Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975), is a Colombian racing driver who has competed in open-wheel car, sports car and stock car racing events. He won the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Drivers' Championship in 1999; the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 and 2015; the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2007, 2008 and 2013 and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2019.

Montoya began kart racing at the age of five, and had early success before progressing to car racing in Colombia and Mexico at age 17, finishing runner-up in the Copa Formula Renault and winning the Nationale Tournement Swift GTI Championship. He also competed in the Barber Saab Pro Series, the Formula Vauxhall Lotus Championship and the British Formula 3 Championship. In 1997 and 1998, Montoya raced in the International Formula 3000 for RSM Marko and then Super Nova Racing, winning seven races and the 1998 Drivers' Championship. He debuted in CART in 1999 with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), tying Dario Franchitti on points but claimed the title because of count-back on the number of victories taken by both drivers. During the 2000 season, Montoya's form lowered due to unreliability but still won three races for ninth in the Drivers' Championship and won the Indianapolis 500 on his first attempt.

He first drove in Formula One (F1) with the Williams team in the  season and secured his maiden victory in that year's . Montoya qualified on pole position seven times in the  championship and two races in the  season that put him thirdin the World Drivers' Championship in both years. He fell to fifth in the 2004 World Drivers' Championship but won the season-ending . At the start of the  season, Montoya moved to McLaren and finished fourth with three victories. The  season resulted in him leaving F1 after that year's  and began competing in NASCAR for CGR in late 2006. During his seven-year NASCAR career, Montoya won the 2007 Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200, the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 and the 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen. He qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009 and finished a career-high eighth in that season's points standings.

For the 2014 season, Montoya switched to the IndyCar Series with Team Penske and took one win before claiming two victories in 2015 (including the Indianapolis 500) and tying CGR's Scott Dixon in points but finishing second because of count-back on the number of wins taken by both drivers. His final series victory came in 2016 before going part-time in 2017 onwards and making his IMSA debut at the 2017 Petit Le Mans. Paired with Dane Cameron, Montoya qualified on pole once and was fifth in the Prototype drivers' standings before winning three races the following year to claim the series title. He fell to seventh in the 2020 season and was fourth in the FIA World Endurance Championship's LMP2 Pro-Am subcategory with DragonSpeed USA in 2021. Montoya has also won the 6 Hours of Bogotá three times as well as the individual event of the Race of Champions in 2017.

Early life

Montoya was born on the morning of 20 September 1975, in a Bogotá hospital, to middle-class parents Pablo (an architect who enjoyed motor racing and amateur go-karting) and his wife Libia Roldán de Montoya (). He is the family's eldest child, with two younger brothers and a sister. Montoya's grandfather Santiago worked in real estate, while his uncle Diego raced sports cars. The family lived in the San José de Bavaria neighbourhood in Bogotá's northern outskirts. Montoya attended the private schools Colegio Gimnasio Bilingue Campestre and later the Colegio San Tarsicio after his test scores were too low and he was a Boy Scout. He spent four days a week on his education and three days racing by the end of his schooling.

Junior racing career

Aged five, Montoya began kart racing when his father brought him a go-kart, taught him to drive and trained at the Kartódromo Cajica outside of Bogota. His father mentored him, discreetly remortgaging the house without his wife's knowledge to finance his son's career or rearranging finances and obtaining sponsorship until Formula 3000 (F3000). Montoya got funding working as a delivery boy for his father, learnt racecraft and mechanical engineering from him, and was inspired by drivers Roberto Guerrero and Ayrton Senna. He raced in a self-organised karting championship due to the Colombian Karting Federation's financial problems. Montoya won the 1984 Colombian Children's National Karting Championship, was second in the 1985 Colombian National Karting Championship and won the following year's local and national titles. Montoya won numerous championships in the Kart Komet category's local and national divisions from 1987 to 1989. He raced in the World Karting Junior Championship in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Montoya won four national championships and finished second three times.

He began car racing in 1992, and travelled to the United States that September to attend a three-day Skip Barber Racing School at Sonoma Raceway under the tutelage of lead instructor Vic Elford. Montoya then returned to Colombia to drive a Van Diemen car in the 1600cc Copa Formula Renault after series officials rejected him for being inexperienced and for being an aggressive driver until the withdrawal of one driver enabled his entry. He took four wins and five pole positions for second in the eight-race championship. Montoya won the eight-round Nationale Tournement Swift GTI Championship in a Suzuki Swift in 1993, winning seven races and seven poles. He was second in the ten-race Lada Samara Cup with five wins and three pole positions and he won his class in the 1994 Karting SudAm 125 Championship. After his father determined that his son could better himself outside of Colombia because of the country' lack of race tracks and senior championships, Montoya entered the American-based Barber Saab Pro Series in 1994 featuring normally aspirated cars, winning two races, two poles and eleven top-ten finishes for third overall with 114 points. He also raced for the Osaka team in Mexico, finishing third overall in the local sports car prototype division and earning three wins and four pole positions in the Nissan-powered single seater Formula N support category.

Montoya continued racing instead of attending university after graduating from high school in 1995. His father was told that Montoya had to move to Europe to further his career, and Montoya's coach, Peter Argetsinger, got him introduced to Jackie and Paul Stewart, who tested him at the Silverstone Circuit in England. After Jackie Stewart suggested that Montoya do a year's junior racing, they put him in Paul Stewart Racing's (PWR) Formula Vauxhall Lotus Championship team rather than the British Formula 3 Championship. He initially struggled but improved after being taught to better use his energy and to drive smoother by Jackie Stewart. He won three of the season's 14 races (all from pole position) and five podium finishes for third in the Drivers' Championship with 125 points. In October 1995, he finished ninth in the International Formula 3 Cup at Donington Park, and won the 6 Hours of Bogotá endurance race with co-drivers Jorge Cortés and Diego Guzmán in Spice's No. 45 Group C car.

Montoya advanced to the British Formula 3 Championship in 1996, driving a Fortec Motorsport-entered Dallara F396-Mitsubishi car after South American sponsorship was obtained when driver Cristiano da Matta had funding problems and PWR's plans to run three vehicles fell through due to structural and competitiveness concerns. Despite feeling uncomfortable in the underpowered car and making mistakes, he took two wins, five podium finishes and a pole position to end the 16-race season fifth in the Drivers' Championship with 137 points. That year saw Montoya finished fourth in the Masters of Formula 3 at Circuit Zandvoort. He replaced Jan Magnussen in the International Touring Car Championship's double header round at Silverstone, driving Mercedes-AMG's Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse and retired from both races. Montoya retired from the Macau Grand Prix but won his second 6 Hours of Bogotá with Jorge Arango and Cortés.

For 1997, he wanted to move to the International F3000 Championship—Formula One's (F1) feeder series— and accepted an offer from team owner Helmut Marko to drive for his RSM Marko squad in F3000 after budgetary issues stopped Super Nova Racing owner David Sears from signing him. Marko advised Montoya to eat healthily and exercise more in order to boost his performance and handle heavier cars better, but he was hesitant and occasionally fell behind owing to a lack of mental fortitude. He won three races driving the Lola T96/50-Zytek car at the Pau Grand Prix, the A1-Ring and the Circuito de Jerez and took two pole positions. Montoya made errors that lost him two race victories, and was mathematically eliminated from championship contention after finishing third in the season's penultimate round at Mugello Circuit, which Ricardo Zonta won. He was second in the Drivers' Championship with 37.5 points and was the series' highest-placed rookie. Outside of F3000, Montoya won the 6 Hours of Bogotá for the third time, alongside Cortés and Guzmán.

In November 1997, Williams Grand Prix Engineering team owner Frank Williams invited him to a shootout between Soheil Ayari, Nicolas Minassian and Max Wilson at the Circuit de Catalunya to decide who would be its F1 test driver. He got the role and covered  in 1998 as well as studying telemetry for drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve. Montoya joined Super Nova Racing for the 1998 International F3000 Championship after a character clash with Marko and declined Marko's offer to become his manager, who paid Sears for Montoya to race at Super Nova. During a season-long rivalry with West Competition Team driver Nick Heidfeld, he won four races (at Catalunya, Silverstone, Pau and the Autodromo di Pergusa), took nine podium finishes and seven pole positions. Montoya won the championship by finishing third in the season finale at the Nürburgring and ended the 12-race season with 65 points.

CART and first Indianapolis 500 win

He made his Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) debut in 1999 for Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) on a three-year contract after Williams signed double CART champion Alex Zanardi from CGR to drive for them instead of Montoya because Williams wanted a more experienced driver and thought Montoya needed more development. Montoya could not drive for the Jordan, Stewart, Minardi and Sauber teams because he was under contract to Williams, but Frank Williams enabled CGR owner Chip Ganassi and team manager Mo Nunn to sign him.

He drove the No. 4 Reynard 99I-Honda car, and was advised on oval track racing by Ganassi, Nunn and teammate Jimmy Vasser. Montoya won his first CART race, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, in the season's third round. He then won the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway from pole position, leading a race-high 210 laps to take the championship lead from Greg Moore, and became the first rookie to win three successive races after leading 93 laps in the Rio 200. Montoya later took two pole positions and a top-three finish at Portland International Raceway due to a penalty and fuel strategy. Montoya then won the Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport from pole position, but reliability issues and accidents over the next four races lost him the championship lead to Dario Franchitti. He won the next three races at Mid-Ohio, Chicago and Vancouver to retake the championship lead, but two more accidents and Franchitti's better performance over the next three events put him ninth points behind going into the season-ending Marlboro 500 at California Speedway. He finished fourth and Franchitti tenth, finishing the season with the same number of points as Franchitti (212) but winning the championship, with seven victories to Franchitti's three. Montoya became CART's youngest champion, the second rookie champion after Nigel Mansell and was Rookie of the Year.

Montoya switched to an Lola B2K/00-Toyota car for the 2000 season, which was marred by unreliability. Montoya struggled in the first four races, but improved to claim four consecutive pole positions and Toyota's first CART victory in the rain-delayed Miller Lite 225 at the Milwaukee Mile after leading a race-high 179 laps from pole position. He won the Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway with a last-lap overtake on Michael Andretti and held him off by 0.040 seconds. Montoya's performance was hampered by mechanical issues in the following five races, despite taking pole position in Chicago. He took his third (and final) victory of the season from pole position in the Motorola 300 at Gateway International Raceway. Montoya finished second in Houston and qualified first at Surfers Paradise in the final three events for ninth overall with 126 points.

He drove CGR's No. 9 G-Force GF05-Oldsmobile Aurora in the Indianapolis 500 (part of the Indy Racing League) in May. Starting second, Montoya led 167 of the race's 200 laps to become the first rookie winner since Graham Hill in 1966.

Formula One

2001–2004 (Williams)
Montoya left CGR with Ganassi's approval and debuted in F1 with Williams in its FW23-BMW car in the 2001 season after signing a two-year contract in mid-2000 to replace Jenson Button. He began losing weight to appease senior Williams officials and to become more race ready, and became acquainted with tracks he had not raced on by playing simulation video games. Montoya's car was powerful and capable of challenging for victories, but it was unreliable, and he was frequently involved in accidents; this became less common after the , when he was involved in a physical altercation with Villeneuve, when Frank Williams spoke to Montoya, and his performances improved. His Michelin tyres exposed him to understeer due to severe tyre sensitivity, which was rectified. Montoya began lapping faster than teammate Ralf Schumacher, with whom he a cool relationship and the car was built to his liking, as he began improving on car setup and qualifying.

He led the  (the season's third round) after passing Ferrari's Michael Schumacher until a rear-end collision with Arrows' Jos Verstappen (whom he had just lapped) forced him to retire. Montoya earned his first podium result and points by placing second in the  two races later. He repeated the feat four rounds later at the  and added points two races later by finishing fourth in the . Montoya took his maiden pole position at the  and led until a refuelling issue at a pit stop forced him to retire with an engine failure. His second career pole position was at the , although he stalled at the start due to more engine trouble. Montoya began the  from pole position and led 29 of its 53 laps in his maiden victory and the first for a Colombian in F1. He finished second in the season-ending  for sixth in the World Drivers' Championship (WDC) with 31 points.

Montoya remained at Williams for the 2002 season. His FW24-BMW car was faster in qualifying but slower in the race because his Michelin tyres wore out faster than the Bridgestone compounds. Montoya scored points in the first six races, including podiums in Australia, Malaysia, Spain and Austria and qualified on pole position in Brazil, where he collided with Michael Schumacher on the first lap. He took pole position for the next five races, but retired from the first three and scored points in the last two, including a podium finish at the . Montoya claimed two more podium finishes in Germany, Belgium and took pole position for the  in the final six rounds. He was third in the WDC with 50 points.

Montoya signed a two-year contract extension to stay with Williams through the end of the 2004 season in mid-2002. His FW25-BMW car was enhanced during the 2003 chamoionship, with the consequent mechanical and aerodynamic changes making it F1's fastest car and race better in hot weather. He led the season-opening  until a late-race spin cost him the win to McLaren's David Coulthard and dropped him to second. Montoya added seven more points in the following five races, finishing seventh in San Marino and fourth in Austria. Engineer Frank Dernie's mid-season improvements made the FW25 car competitive, and Montoya won the . Montoya finished on the podium in the next seven races before winning his second and final race of 2003, the , from pole position, and moved into second in the WDC. His performance declined after the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile required Michelin to redesign their tyres after it announced changes to the methodology of measuring tyre width, and he was mathematically eliminated from title contention when a drive-through penalty for a first lap collision with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello at the  dropped him to sixth. Montoya was third in the WDC with 82 points.

Montoya's FW26-BMW 2004 car was slow and did not have enough downforce to give him confidence driving into corners as Williams switched from a single-keel to a twin-keel chassis design as well as a front wing design dubbed the "Walrus nose" that was dropped for a more conventional design before the . He gained points in all but two of the first seven rounds, finishing second in Malaysia and third in San Marino. Montoya was disqualified from fifth in the  because his Williams car had oversized brake ducts and was disqualified from the following  for changing cars on the starting grid too late in the time available. After that, he secured points in eight of the final nine races, including winning the season-ending . Montoya took fifth in the WDC with 58 points.

2005–2006 (McLaren)

His relationship with Williams worsened when he verbally abused their engineers over the radio, believing that pit stop tactics during the 2003 French Grand Prix allowed his teammate Ralf Schumacher to win. Montoya signed a contract with McLaren to replace Coulthard for the 2005 season in August 2003; Frank Williams rejected McLaren team principal Ron Dennis' offer to release Montoya immediately because he did not want to do it a year before his existing contract with Williams expired. He was also upset that Williams might keep Ralf Schumacher, which he believed would stop him from becoming World Champion. Montoya spent time during the off-season losing weight and raising his fitness levels by switching to a new training regimen and a low-carbohydrate diet to improve his performance after encouragement from Dennis.

Kimi Räikkönen was his teammate and had a cordial personal relationship with him. Montoya's MP4-20 car struggled to quickly generate heat into its tyres, limiting its effectiveness in qualifying early in the season. Subsequent car modifications, such as suspension tweaks, allowed him to be gentle on the tyres and extract extra speed. After scoring points in the first two races, he missed the Bahrain and San Marino Grands Prix due to a hairline fracture in his left scapula, and was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz, respectively. Montoya was not fully recovered when he returned, and scored points in three of the next six races before being disqualified from the  for passing a red light at the end of the pit lane. He did, however, win the  and took podium finishes in both the German and . Montoya won the  from pole position, then scored a second consecutive pole in Belgium before winning his third (and final) race of 2005 in Brazil. He could not help McLaren win the World Constructors' Championship as he retired on the first lap of the  after hitting the barrier to avoid an accident and struck a raised drain cover at the  while running fourth. Montoya was fourth in the WDC with 60 points.

Montoya remained at McLaren for the 2006 season, but it did not exercise their option to keep him for the 2007 championship in December 2005 since he had a strained relationship with both Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh. He struggled to drive the MP4-21 car because to understeer, tyre temperature warming problems, and power loss caused by the switch from V10 to V8 engine regulations. Montoya was outpaced by Räikkönen, and scored points in five of the first nine races, including a third-place in San Marino and a second-place in Monaco. He was involved in an eight-car accident on the first lap of the , colliding with the rear of Räikkönen's car and then going into Button's Honda. Montoya left F1 following the race and was replaced by De La Rosa for the rest of the season. He was eighth in the WDC with 26 points.

NASCAR

2006–2009
Montoya did not want to race for McLaren and preferred American-based racing; he despised F1's politics and its car and team-based focus on victory. He discussed moving to NASCAR with CGR with Felix Sabates in June 2006. Montoya spoke with his father, who persuaded him to switch series, and signed a multi-year contract on 9 July to replace Casey Mears in CGR's No. 42 Dodge Charger from the start of 2007; Ganassi did not want to sign a younger driver. He informed Dennis of the news and was promptly sidelined from McLaren since he made the statement without informing the team first. Montoya was released from his McLaren contract four weeks early thanks to DaimlerChrysler's intervention and a rumoured $5 million compensation from Ganassi. He rejected an offer to return to F1 with Toro Rosso after telling team principal Franz Tost that he was focused on NASCAR. Montoya began an intensive training regimen to prepare for the following season, and was advised by other NASCAR drivers, including Mark Martin on how to give drivers space.

Montoya made his stock car racing debut in the Food World 250 (part of the ARCA Re/Max Series developmental championship) at Talladega Superspeedway as preparation for his first full-time NASCAR season, starting second and finishing third. Montoya entered the following Prairie Meadows 250 at Iowa Speedway, finishing 24th after starting third due to a collision with Steve Wallace. He made his NASCAR debut in the Sam's Town 250 of the Busch Series at Memphis Motorsports Park, driving CGR's No. 42 Dodge, and competed in the final three 2006 Busch Series races. Montoya had his best Busch Series start and finish of 2006 at Memphis, starting ninth and finishing eleventh. He made his Nextel Cup Series debut in CGR's No. 30 Dodge at Homestead–Miami Speedway in the season-ending Ford 400 because Ganassi did not put him in Mears' No. 42 car to ensure his qualification. Montoya started 29th at Homestead, but his car caught fire after Ryan Newman hit the back of his vehicle, sending him into the barrier.

Constant testing prepared him for his first full-time NASCAR season in 2007, and developed a rapport with his crew chief Donnie Wingo. Montoya frustrated approaching drivers by blocking them when he was one lap down. He was outperformed by both the Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing teams resource-wise and had difficulty handling the Dodge Avenger model of the Car of Tomorrow that was unbalanced when amongst packs of cars. Wingo sent Montoya onto a track early in the season in a car with understeer before modifying its setup to boost speed by allowing the rear end to swing out through corners.

He qualified 36th for the season-opening Daytona 500, finishing 19th following handling issues and avoiding a multi-car accident on its final lap. Following three sub-par races, Montoya earned his first career top-five finish in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway that March. He finished seventh in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway after colliding with Tony Stewart. Montoya started 32nd in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway and led the final seven laps after passing Jamie McMurray for his first career Cup Series victory, becoming the series' first foreign-born driver since Earl Ross in 1974. He started and finished second in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway four races later. The rest of the season yielded two top-tens at Dover International Speedway and Martinsville Speedway for 20th in the final championship standings with 3,487 points. He won rookie of the year honours by 24 points over David Ragan.

Montoya drove the No. 42 CGR Dodge in 17 Busch Series races in 2007 to gain experience on tracks where he also competed in the Cup Series. He led a race-high 43 laps in the Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez before bumping his CGR teammate Scott Pruett with eight laps remaining for his first NASCAR victory and become the first foreign-born NASCAR winner since Ron Fellows in 2001. Montoya finished two more races in the top ten, at Atlanta and Talladega, and his best start of the season was second at Watkins Glen International, where he finished 33rd following a crash. He drove for CGR in the renamed Nationwide Series for two rounds late in the 2008 season, finishing outside the top ten in both races.

He returned to drive CGR's No. 42 car for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Montoya was 32nd in the Daytona 500 despite running as high as second late in the race. CGR's decline in performance meant he had no top ten finishes or qualified within the top ten, leading to criticism from Ganassi. Jimmy Elledge became Montoya's crew chief after Wingo was moved to teammate Reed Sorenson's squad before being replaced by Brian Pattie. This irritated Montoya, who openly questioned CGR's commitment, and he requested a face-to-face meeting with Ganassi in May 2008, during which his feelings were soothed. They promised to work together regularly to make Montoya more competitive. His best season result was a second-place finish in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega. Although Montoya continued to struggle performance-wise attributed in part to the closure of teammate Franchitti's squad due to sponsorship issues, he finished in the top ten at both road course races (sixth and fourth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon and the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen, respectively). He took pole position for the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway, but his lap was disallowed due to excessive gas pressure in his rear shock absorbers. Montoya was 25th in the final championship standings, with 3,329 points.

Due to the Great Recession, CGR merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) before the 2009 season to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (EGR), and Montoya began driving a Chevrolet Impala run by DEI. He rejected offers from other NASCAR teams, and a contract from Tost to return to F1 with Toro Rosso since his family felt comfortable in the United States. During the season, Montoya won no races but was more competitive and consistent with ten top-ten finishes and improved his qualifying performances in the first 26 races, and drove better on most types of tracks (including oval tracks) by racing conservatively and Pattie convincing him to replace aggressive race setups and on-track risks with long-term thinking and intelligent driving. This was due to his car's increased power, his developing experience and patience, and Pattie's calm demeanour. Montoya had been enough acquainted with the Car of Tomorrow by mid-2009, when he adjusted his driving style to slow down in order to be faster. In the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, he qualified on pole for the first time in his Cup Series career before finishing second in the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. He was 10th in points after the second race at Richmond Raceway and qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. A pole position in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway along with six top-ten finishes put him as high as third place in the standings but was eliminated from title contention after a series of accidents. He was eighth overall with 6,252 points.

2010–2014
Montoya returned to race with EGR for the 2010 season but a new car spoiler slowed him. He qualified better and increased his average finishing position over the first 21 races of the season, with eight top-ten finishes, two pole positions, and the took the lead of races more frequently due to faster pace. Montoya missed out on the Sprint Cup Chase due to a series of accident, a lack of consistency, and a poor team strategy. Montoya qualified on pole for both the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 in New Hampshire and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, but crashed in both races. Montoya started third in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen at Watkins Glen and led 74 of the race's 90 laps to take his second (and final) Cup Series victory. The rest of the season saw him claim five more top-ten finishes and pole position for the AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega. He was 17th in the final standings with 4,118 points.

Montoya returned to the Sprint Cup Series for a fifth full-time season with EGR in the 2011 championship, but his performance suffered as a result of NASCAR mandating a nose change. He started 13th in the Daytona 500 and led for five laps before finishing sixth. Montoya finished third in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two races later, his best finish of the season. Montoya qualified on pole position for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway and in the Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400 at Richmond in his first short oval track pole. Following Montoya's inconsistency in the first half of the season, which saw him drop down the points standings throughout the year, Ganassi replaced Pattie as the driver's crew chief by Jim Pohlman without Montoya's substantial participation before the Brickyard 400 that July. He ended the 36-race season 21st overall with 932 points after eight top-ten finishes and no race wins.

He approached EGR regarding a long-term contract renewal in early 2011, expressing his desire to remain with the team, particularly Ganassi. He remained with EGR for the 2012 season and was assigned Chris Heroy as his new crew chief after Ganassi restructured his team. Montoya's trailing arm snapped during the season-opening Daytona 500, causing him to crash sideways into the rear of a jet dryer transporting jet fuel and catching fire. During the season, he only had two top-ten finishes, which were eighth-place finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Michigan. Montoya had his best start of the season with pole position in both the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono and in the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen. He was 22nd in the drivers' standings with a total of 810 points.

Montoya remained with EGR for the 2013 season, driving the Generation 6 Chevrolet SS and switching engine manufacturers from Richard Childress Racing to Hendrick Motorsports. He was slowed by mechanical problems and was involved in crashes in five of the first seven races of the season. Montoya started sixth and finished fourth in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond after leading 67 laps due to a late race caution. Four races later, he took his best result of the season with a second-place finish in the FedEx 400 at Dover after leading 19 laps and being overtaken by Stewart with three laps to go. Montoya was set to finish second in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma but he ran out of fuel on the final lap and finished 34th. The rest of the season saw him secure five more top-ten finishes, with a best performance of third at Bristol. Montoya finished his final full-time Sprint Cup Series season 21st in the points standings, with 891.

Midway through the 2014 Sprint Cup Series, he drove Team Penske's third No. 12 Ford Fusion in two races (the Quicken Loans 400 in Michigan and the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis). Montoya finished outside of the top ten positions in both races.

IndyCar Series

2014–2016
He was told in August 2013 that EGR would not renew his contract for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and talked to Andretti Autosport about driving for them in the IndyCar Series as well as Furniture Row Racing in lieu of Kurt Busch in NASCAR, but he declined both offers. Montoya joined Penske in the 2014 IndyCar Series after meeting president Tim Cindric at Michigan that year. He shed  since the previous summer, modified his workout programme to increase his fitness in order to cope with the demands of open-wheel car racing, which he had to reacquaint himself with, and Team Penske acquired sponsorship financing to run his car in eight of the planned races.

Montoya drove the No. 2 Dallara DW12-Chevrolet car. He performed well on oval circuits but qualified worse on road and street circuits due to a lack of pre-season testing on Firestone's alternate Red compound tyre, which was not made accessible to teams by the manufacturer or IndyCar, but could improve his finishing position. Montoya had five top-ten finishes in the season's first ten races, including a second-place finish in the first race at the Grand Prix of Houston. He qualified on pole for the Pocono IndyCar 500 and overtook Tony Kanaan with four laps remaining to win the fastest 500-mile race in IndyCar history with an average speed of  and his first IndyCar victory in nearly 14 years. Montoya finished the season with three more top-fives, including a second-place at Milwaukee, and was fourth overall with 586 points.

He continued driving for Penske in the 2015 IndyCar Series, improving his performance in qualifying from the previous season. Montoya started fourth and led the final 27 laps of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, holding off Penske teammate Will Power to win the race and take the points lead. He qualified on pole for the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park and led 31 laps before pit stops and two caution periods dropped him to fifth place. Montoya then finished third in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. His season highlight was winning the Indianapolis 500 for the second time. Montoya battled Power and CGR's Scott Dixon for the win in the final laps, eventually passing Power with three laps to go. Following that, he continuously finished in the top ten in the next six rounds as he drove conservatively until an accident at Iowa caused by suspension failure dropped him to 24th, although he retained the points lead due to other drivers' issues. Montoya's third-place finish at Pocono made him one of six drivers eligible for the championship at the season-ending GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. He finished sixth following a collision with Power and concluded the season with the same number of points as Dixon (556) but lost the championship on tiebreak to Dixon, who had won three races to Montoya's two.

For the 2016 IndyCar Series, he raced for Penske. Montoya's average qualifying performance dropped from the previous season, however he occasionally raced quicker during a race after a poor qualifying. He started third and led 44 of the 110 laps of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg before passing teammate Simon Pagenaud to win. Montoya started third and led 56 laps in the following Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix in Phoenix when a flat tyre forced an early pit stop and left him to ninth place, moving Pagenaud into the championship lead. He finished three more rounds in the top ten before an early racing collision in the Indianapolis 500 left him in 33rd place, putting him in a points deficit. Montoya end the season with five top-ten finishes, and he placed third at Sonoma for eighth in the drivers' standings with 433 points.

2017–2022
Cindric informed him in July 2016 that his future at Penske did not necessarily imply that he would race for them full-time in IndyCar. Montoya was given a spot in Penske's fifth entry for the 2017 Indianapolis 500, but he discussed returning to CGR as well as joining Ed Carpenter Racing, A. J. Foyt Racing, or Andretti Autosport for the entire season. He did not reach an agreement with any other teams and remained at Penske for the Indianapolis 500 because he felt the team would give him the best chance of winning. Montoya entered both the IndyCar Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 in the 2017 IndyCar Series. He finished tenth in the first round and sixth in the Indianapolis 500 despite running out of fuel before a pit stop.

IndyCar chose Montoya to be the test driver of Chevrolet's specification of the Dallara universal aerodynamic kit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Iowa Speedway, and a street circuit simulation at Sebring International Raceway before the kit's debut in the 2018 season. He talked about driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the 2018 Indianapolis 500, but team owner Sam Schmidt was told that team owner Roger Penske had vetoed such an agreement. Montoya would miss the race, focusing solely on his sports car career. Montoya talked to McLaren CEO Zak Brown about racing for his team in the 2019 Indianapolis 500, but could not do so as he was under contract to Penske.

Montoya drove Arrow McLaren SP's No. 86 Dallara-Chevrolet third car in the 2021 IndyCar Series for the GMR Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. He qualified outside the top 20 in both races and finished 21st and 9th, respectively. Montoya drove the No. 6 Arrow McLaren SP car in both the GMR Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 during the 2022 season. He finished 24th in the weather-affected GMR Grand Prix following an accident, and 11th in the Indianapolis 500 after starting 30th.

Sports car racing

Montoya made his professional endurance debut in the 2007 24 Hours of Daytona (part of the Rolex Sports Car Series), winning after 668 laps in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) Riley MkXI-Lexus Daytona Prototype (DP) car he shared with Salvador Durán and Pruett. The following year, he won the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona for the second successive year, this time with Franchitti, Pruett and Memo Rojas after 695 laps. Montoya returned to CGRFS for the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona, partnering with Pruett and Rojas in a Riley MkXX-Lexus DP car and finishing second overall after losing the win to Brumos Racing by a record-close 0.167 seconds. He partook in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the No. 2 Riley MkXX-BMW with Dixon, Franchitti and McMurray from 2010 to 2012. They were 37th in 2010 after mechanical failure, but came second and fourth in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Montoya, Dixon, and McMurray finished fourth in the Rolex Sports Car Series' three-hour Brickyard Grand Prix in Indianapolis in July 2012. He, Charlie Kimball, Pruett and Rojas won the 2013 24 Hours of Daytona in CGRFS' No. 01 Riley MkXXVI-BMW DP car, completing 709 laps. Montoya was invited by Porsche to participate in the post-season FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) rookie test in a 919 Hybrid at the Bahrain International Circuit in November 2015. He guest tested a Risi Competizione-entered Ferrari 488 GTE in a test session at Sebring the month before the 2017 12 Hours of Sebring (part of the IMSA SportsCar Championship). To prepare for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship in a Acura ARX-05 car in the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) category, Montoya drove the final round of the 2017 season, the Petit Le Mans, in the No. 6 Oreca 07-Gibson Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) car alongside Hélio Castroneves and Pagenaud. Their car started on pole position and finished third overall after Castroneves collided with Matteo Cressoni's Ferrari.

He officially joined Penske's IMSA programme in August 2017, having previously expressed interest in IMSA. Montoya shared the No. 6 car by Dane Cameron for the season and Pagenaud for three endurance races. Mechanical issues hampered his performance in the first two races, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Montoya took pole position for the BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix and led 23 laps before finishing fifth. He finished in the top ten five more times before crashing in the second hour of the Petit Le Mans, leaving his car 32nd overall. Montoya was fifth in both the Prototype Drivers' Championship (251 points) and the North American Endurance Cup (NAEC). In June, he made his 24 Hours of Le Mans début in United Autosports' No. 32 Ligier JS P217-Gibson car with Hugo de Sadeleer and Will Owen. The car finished third in LMP2 and seventh overall.

Montoya returned to Penske for the 2019 season in the new DPi category, accompanied by Cameron for the year and Pagenaud for three endurance events. His performance improved as he and Cameron focused more on a common chassis setup that did not favour one driver over another. Montoya finished no worse than ninth in the first three races of the season before his first IMSA victory in the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio after leading 88 laps from third. He took his second successive win in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in Detroit, starting from pole position. Montoya then took three straight podium finishes before winning the Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca after leading a race-high 75 laps. Finishing fourth at the season-ending Petit Le Mans earned him and Cameron the DPi Drivers' Championship with 302 points, and they were sixth in the NAEC.

For the 2020 championship, Montoya returned to Penske's programme and was paired with Cameron for that year, with Pagenaud serving as the endurance driver. He started the season fourth at the 24 Hours of Daytona and drove strongly for the rest of the season, finishing no worse than ninth in the remaining eight rounds and qualifying on pole three times. He took sixth in the DPi Drivers' Championship with 247 points and was third in the NAEC. Montoya drove the No. 21 DragonSpeed USA Oreca 07-Gibson entry for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Timothé Buret and Rojas after an arrangement with Pipo Derani fell through. The car was retired after 192 laps due to a misfire.

Montoya joined Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian in the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship as an endurance driver of its No. 60 Acura ARX-05 car alongside A. J. Allmendinger, Cameron, Castroneves, and Olivier Pla and was part of DragonSpeed USA's No. 21 WEC team with Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman. He finished in the top ten of all three IMSA races he entered. Montoya finished fourth in the Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Pro/Am Drivers with 138 points in the 2021 WEC season after finishing no lower than fifth in each of the season's six races and winning his class in the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was invited to compete in the European Le Mans Series' (ELMS) 4 Hours of Monza for DragonSpeed with Hanley and Hedman in July, finishing 17th overall.

Montoya shared the No. 81 DragonSpeed – 10Star Oreca LMP2 car for six points-scoring races in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship with Hedman and his son Sebastián. He finished no lower than eighth in class in those six events and won his category in the Lexus Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio. Montoya finished fourth in the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 1878 points and seventh in the NAEC. He was scheduled to enter three races of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship in Rick Ware Racing's No. 51 Oreca car alongside Eric Lux. Montoya returned to compete with DragonSpeed in the entire ELMS season in 2023 alongside Hedman and Sebastián.

Race of Champions

Montoya has twice competed in the Race of Champions. He had previously declined invites to the event, but agreed to compete in the 2017 Race of Champions at Marlins Park in Miami on his wife's suggestion, and won the Race of Champions by defeating Tom Kristensen 2–0 in the final. Team Colombia's Montoya and Gabby Chaves were eliminated in the Nations Cup semi-finals by Team Germany's Sebastian Vettel. He was eliminated by Kristensen in the Race of Champions quarterfinals, and he and Castroneves finished second against Team Germany's Timo Bernhard and René Rast in the Nations Cup at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh in 2018.

Driving style

He has had an aggressive driving style since childhood, which led to him being involved in numerous incidents in NASCAR. Driver Derek Daly wrote that Montoya lacked technical knowledge of a racing car because he was not taught by a championship or a racing squad and needed two or three engineers to compensate for his inability to provide accurate technical feedback, which became more apparent as his F1 career progressed. He observed that the driver denied having such a flaw and frequently blamed other variables for his poor performance. Daly, however, stated that Montoya relied heavily on reflexes and intuition during his youth racing and CART career. Autosport's Nigel Roebuck observed in November 2004 that Montoya was emotionally driven and impervious to being pressured from behind.

Non-racing ventures and recognition
Montoya has been represented by the management firms CSS Stellar and William Morris Agency. He has been an ambassador for the Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer, and the Miami Grand Prix. Montoya was made a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations (UN) in October 2001 and helped to raise funding for the World Food Programme to feed children displaced by the Colombian conflict. Upon becoming an UN Goodwill Ambassador, he and his wife established the non-profit Fundación Formula Sonrisas (English: Formula Smiles Foundation) in 2003 and focuses on reducing gender and social equality by educating children living in the deprived areas of Colombia through sport and physical education.

Montoya married law graduate Connie Freydell in Cartagena, Colombia on 26 October 2002. They have three children, one of them, Sebastián, is also a racing driver. He builds and flies radio-controlled aircraft. Montoya made a cameo appearance as a racing driver in the 2001 film Driven. He began working for Motorsport.tv as an presenter providing insight and opinions in news programmes and be part of its creative team for long-form documentaries in May 2021. In early November 2013, the Internal Revenue Service stated that he owed US$2.7 million in additional taxes and penalties due to disallowed deductions from 2007 and 2008. Montoya stated that he had earned $800,000 more than his reported income, but filed a challenge to the audit in the United States Tax Court.

He received the Order of Boyacá and the Order of José Acevedo y Gómez in 1999; the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year in 2000; the Rookie of the Year and the International Driver of the Year at the Autosport Awards in 2001 and 2003; and the Colombian Athlete of the Year in 2001; Montoya also won the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year, the Ibero-American Community Trophy as the best Ibero-American athlete and the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy "in recognition of his achievements for his debut season in Formula One last year" in 2002. He was voted the top Latin American driver at the Premios Fox Sports Awards in both 2003 and 2005. Montoya was inducted into the Miami Sports Hall of Champions in 2011 and the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame in 2018. The Kartódromo Juan Pablo Montoya in Tocancipá is named after him.

See also

 Career results of Juan Pablo Montoya

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

1975 births
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
ARCA Menards Series drivers
Barber Pro Series drivers
British Formula Three Championship drivers
Champ Car champions
Champ Car drivers
Colombian Formula One drivers
Colombian people of Spanish descent
Colombian racing drivers
Formula One race winners
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year
Indianapolis 500 winners
IndyCar Series drivers
Colombian IndyCar Series drivers
International Formula 3000 Champions
International Formula 3000 drivers
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Living people
McLaren Formula One drivers
NASCAR drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
Sportspeople from Bogotá
Williams Formula One drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
Paul Stewart Racing drivers
Fortec Motorsport drivers
RSM Marko drivers
Super Nova Racing drivers
Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
Team Penske drivers
United Autosports drivers
Arrow McLaren SP drivers
Meyer Shank Racing drivers
DragonSpeed drivers
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
Montoya family

Juan Pablo Montoya


TV-B-Gone is a universal remote control device for turning off various brands of television sets. Released in 2015, its inventor referred to it as "an environmental management device". Although it can require up to 72 seconds for the device to find the proper code for a particular television receiver, the most popular televisions turn off in the first few seconds.

History
TV-B-Gone was invented by Mitch Altman and is sold by his company Cornfield Electronics. The standard model TV-B-Gone consists of an infra-red LED, two CR2032 cells and an integrated circuit containing the television power code database, all in a plastic case. The original case aesthetics and design were created by Robert Ellis.

Models

TV-B-Gone Pro SHP
The TV-B-Gone Pro SHP (Super High Power) is the latest TV-B-Gone to be announced. It is considerably more powerful than the standard model, using eight infra-red LEDs to allow TVs to be turned off from distances of up to 100 meters (300 feet). TV-B-Gone Pro SHP is switchable between its North American and European databases of POWER codes. Later, in 2009, Mitch Altman made a new kind of TV-B-Gone Pro SHP. Instead of disguising it as an iPhone, Mitch Altman has made the new and improved TV-B-Gone look like an iPod Nano and go ten more yards than the old one.

The recent invention of >1W 850 and 970 nm IREDs makes a miniature long range version of the TV-B-Gone feasible.

TV-B-Gone Kit
At several hacker conventions Mitch Altman has run workshops that allow participants to build their own TV-B-Gones using Adafruit Industries' micro controller–based mini-POV kit. Around January 2008, Adafruit Industries released a kit to build an open source TV-B-Gone.

Consumer Electronics Show controversy
During the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, an individual associated with Gizmodo brought a TV-B-Gone remote control and shut off many display monitors at booths and during demos affecting several companies. These actions caused the individual to be banned for life from future CES events.

See also
 TV turnoff
 White Dot

References

External links
 Sabotaging Television With A Click
tvbgone.com
 TV-B-Gone tvbgone.com
 TV-B-Gone DIY with ATmega48/88 at code.google.com
 Schematics tvbgone.com
Adafruit Industries
 TV-B-Gone Kit at shop Adafruit Industries
 TV-B-Gone DIY at learn Adafruit Industries
 Schematic, firmware, board layout at learn Adafruit Industries
Android
 TV-B-Off Android application

Consumer electronics
Open hardware electronic devices
Television technology
Television criticism

TV-B-Gone


Wu is a group of Chinese dialects spoken in the area around Shanghai in southern China.

Speakers
Wu dialects have been spoken by some important people such as Chiang Kai-shek. However, Wu speakers are similar to speakers of Spanish and French because they can not always understand each other. In fact, the name Wu is mainly used by people who study languages.

There are various subgroups of the Wu dialect.

Replacement
Like other types of Chinese, the Wu dialects are starting to be replaced by Mandarin as time goes on.

Chinese language

Wu Chinese


Amarkantak (NLK Amarakaṇṭaka) is a pilgrim town and a Nagar Panchayat in Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Amarkantak region is a unique natural heritage area and is the meeting point of the Vindhya and the Satpura Ranges, with the Maikal Hills being the fulcrum. This is where the Narmada River, the Son River and Johilla River (tributary of Son) originate.

15th-century Indian mystic and poet Kabir is said to have meditated on Kabir Chabutra, located in the town of Amarkantak, and is also called the platform of Kabir.

Etymology
Amarakantaka is a combination of two Sanskrit words, amara (immortal) and kantaka (obstruction or thorn).  The poet Kalidas has mentioned it as Amarakuta, which later became Amarakantaka.

Location

Amarkantak is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India at . It has an average elevation of . Roads running through Rewa, Shahdol, Anuppur, Jabalpur, Katni, Bilaspur and Gaurella connect it. The nearest railway stations are Pendra road and Anuppur. The nearest airport is Bilaspur Airport (120 km).

Demographics

Per the 2011 India census, Amarkantak has a population of 8,416 of which 4,514 are males and 3,902 are females. The female sex ratio is 864 against a state average of 931. Moreover, the child sex ratio in Amarkantak is around 931 compared to Madhya Pradesh's state average of 918. Literacy rate of Amarkantak city is 80.20%, higher than the state average of 69.32%. Male literacy is around 88.06% and the female literacy rate is 71.02%. 95.51% of the population follow Hinduism.

Religious significance
Amarkantak is known as the king of pilgrimages, or Tirthraj, because the town has many temples and holy places. It is narrated in the Hindu scriptures like the Puranas that Amarkantak is the place where celestial beings, sages and others obtained spiritual powers.
 Ancient temples of Kalachuri period: The ancient temples of Kalachuri period (famously known as Trimukhi Temple) are in the south of Narmada Kund, just behind it. These were built by Kalachuri Maharaja Karnadeva (1041–1073 AD.)
 Sarvodaya Jain temple
 The Shri Yantra Mandir in Amarkantak is in the form of a Maha Meru which is a three-dimensional representation of the Shree Yantra or Shri Chakra. This temple is located on the hallowed land that is the birthplace of the sacred Narmada River in Amarkantak, Annupur District, Madhya Pradesh.

Flora and fauna

There are greater than 600 species of flora found in Amarkantak. It also has many medicinal flora and some of which include Boswellia serrata, Terminalia chebula, Hedychium coronarium, and Curcuma caesia. The Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary, is located at a distance of no more than 40 km from the town of Amarkantak in the state of Chhattisgarh on the road to Bilaspur. The forest belt in Amarkantak is a part of Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve. The forests of Amarkantak are linked with the forests of Kanha National Park. Amarkantak falls on the Kanha-Achanakmar Corridor, a hilly region covered with dense forests. Kanha and Achanakmar are both conserved wildlife parks in India famous for Bengal tigers.

Pinus caribaea, known as tropical pine, was planted in Amarkantak in 1968 on advice of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun on the recommendations of National Commission on Agriculture looking to the future demand of quality pulpwood. This work was undertaken under a World Bank Technical Assistance Project by clearing natural sal forests. The naturalists and environmentalists in India raised controversy over it; ultimately the project of tropical pine plantation was abolished.

Educational institutions

The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University was established in Amarkantak by an Act of Parliament in 2007. It was created to promote and provide higher education and research in various aspects of tribal communities. The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was established in 1987 to provide education for the rural young.

References

External links

 Amarkantak : Map
 Anuppur : Official

Geography of Madhya Pradesh
Hindu pilgrimage sites in India
Hindu holy cities
Cities and towns in Anuppur district
Tourism in Madhya Pradesh

Amarkantak


Didier Reynders (; born 6 August 1958) is a Belgian politician and a member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) serving as European Commissioner for Justice since 2019. He held various positions in public institutions before becoming a member of the House in 1992. He was a minister without interruption from 1999 to 2019, until resigning to become Belgian European Commissioner.

He served as Federal Minister of Finance until December 2011 in six different governments, then Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade Foreign Affairs and European Affairs in two governments. Following the government crisis of December 2018, he was also appointed to the post of Minister of Defense until November 2019.

Early life and education
Reynders was born in Liège as the youngest in a family of three children. He studied law at the University of Liège.

Early career
Reynders began his career as a lawyer in 1981, before serving as Chairman of the National Railway Company of Belgium from 1986 to 1991.

Political career

Minister of Finance, 1999–2011
Reynders served as Minister of Finance from 1999 to 2011; in 2002, he chaired the G-10 which is the meeting of the main creditor states (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States).

Reynders became Deputy Prime Minister in 2004, in the government of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. He was the chairman of the Mouvement Réformateur from 2004 to 2011.

Reynders led the MR to a victory in the 2007 general elections, with the MR becoming the largest Francophone party of Belgium. The King appointed Reynders as informateur, i.e. to start off the informal coalition talks for a new federal government.

Stalemate followed the 2010 general election. The King appointed a succession of people to negotiate a coalition from June 2010 onwards, but none succeeded in the task of forming a new government during the following seven months. Reynders was appointed informateur by the King on 2 February 2011. He reported on 16 February 2011, and his brief was extended through 1 March 2011.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2011–2019
Following the appointment of Elio Di Rupo as new Belgian Prime Minister in December 2011, Reynders became Minister of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, Belgium was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (2019–2020), as well as of the United Nations Human Rights Council (2016–2018).

Minister of Defence, 2018–2019
After the ruling coalition collapsed in 2019, Reynders also held responsibility for the defense portfolio. Following an inconclusive election in May 2019, King Philippe asked Reynders and Johan Vande Lanotte to look into the conditions required for forming a coalition government.

In 2019, Reynders announced his candidacy to succeed Thorbjørn Jagland as Secretary General of the Council of Europe; the position instead went to Marija Pejčinović Burić.

European Commissioner for Justice, 2019–present
In the summer of 2019, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel put Reynders forward as the Belgian nominee for the incoming European Commission. President-elect Ursula von der Leyen nominated him for the Justice portfolio. Reynders' hearing at the European Parliament was held in September 2019 and his nomination was approved by a large majority. He took office on 1 December 2019.

In 2020, Reynders announced plans to develop a legislative proposal by 2021 requiring businesses to carry out due diligence in relation to the potential human rights and environmental impacts of their operations and supply chains.

A 2022 report stated that Reynders was one of at least five senior EU officials targeted by Israeli spyware in 2021.

In September 2023, Reynders was assigned by von der Leyen the European Commission's competition portfolio following outgoing European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager's announcement that she was officially a candidate for the presidency of the European Investment Bank.

Other activities

International organisations
 African Development Bank (AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (1999–2011)
 Asian Development Bank (ADB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (1999–2011)
 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (1999–2011)

Non-profit organisations
 European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member

Controversies

Political activities
In 2015, Reynders drew criticism for having his face painted black during a traditional festival in Brussels.

In April 2017, Belgium voted in favour of the entry of Saudi Arabia, yet considered one of the most retrograde countries on the issue of women's rights, in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. This decision raised controversy and questions about the role of Reynders.

Criminal investigation
In September 2019, Belgian police investigated allegations of corruption and money-laundering against Reynders, relating to the construction of the Belgian embassy building in Kinshasa, the lease of a federal police HQ and other matters. The investigation was dropped soon after.

Honours

National honours
 2014: Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold

Foreign honours
 2013: Commander in the Legion of Honour
 2014: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 2016: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
 2016: Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Merit

References

External links

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1958 births
21st-century Belgian politicians
Belgian European Commissioners
Finance ministers of Belgium
Foreign ministers of Belgium
Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Living people
Members of the Belgian Federal Parliament
Reformist Movement politicians
Politicians from Liège
University of Liège alumni
Belgian Ministers of Defence
European Commissioners 2019–2024

Didier Reynders


Henry Randolph Storrs (September 3, 1787 – July 29, 1837) was a U.S. Representative from New York, brother of William Lucius Storrs.

Born in Middletown, Connecticut, Storrs was graduated from Yale College in 1804.
He studied law.
He was admitted to the bar in 1807 and commenced practice in Champion, New York.
Later practiced in Whitesboro and Utica, New York.

Storrs was elected as a Federalist to the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses (March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1821).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1820.

Storrs was elected as an Adams-Clay Federalist to the Eighteenth Congress, re-elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses and elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress (March 4, 1823 – March 4, 1831).
He served as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs (Nineteenth Congress).
He was one of the impeachment managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1830 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against James H. Peck, United States judge for the district of Missouri.

While Andrew Jackson attempted to break treaties with Indians in 1830, Storrs condemned Jackson's actions as a dangerous course, explaining "If the friends of State rights propose to sanction the violation of these Indian treaties, they must bear him out to the full extent of this thoughtless usurpation." Storrs adamantly pointed out how republicans could act like monarchies and oppress others, and that America would be confirming this truth by its own example.
Presiding judge of the court of common pleas of Oneida County 1825–1829.
He moved to New York City and practiced law.
He died in New Haven, Connecticut, July 29, 1837 and was interred in Grove Street Cemetery.

Sources

1787 births
1837 deaths
Yale College alumni
Burials at Grove Street Cemetery
Politicians from Utica, New York
New York (state) state court judges
New York (state) National Republicans
Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Politicians from Middletown, Connecticut
People from Champion, New York
19th-century American legislators
19th-century American judges

Henry R. Storrs


Jeish Muhammad ( Jaish Muḥammad al-Fātiḥ, translation: Army of Muhammad the Conqueror; JM) is an Iraqi militant group that is both politically and religiously motivated. The politically motivated faction within JM is primarily made up of former Ba'athist members mainly from the Sunni region. Many who enjoyed special status during the leadership of Saddam Hussein were from Tikrit, which is in turn within an area of Iraq where the Arab population is mostly Sunni. People who generally hold the ex-vice-president, Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, in exceptionally high esteem were members of the security, intelligence and police forces from the previous government.

Jaysh Muhammad was initially believed to consist of fighters who had infiltrated Iraq from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Later it was reported by the Iraq Survey Group, that membership appears to be primarily of Iraqi citizens, former regime officers. This was supported by their ability to use a pre-war information network and supply infrastructure. The JM was responsible for sophisticated attacks on Coalition forces during early 2004, assisted by former intelligence and security officers.

Attacks
On August 19, 2003, a masked man claiming to speak for the Islamic Jihad Brigades of Muhammad's Army, Abdallah Bin-Iyad Brigade, took responsibility for the a bombing at the UN compound in Baghdad through an audiotape provided to Lebanon's LBC satellite television. A group calling itself the Armed Vanguards of the Second Muhammad Army claimed responsibility for the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, The claim took the form of a typewritten, Arabic statement shown on the Al-Arabiya station on August 21, 2003.

On January 31, 2004, men with their faces covered circulated a declaration in Fallujah outlining their plan for taking control of Iraqi cities after the US occupation forces withdraw. The declaration was signed by 12 organizations and groups including: The Iraqi Islamic Patriotic Resistance (al-Muqawamah al-Wataniyah al-Islamiyah al-'Iraqiyah), the Salafi Movement for Propagation and Jihad (al-Harakah as-Salafiyah li-d-Da'wah wa-l-Jihad), the al-Qari'ah Organization (Tanzim al-Qari'ah), the Army of Partisans of the Sunnah (Jeish Ansar as-Sunnah), and the Army of Muhammad.

An anonymous interview with a member of Jaysh Muhammad from Ba'qubah gave to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting was published on May 14, 2004. The insurgent stated that the majority of Jaysh Muhammad combatants are farmer workers who joined the Salafist Sunni movement to drive the coalition from Iraq. He said there were only a few foreign fighters in the group and that they had "lived with us [before the war] and did not come from abroad after the war." He denied that the group, which he described as not Wahhabi, is linked to Al-Qaeda. He also claimed that the group received no funding from abroad, but that it is funded "from honorable and good people in this country." He said that Jaysh Muhammad opposed the Iraqi Governing Council because it was not elected, and since so many of the Council members were exiles. "They do not understand Iraqis' suffering and Arab traditions. [They] were distorted by the Western life they lived," he said. He also claimed that his group is affiliated with an Islamic political party, but declined to identify which party, only to say that it is not the Iraqi Islamic Party. While he denied the group targeted Iraq police officers, he condoned the kidnapping of foreigners, saying that "kidnapping is an obligation." He also said: "There is no real United Nations. It is an organization completely controlled by the United States and its resolutions always serve U.S. interests."

In November 2004 during Operation Phantom Fury, the U.S. staged a large scale assault on Fallujah and captured Moayad Ahmed Yasseen, the leader of Jaysh Muhammad. Yasseen while under detention of the Coalition soldiers confessed to seeking aid from the Iranian government and having contacts with Iranian intelligence officers. Yasseen was a former colonel in Saddam Hussein's army. Yaseen went on to state Iranian officials provided money, weapons "and as far as I know even car bombs" for the group. He said among the officials they met in Iran was its supreme leader Ali Khamenei. He further stated he received permission from Saddam Hussein, before his capture, to seek money and weapons from the Syrian government, he did not state if that request was granted.  Stratfor however reported that no evidence has been produced to date that Hussein oversaw strategic decision-making for, or provided money to, any guerrilla force. Furthermore, Jeish Muhammad in a statement to Basra Network denied that Yassen was ever a commanding general in the group, as was claimed in the media.

Composition
It is rumored that Jaysh Muhammad is the military wing of the Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (ASBP). The group is said to have been founded in 2003 by a group of insurgents in Diyala during a meeting between representatives from the towns of Ramadi, Fallujah, Samarra and Baquba.

Known brigades of Jaysh Muhammad:
Al-husayn Brigade
Al-Abbas Brigade
Islamic Jihad Brigade
Abdallah Bin-Jahsh Bin-Rikab al-Asadi Brigade
Walid Bin al-Mughirah Brigade
Umar al-Faruq Brigade
Al-Mahdi al-Muntazir

See also
 al-Abud Network
 Iraq War
 Second Battle of Fallujah
 Fedayeen Saddam

References

External links

Global Security - Jaysh Muhammad

2003 establishments in Iraq
Arab nationalist militant groups
Ba'athist organizations
Factions in the Iraq War
Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
Organizations designated as terrorist by Iraq
Rebel groups in Iraq
Sunni Islamist groups

Jeish Muhammad


Fig Trees is a 2009 Canadian operatic documentary film written and directed by John Greyson. It follows South African AIDS activist Zackie Achmat and Canadian AIDS activist Tim McCaskell as they fight for access to treatment for HIV/AIDS. It was also inspired by Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson's opera Four Saints in Three Acts. The film premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Teddy Award for Best Documentary.

Background
Zackie Achmat is a South African HIV-positive activist who founded the Treatment Action Campaign in 1998. The organization focuses on access to drug treatment for HIV/AIDS patients who cannot afford private health care. Achmat refused to take medication himself until the South African government made antiretroviral treatments available through public sector hospitals. Tim McCaskell is a Canadian activist who founded the AIDS Action Now! organization, and has campaigned for better access to treatment.

Director John Greyson has been involved in AIDS activism since the 1980s. In 2001, he and musician David Wall had the idea to write an opera about Achmat's treatment strike after a piece on him appeared in The New York Times. The work originally took the form of an eight-part video installation. It was inspired by the 1920s opera Four Saints in Three Acts by Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein.

Content
The film features documentary footage and interviews with Achmat and McCaskell, as well as Gugu Dlamini, Stephen Lewis, Simon Nkoli, interspersed with operatic performances. Fictional elements feature Gertrude Stein writing an opera about Achmat and McCaskell. It is narrated by a singing albino squirrel.

Release and reception
Fig Trees premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) on February 9, 2009. It had been accepted as a rough cut and finished shortly before the festival. It went on to play at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival in Toronto, the Seattle International Film Festival, Outfest, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the Paris Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Watch Docs Film Festival in Poland and the Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. It won the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at Berlinale, the Jury Prize at the Hamburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the award for Best Canadian Film or Video at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival.

References

External links

2009 films
English-language Canadian films
2009 documentary films
Documentary films about HIV/AIDS
Films directed by John Greyson
2009 LGBT-related films
2000s English-language films
HIV/AIDS in Canadian films
2000s Canadian films
English-language documentary films
Canadian LGBT-related documentary films

Fig Trees


Windows Anytime Upgrade (Add Features to Windows) was a service by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista that facilitated upgrades across successive editions of Windows Vista. Prices for upgrades purchased through Windows Anytime Upgrade were lower than prices for upgrades purchased at retail.
Windows Anytime Upgrade is included in Windows 7 to allow users to upgrade to Windows 7 editions. In Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 it was rebranded as Add Features to Windows and was used to purchase an upgrade license for the Pro edition or to add Windows Media Center to an existing Pro installation. Support for this feature was discontinued on October 31, 2015.

History

Windows Anytime Upgrade was in development prior to the development reset of Windows Vista, then known by its codename "Longhorn." A preliminary version of the feature can be seen in build 4093.

On February 26, 2006, Microsoft announced the editions of Windows Vista to be released to retail and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). After this announcement, various technology-related outlets reported that Anytime Upgrade would enable users to upgrade to successive editions.

Overview

Windows Vista

All editions of Windows Vista (excluding Enterprise) are stored on the same retail and OEM optical media—a license key for the edition purchased determines which edition is eligible for installation. When first announced, Anytime Upgrade enabled users to purchase a digital license from an online merchant to upgrade their edition of Windows Vista. Once a license had been purchased, a user's product license, billing and other information would be stored within a user's digital locker at the Windows Marketplace digital distribution platform; this would allow a user to retain this information at an off-site location for reference purposes and to reinstall the operating system, if necessary. A user could then initiate an upgrade to the edition for which the license was purchased either through components stored on the hard drive by the OEM of the personal computer, through an Anytime Upgrade DVD supplied by the OEM, or through retail installation media compatible with Anytime Upgrade. If none of these options were available, Anytime Upgrade provided an option for a user to purchase a DVD online and have it delivered by mail.

Microsoft also released retail packaging for Anytime Upgrade. The retail products were made available during the consumer launch of Windows Vista on January 30, 2007. The initial version of these products included only an upgrade license, but this was later modified in May 2007 to include both a DVD and a product license. In an effort to streamline the upgrade process, Microsoft announced that digital license distribution would cease on February 20, 2008; licenses purchased prior to this date would not be affected. As a result of this change, users would be required to purchase the aforementioned retail packaging in order to use Anytime Upgrade functionality and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 omitted the option to purchase a license online. DVDs for Anytime Upgrade were only produced for Windows Vista.

Anytime Upgrade in Windows Vista performs a full reinstallation of the new product edition while retaining the user's data, programs, and settings. This process can take a considerable amount of time, up to a few hours.

Windows 7

Anytime Upgrade in Windows 7 no longer performs a full reinstallation of Windows. Components for the upgraded editions are instead pre-installed directly in the operating system; a notable result of this change is that the speed of the upgrade process has been significantly increased. Microsoft stated that an upgrade should take approximately 10 minutes. Anytime Upgrade also does not require physical media or additional software. Instead, Windows 7 requires a user to purchase a license online, in a manner similar to the initial functionality that was later removed from Windows Vista starting with Service Pack 1. Microsoft would also release Anytime Upgrade packaging for Windows 7 at retail. The packaging, however, would only include a license for the edition to be upgraded, as Anytime Upgrade in the operating system does not require physical media.

Windows 8 and later
In Windows 8, the process has changed. Users will need to go to the Control Panel and search for Add Features to Windows. In Windows 10, this is located in Settings > System > About > Change Product Key or Upgrade Your Version of Windows.

Results after upgrading
This process works the same way as in Windows 7, with a few exceptions:

 If a user purchases a new PC with Windows 8 or later preinstalled, and then the user upgrades that PC with a Windows 8 Pro Pack, Windows 8 Media Center Pack, a volume license edition, or a retail edition, he/she will no longer be able to install apps that are provided exclusively from the OEM  through the Microsoft Store.
 On Windows 10, when upgrading from Windows 10 Home to Pro or from Home to Pro for Workstations, in addition to the above consequence, the upgraded PC will no longer be supported and is no longer entitled to receive firmware updates from the OEM, even though it will still get Windows operating system updates. Damages that occur due to Windows edition upgrades are not covered under the manufacturer's warranty. However, if the user buys a PC with Windows 10 Pro installed and later upgrades that PC to Pro for Workstations, these consequences do not apply.
 On newer Samsung Galaxy Book devices, there is an exception. Like with many other Samsung Galaxy devices, Samsung runs a Knox verification scan to check for a signature match on all operating system elements before booting in the main operating system. If an unauthorized change is detected, even in a Windows edition upgrade (Home to Pro), the eFuse is tripped and the device status changes from Official to Custom. This is because newer Galaxy Books run the custom One UI Book skin instead of stock Windows. When this happens, any warranties and Samsung Care plans associated with the device are void, and some Samsung apps may not work as expected. Reimaging the device using recovery tools will not revert the eFuse state.

Region availability
When first announced, Anytime Upgrade was available in the United States, Canada, EMEA, European Union, Norway, Switzerland, and Japan, with Microsoft stating that availability of the program would expand after launch of Windows Vista. English version retail packaging for Anytime Upgrade was made available at the consumer launch of Windows Vista for North America and Asia-Pacific regions.

In 2009, Ars Technica reported that Anytime Upgrade retail packaging for Windows 7 may only have been available in regions without broadband Internet access or where retail packaging was ineligible to be offered. Anytime Upgrade was available for Windows 7 in select regions.

See also
 Windows Easy Transfer
 Windows Vista editions
 Windows Ultimate Extras
 Windows 7 editions

References

Discontinued Windows components

Windows Anytime Upgrade


The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City, United States.  It is run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority  (MTA). It is one of the biggest rapid transit systems in the world, with 472 stations. It has 245 miles (or 394 km) of routes on 691 miles (or 1112 km) of railway track. The New York City Subway almost never closes; the trains run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year. The system has only closed three times, most notably during the September 11 attacks and when Hurricane Sandy flooded its tracks.

The first elevated trains started working on October 9, 1863, and the first underground trains started working on October 27, 1904.

History
Alfred Ely Beach built an underground subway tunnel to test in 1869. His Beach Pneumatic Transit only extended  under Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The subway car in the tunnel was pneumatic, or pushed by air. The tunnel was never made longer. It could have gone to Battery Park to the south and the Harlem River to the north.

The first underground subway line opened on October 27, 1904. The oldest elevated train line in the subway system opened in 1885. The oldest right-of-way was a steam railroad called the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road. That railroad opened in 1863.

By the time the first subway opened, there were two private subway companies. They were the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Corporation (BRT) and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). Most subway lines built after 1913 were built by the New York City government. These tracks were leased to the companies. The first line of the city-owned and city-run Independent Subway System (IND) opened in 1932.

In 1940, the two private systems were bought by the city. Some elevated train lines closed and were destroyed.  The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) was made in 1953 to run subway, bus, and streetcar operations. It was made part of Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968.

By the 1970s and 1980s, the New York City Subway was really bad to ride. There were very few people riding the subway. There was a lot of graffiti and crime on the subway. This was fixed in the 1990's.

After the September 11 attacks, there were train disruptions on lines running through Lower Manhattan. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy flooded the subway system. It closed many lines for a few days, then recovered.

Stations
There are subway stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.  About 40% of the tracks are above ground and the other 60% are below ground.  Every day about 5,076,000 people take rides on the subway. 463 out of the system's 472 stations are always open.

Many stations have "mezzanines". These are the levels of the station where you pay a fare before entering the subway platforms. Everyone must pay a fare to enter the subway system. They are usually between street level and platform level.

Many station entrances and exits have lamp posts. At the top of the lamp posts are colored balls. Green globes identify that the entrance is open 24/7, 365. Red globes can show two things. An entrance lamp post with a red globe can show that the entrance is either part-time open or is an exit only entrance. Some of the globes do not show the right information about an entrance or exit.

Most subway stations have waiting platforms that are from  long. People wait for trains on these platforms.

All new stations have platforms with air conditioning.

Many stations also have artwork on the subway station walls.

Most of the stations wers built before 1990. That is when a new law said that many new buildings, like subway stations, should have elevators and ramps so people with wheelchairs can enter these buildings.

The MTA has run the "Music Under New York" (MUNY) program in the subway since 1987.  People must compete in order to be allowed to play music in a station. There are now more than 100 musicians and performers in the subway system.

There are only 129 open restrooms in 77 of the system's stations.

Some platforms have newspaper stands as well. They sell many things, including newspapers and food. There are also stores in some stations.

Lines and routes

In other cities' subway systems, a train "line" is the same as a train "route". In New York City's subway system, however, the "line" is the actual tracks, which a train "route" uses. "Routes", also called "services", have a letter or a number, such as "1" or "A". "Lines" have names, like BMT Broadway Line.

There are 24 train services. This includes 3 "shuttle" routes. Each route has a color. Raleigh D'Adamo, a lawyer who entered a contest in 1964, planned the colors that are used on subway maps now. Before, subway maps used different colors for every route. People who live in New York City do not call lines and services by color (such as, Blue Line or Green Line). However, tourists often use colors to tell between routes.

There are three different types of subway services. "Local" trains make all stops at "local" stations as well as at "express" stations. "Express" trains skip local stations, but stop at "express" stations. There is one "skip-stop" service, the J/Z, where two train routes run on the same line; each route only stops at every other station along the line.

The subway system runs 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, but some routes do not run when not many people ride the subway. When a line is closed, the transit authority uses free shuttle buses. The transit authority shows planned service changes on its website, on station walls, inside subway cars, and through its Twitter page.

Trunk lines

Routes

There are many routes on the subway.  Many people who have never ridden on the subway get confused because there are so many routes going to so many different places. The subway has signs that hang from the stations' ceilings to show the routes and where they go.
Routes on the "A Division", which used to be the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, are:

Routes on the "B Division", which used to belong to the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation and Independent Subway System, are:

Fares
From 1904 until 1948, people paid a nickel to go into the subway. On July 1, 1948, the fare was raised to a dime. In July 1953, the fare was raised to 15 cents. The MTA gave out subway tokens, which people used to enter the subway. People stopped using tokens in 2003.

The fare is $2.75. Riders must pay with MetroCards or OMNY. The subway started using MetroCards in 1994. At subway stations, riders can buy MetroCards from the station booth or from vending machines. Riders can also buy MetroCards from many places in New York City, like convenience stores and newspaper sellers. ONMY later came out in 2019 as a testing fare for credit/debit cards on the 4/5/6 lines, to use for another way to pay for your subway fare. Once it succeeded, it expanded all throughout the NYCTA. Currently, it is planning to replace the MetroCard by 2024.

Rider safety

Riders are allowed to take pictures using cameras, but are not allowed to take pictures with cameras that flash or with cameras that are on tripods.

Subway police can search riders to make sure they do not have weapons or other items that could be used to hurt other people.

When riders get hurt, usually it is because they slip when they are getting on or off the train.  This is because there is a gap between the train and the platform.  In recent times, workers have made the gaps smaller to prevent people from slipping. Often messages are played from loudspeakers that say "Please watch the gap when entering and exiting the train".

Train safety
The MTA makes sure that New York City Subway trains run without accidents. There are railroad switches, railroad signals, and speed limits on the subway. All tracks also have a stopper on the side. If the train passes a red signal, the stopper will stop the train.

A black-and-white striped board hangs above the middle of each platform. The conductor has to point to the board in front of him or her. After the conductor points to the board, the train doors will open.

The subway has had over 56 train accidents since 1918. The Malbone Street Wreck on November 1, 1918 was the most deadly. That crash killed 93 people.

Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the MTA has experimented with Automatic train operation. New York City Subway trains normally run with a train conductor and a train operator. In 2006, the L train was the first route to be run by computers. The 7 train is becoming the second route to be run by a computer. There are computers both on the train and along the side of the tracks. The computer does the engineer's job by driving and stopping the train.

References

Rail transport in the United States
1863 establishments in the United States
1860s establishments in New York (state)

New York City Subway


The Terror of Tiny Town is a 1938 American musical Western film produced by Jed Buell, directed by Sam Newfield and starring Billy Curtis. The film was shot at a sound studio in Hollywood and partly at Placeritos Ranch in Placerita Canyon, California. The inspiration came when Buell overheard an employee jokingly say "If this economic dive keeps going, we'll be using midgets as actors".

Using a conventional Western story with an all-diminutive cast, the filmmakers were able to showcase gags such as cowboys entering the local saloon by walking under the swinging doors, climbing into cupboards to retrieve items and dwarf cowboys galloping around on Shetland ponies while roping calves. It is considered to be one of the worst films ever made.

Plot

The film begins with a man on a stage who is the film's only member of average height. He announces that this film is the first of its kind and speaks the title: The Terror of Tiny Town. He is interrupted by the hero, Buck Larson, who walks on and tells him the story is serious as he is the hero and will become the biggest star in Hollywood. The film's villain, Bat Haines, walks on and says he will become the biggest star in Hollywood, and the two argue. The M.C. breaks them up and lets the film proceed.

The townspeople are at work while singing "Laugh Your Troubles Away". Buck Larson's father, Pop Larson, tells Buck that he wants him to go to the ranch and find out why the calves are disappearing. Bat Haines and his gang are seen roping the calves while riding Shetland ponies. Buck spots the cattle rustlers, and they run off before he can see them up close. The rustlers plant a branding iron with the initials of a neighboring rancher, Tex Preston. Meanwhile, Bat tells Tex that the Larsons are shooting his cattle.

Later Tex goes to town to retrieve his niece, Nancy Preston, who was orphaned and will now live with him. In the town saloon, Bat tells the sheriff to stay out of the Larson/Preston feud or he will be sent back to jail. He also reveals that he will rob a stagecoach carrying money. While Bat and his gang try to rob the carriage, Buck and his group see the attack and run Bat Haines off. Buck is able to stop the runaway carriage that is carrying Preston's niece Nancy. She thanks him and he takes her back into town. Their romance continues, but they must meet secretly because of the Larson/Preston feud. Eventually, Pop Larson discovers them and forces them to stay away from each other.

Buck chases after Nancy and they ride away together. Bat spies on the couple and tells Tex that they are together. Tex rides to meet them and sends Nancy home. Buck convinces Tex that someone else has stolen their property. As Tex rides away he is murdered by Bat who then tries, unsuccessfully, to kill Buck. Bat tells Nancy that it was Buck who shot Tex. Bat forces the sheriff to arrest Buck for Tex's murder. Buck confronts Nancy and convinces her he didn't shoot Tex, figuring out in the process that Bat is causing all the problems.

In the town's saloon, Buck confronts and punches Bat, and the sheriff takes Buck into custody. Bat tries to have Buck hanged without a trial. Buck sends Nancy to the Larson ranch to round up people who can help him escape. As the angry mob closes in on Buck, the sheriff intervenes but Bat shoots him and escapes through the window before the Larson crew arrives. Buck chases Bat to his secret hideout. Meanwhile, angry dance-hall girl Nita plants dynamite in Bat's cabin, angry that he neglected, then abused her. Buck and Bat engage in a final duel inside the cabin. Buck runs out of the cabin at the last second, leaving Bat behind. The cabin blows up as Bat prepares to shoot Buck in the back of the head. Buck and Nancy are finally able to share a kiss.

Cast

 Billy Curtis as The Hero (Buck Lawson)
 Yvonne Moray as The Girl (Nancy Preston)
 Little Billy Rhodes as The Villain (Bat Haines) (as Little Billy)
 Billy Platt as The Rich Uncle (Jim 'Tex' Preston) (as Bill Platt)
 John T. Bambury as The Ranch Owner (Pop Lawson) (as John Bambury)
 Joseph Herbst as The Sheriff
 Charlie Becker as The Cook (Otto)
 Nita Krebs as The Vampire (Nita, the dance hall girl)
 George Ministeri as The Blacksmith (Armstrong)
 Karl Karchy Kosiczky as The Barber (Sammy) (as Karl Casitzky)
 Fern Formica as Diamond Dolly (as Johnnie Fern)
 William H. O'Docharty as The Old Soak (as W.H. O'Docharty)

Jed Buell was able to find about 60 cast members for the film, with an average height of 3'8". He located most of them through talent agencies, newspaper ads, and radio broadcasts. The film presents Jed Buell's Midgets.  Many of the actors were former members of the performing troupe The Singer Midgets., and played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939.

Release
The Terror of Tiny Town was released twice: first independently by producer Sol Lesser's Principal Pictures in July 1938, and then on a larger scale by Columbia Pictures six months later. Boxoffice returns proved to be so good that in 1938 the producer, Jed Buell, announced in the magazine Variety, that he had closed a deal with Sol Lesser. He had plans for multiple series of sequels films featuring an all little-people cast. For unclear reasons, the sequels were never produced. The film entered the public domain in 1966 after copyright was not renewed.

Home media
The film was released on VHS by Connoisseur/Meridian on April 15, 2001. It was released on July 15, 2003, by BFS Entertainment in its DVD debut, as a part of the company's "Great Wacky Western Comedies" collection pack. It was later released by Alpha Video on February 22, 2005. Digital 1 Stop released the film on June 27 the following year, as a part of its four-disk "Cult Classics" movie collection pack. BFS would re-release the film on September 18, 2007, as a part of their four-disk "Western Value Pack". On November 6 that same year, it was released by Passport Video for their "Weird Cinema" collection pack. It was released as a single feature by Filmchest on January 24, 2012. Nearly three years later it was released by VFN on July 19, 2015. The film was last released in 2017 by Mr Fat – W Video and Film Detective on May 2, and June 29 respectively.

Reception
The reputation of The Terror of Tiny Town rests primarily on its oddball premise and its tongue-in-cheek title, with some of today's viewers regarding it as a "so bad it's good" movie. When it was first released in 1938, however, the film garnered excellent reviews as a novelty feature. Hollywood Spectator: "One of the most interesting and pleasantly entertaining pictures I have seen in quite a spell of moons... We do not laugh at these nice little persons. We laugh with them as they strut importantly, and obviously with appreciation of the humor in it... good fun, a screen treat you should not miss." Motion Picture Daily: "The midgets play the picture as earnestly, professionally, and melodramatically as any aggregation of full-statured performers ever played one. By managing it so, Jed Buell has turned out a film that is a distinct novelty and, more than that, a new kind of motion picture." Film Daily: "Decided novelty should do handsomely at the boxoffice if properly exploited... western fans, especially youngsters, should enjoy it hardily."
Audiences of the day liked it as a change of pace: a Maine exhibitor reported, "They liked it so well, some came back Saturday. It was a good story and more carefully put together than the run of mill westerns."

Contemporary reviews
Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film one and a half out of four stars, calling it 'A typical, badly enacted stagebrush plot".TV Guide awarded the film one out of four stars, calling it "One of the strangest ideas ever put to film". Charles Tatum from eFilmCritic.com gave the film one out of five stars, panning the film's acting, screenplay, and musical numbers; stating that the film was "so short on entertainment". Craig Butler from Allmovie panned the film, calling it "disappointingly boring", criticizing the film's amateurish acting, unimaginative screenplay, and uninspired direction. On his website Ozus' World Movie Reviews, Dennis Schwartz awarded the film a grade C+, writing, "It holds up as a curio for those parties who are just curious to see midget cowboys in action." Film Threat noted that, although it 'wasn't a great movie', it was still fun to watch. On the film's entertainment value, the reviewer wrote, "The Terror of Tiny Town is so patently weird and spirited that it actually becomes very funny (albeit in a perverse and politically incorrect way). The midget cast isn't especially talented and a lot of the dialogue reading comes across as hilariously stilted (the fight sequences are priceless in their clumsiness – obviously stunt doubles were out of the question here). And Nita Krebs, as the Dietricheseque saloon singer, is so wildly over-the-top (or under-the-top, in her case), that her musical siren call is priceless in its warped eroticism."

Legacy
In 1986, the movie was featured in an episode of the Canned Film Festival.
In 1980, the film was mentioned in the M*A*S*H episode "Morale Victory"; Corporal Klinger is trying to procure new movies for the 4077th, but the only one he can find is Tiny Town, mentioning the film has an all-midget cast, to which Hawkeye replies "What do we do, show it on a pillowcase?"
In 1991, Hal Ketchum used clips from the film in his "Small Town Saturday Night" video.

See also
Even Dwarfs Started Small – German film featuring an all-dwarf cast
List of films considered the worst
List of films in the public domain in the United States
List of Columbia Pictures films

References

External links

1938 films
1938 comedy films
1938 musical films
1930s Western (genre) comedy films
1930s Western (genre) musical films
American Western (genre) comedy films
American black-and-white films
Columbia Pictures films
1930s English-language films
Films directed by Sam Newfield
Films shot in Los Angeles County, California
Works about dwarfism
American Western (genre) musical films
Articles containing video clips
1930s American films

The Terror of Tiny Town