Brigadier General  Francis Marion ( 1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the "Swamp Fox", was an American military officer, planter, and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the American Revolution, Marion supported the Patriot cause and enlisted in the Continental Army, fighting against British forces in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War from 1780 to 1781.

Though he never commanded a field army or served as a commander in a major engagement, Marion's use of irregular warfare against the British has led him to be considered one of the fathers of guerrilla and maneuver warfare, and his tactics form a part of the modern-day military doctrine of the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.

Francis Marion was born in Berkeley County, South Carolina . His father Gabriel Marion was a Huguenot who immigrated to the Thirteen Colonies from France at some point prior to 1700 due to the Edict of Fontainebleau and became a slaveowning planter. Marion was born on his family's plantation, and at approximately the age of 15, he was hired on a merchant ship bound for the West Indies which sank on his first voyage; the crew escaped on a lifeboat but had to spend one week at sea before reaching land. In the following years, Marion managed the family's plantation, including overseeing the activities of the family's slaves.

French and Indian War

Marion began his military career shortly before his 25th birthday. On January 1, 1757, Francis and his brother, Job, were recruited by Captain John Postell to serve in the South Carolina Militia during the French and Indian War. Marion also saw service during the Anglo-Cherokee War.

American Revolutionary War

Early service

During the American Revolution, Marion supported the Patriot cause and on June 21, 1775, he was commissioned as an officer in the Continental Army's 2nd South Carolina Regiment (commanded by William Moultrie) at the rank of captain. Marion served with Moultrie in the defense of Fort Sullivan from a Royal Navy attack on June 28, 1776. In September 1776, the Continental Congress commissioned Marion as a lieutenant colonel. In the autumn of 1779, he took part in the siege of Savannah, a failed Franco-American attempt to capture the capital of Georgia which had been previously occupied by British forces.

Siege of Charleston

A British force led by Sir Henry Clinton entered South Carolina in the early spring of 1780 and laid siege to Charleston. Marion was not captured with the rest of the city's garrison when Charleston capitulated on May 12, 1780, as he had broken an ankle in an accident and had left the city to recuperate. Clinton led part of the force that had captured Charleston back to New York, but a significant number stayed for operations under Lord Charles Cornwallis in the Carolinas. After the loss of Charleston and the defeats suffered by Isaac Huger's men at the Battle of Monck's Corner and Abraham Buford's troops at the Battle of Waxhaws (near the North Carolina border, in what is now Lancaster County), Marion organized a small military unit, which at first consisted of between 20 and 70 men and was the only force then opposing the British in the region. At this point, Marion was still hobbling on his slowly healing ankle.

Guerrilla campaigns

Marion joined Major General Horatio Gates on July 27 just before the Battle of Camden, but Gates had formed a low opinion of Marion. Gates sent Marion towards the interior to gather intelligence on the British forces opposing them. He thus missed the battle, which resulted in a British victory. Marion showed himself to be a singularly able leader of irregular militiamen and ruthless in his terrorizing of Loyalists. Unlike the Continental Army, Marion's Men, as they were known, served without pay, supplied their own horses, arms and often their food. Marion's Men operated from a base camp on Snow's Island in Florence County.

Marion rarely committed his men to frontal warfare but repeatedly bewildered larger bodies of Loyalists or British regulars with quick surprise attacks and equally sudden withdrawal from the field. After their capture of Charleston, the British garrisoned South Carolina with help from local Loyalists, except for Williamsburg, which they were never able to hold. The British made one attempt to garrison Williamsburg at the colonial village of Hilltown but were driven out by Marion at the Battle of Black Mingo.

A state-erected information sign at Marion's gravesite on the former Belle Isle Plantation shows that he was engaged in twelve major battles and skirmishes in a two-year period: Black Mingo Creek on September 28, 1780; Tearcoat Swamp on October 25, 1780; Georgetown (four attacks) between October 1780 and May 1781; Fort Watson on April 23, 1781; Fort Motte on May 12, 1781; Quinby Bridge on July 17, 1781; Parker's Ferry on August 13, 1781; Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781; and Wadboo Plantation on August 29, 1782. Cornwallis observed, "Colonel Marion had so wrought the minds of the people, partly by the terror of his threats and cruelty of his punishments, and partly by the promise of plunder, that there was scarcely an inhabitant between the Santee and the Pee Dee that was not in arms against us."

Engagements with Tarleton

The British made repeated efforts to neutralize Marion's force, but Marion's intelligence gathering was excellent and that of the British was poor, due to the overwhelming Patriot presence in the Williamsburg area. Colonel Banastre Tarleton was sent to capture or kill Marion in November 1780. After pursuing Marion's troops for over 26 miles through a swamp, Tarleton supposedly said "as for this old fox, the Devil himself could not catch him." Based on this tale, Marion's supporters began to call him "the Swamp Fox".

Once Marion had shown his ability at guerrilla warfare, making himself a serious nuisance to the British, Governor John Rutledge commissioned him as a brigadier general of militia. Marion fought against freed slaves working or fighting alongside the British. He received an order from Rutledge to execute all Black people suspected of carrying provisions or gathering intelligence for the British "agreeable to the laws of this State".

End of the war

When Major General Nathanael Greene took command in the South, Marion and Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee III were ordered in January 1781 to attack Georgetown, but were unsuccessful. In April, they took Fort Watson. In May, they captured Fort Motte. Thereby, they succeeded in breaking communications between British outposts in the Carolinas. On August 31, Marion rescued a small American force trapped by 500 British soldiers, under the leadership of Major C. Fraser. For this action he received the thanks of the Continental Congress. Marion commanded the right wing under General Greene at the Battle of Eutaw Springs.

In January 1782, he was elected to the South Carolina General Assembly at Jacksonborough and left his troops to take up his seat. During his absence, Marion's men grew disheartened, particularly after a British sortie from Charleston, and there was reportedly a conspiracy to turn him over to the British. But in June of that year, he put down a Loyalist rebellion on the banks of the Pee Dee River. In August, Marion left his unit and returned to his slave plantation, Pond Bluff. In 1782, the British Parliament suspended offensive operations in America, and in December 1782, the British withdrew their garrison from Charleston. The Treaty of Paris brought the war to an end.

Later life and death

After Marion returned to Pond Bluff, he discovered it had been destroyed during the war. Of the roughly 200 people who had been enslaved on it before the war, most of them fled the plantation, with some joining the British as Clinton had issued the Philipsburg Proclamation offering Patriot enslaved people freedom. Marion's enslaved people who had joined the British were evacuated from Charleston at the end of the war and at least one settled in Nova Scotia. Meanwhile, ten of the people he had enslaved had moved to Belle Isle, a plantation owned by Marion's brother Gabriel, during the war. Four house slaves had also moved Gabriel's plantation, all of whom had been singled out for favorable treatment in Marion's prewar will: overseer June and his wife, Chloe; their daughter Phoebe (sister of Buddy, Marion's enslaved manservant); and her daughter Peggy.

These enslaved people, together with the ten field hands, went back with him to Pond Bluff. After the war, Marion borrowed money to purchase more enslaved people for his plantation. At the age of 54, Marion married his 49-year old cousin, Mary Esther Videau. Marion served several terms in the South Carolina State Senate. In 1784, in recognition of his services, he was made commander of Fort Johnson, a sinecure with an annual salary of $500  (at the time, privates in the First American Regiment were paid $6.67 a month. ) He died on his plantation in 1795, at the age of 63, and was buried at Belle Isle Plantation Cemetery in Berkeley County, South Carolina.

Legacy

The public memory of Marion has been shaped in large part by the first biography about him, The Life of General Francis Marion, written by Mason Locke Weems and based on the memoirs of South Carolinian soldier Peter Horry. The New York Times has described Weems as one of the "early hagiographers" of American literature "who elevated the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion, into the American pantheon." Weems is known for having invented the apocryphal "cherry tree" anecdote about George Washington, and "Marion's life received similar embellishment", as Amy Crawford wrote in Smithsonian magazine in 2007. In the 1835 novel Horse-Shoe Robinson by John P. Kennedy, a historical romance set against the background of the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War, Marion appears and interacts with the fictional characters. In the book, he is depicted as decisive, enterprising, and valiant.

Hans Conried portrayed Marion in an episode of the Cavalcade of America television series, "The Swamp Fox", which was broadcast on October 25, 1955. Walt Disney Productions produced The Swamp Fox, an eight-episode mini-series about Marion that aired from 1959 to 1961. It starred Leslie Nielsen as Marion, and Nielsen was also one of the singers of the theme song. The series depicted Mary Videau (who in the series has no familial relationship with Marion) secretly acting as an informant for Marion on British movements and Marion's nephew Gabriel Marion being killed by Loyalists, causing Marion to seek revenge on those responsible.

Marion was one of the influences for the main character of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) in the 2000 movie The Patriot, which, according to Crawford, "exaggerated the Swamp Fox legend for a whole new generation." The contrast between the film's depiction of Marion "as a family man and hero who single-handedly defeats countless hostile Brits" and the real-life Marion was one of the "egregious oversights" that Time magazine cited when listing The Patriot as number one of its "Top 10 historically misleading films" in 2011. In the film, Martin describes violence that he committed in the French and Indian War. Around the time of the film's release, comments in the British press challenged the American notion of Marion as a hero. In the Evening Standard, the British author Neil Norman called him "a thoroughly unpleasant dude who was, basically, a terrorist."

Concurrently, the British historian Christopher Hibbert described Marion as "very active in the persecution of the Cherokee Indians and not at all the sort of chap who should be celebrated as a hero. The truth is that people like Marion committed atrocities as bad, if not worse, than those perpetrated by the British." According to The Guardian, "it seems that Marion was slaughtering Indians for fun and regularly raping his female slaves". According to John Oller's 2016 biography, The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution, the allegation about Marion raping slaves is untrue. Marion enjoyed generally good relations with his slaves, including Peggy, the mixed-raced daughter of a Native American man and an African American woman. In an early will created when he was single, Marion freed Peggy and endowed her education, contrary to South Carolina law at the time, which made it a crime to teach slaves to write. Oller writes that there is no proof, either, that Marion personally committed any atrocities during the Anglo-Cherokee War, at least as a matter of choice, although he participated in some by order of his commander James Grant.

In a commentary published in the National Review, the conservative talk radio host Michael Graham rejected criticisms like Hibbert's as an attempt to rewrite history:

 Graham also referred to what he describes as "the unchallenged work of South Carolina's premier historian Dr. Walter Edgar, who pointed out in his 1998 South Carolina: A History that Marion's partisans were "a ragged band of both black and white volunteers."

English historian Hugh Bicheno compared Marion's behavior with British officers during the war, including Tarleton and Major James Wemyss. Referring to Marion, Tarleton and Wemyss, Bicheno wrote that "they all tortured prisoners, hanged fence-sitters, abused parole and flags of truce, and shot their own men when they failed to live up to the harsh standards they set." According to Crawford, the biographies by historians William Gilmore Simms (The Life of Francis Marion) and Hugh Rankin can be regarded as generally accurate. The introduction to the 2007 edition of Simms's book (originally published in 1844) was written by Sean Busick, a professor of American history at Athens State University in Alabama, who says that based on the facts, "Marion deserves to be remembered as one of the heroes of the War for Independence." Crawford commented:

Landmarks

Numerous locations in the U.S. are named after Francis Marion, including the Francis Marion National Forest near Charleston, South Carolina. The city of Marion, Iowa holds an annual Swamp Fox Festival. Marion County, South Carolina, and its county seat, the City of Marion, are named for Marion. The city features a statue of General Marion in the town square, and has a museum which includes many artifacts related to Francis Marion; the Marion High School mascot is the Swamp Fox. Francis Marion University is located nearby in Florence County, South Carolina. The Swamp Fox is a wooden roller coaster located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In Washington, D.C., Marion Park is one of the four large parks in the Capitol Hill Parks constellation. The park is bounded by 4th & 6th Streets and at the intersection of E Street and South Carolina Avenue in southeast Washington, D.C.

The Francis Marion Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Within the hotel is a restaurant called the Swamp Fox. The municipalities of Marion in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Marion Center, Pennsylvania are named for Francis Marion. Marion County, Indiana (of which the city of Indianapolis is a part), is named for the general, as are Marion Counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, and more than 30 townships in nine states. The Military Junior College Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama has an organization called Swamp Fox which is attributed to Francis Marion. The marionberry is named after the county in Oregon and so derives its name from him.

The 169th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina Air National Guard, located about 12 miles east of Columbia in Eastover, South Carolina, boasts the title "Home of the Swamp Fox" and has an image of the face of a fox painted on the body of their F-16 Fighter Jets. The South Carolina State Guard, the successor to the South Carolina Militia, charters the Swamp Fox Explorer Post 1670 through the national division of Exploring (Learning for Life) for youth 14 to 20 years of age. In 1994, Marion was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame.

In 2006, the United States House of Representatives approved a monument to Francis Marion, to be built in Washington, D.C., sometime in 2007–2008. The bill died in the Senate and was reintroduced in January 2007. The Brigadier General Francis Marion Memorial Act of 2007 passed the House of Representatives in March 2007, and the Senate in April 2008. The bill was packaged into the omnibus Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which passed both houses and was enacted in May 2008. Although a site at Marion Park was selected, it was not built before authorization expired in 2018. Some local residents opposed a monument to a slaveowner. The U.S. Navy was home to the USS Francis Marion, a Paul Revere-class attack transport. The ship served as the flag for COMPHIBGRU 2 (Commander Amphibious Group 2). For many years, Submarine Squadron Four at the Charleston Naval Base called itself the Swamp Fox Squadron.

Gallery

See also
 Early history of Williamsburg, South Carolina

Citations

Bibliography
 Bass, Robert D. Swamp Fox. 1959.
 Boddie, William Willis. History of Williamsburg. Columbia, SC: State Co., 1923.
 Boddie, William Willis. Marion's Men: A List of Twenty-Five Hundred. Charleston, SC: Heisser Print Co., 1938.
 Boddie, William Willis. Traditions of the Swamp Fox: William W. Boddie's Francis Marion. Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Co. 2000.
 Busick, Sean R. A Sober Desire for History: William Gilmore Simms as Historian. 2005. .
 Cate, Alan C. Founding Fighter: The Battlefield Leaders Who Made American Independence. Praeger, 2006.
 Oller, John. The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2016. .
 Risjord, Norman K. Representative Americans: The Revolutionary Generation. Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.
 Simms, W.G. The Life of Francis Marion. New York, 1833.
 Myers, Jonathan. Swamp Fox: Birth of a Legend. Ambition Studios, 2004.
 Young, Jeffrey Robert. Domesticating Slavery: The Master Class in Georgia and South Carolina, 1670–1837. University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
 Wickwire, Franklin and Mary. Cornwallis and the War of Independence. John Dickens & Co, 1970.

External links

 The Swamp Fox, Smithsonian.com
 The Online Books Page: Texts about Francis Marion

1732 births
1795 deaths
Continental Army officers from South Carolina
Militia generals in the American Revolution
American people of French descent
Huguenot participants in the American Revolution
People of pre-statehood South Carolina
People of South Carolina in the American Revolution
South Carolina colonial people
South Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution
South Carolina state senators
Members of the United States Army Special Forces
American folklore
American guerrillas
British America army officers
People of South Carolina in the French and Indian War
People from Berkeley County, South Carolina
18th-century American politicians
American slave owners

Francis Marion


Qutb al-Din (died 1386) was the Mihrabanid malik of Sistan from 1380 until 1383. He was the son of Izz al-Din ibn Rukn al-Din Mahmud.

Biography

During his father's lifetime Qutb al-Din had not been given a role in the government. He eventually grew angry over this state of affairs and sided with a faction seeking to murder Izz al-Din's vizier, who had a large amount of influence over the malik. In 1380 they openly revolted and defeated Izz al-Din's army on the field. Qutb al-Din suffered a temporary setback when the Kartids and the local malik of Farah invaded Sistan and reinstalled Izz al-Din in the capital. By the end of the year, however, Qutb al-Din had defeated the invaders, forced his father into exile and later received the latter's renunciation of the throne. Over the course of his first year in power, he worked at consolidating his rule in Sistan; he led an army against the town of Uq and killed many of the local landowners who had risen in opposition to him.

In the meantime, the amir Timur had begun his expansion into Afghanistan and Persia, forcing the Kartid dynasty of Herat into submission. Around this time, an envoy arrived to Qutb al-Din's court and requested a hostage as a sign of good faith. The malik responded by sending a relative, Taj al-Din Shah-i Shahan, to Timur's camp with an offer of tribute; the Mihrabanid made a good impression on Timur and returned to Sistan.

In November 1383, however, Timur and his army arrived in Sistan. After negotiations between the two sides failed a battle was fought in which the Mihrabanid forces were defeated. After building a pyramid of human skulls out of the slain Mihrabanid soldiers, the Timurid army forced its way into Shahr-i Sistan and Qutb al-Din was imprisoned. Timur appointed Shah-i Shahan as governor of Sistan and proceeded to ravage the province. Qutb al-Din was deported to Samarkand, where he was executed three years later at the age of thirty.

References

Bosworth, C.E. The History of the Saffarids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz (247/861 to 949/1542-3). Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, 1994.

1386 deaths
Mihrabanids
Year of birth unknown
14th-century Iranian people

Qutb al-Din ibn Izz al-Din


Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was disputedly King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never officially proclaimed as such. He was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. He was the Count of Paris as Orléanist claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death. From 1883, when his cousin Henri, Count of Chambord died, he was often referred to by Orléanists as Philippe VII.

Early life

Prince Philippe became the Prince Royal, heir apparent to the throne, when his father, Prince Ferdinand-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, died in a carriage accident in 1842. Although there was some effort during the days after the abdication of his grandfather in 1848 to put him on the throne under the name of Louis-Philippe II, with his mother (Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) as Regent, this came to nothing. They fled, and the French Second Republic was proclaimed.

American Civil War

A historian, journalist and outspoken democrat, Philippe volunteered to serve as a Union Army officer in the American Civil War along with his younger brother, Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres. He was appointed as an assistant adjutant general with the rank of captain on 24 September 1861 and served under the name of Philippe d'Orléans, the Count of Paris.  He served on the staff of the commander of the Army of the Potomac, Major General George B. McClellan, for nearly a year. He distinguished himself during the unsuccessful Peninsular Campaign.  He resigned from the Union Army, along with his brother, on 15 July 1862.  Philippe's History of the Civil War in America is considered a standard reference work on the subject.

During their stay in the United States, the princes were accompanied by their uncle, the Prince of Joinville, who painted many watercolours of their stay. On 10 November 1880 Philippe was elected as a companion of the first class (i.e. a veteran officer) of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States – an organization of Union officers who had served during the American Civil War.  He was assigned insignia number 2107. His eldest son, Philippe d'Orleans, was elected as a 2nd class member (i.e. an eldest son of a veteran officer) in 1890 and succeeded to first class membership in the Order upon Philippe's death.

Marriage and issue
On 30 May 1864 at St. Raphael's Church in Kingston upon Thames, England he married his paternal first cousin, Princess Marie Isabelle d'Orléans (1848–1919), Infanta of Spain. She was daughter of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain and Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier (1824–1890), the youngest son of Louis-Philippe of France and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. They had eight children:

Princess Amélie d'Orléans (1865–1951); married Carlos I of Portugal in 1886.
Prince Louis Philippe Robert d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans (1869–1926); married Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria, daughter of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria in 1896,
Princess Hélène of Orléans (1871–1951); married Emmanuel Philibert, 2nd Duke of Aosta in 1895.
Prince Charles d'Orléans (1875–1875).
Princess Isabelle d'Orléans (1878–1961); married Prince Jean D'Orléans, Duke of Guise in 1899.
Prince Jacques d'Orléans (1880–1881).
Princess Louise d'Orléans (1882–1958); married Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in 1907. Through her daughter, Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, she was the grandmother of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier (1884–1924); married Marie Isabelle Gonzales de Olañeta y Ibaretta, Marchioness of Valdeterrazo in 1921.

Restoration of French monarchy
The Orleans family had been in exile in England since the Revolution of 1848 which toppled King Louis Philippe. During their early married life, the Count and Countess of Paris lived at York House, Twickenham. However, in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War and the downfall of Napoleon III, they were allowed to return to France, and many of their properties were restored to them. In 1873, anticipating a restoration of the monarchy by the largely monarchist National Assembly that had been elected following the fall of Napoleon III, the Count of Paris withdrew his claims to the defunct French throne in favour of the legitimist claimant, Henri V, best known as the Comte de Chambord. It was assumed by most that the Count of Paris was Chambord's heir-presumptive, and would thus be able to succeed to the throne upon the childless Chambord's death, reuniting the two claims that had divided French monarchists since 1830. However, Chambord's refusal to recognize the tricolor as the French flag sabotaged hopes of a restoration, and Chambord died in 1883 without ever specifically recognizing his Orléanist rival as his heir-presumptive.

Upon the Count of Chambord's death, the Count of Paris was recognized by most monarchists as Philippe VII of France. This succession was disputed by the Carlist descendants of the Bourbon kings of Spain, who argued that being descended directly from Louis XIV their claim was greater than that of the Orléanists'; however, this argument pointedly ignored Philip V of Spain's renunciation of his and his descendants' claim to the French throne pursuant to the Treaty of Utrecht.

In 1886 the family was exiled again returning to the United Kingdom, where they first lived at Sheen House, near Richmond, where the young Rosa Lewis was a member of their household. In 1890 they moved to the much grander Stowe House, where he died in 1894. He was succeeded as claimant to the defunct French throne by his son Prince Philippe.

Honours
 : Grand Cross of the Order of the White Falcon, 24 August 1856
 : Knight of the Order of the Elephant, 22 October 1885
 : Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders, 22 May 1886

Ancestry

Bibliography

 Flers, Hyacinthe, marquis de. Le comte de Paris. Paris: Perrin, 1888.
 Hanson, Edward. "The Wandering Princess: Princess Hélène of France, Duchess of Aosta".  Fonthill, 2017.

See also

Count of Paris

References

|-

1838 births
1894 deaths
19th-century French people
French Roman Catholics
Dukes of Montpensier
Counts of Paris
Orléanist pretenders to the French throne
Union Army officers
Burials at the Chapelle royale de Dreux
Princes of France (Orléans)
Heirs apparent who never acceded
Fellows of the Royal Society
2
2
Child pretenders

Prince Philippe, Count of Paris


Edward Francis Eldred (16 December 1920 to August 2005) was a pioneer of scuba diving in Australia. He invented Porpoise scuba gear.

Early years
Eldred was born in Melbourne in 1920. As a young man he lived by the sea near Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne. He started snorkelling as soon as mask, fins and snorkel were available, and wished that he could make or obtain some sort of free-swimming breathing set, until World War II intervened. After World War II in the late 1940s he designed a sport diving oxygen rebreather.  Eldred said he had never dived with the Cousteau-Gagnan model of the Aqua Lung, but knew of its existence and its principle. The Aqua Lung was protected by patent and difficult to obtain in Australia. Siebe Gorman had the license to manufacture for Commonwealth countries and could not meet demands. When Eldred decided that rebreathers were not suitable for general sport use, he shifted his focus to developing the world's first single-hose open-circuit scuba set, both with tradename "Porpoise".

Closed-circuit oxygen rebreathers

Eldred's initial efforts were to make an oxygen rebreather safe for sporting use. Pure oxygen used in early rebreathers causes CNS poisoning below 6 msw. Eldred reasoned that the rebreather should be designed to stop flowing oxygen when the diver descended below that depth. At a demonstration by the Flinders pier, on Western Port Bay, south east of Melbourne, a diver passed out because he failed to purge the system of air. This failure to purge had resulted in a nitrogen build up. Eldred realized at this point that he needed to turn his efforts toward open circuit compressed air breathing apparatus. He was accompanied on this demonstration by Bob Wallace-Mitchell, who would become his distributor.

Open-circuit compressed air

The French-designed open circuit scuba, called the Aqua-Lung, was protected by US and international patents, so Eldred set about designing the Porpoise CA (a prototype), the world's first single hose regulator. Eldred referred to the French model as the Gagnan Aqua Lung, as designer Émile Gagnan was the Frenchman who actually designed the device for Jacques Cousteau. This new design was superior to the Aqua-Lung, and did not violate any of the existing patents. Eldred's regulator was never patented as his business was too small for the expense. The first production model was designated the CA-1. (C A for compressed air, 1 for single cylinder) He began using an oxygen welding reduction valve for his prototype. His chief design effort was developing the demand valve which people now call the second stage. It was sold as a complete single cylinder, single hose scuba early in 1952. The cylinder was inverted so the diver could reach the innovative regulator mounted reserve. Only about a dozen of these exist and are now in the hands of scuba collectors. Eldred also made  the CA-2, which was a double cylinder model. Only two CA-2 Porpoises are still known to exist.  About three quarters of the Porpoises made were surface supplied 'hookah' units. The 'hookah' was the device which started the demise of the standard dress helmet diving equipment. The Porpoise single hose scuba found its initial international praise in Arthur C. Clarke's 1955 book Coast of Coral. Clarke brought two French Mistrals to Australia, but set them aside when he was loaned two Porpoises for his Australian adventure by Eldred. They are illustrated in Clarke's book.

Eldred's company was called Breathing Appliances Pty Ltd and located at 70 Abbotsford St., North Melbourne. His marketing was done by his friend Bob Wallace-Mitchell. It was difficult for Wallace-Mitchell to market in those early days, as compressed air was not readily available. His first task was to locate a compressor with a sales point in each of the Australian capital cities. Once this was done, dealers could stock his scuba and refill the cylinders. In 1954 Eldred also created the Porpoise Universal, which had a high supply rate of over 300 liters per minute. The Universal used the same demand valve and was modular in design. The reduction valve was a balanced diaphragm type, which was modified to become a piston type. It became his flagship model. Eldred also made a cheaper model, called the Sportsman. The Sportsman was a very compact regulator with innovative features now found on regulators of today. It was made of plastic and had an unbalanced first stage. Market needs made this model necessary, but Eldred did not like it.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) supported Eldred's efforts and adopted the Porpoise Universal for military use. The RAN became the first navy to be equipped with single hose scuba. Eldred's diving school was established by RAN Commander Maurice "Batts" Batterham, GM. It was the first SCUBA diving school in Australia and the first in the world to teach with the single hose regulator — it was located at the Melbourne City Baths. It was a course designed to promote the new Porpoise, but later other brands of scuba were also used. The school continued for about ten years, later sending its students to the newer Associated Divers Academy which taught at the YMCA. The Australian government was still sensitive about the attempted invasion by the Japanese. They supported the course by allowing Batterham to conduct it and they kept a record of those who attended. This gave them a conscription base should hostilities ever occur again.

In 1960 the French firm L'Air Liquide, which owned U.S. Divers Corp., and the patent to the Aqua-Lung, bought Eldred out, under threat of flooding his market with their products. The Porpoise continued to be marketed under the name Australian Divers Spiro Pty. Ltd. Eldred worked for them for a time, but eventually left diving behind, discouraged by this experience. Later Australian Divers Spiro ceased production of all of the Porpoise models, but had to continue to supply the RAN because of an existing contract. The last Porpoise sold was the RAN variation of the Porpoise Universal in 1976. About 12,000 Porpoise units were produced, but only a few dozen of all models are known to exist today. The more common French Aqua-Lung was produced in far larger numbers, with 12,000 being made in a single month. Today the French design is considered obsolete, while the Australian design is made and used world wide.

Ted Eldred was recognized in later life, by the Historical Divers Society (South-East Asia Pacific), as the inventor of the first successful commercially produced single hose SCUBA. Eldred made his last dive with his grandson Adam, at an event in Ted Eldred's honor. The single hose SCUBA is the type in use around the world today. Eldred was presented the first "Ted Eldred Award" for significant contributions to diving by the Historical Diving Society (SEAP). When Eldred died, he did not have a single complete Porpoise left. The Historical Diving Society (SEAP), presented a working Porpoise to Eldred's son Tony, so that the family would have an example of Ted Eldred's achievements.

Ted Eldred died of cardiac arrest at his Yarck, Victoria country home, in August 2005. He was survived by a son and a daughter.

References

Further reading
Historical Diving Times No.38 Winter 2006

External links
Images of Porpoise
Link to page with images about Ted Eldred's oxygen rebreather

1920 births
2005 deaths
20th-century Australian inventors
Australian underwater divers
Diving engineers
People from Melbourne
Rebreather makers

Ted Eldred


The Duwamish River is the name of the lower  of Washington state's Green River. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway. In 2009, the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center was opened on the west bank of the river as part of the tribe's reassertion of its historic rights in the area and its continuing struggle for federal recognition of tribal status.

Name
The native Lushootseed name of the Duwamish River (and of the Cedar River) was Dxwdəw. The Lushootseed name of the Duwamish tribe was Dxw'Dəw?Abš or Dkhw'Duw'Absh, meaning 'People of the Inside'. Both of these have been anglicized as Duwamish.

History

Until 1906, the White and Green Rivers combined at Auburn, and joined the Black River at Tukwila to form the Duwamish.  In 1906, however, the White River changed course following a major flood and emptied into the Puyallup River as it does today. The lower portion of the historic White River—from the historic confluence of the White and Green Rivers to the confluence with the Black River—is now considered part of the Green River. Later, in 1911 the Cedar River was diverted to empty into Lake Washington instead of into the Black River; at that time, the lake itself still emptied into the Black River. Then, with the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1916, the lake's level dropped nearly nine feet and the Black River dried up. From that time forward, the point of the name change from Green to Duwamish is no longer the confluence of the Green and Black Rivers, though it has not changed location.

When the first European-Americans arrived in the area in 1851, they found the Dkhw'Duw'Absh people living in more than 90 longhouses, in at least 17 villages, in modern-day Seattle and environs. Radiocarbon-dating of artifacts indicates that indigenous tribes have lived along the Duwamish since at least the Sixth Century AD. The Dkhw'Duw'Absh traditionally used the river to hunt ducks and geese, fish for salmon, cod, and halibut, harvest clams, and gather berries, camas, and other plants for food and medicinal purposes.

Native villages on the Duwamish were eventually supplanted by white settlement and commercial use, and there was evidence of deliberate burning of Indian longhouses in 1893. Duwamish people continued to work and fish in the area, using man-made "Ballast Island" on the Seattle waterfront as a canoe haul-out and informal market, but by the early 20th Century, most remnants of traditional life along the river had disappeared. The last year-round native residents on the river - an old man named Seetoowathl, and his wife - died of starvation in their float-house on Kellogg Island in the winter of 1920.

In 2009, the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center was opened on the west bank of the river as part of the tribe's reassertion of its historic rights in the area and its continuing struggle for federal recognition of tribal status.

Duwamish Waterway

As of the present day, the Duwamish Waterway empties into Elliott Bay in Seattle.  The waterway was completed after the completion of the man-made Harbor Island in 1909.  The waterway is now divided into two channels, the East and West Waterways.

In 1895, Eugene Semple, who had earlier served as Governor of Washington Territory, outlined a plan for a series of major public works projects in the Seattle area, including the straightening and dredging of the Duwamish River, both to open up the area to commercial use and to alleviate flooding. In 1909 the City of Seattle formed the Duwamish Waterway Commission in order to sell bonds and oversee the re-channelling of the river. Work began in October, 1913, and the oxbows gradually disappeared, with a few recesses in the channel left to accommodate high water flows and turning ships. Parts of the Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods once on quiet riverbank found themselves inland; the Georgetown Steam Plant was now almost a mile from the river, and special water pumping facilities had to be installed. By 1920, 4½ miles of the Duwamish Waterway had been dredged to a depth of 50 feet, with 20 million cubic feet of mud and sand going into the expansion of Harbor Island. The shallow, meandering, nine-mile-long river became a five-mile engineered waterway capable of handling ocean-going vessels.

The Duwamish basin soon became Seattle's industrial and commercial core area. Activities included cargo handling and storage, marine construction, ship and boat manufacturing, concrete manufacturing, paper and metals fabrication, food processing, and countless other industrial operations. Boeing Plant 1 was established on the Lower Duwamish in 1916, and Boeing Plant 2, further upriver, in 1936.

Bridges

The Duwamish Waterway is spanned by four major, public bridges: the First Avenue South Bridge, the South Park Bridge, the Spokane Street Bridge, and, directly above the latter, the West Seattle Bridge.  Historically, the West Spokane Street Bridge also crossed the west fork of the Duwamish Waterway from 1924 until the 1970s and 1980s.

Pollution

Due to 20th century industrial contamination, the lower  of the Duwamish Waterway was declared a Superfund site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001. The contaminants include PCBs, PAHs, arsenic, mercury, and phthalates, discharged from multiple industries.

The cleanup of the river has been controversial: one plan for an "early action" or hotspot cleanup proposed to dredge contaminated sediment and dump the resulting sludge in Tacoma's Commencement Bay,  to the southwest. Opposition to this plan in both Seattle and Tacoma forced the sludge to be shipped to Klickitat County in south central Washington instead of disposal in Puget Sound. EPA has identified responsible parties for the pollution and in 2014 it published a final cleanup plan. By late 2015, 50 percent of the PCB-contaminated sediment had been removed. As of 2022, cleanup and restoration efforts are ongoing.

The Duwamish River faces many types of pollution, in addition to the contaminants named above. One major pollutant is fecal coliform bacteria, caused by combined sewer overflows. Even if these overflows were to be cleaned up, the overall quality of the water would not improve much. The river's most common pollutant is petroleum. Other contamination would still occur from farms, surface runoff, or failing septic tanks.

With the spread of ecological concerns in the 1970s, various environmental, tribal, and community organizations became interested in the severely polluted Duwamish River and Waterway. Kellogg Island, the last remnant of the original river, was declared a wildlife preserve, and nearby terminal T-107 was converted into a park, creating a substantial natural area near the mouth of the river.

Wildlife

Despite the industrialization of the Duwamish river, it remains an important habitat for the wildlife in the area. Thousands of salmon and trout that visit the marshes and estuaries each year to spawn. The Duwamish supports chinook, coho, chum and steelhead, as well as the more rare sockeye, sea-run cutthroat trout and bull trout. Pink salmon run in the millions every odd-numbered years in recent history. Canada geese, great blue herons, starlings, cormorants, pigeons, buffleheads, Caspian terns, warblers, hawks, ospreys, bald eagles, and numerous waterfowl call the river home and can be seen feeding in and around its waters.

Many of the animal species found in or around the river contain an unhealthy amount of contaminants.  For example, other than salmon, any type of fish or shellfish found in the river is unfit for human consumption.  It was found that PCB levels in fish and crab that live in the waterway most of their lives are 35 to 110 times higher than in Puget Sound salmon.  The Ecological Risk Assessment also found that river otters from the Lower Duwamish River might be exposed to such high levels of PCBs that the growth or survival of their offspring may be reduced.

Recreation

The Port of Seattle owns several properties along the Duwamish River and industrial channels. In 2020, a set of six parks were renamed to use indigenous Lushootseed names following consultation with local tribes.

See also
List of rivers of Washington

References

External links

 * Three of a long series publ. by Seattle Post-Intelligencer in Nov-Dec 2007.
1) River Lost? Seattle Pi, 11 Nov 2007.

2) Many question if Seattle's Duwamish waterway can ever be restored Seattle Pi, 25 Nov 2007.

3) River: Dead or alive? Seattle Pi, 1 Dec 2007.

Rivers of Washington (state)
Ports and harbors of Washington (state)
Rivers of King County, Washington
Superfund sites in Washington (state)

Duwamish River


Auguste Louis Himly (28 March 1823, Strasbourg, France6 October 1906, Sèvres, France) was a French historian and geographer.

After studying in his native town and taking the university course in Berlin (1842-1843), Himly went to Paris and passed first in the examination for fellowship (agrégation) of the lycées (1845), first in the examinations on leaving the École des Chartes, and first in the examination for fellowship of the faculties (1849). In 1849 he took the degree of doctor of letters with two theses, one of which, Wala et Louis le Débonnaire (published in Paris in 1849), placed him in the front rank of French scholars in the province of Carolingian history.

Soon, however, Himly turned his attention to the study of geography. In 1858 he obtained an appointment at the Sorbonne as a teacher of geography, henceforth devoting himself to that subject.
It was not until 1876 that he published, in two volumes, his remarkable Histoire de la formation territoriale des États de l'Europe centrale, in which he showed with a firm touch the reciprocal influence exerted by geography and history. While the work gives evidence throughout of wide and well-directed research, he preferred to write it in the form of a student's manual, but it was a manual so original that it gained him admission to the Institute in 1881.
In that year he was appointed dean of the faculty of letters, and for ten years he directed the intellectual life of that great educational centre during its development into a great scientific body.

References

1823 births
1906 deaths
Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques
19th-century French historians
Academic staff of the University of Paris
French male non-fiction writers
École Nationale des Chartes alumni

Auguste Himly


Carl C. Christensen (October 1, 1891 – June 20, 1956) was an American businessman and politician.

Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Christensen went to school in Racine and to LaSalle College. He served in the United States Army during World War I. He owned a service station in Racine for thirty years. Christensen served on the Racine Common Council from 1926 to 1933 and from 1937 to 1945 and on the Racine Board of Health. From 1943 to 1947, Christensen served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was a Republican. In 1954, he ran in the Wisconsin State Senate election and lost. Christensen died suddenly of a heart attack while playing golf in Racine, Wisconsin.

Notes

1891 births
1956 deaths
Politicians from Racine, Wisconsin
La Salle Extension University alumni
Businesspeople from Racine, Wisconsin
Military personnel from Wisconsin
Wisconsin city council members
Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American businesspeople

Carl C. Christensen


Transformers is a 2007 American science fiction action film based on Hasbro's toy line of the same name. It is the first installment in the Transformers film series. The film is directed by Michael Bay from a screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, a teenager who gets caught up in a war between the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two factions of alien robots who can disguise themselves by transforming themselves into everyday machinery, primarily vehicles. The Autobots intend to retrieve and use the AllSpark, the powerful artifact that created their robotic race that is on Earth, to rebuild their home planet Cybertron and end the war, while the Decepticons have the intention of using it to build an army by giving life to the machines of Earth. Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, John Turturro and Jon Voight also star, while Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving voice Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively.

Don Murphy was initially interested in developing a G.I. Joe film, but then decided to develop a Transformers film after the United States went to war against Iraq in 2003. Murphy and Tom DeSanto developed the project in 2003, and DeSanto wrote a treatment. Steven Spielberg came on board as executive producer the following year, hiring Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman to write the screenplay. The U.S. Armed Forces and General Motors loaned vehicles and aircraft during filming, which saved money for the production and added realism to the battle scenes. Hasbro's promotional campaign for the film included deals with various companies; advertising included a viral marketing campaign, coordinated releases of prequel comic books, toys, and books, as well as product placement deals with companies such as General Motors, Burger King, and eBay.

Transformers premiered on June 10, 2007, at the N Seoul Tower in Seoul, and was released on July 3 in the United States, by Paramount Pictures. The film became the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2007, grossing over $709 million worldwide, with an estimated 46 million tickets sold in the United States. Critics praised the film for the action sequences, visual effects, and sound design, but criticized the screen time for certain characters and use of product placement. The film won four awards from the Visual Effects Society and was nominated for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects at the 80th Academy Awards.

It was followed by six further films: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014), The Last Knight (2017), Bumblebee (2018) and Rise of the Beasts (2023).

Plot

The planet Cybertron was ravaged by a civil war between the two Transformer factions, the Autobots led by Optimus Prime and the Decepticons led by Megatron, for the AllSpark, a cube-like object that is the source of all Cybertronian life. The Autobots want to find the AllSpark so they can use it to rebuild Cybertron and end the war, while the Decepticons want to use it to defeat the Autobots and conquer the universe. Megatron found the AllSpark on Earth, but crash-landed in the Arctic Circle and was frozen in the ice. Captain Archibald Witwicky and his crew of explorers stumbled upon Megatron in 1897. Captain Witwicky accidentally activates Megatron's navigational system, causing his eyeglasses to be imprinted with the coordinates of the AllSpark's location. Sector 7, a secret United States government organization, discovers the AllSpark in the Colorado River and builds the Hoover Dam around it to mask its energy emissions. The still-frozen Megatron is moved into this facility and is reverse engineered to advance human technology.

In the present day, the Decepticons—Blackout, Scorponok, Frenzy, Barricade, Starscream, Bonecrusher and Brawl—have landed on Earth and assumed the disguise of Earth vehicles. Blackout and Scorponok attack the U.S. SOCCENT military base in Qatar and try to hack into the U.S. military network to find the location of Megatron and the AllSpark. Their mission is thwarted when the base staff severs the network cable connections. While Blackout destroys the rest of the base, Scorponok chases a small group of survivors who have photographic evidence of the robots, but he is eventually repelled. During this battle, the military discovers its only effective weapons against the Transformers' armor are high-heat sabot rounds. After Blackout's failure, Frenzy infiltrates Air Force One to try again to hack into the military network, and in doing so plants a virus. He finds the map imprinted on Captain Witwicky's glasses which is owned by his descendant, Sam Witwicky. Frenzy and Barricade begin tracking Sam's location in Los Angeles.

One of the Autobots, Bumblebee, is also on Earth, disguised as a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro, and is bought by Sam while shopping for his first car. Bumblebee helps him woo his crush, Mikaela Banes. Bumblebee leaves at night to transmit a homing beacon to the Autobots and Sam sees him in robot mode. Barricade confronts Sam and demands Archibald's spectacles, but Bumblebee rescues him and Mikaela. After Bumblebee upgrades his vehicle form by scanning a 2007 Chevrolet Camaro, they leave to rendezvous with the Autobots: Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet—who have landed on Earth and taken the forms of Earth vehicles as well. Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots return to Sam's home and obtain the glasses. Soon, agents from Sector 7 arrive to arrest Sam and Mikaela, and they capture Bumblebee.

Frenzy, disguised as a mobile phone, secretly accompanies the group to the Hoover Dam and releases Megatron. Locating the AllSpark, Frenzy alerts the other Decepticons. Sam convinces the Sector 7 agents to release Bumblebee so that he can get the AllSpark to Optimus Prime. Frenzy's virus has shut down government communications, but a pair of hackers manage to establish a signal to the Air Force. The Autobot-human convoy goes to Mission City, Nevada to obtain a radio that will guide the Air Force and secure an extraction for the AllSpark as the Decepticon forces attack the convoy. During the ensuing battle, Brawl, Bonecrusher, Frenzy, Jazz, and Blackout are all killed. Sam manages to ram the AllSpark into Megatron's chest, killing him and destroying the AllSpark. Optimus takes a fragment of the AllSpark from Megatron's corpse but realizes that with its destruction, their homeworld Cybertron cannot be restored. The government decommissions Sector 7 and dumps the corpses of the defeated Decepticons into the Laurentian Abyss. Sam and Mikaela begin a relationship, and Optimus sends a signal to other surviving Autobots directing them to Earth.

Cast

Live-action Human Cast
 Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky: The young descendant of an Arctic explorer who stumbles upon a big secret that becomes the Earth's final hope. Sam's real name is called Spike from the original  animated TV series.
 Josh Duhamel as Captain William Lennox: A good and dedicated hardworking leader of the Army Rangers team in Qatar and allies himself with Sam and others.
 Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes: A classmate of Sam who assists him in his mission by using skills she learned as a juvenile car thief from her convict father.
 Tyrese Gibson as Sergeant Robert Epps: A U.S. Air Force Combat Controller and technical sergeant of a Special Operations team based at the U.S. SOCCENT base in Qatar and Lennox's best friend. before Tyrese was cast, Ashley Walters was approached for the role but he turned it down as he sign a deal with an Independent in the UK.
 Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen: A former NSA data analyst recruited by the U.S. Defense Department.
 Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitmann: Maggie's hacker friend.
 John Turturro as Agent Major Seymour Simmons: A special agent of the government agency Sector 7 Advanced Research Division.
 Jon Voight as John Keller: The U.S. Secretary of Defense.
 Michael O'Neill as Tom Banachek: Head of Sector 7.
 Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky: Sam's father. Unlike Sam, Ron's real name called Sparkplug from the original  animated TV series.
 Julie White as Judy Witwicky: Sam's mother.
 Amaury Nolasco as Jorge "Fig" Figueroa: A Special Operations soldier who survives the destruction of the SOCCENT base in Qatar and was also a member of Captain Lennox's team.
 Zack Ward as First Sergeant Donnelly: A member of Captain Lennox's team.
 W. Morgan Sheppard as Captain Archibald Witwicky: Sam's great-great-grandfather who accidentally activates Megatron's navigational system while exploring the Arctic Circle.
 Bernie Mac as Bobby Bolivia: A used car salesman.
 John Robinson as Miles Lancaster: Sam's best friend.
 Travis Van Winkle as Trent DeMarco: Mikaela's ex-boyfriend.
 Glenn Morshower as Colonel Sharp (credited as "SOCCENT sergeant")

Voices
 Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime: The leader of the Autobots who transforms into a blue and red 1994 Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck. Cullen had previously voiced Optimus Prime in the original 1980s cartoon and was chosen to reprise his role.
 Mark Ryan as Bumblebee: The Autobot scout and Sam's new guardian who transforms into a yellow and black Chevrolet Camaro (first a 1976 model and later in the movie a 2007 model).
 Darius McCrary as Jazz: Optimus's second-in-command who transforms into a silver 2006 Pontiac Solstice.
 Robert Foxworth as Ratchet: The Autobot medic who transforms into a yellow 2007 search and rescue Hummer H2 ambulance.
 Jess Harnell as
 Ironhide: The Autobot weapons expert who transforms into a black 2006 GMC Topkick C4500.
 Barricade: The Decepticon scout and interrogator who transforms into a black 2007 Saleen S281 police car.
 Hugo Weaving as Megatron: The leader of the Decepticons who transforms into a silver Cybertronian jet. Frank Welker was considered to reprise his role, but according to the film's DVD commentary, Bay thought his voice did not fit, so Weaving was chosen instead. After Weaving left the role, Welker returned as the voice of Megatron in later sequels.
 Jim Wood as Bonecrusher: A Decepticon soldier who transforms into a Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle.
 Reno Wilson as Frenzy: The Decepticon hacker and Barricade's minion, who transforms into a PGX Boombox, and later a Nokia 8800. Howard Stern was offered the role but turned it down when his agent talked him out of it.
 Charlie Adler as Starscream: Megatron's second-in-command who transforms into a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. Adler had previously voiced several characters in the original series, most noticeably Silverbolt.

Non-speaking characters
 Blackout: Megatron's third-in-command who transforms into a MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter.
 Devastator / Brawl: The Decepticon demolition specialist who transforms into an up-armed M1A1 Abrams tank.
 Scorponok: A scorpion-like Decepticon and Blackout's minion.

Production

Development

Don Murphy was initially planning a G.I. Joe film adaptation, but when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested adapting the Transformers franchise instead. Tom DeSanto joined Murphy because he was a fan of the series. They met with comic book writer Simon Furman, and cited the Generation 1 cartoon and comics as their main influence. They made the Creation Matrix their plot device, though Murphy had it renamed because of the film series The Matrix, but was later used again in the sequel. DeSanto chose to write the treatment from a human point of view to engage the audience, while Murphy wanted it to have a realistic tone, reminiscent of a disaster film. The treatment featured the Autobots Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Arcee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee, and the Decepticons Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Skywarp and Shockwave.

Steven Spielberg, a fan of the comics and toys, signed on as executive producer in 2004. John Rogers wrote the first draft, which pitted four Autobots against four Decepticons, and featured the Ark spaceship. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, fans of the cartoon, were hired to rewrite the script in February 2005. Spielberg suggested that "a boy and his car" should be the focus. This appealed to Orci and Kurtzman because it conveyed themes of adulthood and responsibility, "the things that a car represents in the United States". The characters of Sam and Mikaela were the sole point of view given in Orci and Kurtzman's first draft. The Transformers had no dialogue, as the producers feared talking robots would look ridiculous. The writers felt that even if it would look silly, not having the robots speak would betray the fanbase. The first draft also had a battle scene in the Grand Canyon. Spielberg read each of Orci and Kurtzman's drafts and gave notes for improvement. The writers remained involved throughout production, adding additional dialogue for the robots during the sound mixing (although none of this was kept in the final film, which ran fifteen minutes shorter than the initial edit). Furman's The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley, remained as a resource to the writers throughout production. Prime Directive was used as a fake working title. This was also the name of Dreamwave Productions' first Transformers comic book.

Michael Bay was asked to direct by Spielberg on July 30, 2005, but he dismissed the film as a "stupid toy movie". Bay also admitted that he was also skeptical when he was offered to direct. Nonetheless, he wanted to work with Spielberg, and gained a new respect for the concept upon visiting Hasbro. Bay considered the first draft "too kiddie", so he increased the military's role in the story. The writers sought inspiration from G.I. Joe for the soldier characters, being careful not to mix the brands. Because Orci and Kurtzman were concerned the film could feel like a military recruitment commercial, they chose to make the military believe nations like Iran were behind the Decepticon attack as well as making the Decepticons primarily military vehicles. Bay based Lennox's struggle to get to the Pentagon phoneline while struggling with an unhelpful operator from a real account he was given by a soldier when working on another film.

Orci and Kurtzman experimented with numerous robots from the franchise, ultimately selecting the characters most popular among the filmmakers to form the final cast. Bay acknowledged that most of the Decepticons were selected before their names or roles were developed, as Hasbro had to start designing the toys. Some of their names were changed because Bay was upset that they had been leaked. Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream were the only characters present in each version of the script. Arcee was a female Transformer introduced by Orci and Kurtzman, but she was cut because they found it difficult to explain robotic gender; Bay also disliked her motorcycle form, which he found too small. An early idea to have the Decepticons simultaneously strike multiple places around the world was also dropped.

Producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, said the film cost only $150 million, and called it "a bargain" compared to the other tentpole films that summer which cost as much as $300 million. According to Kim Masters of NPR, instead of boasting about how much they had spent the studios did not want to admit to their real budget and risk further cost inflation on other projects, and her Hollywood source said that the budget of Transformers had passed $200 million.

Design

The filmmakers created the size of each robot with the size of their vehicle mode in mind, supporting the Transformer's rationale for their choice of disguise on Earth. The concept of traveling protoforms was developed by Roberto Orci when he wondered why "aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to travel". This reflected a desire to move to a more alien look, away from the "blocky" Generation 1 Transformers. Another major influence in the designs was samurai armor, returning full-circle to the Japanese origins of the toy line. The robots also had to look alien, or else they would have resembled other cinematic robots made in the image of man.

A product placement deal with General Motors supplied alternate forms for most of the Autobots, which saved $3 million for the production. GM also provided nearly two hundred cars, most of which were flood damaged or non-salable, destined for destruction in the climactic battle scene. The U.S. Armed Forces provided significant support, enhancing the film's realism: the film features F-22s, F-117s, and V-22 Ospreys, the first time these aircraft were used for a film; soldiers served as extras, and authentic uniforms were provided for the actors. A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and Lockheed AC-130s also appear. Captain Christian Hodge joked that he had to explain to his superiors that the filmmakers wanted to portray most of their aircraft as evil Decepticons: however, he remarked "people love bad guys".

Filming

To save money for the production, Bay reduced his usual fee by 30%. He planned an 83-day shooting schedule, maintaining the required pace by doing more camera set-ups per day than usual. Bay chose to shoot the film in the United States instead of Australia or Canada, allowing him to work with a crew he was familiar with, and who understood his work ethic. A pre-shoot took place on April 19, 2006 and principal photography began three days later at Holloman Air Force Base, which stood in for Qatar. Due to their destruction later in the film by the Decepticon Blackout, the majority of the military structures shown on-screen were not property of Holloman Air Force Base, but were purchased ahead of filming from a private manufacturer of military shelter systems, AKS Military. To film the Scorponok sequence at White Sands Missile Range, a sweep was performed to remove unexploded ordnance before building of a village set could begin; ironically, the village would be blown up. The scene was broken down for the Air battle managers flying aboard the AWACS aircraft, who improvised dialogue as if it were an actual battle.

The company also shot at Hoover Dam and at the Pentagon, the first time since the September 11 attacks that film crews had been allowed at these locations. The external Hoover Dam scenes were shot before tourists arrived daily at 10:00 a.m., with shooting moving inside for the remainder of the day. Production in California was based at Hughes Aircraft at Playa Vista, where the hangar in which Megatron is imprisoned was built. Six weekends were spent in Los Angeles, California shooting the climactic battle, with some elements being shot on the Universal Studios backlot and at Detroit's Michigan Central Station. The crew was allowed to shoot at Griffith Observatory, which was still closed for renovations begun in 2002 and would reopen in November 2006. Filming wrapped on October 4, 2006.

The film has been found to re-use footage from Bay's previous film Pearl Harbor (2001).

Effects
Spielberg encouraged Bay to restrict computer-generated imagery to the robots and background elements in the action sequences. Stunts such as Bonecrusher smashing through a bus were done practically, while cameras were placed into the midst of car crashes and explosions to make it look more exciting. Work on the animatics began in April 2005. Bay indicated that three quarters of the film's effects were made by Industrial Light & Magic, while Digital Domain made the rest, including the Arctic discovery of Megatron; Frenzy's severed head; a vending machine mutated by the Allspark, and the Autobots' protoforms. Many of the animators were big Transformers fans and were given free rein to experiment: a scene where Jazz attacks Brawl is a reference to a scene in Race For The Artifact where Brixler jumps on Skylion.

ILM created computer-generated transformations during six months in 2005, looking at every inch of the car models. Initially the transformations were made to follow the laws of physics, but it did not look exciting enough and was changed to be more fluid. Bay rejected a liquid metal surface for the characters' faces, instead going for a "Rubik's Cube" style of modeling. He wanted numerous mechanical pieces visible so the robots would look more interesting, realistic, dynamic and quick, rather than like lumbering beasts. One such decision was to have the wheels stay on the ground for as long as possible, allowing the robots to cruise around as they changed. Bay instructed the animators to observe footage of two martial artists and numerous martial arts films to make the fights look graceful.

Due to the intricate designs of the Transformers, even the simplest motion of turning a wrist needs 17 visible parts; each of Ironhide's guns are made of ten thousand parts. Bumblebee uses a piece below his face-plate as an eyebrow, pieces in his cheeks swivel to resemble a smile, and all the characters' eyes are designed to dilate and brighten. According to Bay, "The visual effects were so complex it took a staggering 38 hours for ILM to render just one frame of movement"; that meant ILM had to increase their processing facilities. Each rendered piece had to look like real metal, shiny or dull. This was difficult to model because the aged and scarred robots had to transform from clean cars. Close-up shots of the robots were sped up to look "cool", but in wide shots the animation was slowed down to convincingly illustrate a sense of weight. Photographs were taken of each set. These were used as a reference for the lighting environment, which was reproduced within a computer, so the robots would look like they were convincingly moving there. Bay, who has directed numerous car commercials, understood ray tracing was the key to making the robots look real; the CG models would look realistic based on how much of the environment was reflecting on their bodies. Numerous simulations were programmed into the robots, so the animators could focus on animating the particular areas needed for a convincing performance.

Music

Composer Steve Jablonsky, who collaborated with Bay on The Island, scored music for the trailers before work began on the film itself. Recording took place in April 2007, at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California. The score, including the teaser music, uses six major themes across ninety minutes of music. The Autobots have three themes, one named "Optimus" to represent the wisdom and compassion of the Autobot leader, and another played during their arrival on Earth. The Decepticons have a chanted theme which relies on electronics, unlike most of the score. The AllSpark also has its own theme. Hans Zimmer, Jablonsky's mentor, also helped to compose the score.

Release
Transformers had its worldwide premiere at N Seoul Tower on June 10, 2007. The film's June 27 premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival used a live digital satellite feed to project the film on to a screen. A premiere took place at Rhode Island on June 28, which was a freely available event giving attendees the opportunity to buy tickets for $75 to benefit four charities: the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, the Autism Project of Rhode Island, Adoption Rhode Island, and Hasbro Children's Hospital. The film was released in IMAX on September 21, 2007, with additional footage that had not been included in the general theatrical release.

Marketing

Hasbro's toy line for the film was created over two months in late 2005 and early 2006, in heavy collaboration with the filmmakers. Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream were released in the United States on May 1, 2007, and the first wave of figures was released on June 2. The line featured characters not in the film, including Arcee. A second wave, titled "AllSpark Power", was set for release late 2007, which consisted of repaints and robotic versions of ordinary vehicles in the film. The toys feature "Automorph Technology", where moving parts of the toy allow other parts to shift automatically. Merchandise for the film earned Hasbro $480 million in 2007.

Deals were made with 200 companies to promote the film in 70 countries. Michael Bay directed tie-in commercials for General Motors, Panasonic, Burger King and PepsiCo, while props – including the Camaro used for Bumblebee and the AllSpark – were put up for charity sale on eBay. A viral marketing alternate reality game was employed through the Sector 7 website, which presented the film and all previous Transformers toys and media as part of a cover-up operation called "Hungry Dragon", perpetrated by a "real life" Sector 7 to hide the existence of genuine Transformers. The site featured several videos presenting "evidence" of Transformers on Earth, including a cameo from the original Bumblebee.

Home media
Transformers was released on DVD and HD DVD on October 16, 2007 in North America. The Wal-Mart edition of the DVD included a shortened animated version of the prequel comic book, titled Transformers Beginnings and featuring the voices of Ryan, Cullen, and Dunn, as well as Welker as Megatron. The Target copy was packaged with a transforming Optimus Prime DVD case and a prequel comic book about the Decepticons. The DVD sold 8.3 million copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling DVD of 2007, in North America, and it sold 190,000 copies on HD DVD, which was the biggest debut on the format. The DVDs sold 13.74 million copies, making the film the most popular DVD title of 2007.

The film was released on Blu-ray on September 2, 2008. In the first week, the two-disc edition of the Blu-ray was number one in sales compared to other films on the format. The Blu-ray version accounted for two-thirds of the film's DVD sales that first week, selling the third most in overall DVD sales. On June 16, 2009, Paramount included a sticker on all new Transformers DVDs that contained a code to view exclusive content online from the first film and get a sneak peek at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The content includes three exclusive clips from Revenge of the Fallen, behind-the-scenes footage from both films, and never-before-seen deleted scenes from the first film. Transformers was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on December 5, 2017.

The film grossed $303.7 million in home sales.

Reception

Box office
Transformers had the highest per-screen and per-theater gross in 2007 in North America. It was released on July 3, 2007 with  preview screenings on July 2. The United States previews earned $8.8 million and in its first day of general release, it grossed $27.8 million, a record for Tuesday box-office gross until it was broken by The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. It did, however, break Spider-Man 2s record for the biggest Fourth of July gross, making $29 million. Transformers opened in over 4,050 theaters in North America and grossed $70.5 million in its first weekend, debuting at #1 and amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel, surpassing Spider-Man. It would also break other records during its first week, surpassing Planet of the Apes for having the highest non-sequel July opening weekend, War of the Worlds for scoring the highest non-sequel Fourth of July opening weekend, The Passion of the Christ for having the biggest non-sequel Wednesday gross and Independence Day for achieving the largest non-sequel Thursday gross. The opening's gross in the United States was 50% more than what Paramount Pictures had expected. One executive attributed it to word of mouth that explained to parents that "it [was] OK to take the kids". Transformers ended its theatrical run in the United States and Canada with a gross of $319.2 million, making it the third highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions behind Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third. The film sold an estimated 46,402,100 tickets in North America.

The film was released in 10 international markets on June 28, 2007, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Transformers made $29.5 million in its first weekend, topping the box office in 10 countries. It grossed $5.2 million in Malaysia, becoming the most successful film in the country's history. Transformers opened in China on July 11 and became the second highest-grossing foreign film in the country (behind Titanic), making $37.3 million. Its opening there set a record for a foreign language film, making $3 million. The film was officially released in the United Kingdom on July 27, making £8.7 million, and helped contribute to the biggest attendance record ever for that weekend. It was second at the UK box office, behind The Simpsons Movie. In South Korea, Transformers recorded the largest audience for a foreign film in 2007 and the highest foreign revenue of the film.

Worldwide, Transformers was the highest-grossing non-sequel film in 2007 with over $709.7 million, making it Bay's fourth highest-grossing film to date, with three of its sequels surpassing it. It was also the fifth highest-grossing film of 2007 worldwide, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.

Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 57% based on 228 reviews and an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While believable characters are hard to come by in Transformers, the effects are staggering and the action is exhilarating." On Metacritic, the film has an weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

IGN Todd Gilchrist called it Bay's best film, and "one of the few instances where it's OK to enjoy something for being smart and dumb at the same time, mostly because it's undeniably also a whole lot of fun". The Advertiser Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may come to believe the studio somehow engineered artificial intelligence". The Denver Post Lisa Kennedy praised the depiction of the robots as having "a believably rendered scale and intimacy", and ABC presenter Margaret Pomeranz was surprised "that a complete newcomer to the Transformers phenomenon like myself became involved in the fate of these mega-machines". Ain't It Cool News's Drew McWeeny felt most of the cast grounded the story, and that "it has a real sense of wonder, one of the things that's missing from so much of the big CGI light shows released these days". Author Peter David found it ludicrous fun, and said that "[Bay] manages to hold on to his audience's suspension of disbelief long enough for us to segue into some truly spectacular battle scenes". Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, giving it 3 stars out of a possible 4, writing: "It's goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good, and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make that into an asset."

Response to the human storylines was mixed. The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt liked "how a teen plotline gets tied in to the end of the world", while Empire Ian Nathan praised Shia LaBeouf as "a smart, natural comedian, [who] levels the bluntness of this toy story with an ironic bluster". Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles felt Bay's style conflicted with Spielberg's, arguing the military story only served as a distraction from Sam. James Berardinelli hated the film as he did not connect with the characters in-between the action, which he found tedious. Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan found the humans "oddly lifeless, doing little besides marking time until those big toys fill the screen", while ComingSoon.net's Joshua Starnes felt the Transformers were "completely believable, right up to the moment they open their mouths to talk, when they revert to bad cartoon characters". Daily Herald Matt Arado was annoyed that "the Transformers [are] little more than supporting players", and felt the middle act was sluggish. CNN's Tom Charity questioned the idea of a film based on a toy, and felt it would "buzz its youthful demographic [...] but leave the rest of us wondering if Hollywood could possibly aim lower".

General
Transformers fans were initially divided over the film due to the radical redesigns of many characters, although the casting of Peter Cullen was warmly received. USA Today summarized the views of critics and audiences saying "there is general raving about the mechanical heroes and general grumbling about the excessive screen time given to some of the human characters played by Shia LaBeouf, Anthony Anderson, Tyrese Gibson and Jon Voight. Optimus Prime, the leader of the good-guy Autobots, doesn't appear until midway through the film." Transformers comic book writer Simon Furman and Beast Wars script consultant Benson Yee both considered the film to be spectacular fun, although Furman also argued that there were too many human storylines. Yee felt that being the first in a series, the film had to establish much of the fictional universe and therefore did not have time to focus on the Decepticons. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. With audiences under 18 the score rises to "A+", and the film was most popular with children and parents, including older women, and attracted many African American and Latino viewers.

The film created a greater awareness of the franchise and drew in many new fans. Transformers box office success led to the active development of films based on Voltron and Robotech, as well as a Knight Rider remake. When filming the sequel, Bay was told by soldiers the film helped their children understand what their work was like, and that many had christened their Buffalos – the vehicle used for Bonecrusher – after various Transformer characters.

After the film's 2009 sequel was titled Revenge of the Fallen, screenwriter Orci was asked if this film would be retitled, just as Star Wars was titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when re-released. He doubted the possibility, but said if it was retitled, he would call it Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.

Accolades

Entertainment Weekly named Bumblebee as their seventh favorite computer generated character, while The Times listed Optimus Prime's depiction as the thirtieth best film robot, citing his coolness and dangerousness.

Future

The second film, Revenge of the Fallen was released June 24, 2009. The third film, Dark of the Moon was released June 29, 2011. The fourth film, Age of Extinction was released June 27, 2014, and the fifth film titled The Last Knight was released on June 21, 2017. Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction were financial successes, while The Last Knight failed at the box office. The sequels have received mostly negative reviews.
The sixth film Bumblebee was released on December 21, 2018 to positive reviews. It is the highest-rated film in the Transformers series. The seventh film Rise of the Beasts was released on June 9, 2023 to mixed reviews.

References

External links

Transformers (film series)
2007 films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
Fictional-language films
Films about the United States Army
2007 science fiction action films
2000s science fiction adventure films
American films with live action and animation
American science fiction adventure films
American science fiction action films
Films about ancient astronauts
Alien invasions in films
American chase films
Films scored by Steve Jablonsky
Films directed by Michael Bay
Films produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Films set in 1897
Films set in 2003
Films set in 2006
Films set in 2007
Mars in film
Films set in Los Angeles
Films set in Nevada
Films set in Qatar
Films set in the Arctic
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films shot in Michigan
Films shot in Nevada
Films shot in New Mexico
Films with screenplays by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci
Films with screenplays by John Rogers
IMAX films
Live-action films based on animated series
Di Bonaventura Pictures films
DreamWorks Pictures films
Paramount Pictures films
American teen films
Films shot in Detroit
CJ Entertainment films
Films about extraterrestrial life
Films produced by Tom DeSanto
Films produced by Don Murphy
Films produced by Ian Bryce

Transformers (film)


MaryLynn Magar (born July 6, 1963) is an American politician from Florida. She was a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 82nd District, including most of Martin County and some parts of northern Palm Beach County, from 2012 to 2020.

Magar was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Radford University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1985. She and her husband moved to the state of Florida in the early 1990s, and she took a job with Heart Care Imaging, where she works as the Vice-President and the General Manager. Magar served as a Republican State Committeewoman from Martin County from 2000 to 2012 when she first ran for the legislature.

Florida House of Representatives
When incumbent State Representative William Snyder opted to run for Martin County Sheriff rather than seek another term, Magar ran to succeed him. In the Republican primary, she faced former State Representative Carl J. Domino, Jonathan Pasqualone, Calvin Turnquest, and Jonathan Milton. Though Domino had previously served in the legislature, Magar managed to earn the endorsements of United States Congressman Tom Rooney, State Senator Joe Negron, and Florida Right to Life. She campaigned on not voting for any tax or fee increases, declaring, "I think it's irresponsible for the state to keep spending more money. We need to keep money in the pockets of people who work and create jobs." Magar ended up winning the primary election, receiving 42% of the vote to Domino's 31%, Pasqualone's 13%, Turnquest's 7%, and Milton's 7%. In the general election, she faced only write-in opposition and won her first term in the legislature with 99% of the vote.

Magar was term-limited from the House in 2020, after serving four terms.

References

External links
Florida House of Representatives - MaryLynn Magar
Magar for State House

|-

1963 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
Businesspeople from Florida
Living people
Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives
People from Tequesta, Florida
Politicians from Pittsburgh
Radford University alumni
Women state legislators in Florida

MaryLynn Magar


Home Township is a civil township of Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan.  As of the 2000 census, the township population was 2,708.

Communities
 Cedar Lake is an unincorporated community on M-46 approximately 3 miles east of Edmore at . The Cedar Lake post office, with ZIP code 48812, provides P.O. Box service for the community.  The community developed around a railroad station and was platted in 1876. Frederick H. Harlin became the first postmaster on July 26, 1876 and was named for its location in an area of cedar trees.
 Edmore is a village within the township and the Edmore ZIP code 48829 serves most of Home Township as well as portions of Belvidere Township to the west, Douglass Township to the southwest, Day Township to the south, Ferris Township to the southeast, Richland Township to the east, and Rolland Township to the north in Isabella County.
 Wyman is an unincorporated community approximately 3 miles north of Edmore at . In 1879, Wyman was platted as "Averyville" by O.W. Avery and a post office was established under that name with Harvey P. Wyman as the first postmaster. The post office was renamed Wyman in 1880 and operated until 1944. It was also a station on the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad.
 The community of Vestaburg is to the east in Richland Township and the Vestaburg ZIP code 48891 also serves portions of eastern Home Township.
 The community of Blanchard is to the north in Rolland Township of Isabella County and the Blanchard ZIP code 49310 also serves portions of northern Home Township.
School Districts
Montabella Community Schools
Vestaburg Community Schools

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 36.1 square miles (93.5 km2), of which 36.0 square miles (93.2 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.3 km2) (0.30%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,708 people, 1,033 households, and 753 families residing in the township.  The population density was .  There were 1,127 housing units at an average density of .  The racial makeup of the township was 96.42% White, 0.26% African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.85% from other races, and 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.14% of the population.

There were 1,033 households, out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.1% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the township the population was spread out, with 28.5% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $30,590, and the median income for a family was $40,061. Males had a median income of $28,462 versus $21,950 for females. The per capita income for the township was $14,522.  About 12.4% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.9% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

 Walker Evans, champion off-road truck racer and NASCAR driver and team owner

Unusual attraction
A two-story outhouse is all that remains of an old factory or office.

References

Townships in Montcalm County, Michigan
Townships in Michigan

Home Township, Montcalm County, Michigan


Anosov (masculine, ) or Anosova (feminine, ) is a Russian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Anosov Pavel Petrovich () () - Russian scientist-metallurgist
Dmitri Anosov (1936–2014), Russian Soviet mathematician
Anosov diffeomorphism
Nikolai Anosov (1900–1962), Soviet conductor
Vitaly Anosov (born 1977), Uzbekistani canoeist

Metallurg Anosov, later renamed to Anosov - Soviet merchant freighter, tweendecker, one of the Leninsky Komsomol class of cargo ships. This cargo ship was buil in 1959.

Russian-language surnames

Anosov


The Lana Sisters were a British vocal group formed by Iris Long in 1958, along with Lynne Abrams. They put an advert in The Stage for a third member and got a reply from Mary O'Brien, who would go on to solo success a few years later as Dusty Springfield.

They were managed by Evelyn Taylor, as they toured around England. Initial publicity for the group claimed they were three actual sisters with the surname Lana:  Iris (or Riss), Lynne, and Shann (or Shan).  (Iris Long and Lynne Abrams were Riss and Lynne Lana, Mary O'Brien was Shann Lana.)  They appeared on the BBC's Drumbeat with Adam Faith and John Barry, and later took part in a Christmas special "Tommy Steele's Spectacular" with the song "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat".

They appeared twice at the Royal Albert Hall and toured with Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, and Morecambe & Wise. Their cover of the Marv Johnson song "You Got What It Takes" became a Top 10 hit in Ireland in 1960.  The group broke up at the end of 1960.

When Dusty Springfield left the Lana Sisters she joined her brother Tom Springfield and another friend (Tim Feild) to make The Springfields. She went solo in 1963.

After Iris left the Lana Sisters, a few years later (and now going by Riss Long), she formed the Chantelles with two friends.

Discography

Singles
 1958: "Chimes of Arcady" / "Ring-a My Phone" (Fontana H 148)
 1959: "Buzzin'" / "Cry, Cry, Baby" (Fontana H 176)
 1959: "Mister Dee Jay" / "Tell Him No" (Fontana H 190)
 1959: "(Seven Little Girls) Sitting in the Back Seat" (with Al Saxon) / "Sitting on the Sidewalk" (Fontana H 221)
 1960: "My Mother's Eyes" / "You Got What It Takes" (Fontana H 235)
 1960: "Tintarella Di Luna (Magic Colour Of The Moonlight)" / "Someone Loves You, Joe" (Fontana H 252)
 1960: "Two-Some" / "Down South" (Fontana H 283)

Compilations
 2011: Chantelly Lace: The Complete Singles Plus Bonus Tracks (RPM Records RETRO 896)
 2013: The Springfields, The Lana Sisters – Introducing The Springfields (One Day Music, DAYCD205)
 2014: Dusty Springfield featuring The Lana Sisters and The Springfields – The Early Years (Jasmine Records JASCD 759)

References

External links
 The Lana Sisters, Chantelle Music Ltd
 Archive feature from 2012: Lynne Essex – The Lana Sisters, The Widow Stanton

English girl groups
English vocal groups
Musical groups established in 1958
Musical groups disestablished in 1961

The Lana Sisters


Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque (), also known as the Grand Mosque of Riyadh or simply the Grand Mosque (), is a congregational mosque in the ad-Dirah neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, located adjacent to Qasr al-Hukm while it overlooks the Deera Square. It was established during the reign of Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Saud, the founder and Imam of the Second Saudi State and was later named after him. Seating 17,000 worshippers and measuring 16,800 m2, it is one of the largest mosques in Saudi Arabia.

The exterior and upper portion of the interior is primarily brown Arriyadh Limestone  which appears golden when lit up at night. The lower portion of the interior is in white marble. The structure includes separate men's and women's libraries of 325-m2 each.

The mosque is directly connected from the first floor to al-Hukm Palace via two bridges across as-Safaat Square.

History
A Grand Mosque existed on the site for decades but was rebuilt by the Arriyadh Development Authority and reopened in January 1993.

Architecture
The minarets of the mosque previously featured a mix of Ottoman and Egyptian styles, with two rectangular sections topped by three rounded sections and a top section coming to a point with round shapes atop it. The courtyard porticos rose in a triangular with decor above. The minarets were however rebuilt in rectangular neo-Najdi style, the courtyard completely resurfaced and the porticos are now a modernized version of their former shape.

See also

 List of mosques in Saudi Arabia

References

External links
 Getty Images for building

1993 establishments in Saudi Arabia
Mosques completed in 1993
Mosques in Riyadh

Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque


Alsemberg is a rural town with about 5,300 inhabitants in the municipality of Beersel, in the province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium, situated south of Brussels.

The official language is Dutch (as everywhere in Flanders). Located close to Brussels, to Wallonia and the municipality with linguistic facilities of Sint-Genesius-Rode, Alsemberg is home to a minority of French-speakers.

External links

Populated places in Flemish Brabant

Alsemberg


Dr. Johannes Heidenhain GmbH is a privately owned enterprise located in Traunreut, Germany. Heidenhain manufactures numerical controls for machine tools, as well as mechatronic measuring devices for length and angle.

Their linear and angle encoders are built for use in automated machines and systems, particularly in machine tools.

History

The company began as a metal etching factory founded in Berlin by Wilhelm Heidenhain in 1889 that manufactured templates, company plaques, product labels, and scales.

In 1928 Heidenhain invented the Metallur process. This lead-sulfide copying process made it possible for the first time to make exact copies of an original grating on a metal surface for industrial use. By 1943, Heidenhain was producing linear scales with accuracy of  ± 15 µm and circular scale disks with accuracy of ± 3 angular seconds.

After World War II, in 1948, Dr. Johannes Heidenhain, a pupil of Otto Hahn, founded the present company in Traunreut.

Its invention of the Diadur process enabled it to apply very fine structures of chromium on suitable substrates, such as glass.

The Diadur process was the basis in 1952 for adding optical position measuring devices for machine tools to the product program. These were followed in 1961 by photoelectrically scanned linear and angle encoders.

In 1968 Heidenhain manufactured its first digital readouts.

The first Heidenhain numerical control was launched in 1976.

In 1987, a linear encoder series operating on the principle of light interference was introduced. It permitted measuring steps as fine as one nanometer.

According to Heidenhain, in 2006 the company had regional sales locations in 43 countries and employed about 7,000 people, 2,600 of whom worked in the main facility in Traunreut, Germany.

By the end of 2006 the company had manufactured about 10.5 million linear or angle encoders, 420,000 position displays and nearly 200,000 CNC controls.

Critique of Activities in Russia
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Chief Executive Leadership Institute of the US Yale University criticized that Heidenhain was still operating in Russia through a third party, which was not disclosed publicly. Heidenhain products are used in the Russian arms industry.

External links
Official site of Heidenhain
Distributor Sales & Service for Heidenhain Products
Heidenhain distributor and service agent in Australia
Heidenhain distributor and service agent in UK

References

German brands
Companies based in Bavaria
Manufacturing companies established in 1948
Engineering companies of Germany
Robotics companies of Germany
Technology companies established in 1948

Heidenhain