Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took control with partners of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Early years
Crocker was born in Troy, New York on September 16, 1822.  He was the son of Eliza (née Wright) and Isaac Crocker, a modest family. They joined the nineteenth-century migration west and moved to Indiana when he was 14, where they had a farm.  Crocker soon became independent, working on several farms, a sawmill, and at an iron forge.

At the age of 23, in 1845, he founded a small, independent iron forge of his own. He used money saved from his earnings to invest later in the new railroad business after moving to California, which had become a boom state since the Gold Rush.  His older brother Edwin B. Crocker had become an attorney by the time Crocker was investing in railroads.

Founding a railroad

In 1861, after hearing an intriguing presentation by Theodore Judah, he was one of the four principal investors, along with Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Leland Stanford (also known as The Big Four), who formed the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the western portion of the First transcontinental railroad in North America. His position with the company was that of construction supervisor and president of Charles Crocker & Co., a Central Pacific subsidiary founded expressly for the purpose of building the railroad.

Crocker bought train plows to plow the tracks of snow through the mountains, but they derailed due to ice on the tracks. He had more than  of snow sheds built to cover the tracks in the Sierra Nevada mountains, to prevent the tracks from getting covered with snow in the winter. This project cost over $2 million.

In 1864, Charles asked his older brother Edwin to serve as legal counsel for the Central Pacific Railroad.

While the Central Pacific was still under construction in 1868, Crocker and his three associates acquired control of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It built the westernmost portion of the second transcontinental railroad. Deming, New Mexico, is named after his wife, Mary Ann Deming Crocker. A silver spike was driven here in 1881 to commemorate the meeting of the Southern Pacific with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads, completing the construction of the second transcontinental railroad in the United States.
On September 5, 1876, at the Lang Southern Pacific Station, a California Historic Landmark, Crocker hammered a golden spike into a railroad tie, the ceremonial spike was driven to celebrate the completion of San Joaquin Valley rail line. The completion of the line connected the City of Los Angeles with San Francisco and First transcontinental railroad line.

Banking
Crocker was briefly the controlling shareholder of Wells Fargo in 1869 and served as president. After he sold down, he was replaced by John J. Valentine, Sr. Crocker also acquired controlling interest for his son William in Woolworth National Bank, which was renamed Crocker-Anglo Bank.

In 1963, Crocker-Anglo Bank merged with Los Angeles' Citizens National Bank, to become Crocker-Citizens Bank and later, Crocker National Bank. The San Francisco-based bank no longer exists, as it was acquired by Wells Fargo in 1986.

Nob Hill and the 40 foot tall spite fence
Crocker built a mansion on Nob Hill, San Francisco. When his attempts to buy Nicholas Yung's adjacent property were rebuffed, he built a 40-foot spite fence around three sides of the neighbor's property.  Legal challenges to the fence were unavailing.  The feud lasted many years, and the fence was only removed after the death of Mrs. Yung, and the sale of the property by Yung's heirs to Crocker's family. Spite fences were thereafter made illegal in San Francisco. The mansion was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Though the disaster rendered the infamous dispute and its resolution moot, Crocker's family donated the entire block of land to charity, in support of the Episcopal Diocese of California. In 1910, in the same plot where the fence stood, the cornerstone was laid for Grace Cathedral.

Personal life

In 1852, Crocker was married to Mary Ann Deming (1827–1889).  Mary was the daughter of John Jay Deming and Emily (née Reed) Deming.  Together, they had six children, four of whom survived to adulthood:

 Charles Frederick Crocker (1854–1897), who married Jennie Ella Easton (1858–1887).
 George Crocker (1856–1909), who married Emma Hanchett (1855–1904).
 Harriet Valentine Crocker (1859–1935), who married Charles Beatty Alexander (1849–1927).
 William Henry Crocker (1861–1937), who married Ethel Sperry (1861–1934).

Crocker was seriously injured in a New York City carriage accident in 1886, never fully recovered, and died two years later on August 14, 1888. He was buried in a mausoleum located on "Millionaire's Row" at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. The massive granite structure was designed by the New York architect A. Page Brown, who later designed the San Francisco Ferry Building. Crocker's estate has been valued at between $300 million and $400 million at the time of his death in 1888.

Descendants
Through his son Charles, he was the grandfather of Mary Crocker (1881–1905), who married U.S. Congressman Francis Burton Harrison; Charles Templeton Crocker (1884–1948); and Jennie Adeline Crocker (1887–1974).

Through his daughter Harriet, he was the grandfather of Mary Crocker Alexander (1895–1986), who married diplomat Sheldon Whitehouse.  Their son was Charles Sheldon Whitehouse (1921–2001), the United States Ambassador to Laos and Thailand, and their grandson, Crocker's great-great-grandson, is U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Through his son William, he was the grandfather of Charles Crocker, William Willard Crocker, Helen Crocker (Russell) and Ethel Mary Crocker (de Limur).

Family tree

Honors
Mount Crocker is named in his honor. It is located in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.

References

External links

1822 births
1888 deaths
American railway entrepreneurs
19th-century American railroad executives
Businesspeople from San Francisco
Southern Pacific Railroad people
Businesspeople from Troy, New York
Nob Hill, San Francisco
New York (state) Republicans
California Republicans
Burials at Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California)
Crocker family

Charles Crocker


Jean Cauvin, also Jean Calvin  (English: John Calvin, July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564), was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation who was a central developer of the system of Christian theology that is called Calvinism or Reformed theology. In Geneva City, he rejected papal authority and established a new scheme of civic and ecclesiastical governance. He is famous for his teachings and writings and is infamous for his role in the execution of Michael Servetus.

Early life
Calvin was born with the name Jean Chauvin (or Cauvin, in Latin Calvinus) in Noyon, Picardy, France, (now Oise department), to Gérard Cauvin and Jeanne Lefranc. In 1523, Calvin's father, a lawyer, sent his 14-year-old son to the University of Paris to study humanities and law. By 1532, he had attained a Doctor of Law degree at Orléans.
In 1536, he settled in Geneva City, Switzerland. After being expelled from the city, he served as a pastor in Strasbourg from 1538 to 1541, when he returned to Geneva, where he lived until his death.

Thought
Calvin trained to be a lawyer. He studied with some of the best teachers of the Renaissance in France. Some of the training used newer humanistic methods of trying to understand to deal with a text directly. His training was important for Calvin. When he started to believe in Evangelicalism, he used those methods with the Bible, which he used form his thoughts. He taught and preached what he believed that the Bible taught.

Reformers such as Jan Hus and Martin Luther are seen as original thinkers, who started a movement. Calvin was a great logician. He organized a movement but dif not start as much  doctrine. He knew the writings of the early Church Fathers and the great medieval schoolmen very well. Earlier Reformers also influenced him. Calvin did not disagree with all of the scholastics of the Middle Ages, but he used them and adapted their thoughts according to his understanding of the Bible.

Calvin is often associated with the doctrines of predestination and election. He had similar ideas to those of other magisterial Reformers about them.

Last years (1555–1564)

Calvin's power was very great in his last years. He was known all around the world as a reformer who was different from Martin Luther. Mainly, Luther and Calvin respected each other. However, Luther and a Zürich reformer, Huldrych Zwingli, thought differently about the eucharist. Calvin's thoughts about it made Luther believe that Calvin agreed with Zwingli. However, Calvin was sad that the reformers were not all together. He tried to join them together by signing the Consensus Tigurinus, an agreement between the Zürich and the Geneva churches.

Calvin's greatest help to the English-speaking people was by giving Marian exiles in Geneva protection starting in 1555. With the city's protection, they could make their own reformed church under John Knox and William Whittingham. They later carried many of Calvin's ideas back to England and Scotland. However, Calvin was most interested in trying to change his homeland, France. He helped the building of churches by giving out literature and offering ministers. Between 1555 and 1562, over 100 ministers were sent to France.

In Geneva, Calvin mainly wanted to make a collège, a school for children. A place to build the school was chosen on March 25, 1558. The school was opened on June 5, 1559. It was divided into two parts. One part was a grammar school, which was called the collège or schola privata. The other part was an advanced school, the académie or schola publica. In five years there were 1,200 students in the grammar school and 300 in the advanced school. The collège later became the Collège Calvin, one of the college preparatory schools of Geneva. The académie became the University of Geneva.

In autumn 1558, Calvin became ill with a fever. He was afraid he might die before finishing his last revision of the Institutes, which made him force himself to work. The last edition became much longer and so Calvin called it a new work. It was 21 chapters in the second-last edition. However, in the last one, there were 80 since he put more detail in the material that was already there, but he did not really add more subjects. He became better, but he soon strained his voice while he was preaching. That made him cough violently. He had burst a blood vessel in his lungs. His health became much worse after this. He preached his last sermon in St. Pierre on February 6, 1564. On April 25, he made his will in which he left a little money to his family and to the collège. A few days later, the ministers of the church came to visit him. He died on May 27 of septicaemia. The goodbye is recorded in Discours d'adieu aux ministres.

The next day, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cimetière de Plainpalais. The exact spot of the grave is unknown. However, a stone was added in the 19th century to mark a grave that has traditionally been thought to be Calvin's.

Bibliography

General collections

 Writings of Calvin at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL)

Theological works
 Institutes of the Christian Religion at CCEL
 Psychopannychia
 Jean Calvin, Théodore de Bèze,

Commentaries
 Calvin's Commentaries on the Bible at CCEL
 Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles, (with Calvin's dedication to Edward VI), tr. by John Owens, Edingurgh, The Calvin Translation Society, 1855.

Letters
 Jules Bonnet, Letters of John Calvin, Carlisle, Penn: Banner of Truth Trust 1980.

Secondary sources
 Bernard Cottret, Calvin, a Biography, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans, 2001.
 Roland Bainton (1974). Women of the Reformation in England and France. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. .
 John Farrell, "The Terrors of Reform," chapter five of Paranoia and Modernity: Cervantes to Rousseau. Cornell University Press, 2006.
 John Foxe. An Account of the Life of John Calvin

References

Other websites

 St Peter's Cathedral in Geneva

1509 births
1564 deaths

Christian ministers
French theologians

People from Geneva
People from Oise
Protestant Reformers
Writers from Hauts-de-France

John Calvin


Earl Sidney Weaver (August 14, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball player and manager. After playing in minor league baseball, he retired without playing in Major League Baseball (MLB). He became a minor league manager, and then managed in MLB for 17 years with the Baltimore Orioles (1968–1982; 1985–1986). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.

Weaver was born on August 14, 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Weaver was married to Jane Johnston for fourteen years unti they divorced. Then he was married to Marianna Osgood from 1964 until his death in 2013. He had four children. Weaver died on January 19, 2013 while on a cruise ship in the Caribbean Sea from a heart attack, aged 82. He died on the same day as Stan Musial.

References

Other websites

Video of Earl Weaver arguing with an umpire, and being ejected from the game

1930 births
2013 deaths
American baseball players
Sportspeople from Baltimore
Major League Baseball managers
Baltimore Orioles
National Baseball Hall of Fame members
Deaths from myocardial infarction
Sportspeople from St. Louis, Missouri

Earl Weaver


The Diocese of Fond du Lac is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the northeastern third of Wisconsin. The diocese contains about 3,800 baptized members worshiping in 33 locations. It is part of Province 5 (the upper Midwest). Diocesan offices are in Appleton, Wisconsin as are the diocesan Archives. Matthew Gunter is its bishop.

History
The roots of the Diocese of Fond du Lac are in 1822 when the Oneida Indians, removing from New York state, settled ten miles from Green Bay around Duck Creek. The first non-Roman Catholic church building erected in the Northwest Territory and what would become Wisconsin was built by the Oneidas. The history of the Episcopal Church in this area for the next fifty years was filled with many missionary endeavors establishing parishes and missions.

When the First Annual Council of the Diocese of Wisconsin met in Milwaukee in 1847, there were only three parishes in the northeastern part of the Wisconsin territory: Hobart Church, Duck Creek (now Church of the Holy Apostles, Oneida), Christ Church, Green Bay, and Grace Church, Sheboygan. With population growth spurred by the abundance of excellent waterways and shipping facilities in the northeastern part of the state, the Diocese of Wisconsin realized a need to create a new Diocese.

After a process begun in 1866 and completed by action of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church held in the city of New York, October 7, 1874, the Diocese of Fond du Lac was erected from the Fond du Lac Deanery of the Diocese of Wisconsin. In 1870, Fond du Lac was the second largest city in Wisconsin. The remaining counties continued as the Diocese of Wisconsin until 1888, when it was renamed the Diocese of Milwaukee.

In 1875, after three elections, John Henry Hobart Brown accepted election as first bishop and was consecrated December 15, 1875 at St. John's Episcopal Church, Cohoes, New York. Brown declared the city of Fond du Lac and St. Paul's Church as the episcopal See. The other viable location was Christ Church, Green Bay, but one likely reason Fond du Lac was chosen is it was a 'free-church' and Christ Church, Green Bay still had pew rents.

After a tremendous growth and laying the foundation of the newly erected Diocese, its second bishop, Charles Chapman Grafton, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement and its third, Reginald Heber Weller, continued to build on the successes of those who came before them.

Growth, time, and distance led to the erection of a third Wisconsin Diocese. The Diocese of Fond du Lac established its current boundaries when the Diocese of Eau Claire was created in out of counties of both the Diocese of Milwaukee and Diocese of Fond du Lac in 1928, immediately prior to the onset of the Great Depression.  On October 22, 2011, the Diocese of Fond du Lac and the Diocese of Eau Claire voted to "junction" into one diocese but Russell Jacobus, Bishop of Fond du Lac, withheld his consent due to the closeness and irregularities of the vote.

Since its founding in 1875, the Diocese of Fond du Lac has seen congregations come and go, often paralleling the coming and going of the population as towns, villages and cities sprung up and sometimes disappeared with economic opportunities of the area. Some congregations have established themselves deeply in communities and others have closed after many decades of sharing the Gospel. The past two decades have experienced the same decline in members felt by many main-line denominations. Through it all, there have been people of faith in the Anglican and Episcopal tradition who have worshipped God through the liturgies of the Church tracing their roots to the first Apostles and primarily Anglo-Catholic in nature.

In 2021 it was announced that the diocese of Fond du Lac, Eau Claire, and Milwaukee would contemplate entering an agreement of greater collaboration. With around 4,000 baptized members, Fond du Lac is among the Episcopal Church's smaller dioceses. In October 2021 it was announced that the three diocese would be actively pursuing reuniting as one diocese in Wisconsin.

Cathedral

The episcopal see is at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle, having been chosen by the first Bishop of Fond du Lac, John Henry Hobart Brown, and confirmed by Article in the diocesan constitution. The congregation was formed in 1848 and built a stone building at its current location in 1866. In 1884 this stone building burned and was replaced with the present structure.

Much of the interior of the cathedral is a credit to the effort of the second bishop, Charles Chapman Grafton. There are outstanding examples of late Victorian ecclesiastical art including woodcarvings from the workshop of Balthasar Schmitt, a German artisan who emigrated to the US for the job, the Fond du Lac Church Furnishings Company, and the Svoboda Church Furniture Company of Kewaunee, Wisconsin. The frontal on the St. Augustine chapel altar is an exquisite piece of color-infused marble. The stained glass is by Robert L. Jacoby and the Canadian John Spence Company.

Notable congregations of the diocese

Algoma - St Agnes Episcopal Church
Appleton - All Saints Episcopal Church
Fish Creek - Church of the Atonement
Fond du Lac - Cathedral Church of St Paul
Manitowoc - St. James' Episcopal Church
Menasha - St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Oneida - Church of the Holy Apostles
Oshkosh - Trinity Episcopal Church
Ripon - St. Peter's Episcopal Church

Bishops
These are the bishops who served the Diocese of Wisconsin, prior to erection of the Diocese of Fond du Lac.
 Jackson Kemper (1847–70)
 William Edmond Armitage (1870–73)
 Edward Randolph Welles (1874–88)

These are the bishops who served the Diocese of Fond du Lac:
 John Henry Hobart Brown (1875–1888)
 Charles Chapman Grafton (1889–1912)* Reginald Heber Weller, Coadjutor Bishop (consecrated 1900)
 Reginald Heber Weller (1912–1933)* Harwood Sturtevant, Coadjutor Bishop (consecrated 1929)
 Harwood Sturtevant (1933–1956)* William Hampton Brady, Coadjutor Bishop (consecrated 1953)
 William Hampton Brady (1956–1980)
 William Louis Stevens (1980–1994)
 Russell Edward Jacobus (1994-2013)
 Matthew Alan Gunter (2014- )

See also

 Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity
 List of bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America

References

Notes

External links

Official Website of the Diocese of Fond du Lac
History of the Diocese of Fond du Lac and Its Several Congregations 1925 diocesan history
Journal of the Annual Council, Diocese of Fond du Lac

Fond du Lac
Episcopal Church in Wisconsin
Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin

Religious organizations established in 1875
Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century
Province 5 of the Episcopal Church (United States)

Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac


Stanford Raynold Brookshire (July 22, 1905 – October 10, 1990) was a mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Brookshire served as mayor from 1961 to 1969. He was the longest-serving mayor until 1975, when his immediate successor, John M. Belk, tied him by winning his fourth re-election, though Belk's fourth term would be extended another six months thanks to a change in state law.

A native of Troutman, North Carolina, Brookshire graduated from Duke University and came to Charlotte as a newspaper reporter. He led the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce (as would Belk) prior to becoming mayor.

The Brookshire Freeway, as well as Brookshire Boulevard (both parts of North Carolina Highway 16; the former is shared with Interstate 277), are named in honor of him, and he, along with Belk, is the subject of a book by Alex Coffin, entitled Brookshire & Belk: Businessmen in City Hall.

External links
Brookshire & Belk: Businessmen in City Hall at GetCited.com
Mayoral biography at Charmeck.org
Oral History Interview with Stanford Raynold Brookshire from Oral Histories of the American South
Standford Brookshire papers, J Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte

1905 births
1990 deaths
Duke University alumni
Mayors of Charlotte, North Carolina
20th-century American politicians
People from Troutman, North Carolina

Stan Brookshire


Unstan (or Onstan, or Onston) is a Neolithic chambered cairn located about  north-east of Stromness on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. The tomb was built on a promontory that extends into the Loch of Stenness near the settlement of Howe. Unstan is notable as an atypical hybrid of the two main types of chambered cairn found in Orkney, and as the location of the first discovery of a type of pottery that now bears the name of the tomb. The site is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.

Description
The tomb is a particularly well preserved, and somewhat unusual, example of an Orkney–Cromarty chambered cairn. Tombs of this type are often referred to as "stalled" cairns due to their distinctive internal structure. Stalled cairns have a central passageway flanked by a series of paired transverse stones that separate the side spaces into compartments that reminded early investigators of horse stalls. The earliest versions of this tomb type are found in Caithness, they typically consist of no more than four stalled compartments. In Orkney, the tombs became increasingly elaborate; the number of compartments reached a maximum of fourteen at the Knowe of Ramsay on Rousay. Unstan is a more modest example of the form with five chambers flanking a passageway  in length. Like most tombs in Orkney, the original roof is gone, replaced by a modern concrete dome that protects the site. The remaining walls rise to a height of almost , and consist primarily of thin stacked slabs of local flagstone that come from the Devonian Old Red Sandstone.

Unstan is an atypical example of the Orkney–Cromarty chambered cairn in several respects. First, the barrow, or burial mound, that covered the tomb is circular,  in diameter, rather than the usual oblong or rectangular form. Second, the barrow is round because the tomb contains a side chamber, a feature more common in the Maeshowe-type tombs. Third, the main chamber does not open at the end of the passageway, like typical stalled tombs, but along one long side. Again, this is more characteristic of the Maeshowe tombs. The barrow is made of two or three concentric rows of stonework.

Evidence from nearby tombs suggests that they, and Unstan, were built sometime between 3400 and 2800 BC.

Unstan is also notable in that the first discovery of a distinctive style of pottery was made here in 1884. These pots are the type examples of what has come to be known as Unstan ware. Unstan ware typically consists of elegant shallow bowls with a band of grooved patterning below the rim, created using a technique known as "stab-and-drag". A second version consists of undecorated, round-bottomed bowls. Some of the bowls had bits of volcanic rock included in the clay to make them stronger. After firing, bone tools were used to burnish the surfaces to make them shiny and impermeable. Parts of twenty to thirty bowls were found in the tomb, many of them were Unstan ware. Most of the bowls were shattered or incomplete; this is common in chambered cairns and suggests that the vessels were intentionally broken for inclusion with the dead. These bowls were not newly created for use in the tomb – they had clearly seen prior use – as some of the sherds, for example, had impressions of barley grains. A number of fragments were found in a shallow hollow in the clay floor – a pattern seen in other tombs. Several of the reconstructed vessels are in the National Museum of Scotland.

Human remains were found in Unstan – there were two crouched skeletons in the side cell, several more in the main compartment, and a number of bones were scattered throughout the rest of the tomb. Animal bones and charcoal were found as well.

It is possible that Unstan was in use well into the second millennium BC; an arrowhead was discovered in the tomb that is characteristic of the Beaker People who lived from the Late Neolithic into the Bronze Age. Moreover, burials in the crouched position were not practiced in the Neolithic.

The current concrete dome dates to the 1930s.

Toponymy
The second element of the name, stan, or ston, comes from a particularly Orcadian version of the Norse word  which means a farm settlement.

See also
 Midhowe Chambered Cairn
 Unstan ware
 Ring of Brodgar
 Standing Stones of Stenness
 Maeshowe
 Prehistoric Orkney
 Timeline of prehistoric Scotland
 Oldest buildings in the United Kingdom

References

Footnotes

External links
Historic Environment Scotland: Visitor guide

4th-millennium BC architecture in Scotland
Archaeological sites in Orkney
Prehistoric Orkney
Buildings and structures in Orkney
World Heritage Sites in Scotland
Neolithic settlements
Megalithic monuments in Scotland
Historic Scotland properties in Orkney
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Orkney
Neolithic Scotland
Chambered cairns in Scotland
Mainland, Orkney

Unstan Chambered Cairn


Live Oak Creek, a stream with its source in Reagan County, Texas at  at an elevation of 2938 feet, that runs southward  to its mouth at an elevation of 2001 feet on the Pecos River in Crockett County, Texas.

Live Oak Creek was a water source on the San Antonio-El Paso Road, 30.44 miles from Howard Springs and 3 miles from Fort Lancaster and 7.29 miles from Pecos Crossing.  Fort Lancaster was located to the east of this creek near its mouth.

On July 9, 1857, Edward Fitzgerald Beale described it:

Live Oak creek is a clear and beautiful stream of sweet and cool water; the grass very fine, and wood, (oak, mesquite, and willow,) abundant. Just before descending into the valley of the stream we came to a very steep, rocky hill, overlooking a valley of great beauty and graceful shape. The sides of the hills were covered with the most brilliant verdure and flowers,...

References

Pecos River
Bodies of water of Crockett County, Texas
Bodies of water of Reagan County, Texas

Live Oak Creek (Crockett County, Texas)


The Holden Commodore is a full-size car that was sold by Holden from 1978 to 2020. It was manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia ending on 20 October 2017.

The first three generations of Holden produced Commodores (1978–2006) were based on the Opel designed V-body rear-wheel drive automotive platform, which was the basis of GM's largest European models, but were structurally strengthened, mechanically modified, and, in time, enlarged by Holden for Australian road conditions, production needs, and market demands. The styling of these cars was generally similar to that of the Opel Commodore C, and later, the Opel Omega A/B. The fourth generation Holden Commodore models VE and VF, manufactured by Holden from 2006 until 2017, were entirely designed in-house and based on the Holden-developed, rear-wheel drive Zeta platform.

Between 2018 and 2020, a rebadged, front-wheel drive Opel Insignia, built by Opel in Germany, was sold in Australia as the Holden Commodore (ZB). All sales of the last Commodore ended at the end of 2020, coinciding with the complete discontinuation of Holden as a subsidiary company, marque, and nameplate.

The Commodore replaced the long-serving Holden Kingswood and Holden Premier. Initially introduced as a single sedan body style, the range expanded in 1979 to include a station wagon. From 1984, Holden began branding the flagship model as Holden Calais, with the Commodore Berlina introduced in 1984 gaining independent Holden Berlina nomenclature in 1988. Long-wheelbase Statesman/Caprice derivatives and Commodore utility body variants followed in 1990. The third generation architecture spawned the most body styles, with a new Holden utility launched in 2000 (known officially as the Holden Ute), reborn Monaro coupé in 2001, four-door Holden Crewman utility and all-wheel drive (AWD) Holden Adventra crossover in 2003. Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) in 1987 began official modification of high performance variants of the Commodore and its derivatives, under its own nameplate.

Rivalry came predominantly from the Ford Falcon—also locally built. Prior to the second generation Commodore of 1988, the Holden was positioned a full class below the full-size Falcon. To varying degrees, competition also came from mid-size offerings from Toyota Australia as well as Chrysler Australia, which morphed into Mitsubishi Motors Australia. Moreover, between 1989 and 1997, Australian federal government policy saw the launch of the Toyota Lexcen, which was a rebadged version of the second generation Commodore. With the introduction of the third generation in 1997, Holden implemented its largest export programs involving Commodore and its derivatives. In the Middle East, South Africa and Brazil, the Commodore sold as a Chevrolet. High-performance export versions followed in North America, sold as Pontiac and later Chevrolet. HSV also exported to the United Kingdom as Vauxhall, in the Middle East as Chevrolet Special Vehicles (CSV) and in New Zealand and Singapore as HSV.

In December 2013, Holden announced that it would cease its local production by the end of October 2017 committing, however, to use the long-standing Commodore nameplate on its fifth-generation fully imported replacement, moving to a front-wheel drive (FWD)/all-wheel drive (AWD) platform.

On 10 December 2019, Holden announced that the Commodore nameplate would be discontinued in 2020, in what is, according to Holden's interim chairman and managing director Kristian Aquilina, "decisive action to ensure a sharp focus on the largest and most buoyant market segments", focusing on their SUV and Ute range, which had accounted for over 76% of their lineup during 2019. This marks the end of the Commodore nameplates' 41 years." On 17 February 2020, General Motors announced that the Holden marque in its entirety would be retired from sale in Australia and New Zealand by 2021.

First generation (1978–1988)

VB (1978–1980)

Introduced in October 1978, the VB Commodore development covered a period with the effects of the 1973 oil crisis still being felt. Hence, when Holden decided to replace the successful full-size HZ Kingswood with a new model line, they wanted the new car to be smaller and more fuel efficient. Originally, Holden looked at developing a new WA Kingswood, but that project was abandoned. With no replacement in development, Holden looked to Opel to provide the design foundations of the VB, basing it loosely on the four-cylinder Rekord E bodyshell, with the front grafted on from the Opel Senator A, both constructed using GM's V-body platform. This change was necessitated to accommodate the larger Holden six- and eight-cylinder engines. Holden also adopted the name "Commodore" from Opel, which had been using the name since 1967. Opel went on to use Holden's Rekord-Senator hybrid as a foundation for its new generation Commodore C, slotting in between the two donor models.

The VB series retained 96 percent of the preceding HZ Kingswood's interior space, despite being 14 percent smaller in overall dimensions, although five percent larger than the Torana. With the Commodore dropping a full class below the Kingswood and its Ford Falcon competitor, the smaller Commodore was predictably more fuel-efficient. This downsizing was first seen as a major disadvantage for Holden, as they had effectively relinquished the potential of selling Commodores to the fleet and taxi industries. These sales losses were thought to be unrecoverable; however, the 1979 energy crisis saw Australian oil prices rise by 140 percent, putting substantial strain on the automotive industry to collectively downsize, a change that Holden had already done.

During the VB's development, Holden realised that when driven at speed over harsh Australian roads, the Rekord would effectively break in half at the firewall. This forced Holden to re-engineer the entire car for local conditions, resulting in only 35 percent commonality with the Opel. The Rekord's MacPherson strut front suspension was accordingly modified, and the recirculating ball steering was replaced with a rack and pinion type. These modifications blew development costs beyond expectations to a reported —a figure close to the cost of developing a new model independently. With such a large sum consumed by the VB development programme, Holden was left with insufficient finances to resource the development of a wagon variant. Added that the Commodore architecture was considered an unsuitable base for utility and long-wheelbase models, Holden was left with only a sedan, albeit one in three levels of luxury: a base, SL, and SL/E. Desperate measures forced Holden to shape the Commodore front-end to the rear of the Rekord wagon. As the wagon-specific sheet metal had to be imported from Germany, the wagon, introduced in July 1979, suffered from inevitable component differences from the sedan. Although infrequently criticised in the early years, quality problems were evident, with poor trim and panel fit problematic for all first generation Commodores. This coupled with mechanical dilemmas such as water pump failure and steering rack rattle ensured warranty claims were high in the first year. Despite these issues, VB was praised for its value for money and sophistication, especially in regards to the steering, ride quality, handling and brakes, thus securing the Wheels Car of the Year award for 1978.

VC (1980–1981)

The most significant change to the VC Commodore of March 1980 was the engine upgrading to "XT5" specification. Now painted blue and thus known as the Blue straight-sixes and Holden V8s, these replaced the Red units fitted to the VB and earlier cars. Changes included a new twelve-port cylinder head, redesigned combustion chambers, inlet and exhaust manifolds, a new two-barrel carburettor . Tweaks and changes to the V8s surrounded the implementation of electronic ignition, revised cylinder head and inlet manifold design and the fitment of a four-barrel carburettor on the 4.2-litre variant. These changes brought improved efficiency, increased outputs and aided driveability. In response to increasing oil prices, a four-cylinder variant was spawned in June 1980. Displacing 1.9-litres, this powerplant known as Starfire was effectively Holden's existing straight-six with two cylinders removed. The four's peak power output of  and torque rated at  meant its performance was compromised. Reports indicate that the need to push the engine hard to extract performance led to real-world fuel consumption similar to the straight-sixes.

Holden's emphasis on fuel economy extended beyond powertrains, with a fuel consumption vacuum gauge replacing the tachometer throughout the range, although this could be optioned back with the sports instrumentation package. Visual changes were limited: the relocation of the corporate crest to the centre of the redesigned grille, black-coloured trim applied to the tail lamp surrounds on sedans, and the embossment of model badging into the side rubbing strips. The previously undesignated base car, was now the Commodore L, opening up the range for a new unbadged sub-level car. This delete option model, was de-specified and available only to fleet customers. On the premium Commodore SL/E, a resurrected "Shadowtone" exterior paint option became available in a limited range of dark-over-light colour combinations. According to contemporary reviews, changes made to the VC's steering produced a heavier feel and inclined understeer, while the revised suspension gave a softer ride and addressed concerns raised while riding fully laden.

VH (1981–1984)

The VH series Commodore introduced in September 1981 brought moderately updated frontal bodywork, with a new bonnet and front guards to facilitate the reshaped headlamps and a horizontally slatted grille. These front-end design changes worked to produce a longer, yet wider look. At the rear, sedans featured redesigned tail light clusters, the design of which borrowed from Mercedes-Benz models of the day, using a louvered design. At the same time, the nomenclature of the range was rationalised. The SL superseded the L as the base model, with the old SL level becoming the mid-range SL/X, and the SL/E remaining as the top-of-the-line variant. Wagons were restricted to the SL and SL/X trims. Redesigned pentagonal alloy wheels—replacing the original SL/E type used since 1978—along with a black painted B-pillar, wrap-around chrome rear bumper extensions to the wheel arches, and extended tail lamps that converged with the license plate alcove—distinguished the range-topping SL/E from other variants. The new pentagonal wheels were initially in short supply, such that only Shadowtone option SL/E sedans received them during 1981 production.

Mechanical specifications carried over, except for a new five-speed manual transmission, optional on the 1.9-litre four-cylinder and 2.85-litre six-cylinder versions. In an attempt to improve sales figures of the inline-four engine, Holden spent considerable time improving its performance and efficiency. Modifications were also made to the 2.85-litre six to lift economy, and the powerplants managed to reduce fuel consumption by as much as 12.5 and 14 percent, correspondingly. Holden released the sports-oriented Commodore SS sedan in September 1982—reintroducing a nameplate used briefly ten years prior with the HQ series. Provisioned with a choice of 4.2- or optional 5.0-litre V8 engines, both versions of the VH SS were teamed with a four-speed manual transmission. Racing driver Peter Brock's Holden Dealer Team (HDT) high performance outfit produced three upgraded versions, known as Group One, Group Two and Group Three, the latter version available in either 4.2-litre or more commonly 5.0-litre V8 configuration.

By the time of the VH series, Commodore sales were beginning to decline. Holden's six-cylinder engine, which was carried over from the Kingswood, could trace its roots back to 1963 and was no longer competitive. Continual improvements made to Commodore's Ford Falcon rival meant the VH was not significantly more fuel-efficient or better performing despite the smaller size. This was curtailed by the absence of any major powertrain revisions by the time of the VH and the lack of visual departure from the original VB. Holden also had to deal with the influx of their own mid-size Camira from 1982, which presented comparable interior volume with lower fuel consumption, and for less than the Commodore pricing point. Camira sales were strong initially, but as fuel prices had stabilised, buyers gravitated away from Camira and Commodore towards the larger Falcon, which overtook the Commodore as Australia's bestselling car for the first time in 1982.

VK (1984–1986)

Representing the first major change since the VB original, the VK model of 1984 introduced a six-window glasshouse, as opposed to the previous four-window design, to make the Commodore appear larger. The revised design helped stimulate sales, which totalled 135,000 in two years. This did not put an end to Holden's monetary woes. Sales of the initially popular Camira slumped due to unforeseen quality issues, while the Holden WB series commercial vehicle range and the Statesman WB luxury models were starting to show their age; their 1971 origins compared unfavourably with Ford's more modern Falcon and Fairlane models.

New names for the trim levels were also introduced, such as Commodore Executive (an SL with air conditioning and automatic transmission), Commodore Berlina (replacing SL/X) and Calais (replacing SL/E). The 3.3-litre Blue straight-six engine was replaced by the Black specification, gaining computer-controlled ignition systems on the carburettor versions and optional electronic fuel injection boosting power output to . The 5.0-litre V8 engine continued to power high specification variants, but was shrunk from 5,044 cc to 4,987 cc in 1985 due to new Group A racing homologation rules. The new car cut its predecessor's weight by  and models were fitted with an upgraded braking system. As high oil prices became a thing of the past, Holden decided to drop the 2.85- six and 4.2-litre V8, while the 1.9-litre four-cylinder was limited to New Zealand.

VL (1986–1988)

Marking a high point in terms of sales, the last-of-the-series VL Commodore sold in record numbers, finally managing to outsell the Ford Falcon in the private sector. The 1986 VL represented a substantial makeover of the VK and would be the last of the mid-size Commodores for 30 years. Designers distanced the Commodore further away from its Opel origins, by smoothing the lines of the outer body and incorporating a subtle tail spoiler. A thorough redesign of the nose saw the Commodore gain sleek, narrow headlamps and a shallower grille, while the Calais specification employed unique partially concealed headlamps.

By this stage, Holden's 24‑year‑old six-cylinder was thoroughly outmoded and would have been difficult to re-engineer to comply with pending emission standards and the introduction of unleaded fuel. This led Holden to sign a deal with Nissan of Japan to import their RB30E engine. This seemed a good idea in 1983 when the Australian dollar was strong; however by 1986 the once viable prospect became rather expensive. The public quickly accepted what was at first a controversial move, as reports emerged of the improvements in refinement, 33 percent gain in power and 15 percent better economy over the carburettor version of the VK's Black straight-six. An optional turbocharger appeared six months later and lifted power output to . In October 1986, an unleaded edition of Holden's carburettored V8 engine was publicised. Holden had originally planned to discontinue the V8 to spare the engineering expense of converting to unleaded. However, public outcry persuaded them to relent. VLs in New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand were also available with the 2.0-litre six-cylinder RB20E engine.

The VL suffered from some common build quality problems, such as poor windshield sealing, that can lead to water leakages and corrosion. Awkward packaging under the low bonnet coupled with Holden's decision to utilise a cross-flow radiator (as opposed to the up-down flow radiator installed to the equivalent Nissan Skyline) meant the six-cylinder engine was especially susceptible to cracked cylinder heads, a problem not displayed on the Nissan Skyline with which it shares the RB30E engine. The Used Car Safety Ratings, published in 2008 by the Monash University Accident Research Centre, found that first generation Commodores (VB–VL), similarly to the Ford Falcons manufactured during the same years, provide a "worse than average" level of occupant safety protection in the event of an accident.<ref name = "Used Car Safety Ratings" It is perhaps noteworthy however, that the Monash University publication includes in its averages, vehicles manufactured as late as 2006. <ref name = "Used Car Safety Ratings" As such, and with reasonable necessity, the 2008 Used Car Safety Ratings include comparison of some non-airbag vehicles with later vehicles fitted with airbags. In 1988, it would still be some years before airbags became available to the public on vehicles manufactured in Australia, and, outside of the very high end luxury market, available in Australia at all. As airbag technology later become more available, the Holden Commodore would become one of the first to offer the option (see VR Commodore below).

Second generation (1988–1997)

VN (1988–1991)

The VN Commodore of 1988 and subsequent second generation models took their bodywork from the larger Opel Senator B and new Opel Omega A. However, this time, the floor plan was widened and stretched; now matching the rival Ford Falcon for size. Continuing financial woes at Holden meant the wider VN body was underpinned by narrow, carry-over VL chassis components in a bid to save development costs. In Australia, for the VN and succeeding models, the Commodore Berlina became known simply as the Berlina (but in New Zealand the V6 VN Berlina, assembled locally until the Trentham factory was closed in 1990, was badged Executive. The Berlina nameplate was not launched, as a new entry level grade, with trim and equipment equivalent to the Australian V6 Executive, until the locally built four cylinder model, using the Australian-made, Opel designed, two-litre Family Two fuel injected engine, was added some months after the V6s). The range expanded in 1990 to include a utility variant, given the model designation VG. This was built on a longer-wheelbase platform that it shared with the station wagon and luxury VQ Statesman sedans released earlier in the year. During this time, the rival Ford EA Falcon was plagued with initial quality issues which tarnished its reputation. Buyers embraced the VN Commodore, helping Holden to recover and post an operating profit of  for 1989. The team at Wheels magazine awarded the VN Car of the Year in 1988: the second Commodore model to receive this award.

Changes in the relative values of the Australian dollar and Japanese yen made it financially impractical to continue with the well-regarded Nissan engine of the VL. Instead, Holden manufactured their own 3.8-litre V6 engine based on a Buick design, adapted from FWD to RWD. The 5.0-litre V8 remained optional and received a power boost to  courtesy of multi-point fuel injection. Although not known for its refinement, the new V6 was nevertheless praised for its performance and fuel efficiency at the time. The 2.0-litre Family II engine offered in New Zealand was also offered in some other export markets including Singapore  where the model also was badged Berlina. Accompanying the changes to engines, the VL's four-speed automatic transmission was replaced by the Turbo-Hydramatic and a Borg-Warner five-speed manual. A Series II update of the VN appeared in September 1989, featuring a revised V6 engine known internally as the EV6. With the update came a power hike of rising to  from .

Under an unsuccessful model sharing arrangement that was part of the Hawke Labor government reforms in 1989, which saw the formation of the United Australian Automobile Industries alliance between Holden and Toyota Australia, the latter began selling badge engineered versions of the VN Commodore manufactured by Holden. The rebadged Commodores were sold as the Toyota Lexcen, named after Ben Lexcen, who was the designer of the Australia II yacht that won the 1983 America's Cup. The original T1 Lexcen offered sedan and station wagon body forms in three levels of trim: base, GL and GLX. Moreover, they were only available with a 3.8-litre V6 engine and automatic transmission combination.

VP (1991–1993)

The VP update of 1991 featured cosmetic and mechanical changes, while carrying over the 3.8-litre V6 and 5.0-litre V8 engines from the VN. The 2.0-litre straight-four engine previously available in New Zealand was discontinued. Exterior cosmetic changes included a translucent acrylic grille on the base level Executive and Berlina, with a colour-coded grille for the S and SS, and a chrome grille for Calais. Updated tail lights and boot garnishes were also a part of the changes, which were different for each model, with the Berlina having grey stripes and the Calais chrome stripes. semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension became standard on the Calais and SS, but was made an option on lower-end models in lieu of the live rear axle, improving ride and handling.

A new wider front track was introduced to address issues with the previous carried-over VL chassis components. In August 1992, anti-lock brakes were introduced as an option on the Calais and SS trim levels, later becoming optional on all Series II variants. This January 1993 update also included a colour-coded grille for the Executive and alloy wheels for the Commodore S.

Toyota's pattern of updating their Lexcen model tended to follow Commodore's model cycle. The T2 (VP) Lexcen from 1991 pioneered new specification designations: CSi, VXi and Newport. All future updates (T3 (VR), T4 (VS) and T5 (VS II) Lexcens) made use of the new naming system until 1997, when the badge engineering scheme ceased. To give further differentiation to the Lexcen from the Commodore, the Lexcens from the VP model onwards had unique front-end styling treatments.

VR (1993–1995)

The 1993 VR Commodore represented a major facelift of the second generation architecture leaving only the doors and roof untouched. Approximately 80 percent of car was new in comparison to the preceding model. Exterior changes brought an overall smoother body, semicircular wheel arches and the "twin-kidney" grille—a Commodore styling trait which remained until the VY model of 2002 and remains a permanent staple on the HSV variants to this day.

The rear-end treatment saw raised tail lights, implemented for safety reasons, and a driver's side airbag was introduced as an option: a first for an Australian-built car. Other safety features such as anti-lock brakes and independent rear suspension were only available with the new electronic GM 4L60-E automatic transmission. Along with a driver's airbag and cruise control, these features were packaged into a new Acclaim specification level: a family-oriented safety spec above the entry-level Executive. Holden's strong focus on safety can be seen in the Used Car Safety Ratings. The findings show that in an accident, VN/VP Commodores provide a "worse than average" level of occupant protection. However, the updated VR/VS models were found to provide a "better than average" level of safety protection. Holden issued a Series II revision in September 1994 bringing audible warning chimes for the handbrake and fuel level among other changes.

The latest revision of the Buick 3.8-litre V6 engine was fitted to the VR Commodore, featuring rolling-element bearings in the valve rocker arms and increased compression ratios. These changes combined to deliver an increase in power to  and further improvement in noise, vibration, and harshness levels. Wheels magazine awarded the VR Commodore Car of the Year in 1993.

VS (1995–1997)

The 1995 VS Commodore served as a mechanical update of the VR, destined to maintain sales momentum before the arrival of an all-new VT model. The extent of exterior changes amounted to little more than a redesigned Holden logo and wheel trims. An overhauled Ecotec (Emissions and Consumption Optimisation through TEChnology) version of the Buick V6 engine coincided with changes to the engine in the United States. The Ecotec engine packed 13 percent more power for a total of , cut fuel consumption by 5 percent, increased the compression ratio from 9.0:1 to 9.4:1 and improved on the engine's previous rough characteristics. Holden mated the new engine with a modified version of the GM 4L60-E automatic transmission, improving throttle response and smoothing gear changes. The Series II update of June 1996 included elliptical side turn signals, interior tweaks and the introduction of a supercharged V6 engine for selected trim levels, and the introduction of a new Getrag manual transmission. The new supercharged engine slotted between the existing V6 and V8 engines in the lineup and was officially rated at , just  below the V8.

The VS Commodore was the last to be sold as a Toyota Lexcen, as Holden and Toyota ended their model-sharing scheme. The last Lexcens were built during 1997. This model was also sold as the VS Commodore Royale in New Zealand. Similar in specification to the Calais also sold in New Zealand, the Royale featured a standard VS Commodore body with the front end from the VS Caprice and an Opel 2.6-litre 54-Degree V6 engine. The Royale was also sold between 1995 and 1997 in small numbers to Malaysia and Singapore as the Opel Calais.

Third generation (1997–2007)

VT (1997–2000)

With the VT Commodore of 1997, Holden looked again to Opel in Germany for a donor platform. The proposal was to take the Opel Omega B and broaden the vehicle's width and mechanical setup for local conditions. In the early days, Holden considered adopting the Omega as is, save for the engines and transmissions, and even investigated reskinning the existing VR/VS architecture. Later on, the VT bodywork spawned a new generation of Statesman and Caprice (again based on the long-wheelbase wagons), and even went as far as resurrecting the iconic Monaro coupé of the 1960s and 1970s via a prototype presented at the 1998 Sydney Motor Show.

The VT heralded the fitment of semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension as standard across the range, a significant selling point over the rival Falcon, along with increased electronics such as Traction Control. However, in terms of suspension, the original Opel design was simplified by removing the toe control links that was standard equipment on the European Omega since 1987. Consequently, this afflicted the VT with excessive tyre wear due to distortions to the suspension camber angle and toe under heavy load, such as heavy towing or when travelling over undulated surfaces.

Notably, Holden's performance arm HSV re-added the toe control link on the flagship GTS 300 model. The 1999 Series II update replaced the venerable Holden 5.0-litre V8 engine with a new 5.7-litre Generation III V8 sourced from the United States. The V8 was detuned to  from the original US version, but would receive incremental power upgrades to  throughout its time in the Commodore, before finally being replaced by the related Generation 4 in the VZ. The supercharged V6 was uprated to  from the VS. Safety wise, side airbags became an option for the Acclaim and higher models, a first for Holden.

From the onset, parent company General Motors was interested in incorporating a left-hand drive Commodore in its Buick lineup, as manifested by the unveiling of the Buick XP2000 concept car in 1996. Although this idea was ultimately abandoned (due to pressures by the North American automotive trade unions to retain local production), the GM-funded project allowed Holden to enter into a range of left-hand export markets. Thus began the Commodore's rapid expansion into parts of Indochina, the Middle East and South Africa badged as the Chevrolet Lumina and Brazil as the Chevrolet Omega 3.8 V6. In its home market, the VT series was awarded the 1997 Wheels Car of the Year award, the fourth such award in Commodore's history. It found ready acceptance in the market as many buyers steered away from the slow selling Ford AU Falcon, becoming the best selling Commodore to date and cementing its place as number one in Australian sales.

The sedan and wagon range comprised: Commodore Executive (base and fleet package); Commodore Acclaim (family and safety package); Berlina (luxury package) and Calais (sedan-only sport luxury package). Limited editions included a "Sydney 2000" Olympic version and Holden 50th Anniversary based on better equipped Executive models (e.g. Berlina alloy wheels on the former but no climate control).

VX (2000–2002)

The VX update from 2000 featured a revised headlamp design. The VT's rear tail lamp panel was replaced by two separate light assemblies. Conversely, the luxury-oriented Berlina and Calais sedans continued using a full-width boot-lid panel incorporating the registration plate and tail lamps.

The VX series also formed the basis for a new Holden Ute, designated the VU-series. Earlier utility models were instead entitled "Commodore utility". An updated Series II was launched in early 2002, featuring revised rear suspension system now equipped with toe control links to address the VT's issues. The VX series also spawned the production version of the re-launched Holden Monaro (allowing Holden to commence exports to the United States, with this coupé sold as the Pontiac GTO).

Safety played a substantial role in the development of the VX model. Bosch 5.3 anti-lock brakes were made standard on all variants, a first for an Australian manufactured car; and traction control was made available on vehicles equipped with manual transmission. Extensive research was undertaken to reduce the effects from a side-impact collision through modification of the B-pillars. The risk presented by a side-impact collision in a VX fitted without side airbags is reduced by 50 percent when compared to a similarly specified VT model.

VY (2002–2004)

The  VY mid-cycle update of 2002 represented the first major styling shift since the 1997 VT. Designers discarded the rounded front and rear styling of the VT and VX models, adopting more aggressive, angular lines. The same approach was applied to the interior, whereby the curvaceous dashboard design was orphaned in favour of an angular, symmetrical design. Satin chrome plastic now dominated the façade of the centre console stack, and high-end models received fold-out cup holders borrowed from fellow GM subsidiary Saab. Leaving Eurovox behind, Holden turned towards German electronics manufacturer Blaupunkt to source audio systems, an arrangement that remained in place until the end of the Holden brand.

Engineering wise, Holden kept the changes low key. A revised steering system and tweaked suspension tuning were among some of the changes to sharpen handling precision. Further improvements were made to the Generation III V8 engine to produce peak power of  for sports variants. In a bid to recapture the market for low-cost, high-performance cars, Holden created a new SV8 specification level. Based on the entry-level Executive, the SV8 inherited the V8 mechanical package from the SS but made do without the luxury appointments and was sold at a correspondingly lower price. Holden also experimented by releasing a limited edition wagon version of its high-performance SS variant, of which only 850 were built. The Series II update added a front strut bar as standard to the SS, which was claimed to increase rigidity and hence handling. As became the trend, the update raised V8 power, now up . Amendments in the remaining models were confined to new wheels, trims and decals, however, the Calais has taken on a sports-luxury persona as opposed to the discrete luxury character seen in previous models. This repositioning in turn affected the Berlina's standing. The once second-tier model now became the sole luxury model, only overshadowed by the more expensive Calais. Coinciding with the VY II models was the first four-door utility model dubbed the Holden Crewman. Crewman's underpinnings and body structure while somewhat unusual, shared a fair amount in common with the Statesman/Caprice, One tonner and the two-door Ute.

In 2003, Holden launched an AWD system that it developed for the VY platform dubbed Cross Trac, at a cost of . Unveiled after the Series II updates, the first application of this electronically controlled system was the Holden Adventra, a raised VY wagon crossover. The system was only available in combination with the V8 and automatic transmission. Holden chose not to spend extra engineering resources on adapting the AWD system to the 3.8-litre V6, due to be replaced in the upcoming VZ model. Unfortunately for Holden, the Adventra fell well short of expected sales, despite modest targets.

VZ (2004–2007)

The final chapter of the third generation series was the VZ Commodore. Debuting in 2004 with a new series of V6 engines known as the Alloytec V6, both  and  versions of the 3.6-litre engine were offered. These were later upgraded to  respectively in the VE model. When compared to the previous Ecotec engines, the Alloytec benefits from increased power output, responsiveness and fuel efficiency. The new engines were mated to a new five-speed 5L40E automatic transmission on the luxury V6 variants, and a new six-speed Aisin AY6 manual transmission on the six-cylinder SV6 sports variant. However, the long serving four-speed automatic carried on in other variants, albeit with further tweaks in an attempt to address complaints about refinement. A new 6.0-litre Generation 4 V8 engine was added to the range in January 2006 to comply with Euro III emission standards. Compared to the American version, both Active Fuel Management and variable valve timing were removed. The Alloytec V6 was also affected by the new standards, which saw the peak output reduced to .

Along with the new powertrain, Holden also introduced new safety features such as electronic stability control and brake assist. The Used Car Safety Ratings evaluation found that VT/VX Commodores provide a "better than average" level of occupant protection in the event of an accident, with VY/VZ models uprated to "significantly better than average". ANCAP crash test results rate the fourth generation VE lower in the offset frontal impact test than the third generation VY/VZ Commodore. The overall crash score was marginally higher than the outgoing model due to improved side impact protection.

Fourth generation (2006–2017)

VE (2006–2013)

Launched in 2006 after GM's 2003 abandonment of their last European rear-drive sedan, the Opel Omega, the VE is the first Commodore model designed entirely in Australia, as opposed to being based on an adapted Opel-sourced platform. Given this and high public expectations of quality, the budget in developing the car reportedly exceeded . Underpinned by the new Holden developed GM Zeta platform, the VE features more sophisticated independent suspension all round and near-even 50:50 weight distribution, leading to improved handling. Engines and transmissions are largely carried over from the previous VZ model. However, a new six-speed GM 6L80-E automatic transmission was introduced for V8 variants, replacing the old four-speed automatic now relegated to base models. The design of this new model included innovative features to help minimise export costs, such as a symmetrical centre console that houses a flush-fitting hand brake lever to facilitate its conversion to left-hand drive. Internationally, the Commodore is again badge engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina and Chevrolet Omega, along with its new export market in the United States as the Pontiac G8 (discontinued as of 2010 along with the Pontiac brand).

Variants by Holden's performance arm, HSV, were released soon after the sedan's debut, followed by the long-wheelbase WM Statesman/Caprice models. The VE Ute did not enter production until 2007 whilst the Sportwagon began production in July 2008. A VE V8 Calais was awarded Wheels Car of the Year, being the fifth Commodore/Calais model to do so.

In late 2008 Holden made changes to the VE Commodore, including the addition of a passenger seatbelt-reminder system. The rollout of such modifications allowed the VE range to be upgraded in stages (dependent on model) to the five-star ANCAP safety rating during 2008 and 2009.

The September 2009 MY10 update to the VE Commodore platform introduces a new standard engine–a 3.0-litre Spark Ignition Direct Injection (SIDI) V6 on the Omega and Berlina, with a 3.6-litre version of the same reserved for all other V6 variants. The standard transmission is now a six-speed GM 6L50 automatic, replacing the four-speed in Omega and Berlina models and the five-speed in higher luxury levels. A six-speed manual is still available in sport models. Holden claims the newer powertrains would provide better fuel economy than some smaller four-cylinder cars; the 3.0-litre version is rated at . The 3.0L produces , more than the earlier 3.6L and more than the old 5.0L Holden V8. The new 3.6 produces a fraction more at  although the difference is negligible in real world driving.

In mid-2010 Holden released the VE Series 2 (VEII). The major difference saw the introduction of the Holden iQ system, a centre-mounted LCD display that provides navigation, Bluetooth, and controls to the stereo. There were also small alterations to the styling and a number of other changes.

VF (2013–2017)

The VF Commodore, a major overhaul of the VE, was officially revealed on 10 February 2013 in Melbourne.

The body shell, suspension and electrics of the GM Zeta platform have been thoroughly reworked to reduce weight, improving handling and fuel efficiency. Changes to the model line-up see the deletion of the Berlina nameplate (which was merged with the standard Calais variant, represented the smallest share of sales in Commodore's line-up) and the base model renamed from Omega to Evoke.

Standard features across the Commodore range includes front and rear parking sensors, reverse camera and auto park assist, whereas high specifications models such as the Calais-V and SS-V redline models also feature, as standard, forward and reverse collision alert system and a colour heads-up display - all possible thanks to the VF's electronics now being compatible with those of more developed GM cars, resulting in the new Commodore being cheaper to manufacture. Indeed, recommended retail pricing have been reduced across the range, from  for the base model and up to  for the Calais V V8 and SS V Redline.

A day after the Australian range reveal and in the lead up to the Daytona 500 weekend, a more powerful and better equipped export version of the VF Commodore SS also made its debut in Daytona, Florida, as the MY14 Chevrolet SS. To maximise the SS's profile in the United States, GM also replaced in NASCAR the Chevrolet Impala with the SS, which raced in NASCAR's premier series through 2017, when it was replaced by the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2018 season.

A Series II update (VF II) was launched in late 2015, introducing minor styling revisions at the front, while the biggest change was the arrival of a  LS3 across the entire V8 range. In addition, the  V8's final drive ratio and the Redline's suspension tune were also revised.

Fifth generation (2018–2020)

ZB (2018–2020)

In 2017, Holden announced that the Commodore would end production in Australia and confirmed that the Commodore badge would be inherited by its replacement - now fully imported. This decision was made on the basis of a survey revealing that a majority of customers were in favour of retaining the long-standing Australian badge introduced in 1978.

In October 2016, Holden provided selected journalists an opportunity to test drive early prototypes of the 2018 Commodore.

The ZB Commodore was revealed on the 6 December 2016 as a rebadged version of the Opel Insignia B. The ZB Commodore was offered with four or six-cylinder engine options, as well as front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive. This was a major departure from the V8 and rear wheel drive variants available on the previous generation Commodore.

There has been significant controversy regarding Holden's decision to retain the Commodore name for the 2018 model, despite it being dimensionally smaller than its predecessor, lacking a V8 engine option and switching from a RWD to a FWD drivetrain. Whilst the decision has been considered to be a safe choice in order to preserve sales, the retention of the Commodore name has been critiqued for Holden missing the opportunity to rebrand its sedan range and push its offering into the more lucrative semi-premium end of the market.

, the ZB Commodore has the lowest resale value as a proportion of new price of any car on the Australian market.

Due to slow sales and Holden's interest in other vehicle segments, it was announced on 10 December 2019 that the ZB Commodore would be discontinued in early 2020, shortly before GM's decision to retire the Holden brand entirely.

Australian export models
Since the late 1990s, Commodores have been sent abroad as the Chevrolet Lumina in the Middle East until 2011 and South Africa until 2013, and as the Chevrolet Omega in Brazil until 2008 and, then again, in 2010. Vauxhall VXR8 sales began in 2007. Versions have also been previously exported in the mid-1990s to Southeast Asia as the Opel Calais and to North America from 2008 to 2009 as the Pontiac G8. From 2014 to 2017, the VF Commodore was sold in the United States as the Chevrolet SS and the sport version from HSV sold in the United Kingdom as the Vauxhall VXR8.

Chevrolet Lumina

The Commodore was sold as the Chevrolet Lumina in the Middle East and South Africa, and previously in South East Asia.

A coupe version based on the Holden Monaro was also sold in the Middle East as the Chevrolet Lumina Coupe. In Arabia, the Lumina was offered in four different trims: LS (Omega), LTZ (Berlina), S (SV6) and SS (SS). The LTZ and S came standard with a 3.6 L Alloytec V6 and a six-speed automatic transmission for the S and four-speed for the LTZ, while the SS came standard with a 6.0 L Alloytec V8 with the option of active fuel management. A six-speed manual was standard with the option of a six-speed automatic on the SS. The LTZ was the luxury model, while the S and SS models focused on sportiness. Exports to the Middle East ceased in 2011.

Lumina models sold in South Africa dropped the V6 engine in favour of 6.0 litre V8 engine mated to a six-speed manual or automatic. Fuel injection and a 10.4:1 compression ratio help contribute to a max power output of  at 5,700 rpm, and a max torque of  at 4,400 rpm for vehicles equipped with the manual. Automatic cars make  at 5,800 rpm and  at 4,400 rpm. All cars were equipped with Brembo brake calipers and a ZF limited-slip differentials. The car received updates for the 2011 model year. These changes were introduced to coincide with the release of the VE Series II Commodore. Changes included revised bumpers, there is a chrome moulding above the number plate on the boot lid, refreshed alloy wheel designs and the Holden IQ system. Also the SSV model was introduced. The Holden Ute was sold as the Lumina Ute in South Africa and has the same equipment as the sedan.

Australian production
Australian production of the first Commodore launched in 1978 was initially spread between Holden's Pagewood (New South Wales) and Dandenong (Victoria) plants. In August 1978, Holden announced a $6.7 million program to enable assembly of the Commodore range at the Elizabeth (South Australia) plant, which resulted in the closure of the Pagewood plant a year later. The Australian production of the Commodore was consolidated at Elizabeth in 1988, coinciding with the launch of the then new VN Commodore.

The Commodore and its derivatives have been the basis of modified variants by companies separate to Holden. Officially, Holden's performance partner is HSV, although other prominent high performance brands include HDT Special Vehicles, Corsa Specialized Vehicles (CSV) and Walkinshaw Performance (WP), since the first, third and fourth generation Commodore, respectively.

In December 2013, Holden announced that it would cease production of the Commodore in Australia in 2017. This was followed, in December 2015, by "Project Erich" involving Belgian entrepreneur Guido Dumarey. His plans involve buying the Holden production facilities, with a view to continue producing in Australia a rebadged range of RWD and AWD premium vehicles based on the GM Zeta platform, for local and export sales. Dumarey's company, Punch Powerglide, already supplies automatic transmissions for Holden's V6-powered models made in Australia. The last Commodore - the last Holden vehicle to be manufactured in Australia - rolled off the line at the Elizabeth plant on 20 October 2017.

Sales

References

Bibliography
Books

 Part One, Part Two, Part Three (PDF).

Magazines

External links

 Holden Model History – Holden Commodore
 Holden Commodore at Unique Cars and Parts
 3D view of Holden Commodore 1980
 The Unofficial Holden Commodore Archive
 Huge website around the Opels of the time including the Holden Commodore VB
 Road-testing the 1980 Holden Commodore | Retrofocus

Cars introduced in 1978
1970s cars
1980s cars
1990s cars
2000s cars
2010s cars
Cars of Australia
Full-size vehicles
Commodore
Mid-size cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Sedans
Station wagons
Cars discontinued in 2020

Holden Commodore


The North Isles are the northern islands of the Shetland Islands, Scotland.  The main islands in the group are Yell, Unst and Fetlar. Sometimes the islands in Yell Sound are included in this group.

Importance
They are a significant group, since Yell and Unst are the second and third largest islands in the archipelago, and also the third and fourth most populous (Whalsay, which is not in the group, is the second most populous). Combined, their total land area is far larger than the rest of the Shetland Islands (excluding Mainland) combined.

Extreme points
The group also contains the most northerly land of the United Kingdom and Shetland at Out Stack near Muckle Flugga, and its most northerly settlement Skaw on Unst. These also happen to be the most northerly British territorial claims currently in existence, since Canadian independence. In similar fashion, Britain's most northerly maritime claims are also based on these islands, having great effect on its fishing and oil industries.

Fetlar also contains some of the most easterly points of Scotland with the exception of the Out Skerries, and much of Fetlar and Unst are under 350 km from Norway.

Travellers do not encounter any further land masses between Out Stack and the North Pole if heading directly north.

Other British records include -
 Most northerly castle Muness Castle
 Most northerly post office - formerly Haroldswick now Baltasound
 Most northerly lighthouse - Muckle Flugga
 Most northerly road
 Most northerly brewery - Valhalla Brewery
 Most northerly coastline - Hermanness
 Most northerly church - Haroldswick Methodist Church
 Most northerly ferry route - Gutcher (Yell) to Belmont (Unst)
 Most northerly "wood" - near Baltasound

Ferries
The regular ferries are the most northerly scheduled routes in the British Isles (excluding those going to the Faroes and Iceland). They operate between Yell and Unst, Yell and Fetlar and Yell and Mainland.

References

Landforms of Shetland
Islands of Shetland
Archipelagoes of Scotland

North Isles


The Alpha Ridge is a major volcanic ridge under the Arctic Ocean between the Canada Basin (off Ellesmere Island) and the Lomonosov Ridge. It was active during the formation of the Amerasian Basin. It was discovered in 1963.  The highest elevation is about 2,700 m over the ocean floor.  It is 200 to 450 km wide. The Alpha Ridge, Lomonosov Ridge, and  Nansen-Gakkel Ridge are the three major ranges that divide the Arctic Ocean floor, running generally parallel to each other.

The 1983 Canadian Expedition to Study the Alpha Ridge (CESAR) seemed to establish that the Alpha Ridge is an extension of the continent from Ellesmere Island and hence there is a possibility that Canada may lay claim to the resource rights for the region, in particular for petroleum,  according to the United Nations' Law of the Sea. There is no final conclusion to the issue so far, and part of the research planned for the European Drilling Research Icebreaker (Aurora Borealis) was drilling of the Alpha Ridge to collect more data.

Other research suggests that the ridge is probably a result of the oceanic mode of development.

The Strand Fiord Formation on northwestern and west-central Axel Heiberg Island is interpreted to represent the cratonward extension of the Alpha Ridge.

The Alpha Ridge is part of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province.

See also
Ellesmere Island Volcanics
 The Chukchi Cap

References

J.R. Weber, Maps of the Arctic Basin Sea FloorPart II: Bathymetry and Gravity of the Alpha Ridge: The 1983 CESAR Expedition

External links

Underwater ridges of the Arctic Ocean
Volcanism of the Arctic Ocean
Volcanism of Nunavut

Alpha Ridge


A Niqab is a piece of clothing. It is for Muslim women. Women who wear niqab in public are called Niqabi. There are many Niqabis in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, and Egypt. Niqabi usually covers all her body except the eyes and hands.

Niqab around the world

In France, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Latvia, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Tunisia, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands wearing a niqab (and the burqa) in public is illegal. And in more countries, it is illegal to enter a government building, public building, public transport, schools, or to drive a vehicle with a niqab (or a burqa).

Related pages
 Hijab
 Burqa

Islamic dress

Niqāb


In the philosophy of thermal and statistical physics, the Brownian ratchet or Feynman–Smoluchowski ratchet is an apparent perpetual motion machine of the second kind (converting thermal energy into mechanical work), first analysed in 1912 as a thought experiment by Polish physicist Marian Smoluchowski. It was popularised by American Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman in a physics lecture at the California Institute of Technology on May 11, 1962, during his Messenger Lectures series The Character of Physical Law in Cornell University in 1964 and in his text The Feynman Lectures on Physics  as an illustration of the laws of thermodynamics.  The simple machine, consisting of a tiny paddle wheel and a ratchet, appears to be an example of a Maxwell's demon, able to extract mechanical work from random fluctuations (heat) in a system at thermal equilibrium, in violation of the second law of thermodynamics.  Detailed analysis by Feynman and others showed why it cannot actually do this.

The machine
The device consists of a gear known as a ratchet that rotates freely in one direction but is prevented from rotating in the opposite direction by a pawl.  The ratchet is connected by an axle to a paddle wheel that is immersed in a fluid of molecules at temperature .  The molecules constitute a heat bath in that they undergo random Brownian motion with a mean kinetic energy that is determined by the temperature.  The device is imagined as being small enough that the impulse from a single molecular collision can turn the paddle.  Although such collisions would tend to turn the rod in either direction with equal probability, the pawl allows the ratchet to rotate in one direction only. The net effect of many such random collisions would seem to be that the ratchet rotates continuously in that direction.  The ratchet's motion then can be used to do work on other systems, for example lifting a weight (m) against gravity.  The energy necessary to do this work apparently would come from the heat bath, without any heat gradient (i.e. the motion leeches energy from the temperature of the air). Were such a machine to work successfully, its operation would violate the second law of thermodynamics, one form of which states: "It is impossible for any device that operates on a cycle to receive heat from a single reservoir and produce a net amount of work."

Why it fails
Although at first sight the Brownian ratchet seems to extract useful work from Brownian motion, Feynman demonstrated that if the entire device is at the same temperature, the ratchet will not rotate continuously in one direction but will move randomly back and forth, and therefore will not produce any useful work.  The reason is that since the pawl is at the same temperature as the paddle, it will also undergo Brownian motion, "bouncing" up and down.  It therefore will intermittently fail by allowing a ratchet tooth to slip backward under the pawl while it is up.  Another issue is that when the pawl rests on the sloping face of the tooth, the spring which returns the pawl exerts a sideways force on the tooth which tends to rotate the ratchet in a backwards direction.    Feynman demonstrated that if the temperature  of the ratchet and pawl is the same as the temperature  of the paddle, then the failure rate must equal the rate at which the ratchet ratchets forward, so that no net motion results over long enough periods or in an ensemble averaged sense. A simple but rigorous proof that no net motion occurs no matter what shape the teeth are was given by Magnasco.

If, on the other hand,  is less than , the ratchet will indeed move forward, and produce useful work.  In this case, though, the energy is extracted from the temperature gradient between the two thermal reservoirs, and some waste heat is exhausted into the lower temperature reservoir by the pawl.  In other words, the device functions as a miniature heat engine, in compliance with the second law of thermodynamics. Conversely, if  is greater than , the device will rotate in the opposite direction.

The Feynman ratchet model led to the similar concept of Brownian motors, nanomachines which can extract useful work not from thermal noise but from chemical potentials and other microscopic nonequilibrium sources, in compliance with the laws of thermodynamics. Diodes are an electrical analog of the ratchet and pawl, and for the same reason cannot produce useful work by rectifying Johnson noise in a circuit at uniform temperature.

Millonas
as well as Mahato
extended the same notion to correlation ratchets driven by mean-zero (unbiased) nonequilibrium noise with a
nonvanishing correlation function of odd order greater than one.

History
The ratchet and pawl was first discussed as a Second Law-violating device by Gabriel Lippmann in 1900. In 1912, Polish physicist Marian Smoluchowski gave the first correct qualitative explanation of why the device fails; thermal motion of the pawl allows the ratchet's teeth to slip backwards.  Feynman did the first quantitative analysis of the device in 1962 using the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution, showing that if the temperature of the paddle T1 was greater than the temperature of the ratchet T2, it would function as a heat engine, but if T1 = T2 there would be no net motion of the paddle.  In 1996, Juan Parrondo and Pep Español used a variation of the above device in which no ratchet is present, only two paddles, to show that the axle connecting the paddles and ratchet conducts heat between reservoirs; they argued that although Feynman's conclusion was correct, his analysis was flawed because of his erroneous use of the quasistatic approximation, resulting in incorrect equations for efficiency. Magnasco and Stolovitzky (1998) extended this analysis to consider the full ratchet device, and showed that the power output of the device is far smaller than the Carnot efficiency claimed by Feynman. A paper in 2000 by Derek Abbott, Bruce R. Davis and Juan Parrondo, reanalyzed the problem and extended it to the case of multiple ratchets, showing a link with Parrondo's paradox.

Léon Brillouin in 1950 discussed an electrical circuit analogue that uses a rectifier (such as a diode) instead of a ratchet. The idea was the diode would rectify the Johnson noise thermal current fluctuations produced by the resistor, generating a direct current  which could be used to perform work. In the detailed analysis it was shown that the thermal fluctuations within the diode generate an electromotive force that cancels the voltage from rectified current fluctuations.  Therefore, just as with the ratchet, the circuit will produce no useful energy if all the components are at thermal equilibrium (at the same temperature); a DC current will be produced only when the diode is at a lower temperature than the resistor.

Granular gas
Researchers from the University of Twente, the University of Patras in Greece, and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter have constructed a Feynman–Smoluchowski engine which, when not in thermal equilibrium, converts pseudo-Brownian motion into work by means of a granular gas, which is a conglomeration of solid particles vibrated with such vigour that the system assumes a gas-like state.  The constructed engine consisted of four vanes which were allowed to rotate freely in a vibrofluidized granular gas.  Because the ratchet's gear and pawl mechanism, as described above, permitted the axle to rotate only in one direction, random collisions with the moving beads caused the vane to rotate.  This seems to contradict Feynman's hypothesis.  However, this system is not in perfect thermal equilibrium: energy is constantly being supplied to maintain the fluid motion of the beads.  Vigorous vibrations on top of a shaking device mimic the nature of a molecular gas.  Unlike an ideal gas, though, in which tiny particles move constantly, stopping the shaking would simply cause the beads to drop.  In the experiment, this necessary out-of-equilibrium environment was thus maintained.  Work was not immediately being done, though; the ratchet effect only commenced beyond a critical shaking strength.  For very strong shaking, the vanes of the paddle wheel interacted with the gas, forming a convection roll, sustaining their rotation.

See also
Quantum stirring, ratchets, and pumping

Hawking radiation

Notes

External links

The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. I Ch. 46: Ratchet and pawl
Feynman's Messenger Lectures
Coupled Brownian Motors - Can we get work out of unbiased fluctuation?
Experiment finally proves 100-year-old thought experiment is possible (w/ Video)

Articles

Lukasz Machura: Performance of Brownian Motors. University of Augsburg, 2006 (PDF)

Thought experiments in physics
Richard Feynman
Philosophy of thermal and statistical physics
Nanotechnology
Perpetual motion

Brownian ratchet


A Snakeboard, also known as streetboard, or pivotboard is a board that was invented in South Africa in 1989 by James Fisher, Simon King and Oliver Macleod Smith. The concept was to fuse the original skateboard with elements of snowboarding and surfing to create a fun riding experience. The first prototype was constructed using two square wooden boards, an old roller skate chopped in half, and a piece of plumbing pipe to join them together. Many variants were tried before manufacturing began. The first boards to be mass-produced were made from a strong plastic nylon known as Zytel ST801.

Performance
The rider of a snakeboard stands with one foot on each footplate (the feet are usually fixed to the board using bindings) and, by moving their feet in and out in conjunction with the shoulders and hips, is able to propel the board in any direction using only body weight. This transfer of energy is called nonholonomic locomotion. The board moves in a motion similar to that of a snake—hence the sport's original name of snakeboarding. The rider of a snakeboard can ride the board on almost any terrain (depending on the setup and model of board) and even propel himself uphill and perform extreme stunts similar to those done by skateboarders and snowboarders. Snakeboards allow riders to gain momentum without the need to push themselves with their feet like skateboarders.

History
Skatex International (Pty) Ltd is the name of the first company that manufactured boards of this kind and was the inventors' original company. Skatex International licensed Snakeboard USA to sell and distribute the boards in the United States; the sport rapidly became known as "snakeboarding". James Fisher, Simon King and Oliver Macleod Smith jointly owned the patents and trademarks for the sport. In the late 1990s, the inventors licensed PMS (UK), a toy retailer, to manufacturer the "Sydewynder" under license. Over 50,000 Sydewynders were sold in the UK and Europe. The inventors then listed their company Snakeboard International AIM market, a division of the London Stock Exchange. Later there was a reverse acquisition of Snakeboard International by a company called MV Sports. MV Sports eventually stopped manufacturing the Snakeboard. However, the sport survives today with more advanced boards and is becoming more widely known as streetboarding. The remaining snakeboard patents expired in 2011.

A snakeboard is self-propelled, and there is no need to touch a foot on the ground. Moreover, it is considerably easier to generate and maintain momentum than on a skateboard. To perform a trick, one's feet must be strapped to the board, which makes it harder to "bail out" of a trick or dismount. Although the footstraps limit the amount a rider can manipulate the board, they also facilitate certain techniques. Much like a snowboarder, the rider can perform spins and somersaults higher and farther than any skateboarder. At the same time, this means a faster learning curve. While a skateboarder will spend weeks learning the most basic manoeuvres, such as the ollie, or jump, a streetboarder (snakeboarder) simply has to strap himself to the board and jump as he would without the board attached.

Toe-hooks have been developed in more recent years as an alternative to straps for riders who are not performing complex tricks. These allow the rider to jump with the board but also enable the rider to dismount from the board or "bail" in the event of a fall as they are not strapped to the board.Some of the pro snakeboarder were Ashley Morgan (South Africa),Kelly Dean(USA) Marnie Raath(South Africa), the twins,Lucky(South Africa) Ingo from Germany to name just a few Pro snakeboaders that traveled the globe and all over South Africa and the U.S.A

Names
Snakeboard is the brand name created by the original inventors of the board and comes from its snake-like movement. The trademark for the term snakeboard expired in 2002.  The term streetboard began to be used around that time to describe any board where the wheels and trucks rotate with the rider's feet without referring to a specific brand. The name "streetboard" comes from the idea that it is a "snowboard for the streets". The original patent for the snakeboard refers to the board as a "Pivoting Skateboard" and in recent years the more descriptive terms pivotboard and pivotskate have been used as a result. The term swingboard has also been used.

Original Snakeboard USA Models

 Viper
 Competition
 Viper Pro
 Pro
 Pro X (Longbar)
 Browser/Stud
 Ashley Pro
 Skinner
 Loadie
 Stiffy
 Spludge

Gallery

See also
 Skateboard

References

Sunday Times, Business Times August 14, 1994 'Board on a Roll in US Market'

Sandton Chronicle, July 21, 1991 'Young Inventor redesign the skateboard'

New York Times, Feb 22 1992 'For Skateboard Fans, A New Way to Travel' by Barbara Lloyd https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/22/news/for-skateboard-fans-a-new-way-to-travel.html

Human-powered vehicles
Skateboarding equipment
Vehicles introduced in 1989

Snakeboard


Metropolitan Savas (Zembillas) of Pittsburgh is the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh which includes all of Ohio and most of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The Metropolis consists of 53 parishes and six monastic communities which minister to the needs of thousands of Greek Orthodox faithful. The Metropolis offices are in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bishop Savas was elected to the office of Metropolitan of Pittsburgh on November 2, 2011, by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, and was enthroned December 8, 2011 at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Pittsburgh.

Early life and education
Metropolitan Savas was born Savas Zembillas in Gary, Indiana, on June 11, 1957, the second of six children of Skevofylax ("Steve") and Stamatia (Georgiades) Zembillas. Graduating from Andrean High School in Gary in 1975, he entered Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where he earned a BA in Philosophy and English Literature (1979). While at Colby, he performed as the lead singer for campus punk band Mick and the Malignants.

He also graduated from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts (1984, M.Div. with highest honors). He continued his studies at Oxford University, England, under the supervision of then Bishop Kallistos Ware.

Early service
He served as parish priest of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Kalamazoo, Michigan (1995-1997), and was subsequently assigned (now with the honorary title of archimandrite) to pastor the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Demetrios in Merrick, New York (1997-1999).

Early episcopacy
Prior to his election to the throne of Pittsburgh, Metropolitan Savas served as the titular Bishop of Troas (2001-2011), overlapping times when he was also the Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (1999-2009) and Director of the Archdiocesan Office of Church, Society and Culture (2009-2011).

Metropolitan Savas has been an active participant in the social network structures of the Internet, engaging issues of contemporary culture and society from an Orthodox Christian perspective.  He has led numerous pilgrimages of young adults to Constantinople and the Holy Land, in addition to missionary teams to Kenya and Tanzania. He is presently the Chairman of the Committee for Church and Society of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America.

See also
 Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh
 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
 Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

References

Biographical Note of Metropolitan Savas of Pittsburgh, from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese

Living people
Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology alumni
21st-century Eastern Orthodox bishops
Eastern Orthodox metropolitans
Eastern Orthodox bishops in the United States
Colby College alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Gary, Indiana

Savas (Zembillas)


Cerro Castor is a ski resort on the southern slope of ,  from the city of Ushuaia, in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego. Its tracks can be used during several months because of the cold weather of the region. The standard season takes place between June and October, and it is, thanks to the geographic location, the longest among the main ski centers in Argentina. Cerro Castor is the southernmost ski resort in the world.

Ski resort

This important ski center was inaugurated in 1999. As of 2012, there are ten lift facilities in the resort, enabling to carry up to 9,500 people per hour: four four-seats chairlifts, three T-bars and three magic carpets. Cerro Castor has twenty-eight snowmass trails (with  of usable surface and a vertical drop of ), a snowpark, several restaurants and tearooms, recreation facilities, mountain shelters, a skiing school, a first-aid service, and a lenga beech forest. Many of the trails are harmonized by the International Ski Federation. Besides classic alpine skiing, the center offers other activities such as snowboarding, skiboarding, ski touring, sleds, cross-country skiing and snowshoes.

International events
In 2012 Cerro Castor hosted the FIS Freestyle Slopestyle World Cup, organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS), and qualifying competition for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games The results were as follows:

The Interski Congress and World Cup, organized by the International Ski Instructors Association, was hosted by Cerro Castor from 5 to 12 September 2015 in which was the first ever event held by this association in the Southern Hemisphere.

See also

 Cerro Catedral
 Chapelco
 Las Leñas
 List of ski areas and resorts in South America

References

External links

Mountains of Argentina
Ski areas and resorts in Argentina

Cerro Castor