding released the single "Somebody", in collaboration with TSHA and Gregory Porter. On 13 October, Goulding joined Japanese musician Yoshiki on stage at Royal Albert Hall to perform a classical version of "Love Me Like You Do".

Artistry and influences

Goulding's music has been described as electropop, synth-pop, indie pop and folktronica. She is a soprano and is noted for her high piercing vibrato, breathy tone and emotive delivery. In a review for Halcyon, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described her voice as "something special", continuing; "Her tremulous vibrato and slightly hoarse timbre have the feel of something primal and folky, her birdlike high notes conveying a childlike wonder while darker tones imply ancient depths of sorrow. She sings like she is strung out on the melody, warbling from a place of desperate emotion. It really is that rarest and perhaps most accidental of gifts: an original voice". He then continued in regards to her vocal layering stating, "producer Jim Eliot puts her voice front, back and centre, banking up choral walls of vibrato, fashioning hooks from cut up samples of chirrups and chants, and creating unusual textures from trills and warbles". During an interview with Carson Daly, Goulding described her own voice saying;

Will Hermes of Rolling Stone compared her voice to that of Dolly Parton, stating that her upper register was dazzling whilst also complementing her skill in vocal multi-layering. Megan Farokhmanesh of Paste magazine stated "Goulding has a lovely voice, but occasionally her soprano-strung vocals hit a note that rubs the eardrums the wrong way" although she praised Goulding overall for her "talent for gorgeous high heart-tugging vocals".

Goulding has listed Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, and Björk as influences, as well as contemporaries such as Amy Winehouse, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Burial, Taylor Swift, Bon Iver, and Rihanna. She also expressed admiration for rappers Kanye West, Drake and Nicki Minaj. Goulding's musical style has been compared to that of Kate Nash, Lykke Li and Tracey Thorn.

Goulding's debut album Lights (2010) experimented with genres including indie pop, synthpop, folktronica and indietronica. The album contained "sparkling pop with a folky heart and an electronic edge" and was noted as being infectious. The album incorporated "acoustic guitar" and "retro-synthpop" compared to that of Little Boots and La Roux, while the production contained "folkie origins under a welter of busily cycling synths and programmed beats". Goulding toured the United Kingdom with American folk singer Lissie in 2010. Goulding's second album Halcyon followed in the same vein, including genres such as indie pop, synthpop and dream pop. She stepped away from the electronic sound of her previous album and moved to a more tribal and anthemic sound containing a bit more piano and vocal.

Personal life
Goulding ran the inaugural Nike Women Half Marathon in Washington, D.C. on 28 April 2013, earning a time of 1:41:35.

She dated English radio DJ Greg James in 2010. Their relationship ended in 2012 after 18 months together. In the same year, after collaborating on a song called "Bittersweet" for the Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part Two soundtrack, Goulding started dating DJ Skrillex. The two split nine months later, citing the long distance nature of their relationship. Goulding later was in a relationship with actor Jeremy Irvine. They broke up in August 2013. Goulding was in a relationship with Dougie Poynter of McFly between 2014 and 2016.

On 7 August 2018, Goulding and her boyfriend Caspar Jopling announced their engagement. The couple were married at York Minster on 31 August 2019 and Goulding was baptised in order to get married. Jopling is the grandson of former Conservative MP Michael Jopling. In February 2021, Goulding announced that she and Jopling were expecting their first child. She gave birth in April 2021.

Goulding's best friend and personal assistant is Hannah Suzanne Lowe; the song "Army" was dedicated to Lowe and to Goulding's fans. On Michael McIntyre's Big Show, she revealed that she is also close friends with Princess Beatrice of York.

Goulding has spoken several times about her experience with mental health conditions. In 2016, she discussed panic attacks caused by the studio environment that prevented her from working. In 2017, she discussed ongoing confidence issues and severe anxiety she had experienced. She spoke of an increased confidence within herself which reduces the nervous flutters she experiences. She has said that a fitness regime and boxing at the gym has helped her overcome panic attacks and anxiety.

Goulding is a former vegan.

Other ventures

SERVED cocktails
Goulding acquired a significant stake in premium British hard seltzer brand SERVED for an undisclosed sum in June 2021. Goulding said she was attracted to the brand due to it being based in her childhood home of Herefordshire, as well as for the brand's eco-friendly ethos.

In July 2022, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned a series of Facebook posts from Goulding promoting SERVED hard seltzer. Goulding's posts claimed the drink was low in calories and contained no sugar, which the ASA ruled were not permitted nutrition claims for alcohol products.

In January 2023, SERVED announced that it had entered into a partnership with Morrisons part of the supermarket's 'Growing British Brands' accelerator programme, which aimed at promoting "innovative and sustainable British producers". SERVED products are now available for sale 498 Morrisons stores, as well as listings in other parts of the business including Morrisons.com, and wholesale channels like Amazon. Later that year, SERVED also launched a series of Ready To Drink cocktails, including Mojito, Passion Fruit Martini, and Piña Colada flavours.

In September 2023, Goulding announced that Heineken UK has acquired a significant minority stake in SERVED.

Philanthropy

In 2010, Goulding participated in the Bupa Great North Run for the British Heart Foundation. In 2011, Goulding ran the She Runs LA event for charity Students Run LA, which aims to increase access to sport for less privileged children across the Los Angeles Unified School District.

In 2012, she partnered with Pandora Radio, one dollar for each sale of her mixtape was donated to the Free the Children charity. On 1 June 2013, Goulding performed at Gucci's global concert event in London whose campaign "Chime for Change" aims to raise awareness of women's issues in terms of education, health and justice.

Goulding has frequently contributed to the BBC's annual charity telethon Children in Need in the UK. In 2013, Goulding's track "How Long Will I Love You" was the official single for the 2013 Children in Need campaign.

On 15 November 2014, Goulding joined the charity group Band Aid 30 along with other British and Irish pop acts, recording a new version of the track "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, to raise money for the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa.

Goulding is also a supporter for helping the homeless. She has performed in the annual charity concerts for the "Streets of London" charity event at the Royal Albert Hall from years 2014 to 2018 consecutively. On 24 December 2015, Goulding volunteered in central London at the Marylebone Project to help end homelessness and to assist in the elimination of the stereotype associated with the homeless population. She said, "It's that stigma of what a homeless person is — they abuse drugs or abuse alcohol. It's just not true, some people come from very normal backgrounds, very normal situations and something goes wrong. It can happen to all of us." As a patron of the Marylebone Project, Goulding attended the opening of a 24-hour drop-in centre for homeless women in London in November 2021.

In October 2017, she was recognised with a Global Leadership Award by the United Nations Foundation for her environmental and social justice activism. She also announced that she would join the foundation in 2018 as a Goodwill Ambassador.

Endorsements
Goulding contributed her vocals to an advert for the British department store chain John Lewis in 2010. The John Lewis Christmas advert has become an annual tradition in British culture and one of the signals that the countdown to Christmas has begun in the UK, with Goulding performing "Your Song" for the store's 2010 campaign.

In 2013, Goulding was announced as one of several new models for Marks & Spencer's 'Womanism' campaign. Subtitled "Britain's leading ladies", the campaign saw Goulding appear alongside British women from various fields, including the actress Helen Mirren, double Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Nicola Adams, and writer Monica Ali.

Goulding is endorsing the Swiss shampoo Pantene Pro-V on television and on the official Pantene website under the tagline "Strong Is Beautiful". This campaign has been running since 21 March 2016.

Accolades and achievements

Goulding has won several awards during her music career, such as two Brit Awards, a Billboard Music Award, the BBC Sound Of... poll, 17 BMI London Awards, two Glamour Awards, an iHeartRadio Music Award, one MTV Italian Music Award, an NRJ Music Award, a People's Choice Award, an Q Award, a Teen Choice Award and a Variety Hitmakers Award. Alongside those accolades, she has been nominated for numerous major music awards including, a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance, a Danish Music Award, a Latin American Music Award, three Global Awards, three MTV Video Music Award, six MTV Europe Music Awards, and ten World Music Awards.

In 2019, after ten years of consistent work as a hitmaker, She was honored with the Variety Hitmakers Decade Award,  with Goulding stating: "It's probably the first time I've really been acknowledged for this work". Meanwhile, in recognition as a songwriter she was presented with the BMI President's Award at the 2022 BMI London Awards ceremony.

Discography

 Lights (2010)
 Halcyon (2012)
 Delirium (2015)
 Brightest Blue (2020)
 Higher Than Heaven (2023)

Concert tours

Headlining
 The Lights Tour (2010)
 The Halcyon Days Tour (2012–14)
 Delirium World Tour (2016–17)
 Brightest Blue Tour (2021)
Higher Than Heaven Tour (2023)

Supporting
Katy Perry – California Dreams Tour (2011)
Bruno Mars – Moonshine Jungle Tour (2013)
 Opening Ceremony of Expo 2020 (2021)

Filmography

Bibliography
 Fitter. Calmer. Stronger. (2021)

References

External links

1986 births
21st-century English women singers
21st-century English singers
Alumni of the University of Kent
Brit Award winners
Electropop musicians
English women singer-songwriters
English singer-songwriters
British indie pop musicians
English electronic musicians
English women pop singers
English sopranos
Folktronica musicians
Homelessness activists
Interscope Records artists
Living people
Musicians from Kent
Musicians from Hereford
Polydor Records artists
Synth-pop singers
English women in electronic music

Ellie Goulding


Jonathan Meeks (born November 8, 1989) is a former American football safety. He played college football for Clemson University and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

High school
Meeks attended Rock Hill High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he played quarterback and free safety as a senior. He had 896 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, and 612 passing yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, he recorded 69 tackles and two interceptions. He spent one semester at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia following high school, in order to raise his necessary test scores for NCAA standards.

He was rated a four-star recruit by Rivals.com.

College career
While attending Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, Meeks played for the Clemson Tigers football team from 2009 to 2012.

Professional career
He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round, 143rd overall, of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Expected to back up Aaron Williams at SS with Duke Williams, who was also drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft. He was injured while playing against Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4 and was placed on the injured reserve designated to return list. He was released by the Bills on September 5, 2015. On September 6, 2015, the Bills signed Meeks to their practice squad. On September 23, 2015, Meeks was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad.

NFL statistics

References

External links
Buffalo Bills bio
Clemson Tigers bio

American football safeties
Clemson Tigers football players
Buffalo Bills players
Living people
1989 births
Players of American football from Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill High School (South Carolina) alumni

Jonathan Meeks


"Timewave" is the third episode of Red Dwarf XII and the 70th in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 26 October 2017, it was made available early on 19 October 2017 on UKTV Play.

After experiencing a strange time phenomenon, the crew must venture on board a starship from the 24th century to stop them from crashing into an oncoming gas moon, only to be hindered by its unorthodox anti-criticism law.

Synopsis
After the crew claim a moon rich in Helium-7 for the JMC (an exercise orchestrated mainly by Rimmer), they are forced to leave sooner than anticipated because an incoming solar storm is detected. On the way back to Red Dwarf onboard Starbug, the crew experience a timewave, which Kryten explains is the aftereffect of an imploding black hole, and that whoever falls victim to one risks the chance of being washed-up into an inhabitable corner of deep space. They discover another ship has been swept by the timewave, which is on a direct collision-course with the moon. They decide to board it to stop the collision, though their research tells them that the ship, which is from 24th century Earth, has laws which prohibit criticism, so requiring the Red Dwarf crew to moderate their behaviour.

Greeted by the ship's flamboyant captain, Ziggy, they learn that the ship's crew are largely assigned to tasks outside their areas of expertise, which they are performing poorly but not being criticised for or removed from; this explains why the ship is on a collision course. They are then guided to the ship's diner, and it becomes apparent the ship is in total disarray/ After a bad experience with a waitress, they criticise her and agree that the ship is a lost cause. However, on their way back to Starbug, they are stopped by the ship's policemen, who question whether they're following the anti-criticism laws of their society. Cat grows fed-up and insults the lead officer, resulting in their imprisonment on the ship's brig.

After a nearly-successful attempt at escape by the Red Dwarf crew, they sway the head policeman against the anti-criticism law, but Ziggy returns and orders that they be "drained" of their critical behavior. They are all hooked-up to an anti-criticism device, and Rimmer is chosen to be the first one "drained". However, his critical side proves too strong for the extractor, and manifests into a being of its own, who, after some reasoning by the crew, is defeated. After this fiasco, Ziggy concludes that the crew's defeating of Rimmer's critical side through criticism proves the ship's anti-criticism law incorrect. Ziggy wises up and reassigns his staff to their own roles, and the ship is guided away from the collision course with the moon. Ziggy then offers an apology to the Red Dwarf crew, and a reward. He suggests his gift could have been a mechanoid upgrade, or a faster-than-light drive upgrade for the Red Dwarf, but he determines that the best thing he has to offer is one of his pre-school style drawings. Lister, believing Ziggy is now open to criticism, says the drawing isn't very good, with the consequence that Ziggy, enraged, reinstates the anti-criticism law, and so the Red Dwarf crew have to flee the ship.

Reception

"Timewave" received negative reviews from critics and fans. Complaints cited the episode's poor structure and jarring jokes.

References

External links

Series XII episode guide at www.reddwarf.co.uk

Red Dwarf XII episodes
2017 British television episodes

Timewave (Red Dwarf)


Fluorocarbons are chemical compounds that only contain fluorine and carbon. The terminology isn't strictly followed, many organic compounds are called fluorocarbons. Another name is Perfluorocarbon. Fluorocarbons belong to the group  of hydrofluorocarbons. Fluorocarbons are commonly used in insulation, and as cooling agents, called refrigerants. Because they take a long time to decay, they are considered greenhouse gases.

Organic chemistry
HVAC

Fluorocarbon


The King's School is a secondary school and sixth form located in Ottery St Mary, Devon, England. It was established as a choir school by the bishop John Grandisson in 1335, but was replaced by a grammar school by Henry VIII in 1545. It became a comprehensive school in 1982, and an academy in 2011. The school's pupils are mainly drawn from its five feeder primaries in the surrounding area: Ottery St Mary primary school, West Hill Primary School, Payhembury Church of England Primary School, Feniton Church of England Primary School and Tipton St John Church of England Primary School.

The school has access to facilities shared with the public, the Colin Tooze Sports Centre. Rob Gammon became headteacher in 2016, succeeding Faith Jarrett.

History
The King's School is an 11-18 secondary school with just over 1100 students and 100 staff. In 1335, Bishop John de Grandisson bought the manor of Ottery St Mary from the Dean and Chapter of Rouen who had owned it since 1061. He obtained a royal licence from Edward III to found his College of Secular Canons and established a choir school in Ottery St Mary in 1335 for eight boys and a Master of Grammar. The school did not start very promisingly in 1337 with the members of the choir-school being accused of "dissolute and insolent behaviour in the parish". Grandisson being a disciplinarian, flogging was the punishment, but this had no effect and consequently the boys were heavily fined for every day's absence from the choir. For over two hundred years the canons carried out Bishop Grandisson's instructions and the choir school boys were educated.

When the English Reformation reached the college in 1545 it was dissolved. Upon some whim or persuasion, however, Henry VIII established a free grammar school in the town - hence "The King's School" and their coat of arms became a Lion and a Dragon supporting the Tudor Royal Shield surmounted by a Crown.

The Chanter's House is a Grade II* listed building which served as the headmaster's lodging. It dates from the 17th century, incorporating parts of the former Precentor's house, known as Heath's Court. In 1645, Oliver Cromwell held a convention in the house's dining room, and Thomas Fairfax stayed at the house from October to December in that year.

The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's father was headmaster of The King's School, Ottery St Mary.

Facilities
The school has access to a facility shared by the public, the Colin Tooze Sports Centre. The King's School was designated as a Specialist Sports College in the summer of 2002. Facilities for PE and sport at King's were enabled by that status to be developed. In partnership with East Devon District Council, a purpose built Dance Studio with sound and lighting systems was completed in 2003. There is a floodlight all-weather astroturf hockey and football pitch.

In 2009 the school added a new Multi Use Games Areas (M.U.G.A) which has four netball courts and three tennis courts which are also used by the local Ottery St Mary tennis club.

House system
There are four houses, which date to 1912, as witnessed by the old minute book of the Sports Committee. These provide the school with four large vertically grouped cohorts of students, with form groups separated by house rather than year.

The houses are named after local families: Coleridge, Kennaway, Patteson and
Raleigh.

All houses have separate colours, which are used for inter-house events: red for Coleridge, blue for Kennaway, green for Patteson and purple for Raleigh. The school holds annual inter-house events, these include dance, musical and the 'Top Of The House' quiz.

Notable former pupils
Walter Raleigh (–1618), writer, poet, soldier, courtier, explorer
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), poet, critic, philosopher
Paul Madden (born 1959), British diplomat
Mary King (born 1961), eventer
Murray McArthur (born 1966), actor
Joanne Pavey (born 1973), long-distance runner

References

External links
 School website

Educational institutions established in the 1540s
1335 establishments in England
1545 establishments in England
Secondary schools in Devon
Academies in Devon
Ottery St Mary

The King's School, Ottery St Mary


Robert Ruliph Morgan Carpenter (July 30, 1877 – June 11, 1949) was an American executive and member of the board of directors of DuPont.

Biography
He was born on July 30, 1877, to Walter Samuel Carpenter and Bedde Morgan.

Known as "Ruly", Carpenter was educated at the Hillman Academy in his hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He worked in his family's hardware store before joining DuPont as a district purchasing agent in 1906. He married Margaretta Lammot du Pont, the sister of company president Pierre S. du Pont, on December 18, 1906.  They had a son, Robert Ruliph Morgan Carpenter, Jr.

He began working under another brother, Irénée du Pont in the development department, of which he was named director in 1911. Carpenter was instrumental in guiding the company's diversification outside the explosives industry, being appointed to the executive committee and serving on the board of directors from 1914 until his death in 1949. During his tenure, he held positions including head of personnel and vice president. His younger brother, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr., was President of DuPont from 1940 to 1948.

In 1940, Carpenter joined the board of trustees of the University of Delaware, and was a major catalyst for the development of its athletic program, personally funding the construction of a new gymnasium.  In 1943, he purchased the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League.  He left day-to-day control in the hands of his son, R. R. M. Carpenter, Jr., who continued his father's tradition of substantial support for the University of Delaware's athletic program after his father's death.

Carpenter also served as president of Wilmington's Homeopathic Hospital, as a trustee of Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences, and as director of the Girard Trust Company, and of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad.

He died on June 11, 1949, of cancer at Memorial Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware.

Children

 Louisa d'Andelot Carpenter (October 16, 1907 - February 1976, Easton, Maryland)
 Irene "Renee" du Pont Carpenter Draper (January 21, 1911 - January 28, 1991)
 Nancy Gardiner Carpenter (June 19, 1912 - July 13, 1914)
 Robert Ruliph Morgan Carpenter, Jr. (August 31, 1915 - July 8, 1990)
 William Kemble Carpenter (May 27, 1919 - August 1987 Boca Raton, Florida)

References

External links
 Finding aid for  the Irene Carpenter Draper photograph collection at Hagley Museum and Library, which contains a large number of photographs of R. R. M. Carpenter and his family, and the du Pont family ( – 1950).

1877 births
1949 deaths
American manufacturing businesspeople
Burials at Du Pont de Nemours Cemetery
Deaths from cancer in Delaware
Du Pont family
DuPont people
Major League Baseball owners
People from New Castle County, Delaware
Philadelphia Phillies owners
University of Delaware people

R. R. M. Carpenter


Jean Gery (before 1638 – 1690?) (also spelled Jean Jarry, Yan Jarri or Jean Henri) was a French explorer and a deserter from the La Salle expedition of 1685.  After leaving the expedition, Gery became chief of a group of Coahuiltecan Indians, claiming that he had been sent by God to rule over them.  He was brought to Monclova, and later to Mexico City, by Alonso de León, the Spanish governor of Coahuila.

Gery was interrogated by Spanish officials, and could not tell a coherent tale, though he consistently claimed to have originally come from a French fort to the east.  Despite the fact that the Spanish had concluded that Gery was insane, he was sent along with de León on an expedition to locate this French fort.  Despite Gery's mental instability, he was invaluable as a translator and guide, eventually leading de León to the remains of Fort St. Louis on April 20, 1689.

After returning to Coahuila, de León sent Gery to rendezvous with representatives of an Indian tribe at the Rio Grande.  This is the last known mention of Gery, who presumably died before de León's next Texas expedition. "On this journey I sorely missed the old Frenchman," de León later wrote, "because of his knowledge of all the Indian languages of the region. He was always found faithful. Only with his help was it possible to discover the settlement he came from."

External links

1630s births
1690s deaths
French Texas
People of Spanish Texas

Jean Gery


Texar's Revenge, or, North Against South () is the full title of the English translation of the novel written by the French science-fiction author Jules Verne, and centers on the story of James Burbank, an antislavery northerner living near Jacksonville, Florida, and Texar, a pro-slavery southerner who holds a vendetta against Burbank. Originally published in France in 1887, the book received a tepid reaction upon its release in the United States, partly because of Verne's inexpertise regarding some details of the American Civil War, and has since fallen into obscurity compared to many of Verne's other works.

Plot summary
Texar and Burbank are bitter enemies, Burbank's northern view of slavery as an evil being an unpopular stance with Texar and the rest of the community, deep in the Confederate States of America. On top of this disagreement, though, Texar is angry at Burbank for past legal troubles Burbank has brought upon Texar, and, despite Texar inventing a perfect alibi that allows him to escape conviction, Texar feels the need for vengeance and eventually becomes a prominent and powerful member of the Jacksonville community. Using this newfound power, Texar turns the townsfolk against Burbank and leads a mob that destroys the Burbank plantation, known as Camdless Bay. Burbank's daughter Dy and caretaker Zermah are both kidnapped by a man claiming to be Texar and are purportedly taken to a place in the Everglades called Carneral Island. En route, and after enlisting the help of the United States Navy, they find a separate group searching for Texar in response to crimes that apparently happened in the same time as the ones at Camdless Bay but in a distant location. This opens up the realization that there is one real Texar and one who is not, and the search continues now, not only for Dy and Zermah, but for the answer to this mystery.

Publication history
Nord Contre Sud, the original French title of the book, was first published in its fully illustrated edition in November, 1887, by J. Hetzel et Cie, Paris.
In the first American (and first English) translation, Nord Contre Sud (North Against South) was relegated to a subtitle and the book's title was made Texar's Vengeance, quickly re-translated as Texar's Revenge. This edition was published by George Munro, New York (1887), a translation by Laura E. Kendall as part of the "Seaside Library". Since then, however, there have been more minor variations on the title, some editions referring to the title as "The Texar's Revenge", others omitting the title completely in favor of the more simple "North Against South". The most common and generally most accepted American version of the title is the full "Texar's Revenge, or, North Against South". There have also been a handful of editions that have split the book into two volumes, those being "Burbank the Northerner" and "Texar the Southerner", both of which are contained in most editions of the book. Various cheap editions were published in the U.S. for the next 20 years by W. L. Allison, Hurst, and others.

The first fully illustrated edition in English was North against South published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, London, December 1887. This is a different anonymous translation from the one published by George Munro. In 2007 the first fully illustrated edition of North against South in the U.S. was published by the Choptank Press of St. Michaels, Maryland as a Lulu Press book, a replica re-publication of the Sampson Low first edition.

Quote
[In Jules Verne's] story of "Texar"... a very thin streak of narrative is padded to almost unwieldy proportions by a quantity of remarkably inaccurate information about the rebellion. If anyone thought the game worth the candle it would be easy to point out the various comical inaccuracies in the historical part of the story... [quoted in T&M]

References

1887 French novels
Novels by Jules Verne
Novels set during the American Civil War
Novels set in Florida
History of Jacksonville, Florida


PICIC Commercial Bank Limited was a Pakistani bank based in Karachi, Pakistan.

Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation (PICIC) acquired it as Gulf Commercial Bank Limited in early 2001. The bank was renamed as PICIC Commercial Bank Limited.

In 2007, the bank and its operations were merged into NIB Bank.

History
PICIC Commercial Bank Limited was incorporated in 1993 as Schön Bank Limited and commenced its business on 4 April 1994, with a paid-up capital of PKR 500 Million.

In 1997, Al Ahlia Portfolio Securities Company, Sultanate of Oman acquired the major shareholding and changed the bank's name to Gulf Commercial Bank Limited. In February 2001, the bank's management again changed when Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation acquired 60% controlling shares from Al-Ahlia and changed its name to PICIC Commercial Bank in May 2001.

At the time of takeover by PICIC in February 2001, the Bank had only 15 branches. It was the 6th largest bank in the country at one time. On December 31, 2007, the operations of PICIC Commercial Bank were merged with and into NIB Bank Limited.

Functions

Services
 Commercial Financing
 Home Financing
 Car Financing
industrial financing
 Home Financing
 Telebanking
 Mobile Banking
 Motorcycle Financing
 Islamic Banking
 Deposit & Saving Products

Internet banking
As technology advanced, PICIC Commercial Bank was set to use it and make the best of it. They introduced for its customers, Online Banking solutions. With that customers could access their accounts for deposits, withdrawals or inquiries from any branch nationwide it is most wide bank in today it is closed now.

Branches
PICIC had over one hundred and twenty branches in over forty four cities including the main cities and towns of Pakistan.

Board of directors
 Chief Executive Hilal Khan
 Mr. Afghan Badshah CEO chairman
 Mr. Ahsan Bashir
 Mr. KASHIF BASHIR
 Mr. Muhammad Ali Khoja
 Mr. Sulaiman Ahmed Saeed Al Hoqani
 Mr. Kamal Afsar (*)
 Mr. Manzoor Ahmed (*)
 Mr. Waseem  Haqqie

(*) Subject to State Bank of Pakistan approval under review test

External links

 PICIC Commercial Bank
 Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation  Official Site

Defunct banks of Pakistan
Companies based in Karachi
Banks established in 1993
Mergers and acquisitions of Pakistani companies
Pakistani companies established in 1993
Banks disestablished in 2007
Pakistani companies disestablished in 2007

PICIC Commercial Bank


Joanna Sophia of Bavaria (c. 1373 – 15 November 1410) was the youngest daughter of Albert I, Duke of Bavaria and his first wife Margaret of Brieg. She was a member of the House of Wittelsbach.

On 13 June 1395, Joanna Sophia married Albert IV, Duke of Austria in Vienna. The marriage between the two ended a feud between Joanna Sophia's father and Albert's father, Albert III of Austria. Joanna Sophia's father agreed to the payment of 10,000 Pfennige and he gave Albert III the fortress of Natternberg and the town of Deggendorf.

The marriage produced two children; both of whom survived to adulthood. They were:
 Albert V (16 August 1397–27 October 1439, Neszmély, Hungary).
 Margaret (26 June 1395, Vienna–24 December 1447), married in Landshut 25 November 1412 to Duke Henry XVI of Bavaria.

Albert would often quarrel with members of Joanna Sophia's family, such as their brother-in-law Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and his half-brother Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor. This ended only when Albert died in 1404. Joanna Sophia arranged marriages for her children. She made negotiations with Frederick, Duke of Bavaria, to marry her daughter, Margaret to his son, Henry XVI, Duke of Bavaria. Henry and Margaret married two years after Joanna Sophia's death.

Her son Albert married Elizabeth of Luxembourg, the only child of Emperor Sigismund.

Joanna Sophia died aged thirty-six or thirty-seven in Vienna.

Ancestors

References

1370s births
1410 deaths
Daughters of monarchs
Year of birth uncertain
14th-century German nobility
14th-century German women
15th-century German nobility
15th-century German women
House of Wittelsbach
Austrian royal consorts
14th-century House of Habsburg
15th-century House of Habsburg
Mothers of monarchs

Joanna Sophia of Bavaria


Gustavus Franklin Swift, Sr. (June 24, 1839 – March 29, 1903) was an American business executive. He founded a meat-packing empire in the Midwest during the late 19th century, over which he presided until his death. He is credited with the development of the first practical ice-cooled railroad car, which allowed his company to ship dressed meats to all parts of the country and abroad, ushering in the "era of cheap beef." Swift pioneered the use of animal by-products for the manufacture of soap, glue, fertilizer, various types of sundries, and even medical products.

Swift donated large sums of money to such institutions as the University of Chicago, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and YMCA. He established Northwestern University's "School of Oratory" in memory of his daughter, Annie May Swift, who died while a student there. When he died in 1903, his company was valued at between US$125 million and $135 million, and had a workforce of more than 21,000. "The House of Swift" slaughtered as many as two million cattle, four million hogs, and two million sheep a year. Three years after his death, the value of the company's capital stock topped $250 million. He and his family are interred in a mausoleum in Mount Hope Cemetery in Chicago.

Biography

Swift was born on June 24, 1839, in Sagamore, Massachusetts, the 9th of 12 offspring of William Swift and Sally Crowell. His parents were descendants of British settlers who went to New England in the 17th century. The family (which included Gustavus' brothers Noble and Edwin) lived and worked on a farm in the Cape Cod town of West Sandwich, Massachusetts,  where they raised and slaughtered cattle, sheep, and hogs. This is where he got the idea of packing meat.

As a young boy, Swift took little interest in his studies and left the nearby country school after eight years. During that period he was employed in several jobs, finally finding full-time work in his elder brother Noble's butcher shop at the age of fourteen. Two years later, in 1855, he opened his own cattle and pork butchering business with the help of one of his uncles who gave him $400. Swift purchased livestock at the market in Brighton and drove them to Eastham, a ten-day journey. A shrewd businessman, he purportedly followed the somewhat common practice of denying his herds water during the last miles of the trip so that they would drink large quantities of liquid once they reached their final destination, effectively boosting their weights. Swift married Annie Maria Higgins of North Eastham in 1861. Annie gave birth to eleven children, nine of whom reached adulthood. In 1862, Swift and his new bride opened a small butcher shop and slaughterhouse. Seven years later Gustavus and Annie moved the family to the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, where in 1872 Swift became partner in a new venture, Hathaway and Swift. Swift and partner James A. Hathaway (a renowned Boston meat dealer) initially relocated the company to Albany, then almost immediately thereafter to Buffalo.

An astute cattle-buyer, Swift followed the market steadily westward. On his recommendation, Hathaway and Swift moved once more in 1875, this time to join the influx of meat packers setting up shop in Chicago's sprawling Union Stock Yards. Swift established himself as one of the dominant figures of "The Yards", and his distinctive delivery wagons became familiar fixtures on Chicago's streets. In 1878 his partnership with Hathaway  and Swift Bros and Company was formed in partnership with younger brother Edwin. The company became a driving force in the Chicago meat packing industry, and was incorporated in 1885 as Swift & Co. with $300,000 in capital stock and Gustavus Swift as president. It is from this position that Swift led the way in revolutionizing how meat was processed, delivered, and sold.

He died on March 29, 1903, at his home 4848 Ellis Avenue in Chicago.

Chicago and the birth of the meat-packing industry
Following the end of the American Civil War, Chicago emerged as a major railway center, making it an ideal point for the distribution of livestock raised on the Great Plains to Eastern markets. Getting the animals to market required herds to be driven distances of up to  to railheads in Kansas City, Missouri, where they were loaded into stock cars and transported live (on the hoof) to regional processing centers. Driving cattle across the plains led to tremendous weight loss, and a number of animals died in transit. Upon arrival at the local processing facility, livestock were either slaughtered by wholesalers and delivered fresh to nearby butcher shops for retail sale, smoked, or packed for shipment in barrels of salt.

Certain inefficiencies were inherent in the process of transporting live animals by rail, particularly due to the fact that approximately 60% of the animal's mass is inedible. Many animals weakened by the long drive died in transit, further increasing the per-unit shipping cost. Swift's solution to these problems was to devise a method to ship dressed meats from his packing plant in Chicago to the East.

Advent of the refrigerator car

A number of attempts were made during the mid-19th century to ship agricultural products via rail car. As early as 1842 the Western Railroad of Massachusetts was reported in the June 15 edition of the Boston Traveler to be experimenting with innovative freight car designs capable of carrying all types of perishable goods without spoilage. The first known refrigerated boxcar or "reefer" entered service on the Northern Railroad (or NRNY, which became part of the Rutland Railroad) in June 1851. This "icebox on wheels" was a limited success in that it was only able to function in cold weather. That same year, the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad (O&LC) began shipping butter to Boston in purpose-built freight cars, utilizing ice to cool the contents.

The first consignment of dressed beef to leave the Chicago stockyards was in 1857, and was carried in ordinary boxcars retrofitted with bins filled with ice. Placing the meat directly against ice resulted in discoloration and affected the taste, hence proved impractical. During the same period Swift experimented by moving cut meat using a string of ten boxcars which ran with their doors removed, and made a few test shipments to New York City during the winter months over the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR). The method proved too limited to be practical. Detroit's William Davis patented a refrigerator car that employed metal racks to suspend the carcasses above a frozen mixture of ice and salt. He sold the design in 1868 to George H. Hammond, a Detroit meat-packer, who built a set of cars to transport his products to Boston using ice from the Great Lakes for cooling. The loads had the unfortunate tendency of swinging to one side when the car entered a curve at high speed, and the use of the units was discontinued after several derailments. In 1878 Swift hired engineer Andrew Chase to design a ventilated car that was well-insulated, and positioned the ice in a compartment at the top of the car, allowing the chilled air to flow naturally downward.

The meat was packed tightly at the bottom of the car to keep the center of gravity low and to prevent the cargo from shifting. Chase's design proved to be a practical solution to providing temperature-controlled carriage of dressed meats, and allowed Swift & Company to ship their products all over the United States, and internationally. This radically altered the meat business. Swift's attempts to sell this design to the major railroads were unanimously rebuffed as the companies feared that they would jeopardize their considerable investments in stock cars and animal pens if refrigerated meat transport gained wide acceptance. In response, Swift financed the initial production run on his own, then — when the American railroads refused his business — he contracted with the GTR (a railroad that derived little income from transporting live cattle) to haul them into Michigan and then eastward through Canada. In 1880, the Peninsular Car Company (subsequently purchased by American Car & Foundry) delivered to Swift the first of these units, and the Swift Refrigerator Line (SRL) was created. Within a year the Line's roster had risen to nearly 200 units, and Swift was transporting an average of 3,000 carcasses a week to Boston. Competing firms such as Armour and Company quickly followed. By 1920 the SRL owned and operated 7,000 ice-cooled rail cars. The General American Transportation Corporation assumed ownership of the line in 1930.

Live cattle and dressed beef deliveries to New York (tons):

The subject cars travelled on the Erie, Lackawanna, New York Central, and Pennsylvania railroads.

Source: Railway Review, January 29, 1887, p. 62.

"Everything but the squeal"

In response to public outcries to reduce the amount of pollutants generated by his packing plants, Swift sought innovative ways to use previously discarded portions of the animals his company butchered. This practice led to the wide scale commercial production of such diverse products as oleomargarine, soap, glue, fertilizer, hairbrushes, buttons, knife handles, and pharmaceutical preparations such as pepsin and insulin. Low-grade meats were canned in products like pork and beans.

The absence of federal inspection led to many abuses. Sausages might incorporate spoiled meat, dead rats, sawdust or anything else that might have been mixed with the meat. Rancid and rejected meat was frequently repackaged and resold. (Swift once bragged that his slaughterhouses had become so sophisticated that they used "everything but the squeal.") Transgressions such as these were first documented in Upton Sinclair's fictional novel The Jungle, the publication of which shocked the nation and led to the passing of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Vertical integration

The meat packing plants of Chicago were among the first to utilize assembly line (or in this case, disassembly-line) production techniques. Henry Ford states in his autobiography My Life and Work that it was a visit to a Chicago slaughterhouse which opened his eyes to the virtues of employing a moving conveyor system and fixed work stations in industrial applications. These practices symbolize the concept of "rationalized organization of work" to this day.

Swift adapted the methods of the industrial revolution to meat packing operations, which resulted in huge efficiency by allowing his plants to produce on a massive scale. The work was divided into myriad specific sub-tasks, which were carried out under the direction of supervisory personnel. Swift & Co. was broken down organizationally into various divisions, each one responsible for conducting a different aspect of the business of "bringing meat from the ranch to the consumer". By developing a vertically integrated company, Swift was able to control the sale of his meats from the slaughterhouse to the local butcher shop.

Swift devoted a great deal of time to indoctrinating employees and teaching them the company's methods and policies. He also motivated his employees to focus on the company's profit goals by adhering to a strict policy of promotion from within. The innovations that Swift championed not only revolutionized the meat packing industry, but also played a vital role in establishing the modern American business system, with an emphasis on mass production, functional specialization, managerial expertise, national distribution networks, and adaptation to technological innovation.

Notes

References

Boyle, Elizabeth and Rodolfo Estrada. (1994) "Development of the U.S. Meat Industry" — Kansas State University Department of Animal Sciences and Industry
Buenker, John D. (2000) "Swift, Gustavus Franklin" — American National Biography Online
Chandler, Alfred D. (1959), Integration and Diversification as Business Strategies — An Historical Analysis (PDF) — Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kutner, Jon Jr. "Swift and Company" — The Handbook of Texas Online
Swift & Company (1920). The Meat Packing Industry in America. Swift & Company, Chicago.

White, John H. (1986) The Great Yellow Fleet. Golden West Books, San Marino, California.

Further reading

Lowe, David Garrard (2000) Lost Chicago. Watson-Guptill Publications, New York .
Neilson, Helen Louise Swift (1937) My Father and My Mother. The Lakeside Press, Chicago.
Swift, Louis Franklin and Arthur Van Vlissingen (1927) The Yankee of the Yards: The Biography of Gustavus Franklin Swift. A.W. Shaw and Company, Chicago— provides a history of Chicago's meat packing industry from the viewpoint of the son of the founder of the largest packing company in the world.
Thomas W. Goodspeed (1921) "Gustavus Franklin Swift."

External links

Annie May Swift Hall at Northwestern University.
Scheduled To Close: Swift & Co. Plant Was a Boon to SSF from City of South San Francisco official website
Gustavus Franklin Swift — American National Business Hall of Fame (2002).
Swift & Company official website

1839 births
1903 deaths
Businesspeople in the meat packing industry
19th-century American businesspeople
University of Chicago people
Northwestern University trustees
American people in rail transportation
South Omaha, Nebraska
People from Bourne, Massachusetts
Businesspeople from Chicago
Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Chicago)

Gustavus Franklin Swift


Egyptian Australians () are Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents of Egyptian descent. According to the Australian 2011 Census, 36,532 Australian citizens and permanent residents declared that they were born in Egypt, while based on the 2006 Census, at least an additional 31,786 declared that they were of full or partial Egyptian ancestry and born in a country other than Egypt (including most numerously Australian-born persons of full or partial Egyptian ancestry). The 2021 Census shows that the majority of Egypt-born Australians are located in Sydney (19,680) and Melbourne (13,312).

The majority of Egyptian Australians are Christians, which is in contrast to the religious affiliation to Islam of the majority of the population of ethnic Egyptians within modern Egypt. Centuries of a steady continuous persecution of Copts and conversions of the local indigenous Egyptian population has resulted in modern Egypt's Muslim majority, although the indigenous Christian Church of Egypt has retained a sizeable minority throughout its history, up until today. Christians comprise much of the Egyptian diaspora, both in Australia and elsewhere. The majority religion of Egypt before the introduction of Islam from Arabia was Christianity, and prior to introduction of Christianity to Egypt the majority religion was the Ancient Egyptian religion.

Some 19,928 Australian citizens and residents declared membership of the Coptic Orthodox Church at the 2006 Census. Most Egyptian Christians, however, may simply have declared themselves "Christian" without specifying the Coptic denomination, while other Egyptian Christians may belong to various other denominations, either born into or converted. In 2003, however, it was claimed in the New South Wales Parliament that there were in fact 70,000 Copts in New South Wales alone. An additional 1,890 persons in the 2006 Census reported themselves as being of "Coptic" ancestry. The term Coptic ordinarily refers to adherents of Coptic Christianity, but when used as a term referring to ethnicity means "Egyptian" (almost always in the context of Coptic Christian Egyptians). The 1,890 persons who described their ancestry as "Coptic" are thus most likely Egyptian Australians. Copt as an ethnonym is etymologically derived from the Greek "Aiguptious," literally meaning "Egyptian," from the Late Egyptian word "Gyptios", via the Classical Arabic "Qubt", into the English "Copt". The word ordinarily refers to Coptic Christian Egyptians, though there have been instances of Muslim Egyptians referring to themselves as "Copts" to emphasise the non-Arabian ancestral origin of Egyptians in general.

History
First history of short term Egyptians migrants in Australia dates back to 1860s to 1900 period when small groups of mainly Muslim cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals, to service South Australia's inland pastoral industry by carting goods and transporting wool bales by camel trains, who were commonly referred to as "Afghans" or "Ghans", despite their origin often being mainly from British India, and some even from Afghanistan and Egypt and Turkey.

Permanent emigration from Egypt began in the late 1940s and 1950s, disproportionately so for non-ethnic Egyptian minorities escaping the growing Arab nationalist movement in Egypt which saw the overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy and the subsequent Suez Crisis.

In total numbers, Egyptian Christians were the largest contingent of emigrants to leave Egypt for other countries, including to Australia. Christians were the second largest in terms of proportion to their original community size in Egypt. Egyptian Jews, as a proportion of their original community size in Egypt, were the largest emigrant community to leave Egypt (they were the second largest in total numbers). The number of Jews in Egypt numbered around 75,000 in 1948; following the establishment of the State of Israel that same year, most of the population left, starting the Jewish exodus from Arab lands, and settling largely in Israel, USA, Europe, Latin America, with around 2,000 settling in Australia. The Egyptian Jewish population in Australia is concentrated particularly in Adelaide, South Australia. Officially, only 6 Jews remain in Egypt today.

Notable people
Aziza Abdel-Halim
Anne Aly
Waleed Aly
Bishop Angaelos
Albert Bensimon
Jonah Bolden
Taj El-Din Hilaly
Robert Kabbas
Nick Kaldas
Naguib Kanawati
Peter Khalil
Henry Ninio
Ahmed Saad
Theodore Saidden
Akmal Saleh
Sam Soliman
Joseph Tawadros

See also

 Egyptian diaspora in Australia related topics
Arab Australians
Coptic Orthodoxy in Australia
Persecution of Copts in Egypt
Persecution of Jews in Egypt

 Egyptian diaspora elsewhere
Egyptian Americans
Egyptian Canadians

References

External links
 Coptic Orthodox Electronic Publishing Australia
 Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Melbourne
 Coptic Theological College of Sydney Australia
  (Egyptians in Sydney)

Arab Australian
African Australian

Egyptian Australians


August Floyd Coppola (February 16, 1934 – October 27, 2009) was an American academic, author, film executive, and advocate for the arts. He was the brother of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the father of actor Nicolas Cage, radio DJ Marc Coppola and director Christopher Coppola.

Early life and family
August Coppola was the son of composer and flautist Carmine Coppola (1910–1991) and Italia Pennino Coppola (1912–2004), a lyricist and matriarch of the Coppola family. His siblings were film director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire; his uncle was composer Anton Coppola.

Education and work
Coppola received his undergraduate degree at UCLA and his graduate degree at Hofstra University, where his thesis Ernest Hemingway: The Problem of In Our Time was published in 1956. Coppola earned his doctorate at Occidental College in 1960.

He taught comparative literature at Cal State Long Beach in the 1960s and '70s and served as a trustee of the California State University system before moving to San Francisco in 1984. He then served as Dean of Creative Arts at San Francisco State University. In this role, Coppola earned a reputation of being a champion of the arts on the campus and in the community, and for promoting diversity within the student body of the arts school.

Coppola also worked in film, like many other members of his family. He was an executive at his brother's American Zoetrope film studio, where he was involved in the revival of Abel Gance's 1927 silent film Napoléon.  He was the founder and president of the San Francisco Film and Video Arts Commission, and served on the jury of the 36th Berlin International Film Festival in 1986. Also, Coppola served as chairman and CEO of Education First!, an organization seeking Hollywood studio support for educational programs.

Coppola also worked as an advocate for art appreciation among the visually impaired. He is credited as being the creator of the Tactile Dome, a feature at the San Francisco Exploratorium museum. The Dome is a lightless maze that requires visitors to pass through using only their sense of touch. In 1972 Coppola opened the AudioVision Workshop with colleague Gregory Frazier, which employed Frazier's process of audio recording descriptions of film and theater action for the benefit of visually impaired audiences.

Coppola was the author of the romantic novel The Intimacy (1978).

Personal life
Coppola married German-American dancer Joy Vogelsang (1935–2021) in 1960; they had three sons: Marc, Christopher, and Nicolas. Among his nieces and nephews are director Sofia Coppola and actor Jason Schwartzman.

Coppola and Vogelsang divorced in 1976. He married Marie Thenevin on April 16, 1981. That marriage ended in 1986. His last marriage was to Martine Chevallier, an actress with the Comédie-Française in Paris.

Coppola's final home was in Los Angeles, where he died of a heart attack on October 27, 2009, at age 75.

Legacy
The 150-seat August Coppola Theater on the San Francisco State University campus is named in his honor. Francis Ford Coppola dedicated his 1983 film Rumble Fish to him.

Nicolas Cage partially based his idea for the film The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) and his character Balthazar on his father August Coppola. The closing credits read "With Memories of Dr. August Coppola".

See also
Coppola family tree

References

External links

1934 births
2009 deaths
California State University, Long Beach faculty
American male writers
American writers of Italian descent
People of Campanian descent
People of Lucanian descent
August
Hofstra University alumni
Occidental College alumni
People from Greater Los Angeles
San Francisco State University faculty
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Writers from Hartford, Connecticut

August Coppola


Steven Patrick Morrissey (born 22 May 1959), known by the stage name of Morrissey from his surname, is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He helped form and sang lead for the English band The Smiths from 1982 to 1987. After the band's breakup, he went on to become a successful solo artist. Morrissey has had many Top 10 hits. In 2013 Morrissey released his autobiography. Morrissey is known for his support of animal rights.

Early life
Born at Park Hospital in Davyhulme, Morrissey grew up as a Catholic as his parents were Irish Catholic immigrants. His parents had emigrated to England just before Morrissey's birth and, along with his only sibling (elder sister Jackie) they created a new life for themselves within the Manchester district of Hulme.

The Smiths

The Smiths were formed in early 1982 by Steven Morrissey and John Maher, a guitarist and songwriter, Maher later changed his surname to Marr to avoid confusion with the Buzzcocks drummer. During the five years of The Smiths, Marr and Morrissey produced four studio albums, one live album as well as nineteen singles, along with the two other band members, bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.

Each of their four albums The Smiths, Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead and Strangeways, Here We Come charted in the top two of the UK Albums Chart, with Meat Is Murder charting at number one. Their live album Rank also peaked at number two in the album charts. To date seven compilation albums have been produced with an eighth due for release in November of this year.

Solo career
Following the split of The Smiths, Morrissey has produced and released nine studio albums under five different music labels. His ninth album, Years of Refusal, was released on 16 February 2009. The album got good reviews from music critics.

Solo discography
Viva Hate (1988)
Bona Drag (1990)
Kill Uncle (1991)
Your Arsenal (1992)
Vauxhall and I (1994)
Southpaw Grammar (1995)
Maladjusted (1997)
You Are the Quarry (2004)
Ringleader of the Tormentors (2006)
Years of Refusal (2009)
"World Peace Is None of Your Business" (2014)
"Low In High School" (2017)

Personal life
Morrissey has been vegetarian since he was 11 years old.

Morrissey said in a statement posted on his website in October 2013, "Unfortunately, I am not homosexual. In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course ... not many".

Health
In early 2013, Morrissey was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer. In March 2013, he had double pneumonia. In June 2014, he had a respiratory infection. In October 2014, he said that he has had treatment for cancer.

References

1959 births
Living people
English rock singers
English singer-songwriters
Musicians from Manchester
The Smiths members

Morrissey


A muzzleloader is any firearm where the projectile and usually the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun. This is distinct from the more popular modern designs of breech-loading firearms. The term "muzzleloader" may also apply to the marksman who shoot muzzleloading firearms. The term of art includes rifled muzzleloaders and smoothbore muzzleloaders. There are several different calibers of muzzleloading firearms. Modern muzzleloading firearms a variety of firing mechanisms. These include sidelock, flintlock and percussion models of the Pennsylvania rifle (after the early 1800s called the Kentucky rifle). Muzzleloading can apply to anything from cannons to pistols. But in modern use the term most commonly applies to black powder small arms. It usually, but not always, involves the use of a loose propellant (like gunpowder) and a projectile, as well as a separate method of ignition or priming.

History
Some of the earliest muzzleloaders were matchlocks. The matchlock, named for its firing mechanism, was the first invention that made it possible to keep both hands on the weapon and at the same time keep the shooter's eyes on the target. The design allowed a cloth or stick with a flame on the end—called a "match"—to be lowered into a "flashpan" filled with gunpowder which ignited the main charge, firing the gun. Matchlocks appeared in Europe in about 1400. The matchlock mechanism was used to produce muskets. The gun barrels were smooth inside and used round ball ammunition. Those who used muskets were called "musketeers". Very few pistols used this design but some shotguns from this period were matchlocks.

In about 1509 the wheellock was the next advance in muzzleloader technology. It did not have a match to keep lit and generated a spark mechanically with a wheel mechanism. But they were expensive to produce and cheaper (by half) so matchlocks remained in use.

It took another 200 years to improve on the matchlock. Marin le Bourgeoys, a Frenchman is credited with inventing the Flintlock mechanism sometime in the 1620s. He was variously an artist, a crossbow maker and a gunsmith (harquebuzier). From 1660 to 1840, flintlock muzzleloading rifles and pistols were used by every European and American army. It produced a spark by a flint striking steel producing a spark and igniting the priming powder. By covering the priming powder until the gun was fired, it would usually work even in windy or damp weather. In 1722, the British Army called for a standard pattern of muzzleloading flintlock musket. The resulting model and its variants were called the Brown Bess. It remained in service until the 1830s.

The percussion cap mechanism was the next great improvement in firearms. It was also called a caplock. The percussion cap was based on the discovery of fulminate of mercury in about 1800. When struck with a sharp blow, mercury fulminate detonates. In 1816, Joshua Shaw, an artist living in Philadelphia, painted fulminate of mercury on the inside of copper caps. He fitted it over a small nipple on the firing hole over the bore. When the hammer struck the percussion cap, the gun fired.  By 1826 they were widely used and had replaced the flintlock.

The percussion cap eliminated the flash pan, flint and frizzen. It added the step of placing a cap on the nipple cone, but it was a real advantage to troops in battle. Percussion caps were quick to load and worked in nearly all weather conditions.

In 1869, the centerfire cartridge was invented. It worked only in breech-loading weapons and together they quickly replaced the muzzleloader in common use.

Mortars
Modern mortars use a shell with the propelling charge and primer attached at the base.  Unlike older muzzleloading mortars, which were loaded the same way as muzzleloading cannon, the modern mortar is fired by dropping the shell down the barrel. A pin at the bottom fires the primer, which then ignites the main propelling charge.  Both the modern mortar and the older mortar were used for high angle fire.  However, since the mortar is not loaded in separate steps makes its definition as a muzzleloader a matter of opinion. However, in the simplest terms it does load from the muzzle end.

Cannon

Crude muzzleloading cannons existed in China from about the 12th century, possibly earlier. One of the first weapons used in Europe was the bombard. They were muzzleloaders built in different diameter barrels to fire anything from a small rock to a  cast iron ball. By the 16th century muzzleloading cannons began to replace bombards. Casting had greatly improved in Europe after about 1570. In the early 1500s, French cannons were used to break up masses of men in their campaigns in Italy. The Germans had some of the best gunners in Europe and developed cannon that could hit targets at up to . Next, the Swedish under Gustavus Adolphus developed lightweight cannons that could easily move around the battlefield. He used a cast 4-pounder that weighed about  and could be pulled by just two horses.

In 1742, Englishman Benjamin Robins wrote New Principles of Gunnery where he added science to the field of ballistics. He developed carronades which were short, lightweight muzzleloading smoothbore cannons that could be used on the decks of ships. During the American Revolutionary War, the British had a number of different cannons as well as mortars. Many of the American weapons were captured British cannon.

In 1853 France introduced the Canon-obusier de 12, a 12-pounder capable of firing both shot and shell also called a "Napoleon". The U.S. Army adopted the Napoleon 12-pounder in 1857 as the Model 1857 12-Pounder Napoleon Field Gun. It became the most popular field gun on both sides during the American Civil War. They were ultimately replaced by breach-loading cannons after the Civil War.

References

Other websites
 Shooting traditional muzzleloaders; YouTube
 Live Fire With a Civil War (muzzleloader) Cannon: YouTube

Firearms
Weapons

Muzzleloader


"The Hand of Nergal" is one of the original short stories by American author Robert E. Howard starring the sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian, an untitled fragment begun in the 1930s but not finished or published in Howard's lifetime. It was completed and titled by Lin Carter and in this form was published in the following collections:

Conan (Lancer, 1967, later reissued by Ace Books).
The Conan Chronicles (Sphere Books, 1989)
Beyond the Gates of Dream (Belmont Books, 1969), a collection of short stories by Lin Carter and collaborators.

It has since been published in its original form in:

The Conan Chronicles Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle (Gollancz, 2000)
Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933) (Del Rey, 2003).

Plot summary (Carter)
Conan is a mercenary, serving in the empire of Turan, and fighting in a pitched battle against the forces of a rebellious satrap named Munthassem Khan. As the two sides are locked in furious combat, Conan looks up and sees a swarm of winged monsters with hellish green eyes, resembling enormous bats, descend from the sky before appearing on the battlefield. Unknown to Conan, Munthassem Khan had summoned these supernatural creatures using a magical artifact known as the Hand of Nergal. The Turanians are frightened and begin retreating from the battlefield. Soon, Conan is left to face one of the shadow bats alone. As he begins to fall victim to an unearthly cold emanating from the monster, his hand reaches for a mysterious golden talisman in his pouch that he had discovered earlier. As he touches it, a surge of warmth flows through him, banishing the shadow bats and turning them back upon their former allies, the army of Munthassem Khan. Overcome with exhaustion, Conan loses consciousness.

An hour later, Conan awakens from his exhaustion while finding himself alone on the battlefield amid the dead bodies and wreckage of war. Soon, Conan discovers two survivors, the horse belonging to his former general, now dead, and a young Brythunian girl named Hildico. Hildico had been sent by her master, a wise sorcerer named Atalis, in the nearby city of Yaralet, ruled by Munthassem Khan. Convincing him to come with her to visit the sorcerer, Conan convenes with Atalis who explains that his help is needed to end both Munthassem Khan's tyrannical reign of terror over the citizens of Yaralet and his rebellion against King Yildiz of Turania.

According to the tale told by Atalis, Munthassem Khan was once a kind and merciful ruler until he came into possession of the Hand of Nergal, an object of evil power in the form of an ivory sceptre with a clawed demon hand at one end grasping a crystal. Inscribed on the sceptre is a series of strange glyphs and runes. It fell to earth from the stars in ancient times and, as it changed hands through the ages, it granted whoever claimed it the promise of ultimate power as well as the curse of eventual destruction. The only way to counter the Hand's malevolent force is with a talisman known as the Heart of Tammuz, a golden amber stone shaped like a heart and warm to the touch, the same talisman which Conan had found and used in overcoming the shadow bats.

Conan eventually confronts Munthassem Khan in his throne room, but finds himself losing to the power of the Hand until Hildico comes to his rescue, grabs the Heart of Tammuz, and hurls it at Munthassem Khan. Conan's amulet strikes Khan in the forehead and renders him unconscious. The forces inside both artifacts are then unleashed and wage a cosmic struggle against each other until both finally come together with a great shattering thunder as of two worlds colliding. In the aftermath, both the Heart and Hand have vanished. Soon, nothing is left of Munthassem Khan except for a pile of ashes. The curse is broken and Yaralet is free from Khan's tyranny.

Adaptations
 Conan the Barbarian #30 (Marvel Comics, Sept 1973) by writer/editor Roy Thomas and artists John Buscema and Ernie Chan.
 Conan #47 - 50 (Dark Horse Comics) by Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello.

See also

Nergal
Tammuz (deity)
Amarna letter EA 35

External links
 Conan the Barbarian at AmratheLion.com
 Conan.com: The Official Website

1967 short stories
Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard
Pulp stories
Fantasy short stories
Short stories by Lin Carter
Short stories published posthumously

The Hand of Nergal