Venric Emeka-Wococha Mark is an American football running back, return specialist and wide receiver who is currently a free agent. Mark attended  after previously playing for Northwestern. He has completed his redshirt junior season for the 2013 Northwestern Wildcats team. He was a 2012 College Football All-America Team first team punt returner selection and a 2012 All-Big Ten team second team running back for the 2012 Wildcats. He holds Northwestern records for single-game, single-season and career kickoff return yards as well as the single-game punt return yards record.

In high school, he was a five-time Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state champion in track and field and an All-State football player. He was recruited by many Division I college football programs.

Early years
Mark spent his freshman year at Klein Forest High School in Greater Houston. When the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought many troubled students to his public high school, he transferred to St. Pius X High School, which is a private one 45 minutes away. As a sophomore at St. Pius, Mark competed in the most events and scored the most points for his high school when it placed fifth in the 2008 Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) Class 6A Track and Field Championship.  That year, he placed second in the long jump (); third in the triple jump () and participated on medal winning 4 × 100 metres relay and 4 × 200 metres relay teams.

As a junior, he was described as a "gifted player" who was expected to be a "future star" for the two-time defending state champion football team. Going into the 2008 state playoffs, Mark had 10 touchdowns as a return specialist and 20 receptions for 504 yards for the 7–2 St. Pius Panthers. By the end of his junior year, he had been timed at 4.35 seconds in the 40-yard dash and had at least six Division I scholarship offers. Interested programs included Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice and Arizona. During the summer prior to his senior year, he increased the bodyweight of his  frame from  to .

As a senior, he mostly played running back. In the 2009 TAPPS Division I football semifinals, Mark had 102 yards on 16 carries, including two rushing touchdowns and a 33-yard receiving touchdown. However, he was stopped on fourth and goal to go from the 2-yard-line with 11 seconds left as the team lost Nolan Catholic High School 36–28. Mark's senior season statistics were 23 receptions for 242 yards, 92 rushes for 772 yards and 20 total touchdowns (four on punt and kickoff returns). He also had seven touchdowns called back due to penalties. He was honored as a first team All-state selection. As a senior, he had 18 offers from schools including his five finalists: Northwestern, Arizona, Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Colorado as well as Houston, Baylor, UTEP, Virginia and Penn State. He was one of three major Division I National Letter of Intent signees from St. Pius along with Kirk Poston (defensive end, Colorado) and Greg Daniels (defensive end, Texas).

After committing to Northwestern, Mark went on to win five gold medals in the 2010 TAPPS Class 5A State Track and Field Championships. He won the 100 meters (10.96 seconds), 200 meters (22.26), long jump (-state record) and triple jump (). He was the anchor of the winning 4 × 100 metres relay (43.36). Mark was the state championship meet's elite athlete, scoring 45 of St. Pius' 86 points. The school finished as runner-up to St. Michael's Catholic Academy (88 points) in the state championships even though St. Pius' 4 × 200 metres relay team, which was a favorite, had been disqualified in earlier competition.

College career
Mark was one of two true freshmen to play in every game for the 2010 Wildcats. On October 23, he had a 29-yard end-around run against Michigan State. On November 27, Mark recorded 273 return yards on nine kickoffs against Wisconsin. This established a Wildcat single-game kickoff return yard record (10 shy of a Big Ten Conference record) and tied the Big Ten record for single-game kickoff returns. It also earned Mark recognition as the Big Ten Special Teams and Freshman co-Player of the Week on November 29. Rivals.com recognized Mark with selection to its Freshman All-American second team as a punt returner.

As a sophomore for the 2011 team, Mark switched from wide receiver to running back during the season. However, during the game against Michigan, he also played linebacker in order to shadow Denard Robinson. The season ended at the 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas against Texas A&M. In the game, Mark recorded 7 kickoff returns for 141 yards. This gave him Northwestern record-setting single-season totals of 40 returns and 915 return yards, surpassing records both set by Jim Pooler in 1974 (38 for 807). Mark also scored his first rushing touchdown in the game.

As a junior in 2012, Mark was a preseason watchlist candidate for the Paul Hornung Award. That year, he tallied 8 100-yard rushing games, the first 1000-yard rushing season for Northwestern since Tyrell Sutton in 2006, and the first unblocked punt return touchdown for Northwestern since Marquice Cole on September 10, 2005 against Northern Illinois. Northwestern had blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown in the season opener on August 31, 2006, against Miami. In addition to scoring a punt return touchdown on September 1 against Syracuse, he broke both the Northwestern single-game punt return yards record (Lee Gissendaner, 121 vs. 1992 Stanford)  with 134 yards and the 29-year-old career kickoff yards records (Ricky Edwards, 1,499, 1983) during a career-high-tying 281 all-purpose yards effort that earned him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. His 82 rushing yards that day was a career-high. The subsequent week, he had his first 100-yard effort when he totaled 123 yards against Vanderbilt on September 8. Then he scored three rushing touchdowns on September 22 in a 117-yard effort against South Dakota. He set a new career-high on September 29 when he totaled 139 yards against Indiana. He scored a second punt return touchdown on October 6 against Penn State, making him the first Wildcat to score two punt return touchdowns in the same season (and second ever) since Tom Worthington in 1949. He then set his career high with 182 yards against Minnesota on October 13.

For his efforts, Mark was named a 2012 All-American first team selection by the Football Writers Association of America, CBS Sports and Sporting News  as a punt returner.  He was also an honorable mention All-American all-purpose selection by Sports Illustrated. Following the 2012 Big Ten Conference football season, Mark was a second team All-Big Ten selection as a running back by both the coaches and the media. He was one of ten semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award, awarded to the best running back.

Mark was among the 2012 national statistical leaders in both all-purpose yards and rushing yards.

Mark began the 2013 season affected by injury. He did not play special teams and mostly appeared in the August 31 opener against Cal in the fourth quarter. Mark did not play again until October 5 against Ohio State. He was sidelined again two weeks later.

Mark learned in early August 2014, that he would be suspended for two games from the 2014 Northwestern Wildcats football team for "violation of team policy". He decided to pursue his fifth year redshirt season with the Division II  where he could be close to his mother and grandmother.

Professional career
On December 8, 2015, Mark signed with the Ottawa RedBlacks of the Canadian Football League. He was released on April 27, 2016.

On June 2, 2016, Mark signed with the Cedar Rapids Titans of the Indoor Football League. He played in 2 games for the Titans during the 2016 regular season, rushing for 53 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also caught 3 passes for 15 yards and returned 2 kicks for 40 yards. He also played in the team's two playoff games, rushing for nine yards and three touchdowns. He also caught 6 passes for 40 yards and returned 5 kicks for 36 yards.

Personal life
The summer before his freshman year in college, he lost his brother, cousin and best friend to fatal shooting deaths. Mark's father has not been involved in his life since his preteen years; he was raised by his mother, Sheila Mark. Sheila attended Texas Tech University. Mark's name came from having a Nigerian-born father. His parents met while at boarding school in London. His brothers are named Victor and Vincent and his sister is named Special. In high school, he often stayed with his godmother, Jamie Garza, who lived nearer to the school.

References

External links
Northwestern Wildcats bio
Mark at NCAA.org

Living people
All-American college football players
American football return specialists
American football running backs
American football wide receivers
Canadian football running backs
American players of Canadian football
Northwestern Wildcats football players
West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players
Players of American football from Harris County, Texas
Year of birth missing (living people)
Ottawa Redblacks players
Cedar Rapids River Kings players
People from Tomball, Texas

Venric Mark


Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, literally "Construction and Other Railway Services") is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidiary. It is based in Beasain, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. Equipment manufactured by Grupo CAF includes light rail vehicles, rapid transit trains, railroad cars and locomotives, as well as variable gauge axles that can be fitted on any existing truck or bogie.

Over the 20 years from the early 1990s, CAF benefited from the rail investment boom in its home market in Spain to become a world player with a broad technical capability, able to manufacture almost any type of rail vehicle. CAF has supplied railway rolling stock to a number of major urban transit operators around Europe, the US, South America, East Asia, India, Australia and North Africa.

History

CAF was an acronym for the earlier name of Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, as well as for Construcciones y Auxiliar de Feres.

Fábrica de Hierros San Martín
In 1860, Domingo Goitia, Martín Usabiaga and José Francisco Arana established this company, whose main activity was puddling furnaces and cylinder rolling.

La Maquinista Guipuzcoana
In 1892, Francisco de Goitia (Domingo Goitia's son and heir) joined the Marquess of Urquijo to set up La Maquinista Guipuzcoana, whose main activity was the operation of machinery and the forging and construction of railway rolling stock.

In 1898, it set up its plant in Beasain, Gipuzkoa. In 1905 it changed its name to Fábrica de Vagones de Beasain (FVB).

Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) was founded in 1917, specializing in freight car production and with a total of 1,600 employees.

In 1940, the Irun factory was set up, following the expansion of activity after the Spanish Civil War (CAF took part in reconstructing the Spanish rail fleet).

In 1954, CAF took over Material Móvil y Construcciones (MMC) from Zaragoza (Aragon), a company with extensive experience in manufacturing long-distance and subway trains.

Since 1958, the company has modernized and enlarged its Beasain plant and expanded its activity to include all kinds of rolling stock. In line with this, in 1969 CAF created its Research and Development Unit, which increased the company's competitiveness and intensified the focus on in-house technology.

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
In 1971, the existing Compañía Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) merged with Material Móvil y Construcciones (MMC) and the company adopted its current name Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.

Subsidiaries
CAF U.S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of CAF, was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Elmira, New York.  It manufactures rolling stock for the North American market at a plant in Elmira that the company acquired from ADtranz in 2000. The company from Beasain continued its expansion during the third millennium.

On 24 May 2019, it announced the acquisition of the Swedish company Euromaint at a cost of circa €80 million, following other international contracts to supply Flemish and English railway and underground networks in 2017.

CAF Rolling Stock U.K. Ltd. is the CAF subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Its factory is based at Celtic Springs Business Park, at Llanwern steelworks near Newport, Wales as a result of an agreement made between CAF and the Welsh Government. The Newport factory has built stock for Transport for Wales, Arriva Rail North, the Docklands Light Railway, and potentially High Speed 2 if CAF win the bid process.

CAF Signalling was fined in 2021 with 1.7 million euros by the Spanish commission on markets and competition because of its participation in a cartel with other 7 international companies which colluded in tenders over Spanish rail infrastructure.

Train defects

In April 2014, two carriages of an Urbos 3 tram in Belgrade separated during passenger service, due to the cracking of screws connecting the cars. Half of the Belgrade tramway's CAF fleet were found to have been affected by similar cracking of screws in the two weeks prior to the incident.

In March 2016, 19 British Rail Class 332 units were taken out of service after a crack was discovered in the underframe of one unit during routine maintenance.

In December 2017, the Besançon Tramway in Besançon, France discovered cracks in their Urbos 3s vehicles around the bogie box area of the bodies, which in December 2020 CAF paid for remedial work to be performed with each unit affected requiring one month downtime for the work to be completed.

In April 2021, 22 British Rail Class 195 Civity units were temporarily removed from service after routine maintenance revealed a yaw damper bracket had detached from the body of unit 195121.

On June 11, 2021, West Midlands Metro (operating between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, England) were forced to suspend their services due to similar cracks being discovered in the bogie box areas of their Urbos 3s vehicles, with ongoing investigations continuing to identify any other issues relating to the cracks and to find options for remedial works to be performed. Full service only began once more in February 2022.

On June 24, 2021, Flytoget were forced to withdraw their entire CAF Oaris fleet after 19 days of service due to the discovery of cracks in the chassis. They remain out of service as of September 2022, with plans to reinstate them by the end of the year. In the meantime, CAF has paid an unknown amount to Flytoget in compensation.

Following on from these instances, in November 2021 the New South Wales transport minister Rob Stokes announced that the Sydney L1 Dulwich Hill Line would be decommissioned for up to 18 months, due to serious design flaws in all 12 of the CAF Urbos 3s tram sets that were running on the line. Stokes stated that the flaws (in the bogie boxes) were likely to be far broader in scope than those identified in Sydney due to the thousands of the same tram type operated around the world.

In March 2022, the West Midlands Metro was again forced to suspend its services due to the discovery of more cracks, this time on the bodywork of the trams.

On February 17, 2023, the Department of Transportation of the Philippines revealed that nearly 80 of the new light rail vehicles for Manila's LRT Line 1 cannot be used due to water leaks in the cars.

In February 2023, CAF revealed that the 2020 project for 31 trains for the FEVE narrow-gauge lines in the northern regions of Cantabria and Asturias, Spain, asked for a carriage width that would not fit through the existing 19th-century tunnels. The change in specifications will delay the established delivery date of October 2024 by two years to 2026.

In July 2023, body cracks were discovered in four British Rail Mark 5A "Nova 3" carriage sets, leading to daily inspections of all sets and the temporary withdrawal of five sets from service. That August, the operator TransPennine Express confirmed its intention to cease usage of all sets from the December 2023 timetable change.

Political activity
During the 2019 United Kingdom general election, CAF Rail UK Limited made a donation of £50,000 to the Conservative Party.
 In 2019, it entered into litigation that affects its corporate image. Participating in a consortium, JNET, together with the Israeli company Shapir Engineering and Industry, has won a tender promoted by the Israeli Ministry of Transport and Road Safety to supply railway equipment, in addition to building, extending and operating light rail lines from Jerusalem to nearby settlements in disputed territories, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In turn, Shapir is on the list of companies that benefit from the occupation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as denounced by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Rolling stock

Carriages

EMU and DMU

 Cepia
 Oaris
 Class 598
 IZBAN E22000
 TRD
 TEMD
 TDMD
 Class 440
 Class 444
 Civity
 Sprinter New Generation
 Civia
 Class 446/447
 AM class EMU, Auckland
 VR Class Sm4
 MTR Adtranz-CAF EMU

Locomotives
 Class 250
 Class 252

For FEVE, now part of Renfe Operadora:
 Electro-diesel locomotive Class 1900
 Class 2600 DMU
 Class 2700 DMU
 Class 2900 DMU

For Euskotren:
 UT200
 UT300
 UT900
 UT950
 UT3500
 Euskotren XXI

For Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca:
 DMU Class 61
 EMU Class 71
 EMU Class 81

For other operators:
 BITRAC CC 3600 (Class 601) electro-diesel (Ordered by FESUR, currently operated by Captrain España)

Metro
For Madrid:
 Class 300
 Class 1000
 Class 2000
 Class 3000
 Class 5000
 Class 6000
 Class 8000
 Class 8400

For Barcelona:

 Class 1000
 Class 2000
 Class 3000
 Class 4000
 Class 5000
 Class 6000
 Class S/2100
 Class S/300
For Helsinki:
 M300

For Bucharest:
 BM3

For Amsterdam:
 Metromaterieel S3/M4
 Metromaterieel M7/M8

For Brussels:

Trams
 Urbos 1 (Tranvía de Bilbao)
 Urbos 2 (Tranvía de Vélez-Málaga, Tranvía de Vitoria and Metro de Sevilla).
 Urbos 3 (Metrocentro de Sevilla, Tranvía de Zaragoza, Metropolitano de Granada, Metro de Málaga and Tranvía Metropolitano de la Bahía de Cádiz).

Outside Spain: trains

 Algeria: DMUs
 Argentina: 9 articulated units for Tren de la Costa
 Australia: NSW TrainLink Regional Train Project
 Brazil: CPTM EMUs and São Paulo Metrô
 Germany: Commuter train NEXIO for Schönbuch Railway
 Hungary: MÁV vagon
 Italy: DMUs for Sardinia
 Ireland: Mark 4 coaches for Iarnród Éireann
 Ireland: IE 29000 Class
 Netherlands: Sprinter New Generation for the Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
 Portugal: EMUs (UQE´S) for Lisboa
 Saudi Arabia: SAR/SRO Diesel Push-Pull Trainsets
 UK: British Rail Mark 5 (Caledonian Sleeper)
 UK: British Rail Mark 5A (TransPennine Express)
 UK: British Rail Class 331 (Northern Trains)
 UK: British Rail Class 332 in partnership with Siemens (Heathrow Express)
 UK: British Rail Class 333 in partnership with Siemens (Arriva Trains Northern)
 UK: Northern Ireland Railways Class 3000 and Class 4000
 UK: British Rail Class 397 (TransPennine Express)
 US: Viewliner II (Amtrak)

Newport factory, South Wales, UK

CAF Rolling Stock U.K. Ltd announced in 2017 its UK factory location was selected as Celtic Business Park at Llanwern steelworks in Newport, Wales. It has at least five confirmed UK projects from 2019 onwards and would have been the construction site for their unsuccessful bid to deliver stock for High Speed 2. The site was funded with support from the Welsh Government Inward Investment Programme.

 UK: CAF Oaris (Prospective bid for HS2)
 UK: British Rail Class 195 (Northern Trains)
 UK: British Rail Class 196 (West Midlands Trains)
 UK: British Rail Class 197 (Transport for Wales)

Outside Spain: metros and trams

 Algeria: Algiers Metro
 Argentina: Buenos Aires Underground 5000 and 6000 series; Tren de la Costa
 Australia: Canberra, Newcastle and Sydney light rail.
 Belgium: Brussels Metro M6 and M7 Series
 Brazil: São Paulo Metro
 Brazil: Cuiabá tram
 Brazil: Recife Metro
 Canada: Calgary Transit Urbos 100 (On Order)
 Chile: Santiago Metro
 Colombia: Medellín Metro
 Estonia: Tallinn tram
 Finland: Helsinki Metro, M300 series
 France: Nantes Tramway
 France: Besançon Tramway
 Germany: Freiburg tram and Bonn Stadtbahn (on order)
 Hungary: Debrecen public transport
 Hungary: Budapest public transport
 India: Delhi Airport Metro Express
 Indonesia: Greater Jakarta LRT (built by INKA)
 Italy: Rome Metro
 Italy: Naples Metro
 Luxembourg: :fr:Tramway de Luxembourg Urbos 3
 Maurtius: Metro Express Urbos 3
 Mexico: Mexico City Metro (NE-92, NM-02, FE-07, FE-10, NE-16)
 Mexico: Mexico City suburban rail
 Mexico: El Insurgente commuter rail (under construction)
 Netherlands: S3 and M4 units of the Amsterdam Metro and from 2018 the Uithof tram line in Utrecht
 Norway: Oslo trams, delivery from 2022
 Philippines: Manila LRT Line 1 (LRTA 13000 class)
 Philippines: North–South Commuter Railway Airport Express Trains (with Mitsubishi)
 Romania: Bucharest Metro Line M2
 Serbia: Belgrade Tram
 Sweden: Stockholm Tram
 Taiwan: Kaohsiung Tram
 Turkey: Antray (Antalya LRT)
 Turkey: Istanbul Metro
 UK: DLR B23 stock (Docklands Light Railway, TfL)
 UK: New West Midlands Metro vehicles
 UK: Edinburgh Trams
 US: Sacramento RT Light Rail, California Class 200
 US: Pittsburgh Light Rail, Pennsylvania Class 4300
 US: Washington Metro, 5000-Series
 US: METRORail, (Houston, TX)
 US: Kansas City Streetcar
 US: Cincinnati Streetcar
 US: MBTA Green Line Type 9 LRV and Type 10 (on order – delivery starting 2027)
 US: MTA Maryland Purple Line (On order)
 Venezuela: Caracas Metro

See also
 Karlos Arguiñano, a former worker at CAF who later became famous as a TV chef.
 Variable gauge axles
 List of rolling stock manufacturers

References

External links

 Official website

Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1917
Companies listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange
Basque companies
Locomotive manufacturers of Spain
Rolling stock manufacturers of Spain
Spanish brands
Rail infrastructure manufacturers
Conservative Party (UK) donors
Spanish companies established in 1917
Gipuzkoa


Brian [brahy-uhn](sometimes spelled as Bryan) is a common name in the English language. This name was ranked #288 on the US Popular Names in 2021. The name came from Irish and Breton origins. The name is also a surname of Occitan origins.The exact meaning of Brian is not known. However, it is possible the  name is from Old Celtic, meaning "high" or "noble".

People named Brian
Brian Blessed (born 1937), English actor
Brian Clough (1935–2004), British football manager
Brian Cowen (born 1960), former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland
Brian Cox (born 1946), Scottish actor
Brian De Palma (born 1940), American film director
Brian Eno (born 1948), English electronic musician, music theorist and record producer
Brian Epstein (1934–1967), English businessperson, manager of The Beatles
Brian Johnson (born 1947), member and lead vocalist of the hard rock band AC/DC
Brian Jones (1942–1969), founding member, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the English rock group The Rolling Stones
Brian Jossie (born 1977), American professional wrestler performing under the ring name of Abraham Washington
Brian Joubert (born 1984), French figure skater and 2007 World Champion
Brian Lara (born 1969), former West Indian cricketer
Brian Laudrup (born 1969), former Danish international soccer player
Brian Littrell (born 1975), member of the boy band, The Backstreet Boys
Brian May (born 1947), famous guitarist from the band, Queen
Brian Molko (born 1972), lead vocalist of the band Placebo
Brian Mulroney (born 1939), former Canadian prime minister (1984–1993)
Brian Williams (born 1959), anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News on the NBC Television Network
Brian Wilson (born 1942), member of American music group, The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson (born 1982), pitcher for the San Francisco Giants

References

Given names
Surnames

Brian


The Children's literature in Gujarati language of India has its roots in traditional folk literature, Puranic literature, epics and fables from Sanskrit literature. Following 1830s, the large number of stories and fables adapted and translated from various traditional and western sources started to appear in Gujarati. Led by Gijubhai Badheka and Nanabhai Bhatt, the children's literature expanded rapidly in form of stories, poems, rhymes and riddles. Several authors and poets wrote for children intermittently and exclusively. Large number of magazines catering to children were published by middle of twentieth century. Later adventure novels, science fiction, young-adult fiction were also published. Ramanlal Soni and Jivram Joshi contributed for five decades creating stories, fictional characters and novels. Few children's plays were published while the biographies of historical characters appeared frequently.

Children's stories
There are several stories popular in Gujarati folk literature which relate to children. There is a long tradition of Purana stories in Indian literature which deals with topics, particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore. The stories derived from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Hitopadesha and anecdotes of Akbar-Birbal, Bhoja-Kalidas, Singhasan Battisi, Baital Pachisi, Śukasaptati are told to children for generations.

The current form of children's literature started after the education in Gujarati was aligned to western pattern in 1826 during British Raj. The Native Schools and Books Society established in Bombay in 1820 had published books for new schools. They were for co-curriculum reading. Initial works in Gujarati children's literature were translations and adaptations. In 1826, Bapulal Shastri Pandya translated Aesop's Fables in Gujarati as Aesop Nitikathao. In next few years more translations of Aesop's Fables published. The Gulliver's Travels translated as Gulliverni Musafari. In 1831, the two parts of Balamitra was published starting an era of current form of children's literature. It had poems, stories, anecdotes and jokes. Ranchhodbhai Dave published Isapnitini Vato adapted from Aesop's Fables in 1859. The Bombay Education Society published four books in 1840; Shishusadbodhmala, Balamitra, Balasathi and Panch Pakhaon (Panchapakhyana); having poems, stories, anecdotes, biographies for children. Amichandra wrote Batrish Pultini Varta based on Singhasan Battisi.

Initially there were translations of stories from classic Indian literature. Tunki Kahanio (1881) published by Anubhai Neelkanth had 118 translated stories. Hargovinddas Kantawala published adapted short stories Tachukadi So Vaat in six volumes. He also wrote novel regarding misrule of the foolish king in 1887. He also published Kanyavanchanamala, the first book exclusively for girls. Ichchharam Desai translated Evenings at Home as Balako No Anand (1895). He also wrote Ghashiram Kotwal (1903) based on Ghashiram from Maratha history. Jaysukhlal Joshipura adapted Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as Alka no Adbhut Pravas. Narayan Hemchandra wrote Mahabharat Ni Vartao (1904) based on events from the epic Mahabharata. Manchharam Ghelaram edited a collection of tales, Murakho, the fool, which was a theme on which several others had written.  Sharda Mehta published Puranvarta Sangraha (1906) based on mythological tales from Purana. Kalyanrag Joshi published Deshdeshni Vato (1914) and Vigyan ni Vato (1914) about worldview and science respectively.

The original children's literature rapidly expanded due to efforts of Gijubhai Badheka who was actively involved in reforms in children's education. He started the musical literature for children and is considered the father of children's literature in Gujarati. He published five books in 1922 and later cofounded a school, Dakshinamoorti, in Bhavnagar which published large number of books for children. He was joined by Jugatram Dave, Taraben Modak, Mulshankar Bhatt, Vishnu Trivedi, Harbhai Trivedi, Ramnarayan Pathak, and several others. Nanabhai Bhatt published stories based on characters from Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as Hindu Dharma ni Akhyayikao for young adults. Mulshankar Bhatt translated science fictional adventure novels by Jules Verne in Gujarati. He wrote Sahsikoni Shrusti, a simplified version of Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island, and Khajanani Shodhma, a simplified version of Stevenson's Treasure Island. Dakshinamoorti published more than 150 children's books.

Natvarlal Malvi and Ishwarlal Vimavala established Gandiv in Surat which published works for young-adults. They published illustrated 30 stories of popular anthropomorphic animal character Bakor Patel created by Hariprasad Vyas. Other major authors were Kaushiram Pandya, Chhaganlal Pandya, Chimanlal Bhatt, Dhirajlal Shah, Manubhai Jodhani, Dhumketu, Tarachandra Adalja, Bhimbhai Desai, Subhadra Gandhi, Bhikhabhai Vyas, Jaybhikhkhu, Himmatlal Shah, Niranjan Varma and Prasannavadan Dixit. Bholashankar Vyas wrote humorous stories for children. Ratilal Nanabhai Tanna, Vasant Nayak and Mahesh 'Mast Fakir' also wrote several stories. Foram Lahario by Sharda Prasad Varma and Vanarsena ni Vato by Keshav Prasad Desai were also published. Ramanlal N. Shah, Sumati Patel and Nagardas Patel published some stories under title of Baljeevan and Balvinod. Jhaverchand Meghani also wrote some patriotic stories for children. Hansa Jivraj Mehta wrote Balvartavali, Arun Nu Adbhut Swapna, Baval Na Parakramo. Chandrashankar Bhatt published Balmitra which published stories which were later collected as Balmitra Ni Vato, Sindbad Sheth, Kumar Veersen.

Two major authors who published extensively in children's literature were Ramanlal Soni and Jivram Joshi who contributed for more than five decades. Ramanlal Joshi created Galbo Shiyal and associated animal stories. His Mangalu was popular among children. Jivram Joshi created several popular characters including Miya Fuski, Chhel-Chhabo, Chhako-Mako, Adukiyo-Dadukiyo. Other popular character based stories were Bogho of Harshad Patel, Vinu of Navalkant Bhavsar, Venakaka of Juga Pandya, Fatubha Fankda Na Parakramo by Manubhai Shah, Shekhchalli of Jaymalla Parmar, Akkad ane Fakkad of Narad, Budhiyo of Madhusudan Parekh, Soti and Pothi of Dhananjay Shah, Miyalabbe of Chandrkant Amin and Muchhala Menamasi of Dhiraj Brahmabhatt.

In the field of science fiction, Shrikant Trivedi, Harish Nayak, Yashwant Mehta, Dhirajlal Gajjar, Ratilal Nayak, Kanaiyalal Ramanuj, Girish Ganatra, Rajni Vyas, Suresh Jethna, Nagendra Vijay, Yashwant Kadikar, Kishor Pandya, Nagin Modi, Bipin Patel, Ishwar Parmar, Sakalchand Saheb contributed. The stories based on Panchtantra, Hitopadesha, Akbar-Birbal folk tales, Mulla Nasiruddin, Tenali Rama are frequently translated and written by various authors over the years. Popular works from world literature such as Tarzan, Hercules, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels are frequently adapted in Gujarati by various authors.

In animal fables, Ramanlal Soni, Vijaygupta Maurya, Manubhai Jodhani, Nanubhai Surati, Kanaiyalal Ramanuj, Harjivan Somaiya, Vasantlal Parmar contributed. Sarkas Doctor Na Romanchak Sahaso by Vijaygupta Maurya is noteworthy among them. Mukul Kalarthi, Kumarpal Desai, Mahendra Trivedi, Upendra Bhatt wrote large number of fables.

Several artist wrote or illustrated stories including comics and graphic stories. Ravishankar Raval, Somalal Shah, Rajni Vyas, Chakor, Abid Surti, Natu Mistry, Ramesh Kothari, V. Ramanuj, Lalit Lad, Nirmal Sarteja, Deepak Thakor are notable among them.

Some novels or novellas were also written for children. Gulabi Aarass Ni Laggi by Harikrishna Pathak, Tilli by Mahendra Trivedi, Navjivan Shala by Madhav Desai, Durga No Deepak by Shraddha Trivedi, Varun Nu Soneri Swapna by Madhusudan Parekh, Prakash Na Parevada by Kanaiyalal Joshi, Khovayeli Duniyani Safare by Yashwant Mehta are some novels. Some women in the children's literature are Jagruti Ramanuj, Sulbha Depurkar, Usha Upadhyay, Aruna Mistry, Lata Hirani, Bepsy Engineer, Kalindi Parikh, Neha Kansara, Pushpa Antani, Neeta Ramaiya and Tarlika Mehta.

In recent times, the large number of classic adventure novels from the world literature are translated and published in Gujarati.

Children's poetry
Very young children's poetry
The poetry for very young children include lullaby, rhymes, riddles. Halarda (1928) is a collection of lullabies by Jhaverchand Meghani. Keshavlal Parikh published collection of riddles, Koyada Sangrah (1870). Kavtuka Samgraha (1885) and Padshah are Leva (1886) are published by Parsi writer Marzban. The first deals with general knowledge in light manner while the second present it in puzzle format. Gijubhai Badheka published a collection of rhymes, Jodakna (1937) selected from folk literature. Deshalji Parmar was a major contributor of original rhymes. His rhyme collection Galgoato (1930) is notable. Kanji Kalidas Joshi had edited Bal Ukhana (1929) which is the book of riddles published before the independence of India.

Other books for very young include Mitro Na Jodakna (1993) by Dhiruben Patel, Pappa No Thappo (1992) by Badal, Jodakna Ni Maja (1993), Sarvariya (1980) and Zagmagiya (1983) by Amritlal Parekh, Tari Mari Doreli (1988) and Pandade Podhya Patangiya (1998) by Dhansukhlal Parekh.

Children's poetry
Gujarati children's poetry started as an educational instrument. In 1848, Dalpatram wrote humorous children's poetry from inspiration from earlier fables. When new education department was formed by the British authorities, he had edited series of new Gujarati textbooks under leadership of Theodore Hope. His was perhaps the first original writing for children in Gujarati which also included first children's poem. His Andheri Nagari Ne Gandu Raja, Dayali Ma, Sharanaivalo and Unt Na Adhar Ang Vanka are notable among them. These poems has simple story; simple tune, words and rhymes; message with humour. In 1866, Navalram Pandya had written garba songs for children which were published in Shalapatra and later as Bal Garbavali. One song of it Janavarni Jan became very popular. Nhanalal also wrote poetry for children. His Ganya Ganay Nahi, Vinya Vinay Nahi is popular among children. Balakavya (1915) by Krishnaprasad Bhatt had poems with natural rhymes.  Ajab Jevi Vaat Chhe by Upendracharyaji was very popular. Himmatlal Anjariya published a poetry collection Madhubindu (1915). Tribhuvan Vyas wrote Nava Geeto (1929) and Gunjarava (1941) focused on natural elements such as river, hills, rain and sea. Jhaverchand Meghani published poetry collections; Veni Na Phool (1931) and Killol (1932). His Kaludi Kutari was popular. His poems Charankanya and Shivaji Nu Halardu are also notable. His poems were simple and effective. Tribhuvandas Luhar 'Sundaram' published poetry collection Rang Rang Vadaliya (1939), Chak Chak Chakla, Aa Avya Patangiya and Gato Gato Jay Kanaiyo. These all are collections are published in a single volume Samagra Balkavita (2005).

Educationists Gijubhai Badheka and Nanabhai Bhatt established the children's literature in its true understanding and as the foundation of the education and moral development. Their scientific methods in education and children's literature were appreciated. Harbhai Trivedi, Taraben and Monghiben continued their tradition.

Chandravadan Mehta wrote Chandapoli and Dudhna Dana. Somabhai Bhavsar wrote a collection of rhymes Kharek Topara and three other collections; Gunjan (1939), Bham (1951) and Chagdol (1961). In 1960, he also edited three anthologies of singable children's poems. Balako Na Geeto, Magodi No Pipudivalo, Pagala, Madh No Ladvo, Kashi No Pandit are the collections by Ramanlal Soni. They were published in 1979. Snehrashmi wrote popular prayer Namie Tujne Varamvar. He also experimented with Haiku format. Tarapo (1980) and Ujani (1980) are his poetry collections. His experiences as a teacher and a poet are visible in his poems. His poems has tunes and rhymes which can be easily captured by children as well as they are singable; filled with imagination, inspiration and entertainment. After 1950, Rajendra Shah (Morpichchh, Ambe Avyo Mor and Roomzoom), Balmukund Dave (Allak Dallak, Sonchampo), Makarand Dave (Zabuk Vijali Zabuk) also wrote children's poetry. Suresh Dalal published more than dozen poetry collections including Ittakitta and Tingatoli (1976) in his three decade long career. According to Harikrishna Pathak, Dalal brought children's poetry from its rural background to urban setup.

Ramesh Parekh is prolific children's poet of modern era. His command on tune, novelty, amazement, imagination, teasing writing style are visible in his poetry. Hauk (1978), Chin (1980), Itta, Kitta Ane Buchcha, Dariyo Zullam Zulla, Hasie Khullam Khulla are his collections. Chandrakant Sheth's Chandaliyani Gadi (1980) depicts different styles of songs and different mentalities of children. Harikrishna Pathak also captures amazement in his collection Koinu Kaink Khovay Chhe (1981). Tofan (1979) by Yoseph Macwan includes songs with catchy tunes.

The poet Pinakin Trivedi, studied at Santiniketan, brought melody and rhymes of children's poetry by Rabindranath Tagore. Other children's poetry collections are Balshikshan Ni Garbavali by Gopalji Delwadakar, Kanya Garbavali and Balgeeto by Manishankar Dave, Bal Kavitao by Dhirajlal Bhatt, Gauri Na Geeto by Deshalji Parmar, Chalo Gaeye by Madhukant G. Mehta, Chandapoli by Vasant Nayak, Kilkilat by Jamubhai Dani, Naginavadi by Ramnik Aralvala, Chhbchhabiya by Avinash Vyas, Balkavya Mala by Viththalrai Avasthi, Balgeetavali by Keshav Sheth, Zulto Hathi by Pranshankar Upadhyay, Dada Ni Muchh by Shantikumar Pandya, Chanibor by Jugatram Dave.

Several other poets also contributed including Umashankar Joshi, Bhanuprasad Pandya, Suresh Majmudar, Pujalal Dalwadi, Rashid Munshi, Ravindra Thakor, Phillip Clerk, Raksha Dave, Kanti Kadia, Natwar Patel, Sushilaben Zaveri. Kirit Purohit experimented with ghazal while Harikrishna Pathak with sonnet. Ilakavyo by Chandravadan Mehta; Janani Ni Jod Sakhi by Damodar Botadkar;  Bharat No Zando and Gunvanti Gujarat by Ardeshar Khabardar and Lucy Grey by Viththalrai Avasthi are notable poems. Udayan Thakker has also published books on children's poetry.

Children's plays
Gijubhai Badheka published two volumes of children's plays through Dakshinamurti. Jugatram Dave wrote Andhala Nu Gadu and Galli Mari Ghrrr Jay. Gandiv published several plays under Chalo Bhajavie series during the same period. Other notable plays are Rangtoran and Rangdwar etc. by Jayanti Dalal; Ishwar Nu Mandir by Kismat Kureshi, Balko no Bandhav by Gaurishankar Chaturvedi, Antar Na Ajwala by Jethalal Chaudhri, Eklavya ane Biji Natikao by Pragji Dosa, Aa Rotli Kon Khashe? by Shanta Gandhi and Asman Ni Chilli by Leena Mangaldas.

Biographies
The children's literature in Gujarati is rich with biographies. Pranlal Mathurdas and Anandrav Champaji translated Robertson as Columbus No Vrutant in 1839 which was the first translated biography but is not targeted for children. Gijubhai Badheka published Kathanatya Granthmala which included biographies of Shivaji Maharaj, Buddhacharitra, Harishchandra, Gopichand etc. Jugatram Dave published Balko Na Gandhiji focused on Mahatma Gandhi. Dhirajlal Bhatt published several biographies under Adarsh Charitavali. Sayaji Balgyanmala is a series written by several authors focused on historical figures and patriots. The historical characters such as Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, Shivaji, Vivekanand, Ramakrishna, Lal Bahadur Shastri are also appear as biographical stories frequently.

Publications
The children's magazine played important role for spread and popularity of children's literature. Satyoday (1862) was the first children's magazine in Gujarati. Other magazines were Baloday (1877), Balmitra (1879), Balgyanvardhak (1882), Balshikshak (1911), Balako No Bandhu (1912), Balak (1923), Gandiv (1925), Balwadi (1927), Balodhyan (1931), Kishor (1935), Balsakha (1937), Baljagat (1939), Vidyarthi (1941), Ramakadu (1949), Zagmag (1952), Balsandesh (1952), Balkanaiyo (1954), Chandamama (1954), Rasranjan (1958), Sabras (1962), Rasvinod (1965),  Baldakshina (1966), Fulwadi (1967), Pagalee (1968), Chandapoli (1968), Suman Sanskar (1977), Bulbul (1977), Balmasti (1979), Nayak (1979), Vandarful (1981),  Safai (1981), Balako Nu Chhapu (1983), Chamak (1984), Chi (1984), Flower Pot (1984), Chitrakatha (1986), Tintin (1987), Mini Chocolate (1987),   Rasvinod (1990), Champak (1991), Tinkle (1991), Tamtam (1991), Varta Re Varta (1991).

All major Gujarati newspapers publishes supplements dedicated to children every week including Zagmag by Gujarat Samachar, Balsandesh by Sandesh, Bal Bhaskar by Divya Bhaskar''.

References
Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

Indian children's literature
Gujarati literature


Molly Cramer (25 June 1852 – 18 January 1936) was a German flower, landscape and portrait painter.  Trained in the old Dutch tradition, she turned to Impressionism in her later years.

Life

Cramer came from a wealthy merchant family in Hamburg. Along with her sister, the painter Helene Cramer, she could begin training as a painter only after her father's death in 1882. Her first teacher was the Hamburg artist Theobald Riefesell, followed by the painters Carl Rodeck and Hinrich Wrage. In  1890 she went to Antwerp to train under Eugène Joors, who taught in the tradition of the Dutch school. She primarily painted floral still lifes with him.

Back in Hamburg, she attracted the attention of the art gallery director Alfred Lichtwark as a painter of flowers and fruit. In line with Lichtwark's intentions she worked primarily with the local flora rather than reproduce the overly popular, formulaic Makartbouquets (bouquets of artificial or dried flowers used for decoration, popular in Hans Makart's style of interior design).

Cramer exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts and The Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

From 1898, Cramer turned her attention to new subjects and worked on landscapes and portraits. Her style now became impressionistic.  Nevertheless, floral still lifes still remained the focus of her work.

Via Lichtwark Cramer and her sister became acquainted with younger painters in Hamburg such as Ernst Eitner, Arthur Illies, and Paul Kayser, who founded the Hamburg Artists' Club in 1897. Both Cramer sisters exhibited their paintings together with them, but were not part of the Artists' Club.

In return, the Cramers' house became a meeting place for artists and art lovers.  In addition, Molly Cramer promoted young artists by buying their works and also funded study tours for Ernst Eitner.

Cramer exhibited her paintings in Moscow, Budapest, London, and Chicago.

Towards the end of her life she suffered a decline in her standard of living and was forced to sell paintings from her collection. She eventually lived with a younger relative and died on 18 January 1936 in Hamburg.  The tombstones of Helene and Molly Cramer are at the Hamburg Ohlsdorf Cemetery in the Garden of Women.

Selected works
 Goldlack und Primeln ("Wallflowers and primroses"), 1899, Oil on canvas (Kaiser Wilhelm Museum Krefeld)

See also
 List of German painters

Footnotes

References
 Susanne Geese: Molly Cramer. In Hamburgische Biografie (Hamburg Biography), Volume 2, Hamburg 2003. . S. 94–95.
 Petra Wiechens: Hamburger Künstlerinnen der Avantgarde (Avant-garde Hamburg artists). Hamburg 2006. . S. 8–9.

External links

19th-century German painters
20th-century German painters
German Impressionist painters
German still life painters
Artists from Hamburg
1852 births
1936 deaths
German women painters
19th-century German women artists
20th-century German women artists
People from Hamburg-Nord

Molly Cramer


William Pinkney DeLancey (November 28, 1911 – November 28, 1946) was an American professional baseball player during the 1930s.  As a 22-year-old rookie catcher in , he helped to lead the St. Louis Cardinals' fabled Gashouse Gang team to the world championship; but, after only one more full big-league season, he was stricken with tuberculosis, effectively ending his playing career.

Minor League career
The ,  DeLancey was born in Greensboro, North Carolina.  He signed with the Cardinals' farm system in 1930.  He spent his first year in the minors playing for the Shawnee (Oklahoma) Robins in the Class C Western Association, making an impressive showing with a .297 batting average on 192 at-bats.  In 1931, he was reassigned to the Danville (Illinois) Veterans of the Class B Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, where he continued to show improvement, ending the year by playing 11 games with the Columbus (Ohio) Red Birds of the American Association.  The following year, DeLancey was transferred to the Class C Springfield (Missouri) Cardinals, batting .329 with 118 RBIs, and received his Major League baptism by appearing in eight games for the major league Cardinals in September 1932.  In 1933, he returned to the Columbus Red Birds, hitting 21 home runs and batting .285 in 123 games.

Major League career
In 1934, he made the Cardinals' roster and, as a left-handed hitter, platooned with the right-handed Spud Davis to share the Cardinals' regular catching job.  He became a favorite of player-manager Frankie Frisch, and performed admirably on the field, hitting .316 with 80 hits, 18 doubles, 13 home runs, 41 bases on balls and an OPS of .979 in 295 plate appearances.  The catching platoon—Davis started 89 games, and DeLancey 65—was highly effective, as the veteran Davis, 29, hit an even .300 with 65 runs batted in and an .830 OPS.  The Cardinals outlasted the New York Giants in a September pennant race to take the National League championship on September 29.  DeLancey was behind the plate during the clincher, catching fellow rookie Paul Dean's complete game.

The Cardinals' opponents in the 1934 World Series, the American League champion Detroit Tigers, featured an all-right-handed starting rotation, and manager Frisch responded by starting DeLancey as his catcher in every contest.  DeLancey caught every inning (Davis was a perfect two-for-two as a pinch hitter), as St. Louis prevailed in seven games.  DeLancey collected only five hits in 29 at bats, but four of them were for extra bases, including three doubles and a home run, hit off Tommy Bridges in Game 5 at Sportsman's Park.  DeLancey also drove in four runs.

The DeLancey-Davis catching platoon returned in , but DeLancey got off to a sluggish start at the plate.  He recovered in midyear and lifted his batting average to .321 on July 21, before fading to .279 during the heat of August and September.  He also began to experience loss of energy and appetite. Still, he started half of the Cardinals' 154 regular-season games.  During an off-season sandlot game, however, he collapsed and was diagnosed with tuberculosis.  Realizing the seriousness of his condition while recuperating in Arizona, he voluntarily retired from the Cardinals on February 12, 1936.

Managing career
In 1937, the Cardinals established a Class D farm team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and hired the weakened DeLancey as its manager.   He was able to lead the Albuquerque Cardinals for three years, 1937–1939, and win two Arizona–Texas League championships.  He also regained enough strength to return to the field for brief periods as a player, for nine games in 1938 and for 19 games in 1939.

Return to the Cardinals
In , his health had improved to the point that he was able to return to the Cardinals, and he spent the year as the Redbirds' third-string catcher.  He appeared in 15 games, 12 in the field (with two starts), and collected four hits in 18 at-bats.  His final major league appearance was against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 8, 1940.  Over his short but illustrious career, Bill DeLancey played in 219 MLB games, amassing 173 hits, with 32 doubles, ten triples, 19 home runs, 85 runs batted in and a .289 batting average.

Return to managing
DeLancey resumed his managerial career in the Cardinals' farm system in 1941 with the Class C Pioneer League—concluding his active career with 49 games played—and 1942 in the Class B Piedmont League.  When World War II intervened, many minor leagues suspended operations or folded entirely, and DeLancey's managerial career ended in 1942.

Major League legacy
Baseball Hall of Fame executive Branch Rickey, who was the general manager of the Gashouse Gang Cardinals, named DeLancey as the catcher on his all-time team, despite DeLancey's illness-shortened career. In 1963, the elderly Rickey also likened the Cardinals' young catcher, Tim McCarver—a skilled, left-handed hitter and take-charge presence behind the plate—to DeLancey.

Personal life
While playing for the Danville Veterans during the 1931 season, Bill met Frances Yasaitis, a nursing student from nearby Westville, Illinois.  Although he was on the road for away games that year and was transferred to the Springfield Cardinals the following year, they grew increasingly close.  Following the end of the 1932 season, the couple were married in Danville.  About a month before the start of the 1934 World Series, Frances gave birth to a daughter, Doris.  After Bill contracted tuberculosis and retired from play, doctors advised the couple to move to the dry desert climate of the southwest U.S., so the DeLanceys took up residence in Phoenix.  Frances' nursing experience helped Bill's condition improve somewhat over the next several years, however, his tuberculosis gradually developed into pleurisy, a painful lung disease.  Nevertheless, the DeLanceys were able to have another child, Mary Jane, in 1945.  His health then began to decline again, and he died on his 35th birthday, November 28, 1946, in Phoenix.  He is interred at St. Francis Catholic Cemetery there.

References

External links

1911 births
1946 deaths
Albuquerque Cardinals players
Asheville Tourists managers
Baseball players from Greensboro, North Carolina
Columbus Red Birds players
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Major League Baseball catchers
Pocatello Cardinals players
Shawnee Robins players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Springfield Cardinals players
Tuberculosis deaths in Arizona

Bill DeLancey


Paal Wilson & Co A/S was a shipping company founded in 1942 that operated short sea liner services throughout Europe. It merged its operations with Jebsens in 1993 when they formed Jebsen Wilson Euro Carriers. Paal Wilson & Co merged with Euro carriers in 2001 to create Wilson ASA.

History
Paal Wilson (1911–1985) started his own shipping company in 1942 after having worked for a shipping and mining company. At first the company chartered vessels providing services to companies such as Hafslund and Bjølvefossen.  He expanded with the use of chartered vessels, and soon started with transatlantic sailings, including lumber transport from British Columbia to Europe. In 1957 Wilson started the branded service Norwegian Rhine Line that provided point-to-point services from the Rhine to Norway without having to go via Rotterdam. Customers included Hafslund, Tinfos, Øye Smelteverk, Elkem and Årdal og Sunndal Verk.

In 1958 Rieber & Søn bought 40% of the company, and by 1982 Wilson managed 42 Rhine-fitted vessels in addition to transatlantic lumber vessels. In 1985 Paal Wilson died, and Rieber & Søn wanted to withdraw. In 1988 IPG Shipping bought 67% of the company, and in 1993 the operational division was transferred to the joint venture Jebsen Wilson Euro Carriers. In 1995 Kristian Eidesvik bought part of Paal Wilson & Co, and by 2001 he owned the entire group that was renamed Wilson ASA.

References

Defunct shipping companies of Norway
Holding companies of Norway
Dry bulk shipping companies
Container shipping companies
Transport companies of Vestland
Companies based in Bergen
Transport companies established in 1942
1942 establishments in Norway
Transport companies disestablished in 1993
1993 disestablishments in Norway

Paal Wilson & Co


John Stanley Rice (January 28, 1899 – August 2, 1985) was an American Democratic politician, farmer and businessman from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Rice served in a variety of appointed and elected political roles over the course of a three-decade political career.

Background
A native of Brysonia, a small town several miles north of Gettysburg, Rice graduated from Gettysburg College. He became a successful apple grower, and went on to manufacture packaged apple products. He often returned to this business between political appointments. Rice was a Lutheran.

Political career
Rice was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1932. He was elected Democratic floor leader in 1937, following the resignation of Warren Roberts, who took office as State Auditor General. He was elected the Senate's President pro tempore in 1939.

In 1946, he was the Democratic nominee for governor, but lost to Republican State Attorney General James Duff.

Gubernatorial appointments

In 1955, Governor George Leader named Rice to the first round of appointments to the overhauled Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. He resigned from the board later that year, when Leader appointed him Secretary of the Department of Property and Supplies (now the Department of General Services).

After resigning from the cabinet in 1957, he returned to his apple farm and packaging business. However, in 1958, Leader again appointed Rice to a position in his cabinet, having him succeed the deceased James Finnegan as Secretary of the Commonwealth. Rice was also elected chair of the State Democratic Party in 1959.

In 1961, Rice received his final political appointment, when President Kennedy named him U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands. He stepped-down from the position three years later.

Death and legacy
Rice died in Fort Lauderdale in August 1985.

Rice Hall, on the campus of Gettysburg College, is named in his honor.  He had served as a trustee of the college from 1939 until 1972, when he retired to Fort Lauderdale.

References

1899 births
1985 deaths
American Lutherans
Gettysburg College alumni
Ambassadors of the United States to the Netherlands
Pennsylvania state senators
Presidents pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate
Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairs
20th-century American politicians
20th-century Lutherans

John S. Rice


Barbie: Thumbelina (also known as Barbie Presents: Thumbelina) is a 2009 computer-animated fantasy film directed by Conrad Helten. It was released on March 17, 2009, and it made its television premiere on Nick Jr. UK on December 24, 2012. The fifteenth film in the Barbie film series, it is a modern retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale Thumbelina. The film centers around Thumbelina, a "twillerbee" who befriends a human girl, and both must cooperate their strength in order to save the environment. This was the last Barbie movie to be distributed by Entertainment Rights outside North America before their closure and Mattel signing a new deal with Universal Pictures outside North America.

Official description
"Barbie presents the story of Thumbelina in a modern retelling of the classic tale. Meet a tiny girl named Thumbelina who lives in harmony with nature in the magical world of the Twillerbees that's hidden among the wildflowers. At the whim of a spoiled young girl named Makena, Thumbelina and her two friends have their patch of wildflowers uprooted and are transported to a lavish apartment in the city. Here they learn of construction plans that threaten to destroy the land of the Twillerbees! Harnessing the magic of nature, Thumbelina sets out to prove that even the smallest person can make a big difference."

Plot
The story opens with Barbie and kindergarten students walking in a big meadow, ready to plant trees. Emma, one of the children, finds a small tree and decides to plant it, but her friends laugh at her because of it, making her sad. However, Barbie cheers her up by telling her that a small tree can grow into a very big tree, then tells her the story of Thumbelina.

Thumbelina is one of the Twillerbees, wingless fairies who spawn from flowers and whose magic affects plant growth. Learning that some Twillerbuds are growing and will soon open to reveal new Twillerbabies, Thumbelina constructs false wing gliders for herself and her friends Janessa and Chrysella, so they can monitor the Twillerbud flowers until the babies are "born".

Tractors arrive in the field and remove part of the flowerbed, with the three friends hiding inside. The plants, now potted, are placed in an apartment belonging to the parents of a spoiled, wealthy girl named Makena; she keeps the flowers in her bedroom. As Thumbelina, Chrysella, and Janessa search for a way to go back to their field, Makena's dog Poofles runs after them. Makena comes into the bedroom while the trio hides. Makena talks to her friend Violet on a cell phone about her parents, who intend to build a factory on the Twillerbees' field. An upset Thumbelina reveals herself and scolds Makena; Makena, surprised, sees the ownership of a Twillerbee as a way to one-up Violet, whom she always competes with.

The three Twillerbees try, unsuccessfully, to escape from Makena and Poofles. Finally, Thumbelina is able to send Chrysella and Janessa home, to disturb the work in the field while Thumbelina talks to Makena. Thumbelina makes Makena promise not to tell anyone about her, and to persuade her parents to stop building the factory. In return, Thumbelina agrees to create special plants for Makena.

Makena, determined to show off in front of her friends, agrees to the deal but only perfunctorily talks to her parents about the factory project. She also breaks her promise and brings Violet and another girl named Ashlyn to show off Thumbelina and her powers. Thumbelina angrily leaves, and Makena realizes that the other two badly-behaved girls are not her true friends. Missing Thumbelina's companionship, Makena goes to the field and begs forgiveness. Thumbelina reveals the rest of the Twillerbees, and the Twillerbuds, to Makena, who becomes determined to save them.

That night, Makena, Thumbelina, Janessa, Chrysella, Poofles, and Lola the bird all work hard in a greenhouse to grow the plants. The next day, Makena shows her parents the result and asks them to stop the building. Thumbelina appears, and explains to the adults about the Twillerbuds that will bloom soon. Evan and Vanessa, Makena's parents, are convinced, and agree to stop Myron, the contractor, from destroying the field.

Thanks to some birds and the other Twillerbees, Myron's workers are tricked into believing the field is haunted, and flee. However, Myron is angry and determined to finish his work, as he is allergic to flowers and wants them gone. Ultimately, Makena and Thumbelina arrive and halt Myron long enough for Evan and Vanessa to arrive at the field and have the factory project shut down. A team of birds chases Myron away, and Makena and her family watch the Twillerbuds bloom. To prevent others from destroying the field, they turn the field into a Reserved Park.

As Barbie finishes the story, an adult Makena arrives and reveals they are in the Reserved Park, which now belongs to her. Barbie says that even the smallest person can make a big difference; Makena is small, compared to the other adults, just like the children.

Voice cast

See also
 List of Barbie films
 Barbie (media franchise)
 Barbie: Fairytopia
 Barbie: A Fairy Secret

References

External links

2009 direct-to-video films
2009 computer-animated films
Films set in the 21st century
American direct-to-video films
Canadian direct-to-video films
Canadian independent films
2000s American animated films
Canadian animated feature films
2000s English-language films
Universal Pictures direct-to-video animated films
Universal Pictures direct-to-video films
Thumbelina
2009 fantasy films
Animated films based on Thumbelina
Canadian animated fantasy films
American children's animated fantasy films
Environmental films
2009 films
Animated films set in the 2000s
2000s Canadian films
Animated films about fairies and sprites

Barbie: Thumbelina


"The Beatles Play the Residents and the Residents Play the Beatles" is a 1977 single by the Residents. The A-side, "Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life", is an audio collage of recordings by the Beatles and John Lennon, with a looped clip from the Beatles' third Christmas record, in which Paul McCartney says "Please everybody, if we haven't done what we could have done, we've tried."

The B-side, "Flying", is a cover of the Beatles song, selected because it (along with "Dig It") is one of the few songs to be credited to all four Beatles. At one point, one of the Residents quotes the clip from the McCartney interview used on the A-side and laughs maniacally.

The single, particularly the B-side, reflects the Residents' boredom with pop music and their tendency to perform deconstructionist covers, perhaps shown most notably on their album The Third Reich 'n Roll.

It was originally released as a 7" single that was limited and numbered to 500 copies, with three different hand-screened sleeves.

Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life
This track is a collage of recordings by the Beatles, plus one song by John Lennon. In addition to the snippet of dialogue from the 1965 Christmas record, the track contains the following songs:

"A Day in the Life"
"The End"
"Lady Madonna"
"A Hard Day's Night"
"Tell Me What You See"
"God", by John Lennon
"Her Majesty"
"Tell Me Why"
"I Am the Walrus"
"Blue Jay Way"
"Can't Buy Me Love"
"Another Girl"
"All I've Got to Do"
"All My Loving"
"Girl"
"In My Life"
"Yellow Submarine"
"No Reply"
"I'm a Loser"
"Mr. Moonlight"
"Love You To"
"She Loves You"
"Hey Bulldog"
"Bad Boy"

References

Further reading
The Residents: 'Beyond The Valley Of A Day In the Life' By Jon Savage

1977 songs
1977 singles
The Residents songs
The Beatles music
Songs written by George Harrison
Songs written by Lennon–McCartney
Songs written by Ringo Starr


A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture.

In the 18th century, jigsaw puzzles were created by painting a picture on a flat, rectangular piece of wood, then cutting it into small pieces. The name "jigsaw" derives from the tools used to cut the images into pieces—variably identified as jigsaws, fretsaws or scroll saws. Assisted by Jason Hinds, John Spilsbury, a London cartographer and engraver, is credited with commercialising jigsaw puzzles around 1760. His design took world maps, and cut out the individual nations in order for them to be reassembled by students as a geographical teaching aid. They have since come to be made primarily of interlocking cardboard pieces, incorporating a variety of images and designs.

Jigsaw puzzles have been used in research studies to study cognitive abilities such as mental rotation visuospatial ability in young children.

Typical images on jigsaw puzzles include scenes from nature, buildings, and repetitive designs—castles and mountains are common, as well as other traditional subjects. However, any picture can be used. Artisan puzzle-makers and companies using technologies for one-off and small print-run puzzles utilize a wide range of subject matter, including optical illusions, unusual art, and personal photographs. In addition to traditional flat, two-dimensional puzzles, three-dimensional puzzles have entered large-scale production, including spherical puzzles and architectural recreations.

A range of jigsaw puzzle accessories, including boards, cases, frames, and roll-up mats, have become available to assist jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts. While most assembled puzzles are disassembled for reuse, they can also be attached to a backing with adhesive and displayed as art.

Competitive Jigsaw Puzzling has grown in popularity in recent years, with both regional and national competitions held in many countries, and annual World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships held from 2019.

History

John Spilsbury is believed to have produced the first jigsaw puzzle around 1760, using a marquetry saw.

Early puzzles, known as dissections, were produced by mounting maps on sheets of hardwood and cutting along national boundaries, creating a puzzle useful for teaching geography. Royal governess Lady Charlotte Finch used such "dissected maps" to teach the children of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Cardboard jigsaw puzzles appeared in the late 1800s, but were slow to replace wooden ones because manufacturers felt that cardboard puzzles would be perceived as low-quality, and because profit margins on wooden jigsaws were larger.

The name "jigsaw" came to be associated with the puzzle around 1880 when fretsaws became the tool of choice for cutting the shapes. Along with fretsaws, jigsaws and scroll saws have also been noted as tools used to cut jigsaw puzzles into pieces. The term "jigsaw puzzle" dates back to 1906.

Jigsaw puzzles soared in popularity during the Great Depression, as they provided a cheap, long-lasting, recyclable form of entertainment. It was around this time that jigsaws evolved to become more complex and appealing to adults. They were also given away in product promotions and used in advertising, with customers completing an image of the promoted product.

Sales of wooden puzzles fell after World War II as improved wages led to price increases, while improvements in manufacturing processes made paperboard jigsaws more attractive.

Demand for jigsaw puzzles saw a surge, comparable to that of the Great Depression, during the COVID-19 pandemic's stay-at-home orders.

Modern construction

Most modern jigsaw puzzles are made of paperboard as they are easier and cheaper to mass-produce. An enlarged photograph or printed reproduction of a painting or other two-dimensional artwork is glued to cardboard, which is then fed into a press. The press forces a set of hardened steel blades of the desired pattern, called a puzzle die, through the board until fully cut.

The puzzle die is a flat board, often made from plywood, with slots cut or burned in the same shape as the knives that are used. The knives are set into the slots and covered in a compressible material, typically foam rubber, which ejects the cut puzzle pieces.

The cutting process is similar to making shaped cookies with a cookie cutter. However, the forces involved are tremendously greater: A typical 1000-piece puzzle requires upwards of 700 tons of force to push the die through the board.

Beginning in the 1930s, jigsaw puzzles were cut using large hydraulic presses that now cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The precise cuts gave a snug fit, but the cost limited jigsaw puzzle production to large corporations. Recent roller-press methods achieve the same results at a lower cost.

New technology has also enabled laser-cutting of wooden or acrylic jigsaw puzzles. The advantage is that the puzzle can be custom-cut to any size or shape, with any number or average size of pieces. Many museums have laser-cut acrylic puzzles made of some of their art so visiting children can assemble puzzles of the images on display. Acrylic pieces are very durable, waterproof, and can withstand continued use without the image degrading. Also, because the print and cut patterns are computer-based, missing pieces can easily be remade.

By the early 1960s, Tower Press was the world's largest jigsaw puzzle maker; it was acquired by Waddingtons in 1969. Numerous smaller-scale puzzle makers work in artisanal styles, handcrafting and handcutting their creations.

Variations

Jigsaw puzzles come in a variety of sizes. Among those marketed to adults, 300-, 500- and 750-piece puzzles are considered "smaller". More sophisticated, but still common, puzzles come in sizes of 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, and 5,000 pieces.

Jigsaw puzzles geared towards children typically have many fewer pieces and are typically much larger. For very young children, puzzles with as few as 4 to 9 large pieces (so as not to be a choking hazard) are standard. They are usually made of wood or plastic for durability and can be cleaned without damage.

The most common layout for a thousand-piece puzzle is 38 pieces by 27 pieces, for an actual total of 1,026 pieces. Most 500-piece puzzles are 27 pieces by 19 pieces, for a total of 513 pieces. A few puzzles are double-sided so they can be solved from either side—adding complexity, as the enthusiast must determine if they are looking at the right side of each piece.

"Family puzzles" of 100–550 pieces use an assortment of small, medium and large pieces, with each size going in one direction or towards the middle of the puzzle. This allows a family of different skill levels and hand sizes to work on the puzzle together. Companies like Springbok, Cobble Hill, Ceaco, Buffalo Games and Suns Out make this type of specialty puzzle. Ravensburger, on the other hand, formerly made this type of puzzle from 2000 until 2008.

There are also three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles. Many are made of wood or styrofoam and require the puzzle to be solved in a particular order, as some pieces will not fit if others are already in place. One type of 3-D jigsaw puzzle is a puzzle globe, often made of plastic. Like 2-D puzzles, the assembled pieces form a single layer, but the final form is three-dimensional. Most globe puzzles have designs representing spherical shapes such as the Earth, the Moon, and historical globes of the Earth.

Also common are puzzle boxes, simple three-dimensional puzzles with a small drawer or box in the center for storage.

Jigsaw puzzles can vary significantly in price depending on their complexity, number of pieces, and brand. In the US, children's puzzles can start around $5, while larger ones can be closer to $50. The most expensive puzzle to date was sold for $US27,000 in 2005 at a charity auction for The Golden Retriever Foundation.

Several word-puzzle games use pieces similar to those in jigsaw puzzles. Examples include Alfa-Lek, Jigsaw Words, Nab-It!, Puzzlage, Typ-Dom, Word Jigsaw, and Yottsugo.

Puzzle pieces

Many puzzles are termed "fully interlocking", which means that adjacent pieces are connected so that they stay attached when one is turned. Sometimes the connection is tight enough to pick up a solved part by holding one piece.

Some fully interlocking puzzles have pieces of a similar shape, with rounded tabs (interjambs) on opposite ends and corresponding indentations—called blanks—on the other two sides to receive the tabs. Other fully interlocking puzzles may have tabs and blanks variously arranged on each piece; but they usually have four sides, and the numbers of tabs and blanks thus add up to four. Uniformly shaped fully interlocking puzzles, sometimes called "Japanese Style", are the most difficult because the differences in the pieces' shapes are most subtle.

Most jigsaw puzzles are square, rectangular or round, with edge pieces with one straight or smoothly curved side, plus four corner pieces (if the puzzle is square or rectangular). However, some puzzles have edge, and corner pieces cut like the rest, with no straight sides, making it more challenging to identify them. Other puzzles utilize more complex edge pieces to form unique shapes when assembled, such as profiles of animals.

The pieces of spherical jigsaw, like immersive panorama jigsaw, can be triangular-shaped, according to the rules of tessellation of the geoid primitive.

Designer Yuu Asaka created "Jigsaw Puzzle 29". Instead of four corner pieces, it has five. The puzzle is made from pale blue acrylic without a picture. It was awarded the Jury Honorable Mention of 2018 Puzzle Design Competition. Because many puzzlers had solved it easily, he created "Jigsaw Puzzle 19" which composed only with corner pieces as revenge. It was made with transparent green acrylic pieces without a picture.

Calculating the number of edge pieces
Jigsaw puzzlers often want to know in advance how many border pieces they are looking for to verify they have found all of them. Puzzle sizes are typically listed on commercially distributed puzzles but usually include the total number of pieces in the puzzle and do not list the count of edge or interior pieces.

Puzzlers, therefore, calculate the number of border pieces. To calculate B (border pieces) from P (the total piece count), follow this method:
 List the prime factors of P.
 For a 513-piece jigsaw, the prime factorization tree is 3×3×3×19=513
 Take the square root of P and round off.
   22.6
 round to 23
 Look for numbers in the prime factor list within ±20% of the square root of P.
 Calculate 20% of the rounded square root of P.
  × 23 = 4.6
 Develop the range, ±20%, from the rounded square root of P.
 23 ±4.6 = 18.4 to 27.6
 Compare the range with the factor list. Define this as E1.
 The factor list shows 19 in the range.
 Determine the horizontal / vertical dimensions.
 Divide P (the total number of pieces) by E1 to determine the horizontal / vertical dimensions, E1xE2.
 513 / 19 = 27
 This is probably a 19×27 puzzle.
 Alternative method: take the remaining numbers from the prime factorization tree.
 3x3x3 = 27
 Add the four sides and subtract 4 to correct for the corner pieces, which would otherwise be counted in both the horizontal and vertical.
 (27 × 2)+(19 × 2)-4 = 88

These 88 border pieces include 4 corners, 17 pieces between corners on the short sides, and 25 between corners on the long sides.

Common puzzle dimensions:
1000 piece puzzle: 1026 pieces, 126 border pieces (38x27)

World records

Largest commercially available jigsaw puzzles

Largest-sized jigsaw puzzles
The world's largest-sized jigsaw puzzle measured  with 21,600 pieces, each measuring a Guinness World Records maximum size of 50 cm by 50 cm. It was assembled on 3 November 2002 by 777 people at the former Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong.

Largest jigsaw puzzle – most pieces

The jigsaw with the greatest number of pieces had 551,232 pieces and measured 14.85 × 23.20 m (48 ft 8.64 in × 76 ft 1.38 in). It was assembled on 25 September 2011 at Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by students of the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City. It is listed by the Guinness World Records for the "Largest Jigsaw Puzzle – most pieces", and was divided into 3,132 sections each containing 176 pieces, which were assembled individually and then connected to compose the full puzzle.

Research studies
Studies have shown that the ability to solve jigsaw puzzles develops during early childhood. During this time there is significant development in cognitive abilities such as mental rotation and visuospatial ability, which can be used to solve a puzzle. Throughout life those abilities can continue to develop.

In 2021, researchers conducted a study during which a group of children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old were asked to complete three different types of jigsaw puzzles. Each child was given a normal jigsaw puzzle with a picture on it, another with normal shaped pieces but without an image on it and finally a puzzle with an image on it but all the pieces were shaped the same. They were shown the completed versions then asked to reassemble them. The children were given three minutes to complete each puzzle; half of the group was given a guide picture while the other half was not. The results revealed that 4 and 5 year olds were able to complete all three puzzles within the allotted time, meanwhile most 3-year-olds were able to complete the normal jigsaw puzzle and the puzzle of normal shaped pieces without an image on it but struggled more with the puzzle that had an image but all the pieces were shaped the same. With all of the children the fastest completion time was with the normal puzzle and the slowest was with the puzzle with an image and same shaped pieces; there were also fewer errors in with the children that had a guide. The cognitive development between the different ages can be seen in their completion times and how many errors were made. The older children were able to complete the puzzles with fewer errors because their mental rotation abilities, which is the ability to rotate an object in your mind to see it from a different perspective, are further developed than they are for younger children who are more likely to resort to trial and error.

The difference in the visuospatial abilities between boys and girls were studied in 2017 using jigsaw puzzles. A second-grade class was asked to complete three different puzzles, the first was a neutral one of a horse, second was a male-oriented one of a tractor, and the third was a female-oriented one of the character Bambi. The Bambi puzzle had the fastest completion time with all the children which is believed to be caused by their previous experience, and because it was finished the fastest with all of the children researchers don't believe there is a connection between the puzzles' targeted audience and the sex of the children. Overall the girls in the class were faster, and made fewer errors.

Society
The logo of Wikipedia is a globe made out of jigsaw pieces. The incomplete sphere symbolizes the room to add new knowledge.

In the logo of the Colombian Office of the Attorney General appears a jigsaw puzzle piece in the foreground. They named it "The Key Piece": "The piece of a puzzle is the proper symbol to visually represent the Office of the Attorney General because it includes the concepts of search, solution and answers that the entity pursues through the investigative activity."

Art and entertainment
The central antagonist in the Saw film franchise is nicknamed Jigsaw, due to his practice of cutting the shape of a puzzle piece from the remains of his victims.

In the 1933 Laurel and Hardy short Me and My Pal, several characters attempt to complete a large jigsaw puzzle.

Lost in Translation is a poem about a child putting together a jigsaw puzzle, as well as an interpretive puzzle itself.

Life: A User's Manual, Georges Perec's most famous novel, tells as pieces of a puzzle a story about a jigsaw puzzle maker.

Jigsaw Puzzle (song), sometimes spelled "Jig-Saw Puzzle" is a song by the rock and roll band The Rolling Stones, featured on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet.

In ''Citizen Kane'' Susan Alexander Kane (Dorothy Comingore) is reduced to spending her days completing jigsaws after the failure of her operatic career. After Kane's death when ''Xanadu'' is emptied, hundreds of jigsaw puzzles are discovered in the cellar.

Rhett And Link Do A Rainy Day Jigsaw Puzzle is a short video by self-described "internetainers" (portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers") Rhett & Link which portrays the frustration of discovering a puzzle piece is missing.

Mental health
According to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, doing jigsaw puzzles is one of many activities that can help keep the brain active and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Jigsaw puzzle pieces were first used as a symbol for autism in 1963 by the United Kingdom's National Autistic Society. The organization chose jigsaw pieces for their logo to represent the "puzzling" nature of autism and the inability to "fit in" due to social differences, and also because jigsaw pieces were recognizable and otherwise unused. Puzzle pieces have since been incorporated into the logos and promotional materials of many organizations, including the Autism Society of America and Autism Speaks.

Proponents of the autism rights movement oppose the jigsaw puzzle iconography, stating that metaphors such as "puzzling" and "incomplete" are harmful to autistic people. Critics of the puzzle piece symbol instead advocate for a gold-colored or red infinity symbol representing diversity. In 2017, the journal Autism concluded that the use of the jigsaw puzzle evoked negative public perception towards autistic individuals. They removed the puzzle piece from their cover in February 2018.

See also
Edge-matching puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle accessories
Tessellation

References

Further reading
 Anne D. Williams, The Jigsaw Puzzle: Piecing Together a History (Berkley, 2004)

External links

Jigsaw-puzzle.org at jigsaw-puzzle.org (November 2000; archived from Wayback Machine)
History of Jigsaw puzzle at puzzlewarehouse.com
Why don't Jigsaw Puzzles have the correct number of pieces? – Matt Parker

Tiling puzzles
Mechanical puzzles
Traditional toys
Wooden toys

Jigsaw puzzle


Collider is an online entertainment publication, with a focus on the film industry and television series. Collider focuses on entertainment news, analysis, and commentary, along with original features, complementary film and television reviews, editorials, and interviews. As of July 2023, it is averaging 46.3 million views a month.

, Collider YouTube channel had 623,000 subscribers and over 556,000,000 cumulative views. Former extensions of the channel include Movie Talk, Movie Trivia Schmoedown, Heroes, Jedi Council, Behind the Scenes & Bloopers, and Collider News. The channel had also branched out and produced content for other outlets, such as Awesometacular with Jeremy Jahns for go90.

Extensions of the main YouTube channel include Collider Podcasts (including a period named under Collider Live), Collider Interviews (formerly Collider Quick), Collider Games (later renamed Revog and presumably sold off), Collider Sports & Pro Wrestling Sheet. The website and channel has also expanded into producing podcasts for PodcastOne.

History
Collider was founded in 2005 by editor-in-chief Steven Weintraub as a blog. In 2015, Weintraub sold Collider to Complex Media, who would manage business and advertisements on the website and offer editing support. On November 17, 2020, Valnet announced that it had acquired Collider.

Movie Talk
Daily, the crew will share their perspective on the film industry, which will include film reviews and industry news. Each episode is approximately an hour in length. A segment called "Buy or Sell" (later renamed "Agree or Disagree") happens daily where the panel will discuss whether they see certain topics or announcements as favorable or unfavorable. Each episode will typically end with questions from the "mailbag" sent to email and from live tweets to the corresponding channel. The "Agree or Disagree" segment was later pulled entirely from the show. Previously airing at 9:00 AM, the show moved to a 4:00 PM timeslot in July 2018, followed by a 3:00 PM timeslot in May 2019. Along with the May 2019 timeslot change, the format was changed to now include live chat interaction during the show, nixing the live Twitter questions at the end of the program. In August 2019, it was announced that the program would be moving back to the earlier 9:00 AM timeslot along with additional segments and content. The show was cancelled in a statement released by Collider and Marc Fernandez on January 2, 2020.

Heroes
Heroes follows a similar format to Movie Talk, except the coverage is strictly on comic book film news. It was hosted by Jon Schnepp, who after his passing was succeeded by Amy Dallen and Coy Jandreau. Episodes revolve around the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe. The show also talks about comics-based TV series such as Arrow and The Flash on The CW or the MCU on Netflix. The show was cancelled in a statement released by Collider and Marc Fernandez on January 2, 2020.

Nightmares
Nightmares follows the same format as Movie Talk and Heroes to a horror-focused show. Hosted by Clarke Wolfe, it follows news on horror films and television. Regular co-hosts include Mark Reilly, Perri Nemiroff and Jon Schnepp. It was reduced from a weekly show to monthly installments in 2017 due to decreased viewership, and later was put on indefinite hiatus.

Movie Trivia Schmoedown
Introduced in March 2016, the Movie Trivia Schmoedown was a game show hosted by Harloff and Ellis where Collider or other YouTube cinema-related personalities engage in a film trivia competition. The show has a heavy professional wrestling influence in terms of storylines and gimmicks, although the competition itself is legitimate.

Collider News
Hosted by various members, these videos are typically short segments ranging from one to two minutes in length. These short videos discuss upcoming movies, new trailer drops, celebrity controversy, or filming and production issues on set. These short pieces are uploaded shortly after breaking news. Each short ends as the host asks the viewers their opinion on the story and encourages fans to post comments for further discussion on the next episode of the Movie Talk panels.

Collider Crash Course
Collider Crash Course videos cover a variety of topics that are designed to enlighten viewers. The segments vary in length and are hosted by an alternating group of staff.

Collider Behind the Scenes & Bloopers
Collider Behind the Scenes & Bloopers videos, which feature Perri Nemiroff hosting, offer viewers a look behind the scenes of the other shows, as well as interviewing staff on a variety of topics.

Comic Book Shopping
Hosted by Jon Schnepp, these videos showcase celebrities and comic book writers shopping for and discussing comics and graphic novels. In March 2019, it was announced that the series was being revived with Coy Jandreau succeeding the late Schnepp.

1x1 with Kristian Harloff
Hosted by Kristian Harloff, the videos show hour-long interviews with celebrity guests.

Collider Live
Introduced in 2018, this live program featured a rotating panel of staff, and featured a more loose atmosphere. Topics are wide-ranging, from film and media news, everyday lives of staff, etc. Celebrity guests often appear to discuss projects and other topics. Hosted by Kristian Harloff and later by Roxy Striar and Dorina Arellano, the show moved to its own separate channel beginning on May 20, 2019. The show was cancelled in a statement released by Collider and Marc Fernandez on January 2, 2020.

Movie Review Talk
Hosted by Scott Mantz, who provides film reviews of opening releases. The series was canceled due to low viewership,
with the final episode airing on February 15, 2019.

For Your Consideration
Introduced in 2018, this series offers commentary, discussion and coverage of the upcoming major awards season, including potential Academy Awards contenders, TIFF coverage of buzzed-about films, etc. The series is hosted primarily by Perri Nemiroff and Jeff Sneider, with Scott Mantz and Steve Weintraub providing additional opinions.

Staff

Collider.com's current staff includes Weintraub, Managing Editor Gabriel Bell, Features Lead Tania Hussain, Senior Producer Perri Nemiroff, Senior Entertainment Reporter Christina Radish, News Lead Maggie Lovitt, Resources Lead Mish Beck, Lists Lead Sammuel R. Murrian, Senior Movie Editor Ross Bonaime, Senior Television Editor Carly Lane, and Senior Utilities Editor Taylor Gates. Junior editors include Emma Kiely, Rebecca Landman, Emily Bernard, Rae Torres, Nate Richard, Michael Thomas, Remus Noronha, Therese Lacson, Robert Taylor, Chase Hutchinson, Abby Cavenaugh, Hannah Saab, Arezou Amin, Maggie Boccella, Tamera Jones, Samantha Coley, Clayton Curtice, Edidiong Mboho, and others.

Notable past staff and contributors include Deputy Editor Adam Chitwood, Senior Editor Matt Goldberg (Film), Horror Editor Alyse Wax, Senior Editor Allison Keene (TV), Managing Editor Haleigh Foutch, Editor Dave Trumbore (Animation), Weekend Editor Chris Cabin, Social Media Manager Dorian Parks, Dennis Tzeng, Coy Jandreau, Dorina Arellano, Scott Mantz, John Campea, David Griffin, Sasha Perl-Raver, Jeremy Jahns, Miri Jedeikin, Ashley Mova, Sinead De Vries, Natasha Martinez, Clarke Wolfe, Grace Hancock, Halleta Alemu, Jay Washington, Robert Meyer Burnett, Jon Schnepp, Mark Ellis, Kristian Harloff, John Rocha, Mark Reilly, Ken Napzok, Wendy Lee, Amy Dallen, Jeff Sneider, Roxy Striar, Evan Valentine, Kayti Burt, Jennifer McHugh, Carla Day, Vinnie Mancuso, Nick Romano, Craig Byrne, Tommy Cook, Emma Fraser, Christian Smith, Jason Barr, Brendan Bettinger, Brian Formo, Aubrey Page, Nicole Pedersen, and Josh Macuga.

References

External links

Internet properties established in 2005
American entertainment news websites
American film review websites

Collider (website)


Francisco Brines Bañó (22 January 1932 – 20 May 2021) was a Spanish poet. He was born in Oliva, Valencia region. He was thought to be one of the 50s Generation of Spanish poets. His poetry collections include: Las brasas (1960), Palabras a la oscuridad (1966), Aún no (1971), Insistencias en Luzbel (1977), El otoño de las rosas (1986) and La última costa (1995). His collected poems Ensayo de una despedida were published in 1997.

He won the Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas in 1999. Brines was elected to the Real Academia Española on 19 April 2001.In 2020, he was awarded the Miguel de Cervantes Prize.

He taught Spanish literature at Oxford University and Cambridge University.

Brines died of problems caused by hernia surgery at a hospital in Gandia, Spain on 20 May 2021, aged 89.

References

1932 births
Spanish poets
2021 deaths
Spanish academics
Spanish LGBT people

Francisco Brines