Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many to be the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.

Youth
Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he became apprentice in a pharmacy and then a pharmacist himself (like his father). In 1839, at the age of 20, wrote his first work (Heinrichs IV. erste Liebe, now lost). His first published work, the novella Geschwisterliebe (or "Sibling Love"), appeared in the Berlin Figaro in December 1839.

His first job as apothecary was in Dresden after which he returned to his father's shop, now in the provincial town of Letschin in the Oderbruch region. In this time Fontane published articles in the Leipzig newspaper Die Eisenbahn (railway) and translated Shakespeare. In 1843, he joined a literary club called Tunnel über der Spree (i.e. Tunnel over the river Spree) in Berlin where he came into contact with many of the most important German writers such as Theodor Storm, Joseph von Eichendorff and Gottfried Keller.

Newspaper writer and critic

In 1844 Fontane enrolled in the Prussian army and set out on the first of many journeys to England. There he learned about old English ballads. Soon afterwards he wrote ballads himself. At that time he became engaged to his future wife, Emilie Rouanet-Kummer, whom he had first met when still at school.

He was - very short - enganged in the revolutionary events of the revolution of 1848. In 1849 he quit his job as an apothecary and became a full-time journalist and writer. In order to support his family he took a job as a writer for the Prussian intelligence agency Centralstelle für Preßangelegenheiten which was meant to influence the press towards a  German national cause. Again he specialised in British affairs, and the agency sent him as correspondent to London for a couple of years. His wife and two sons followed him there. While still in London he quit his government job and, on his return to Berlin, became editor of the conservative Kreuzzeitung (newspaper).

London
His books about Britain include Ein Sommer in London (1854); Aus England, Studien und Briefe (1860) and Jenseits des Tweed, Bilder und Briefe aus Schottland (1860). At the period, and following the fashion of Walter Scott, traditional British stories were still en vogue on the continent. His Gedichte (1851) and ballads Männer und Helden (1860) tell of Britain's glories in days gone by.

Back in Germany, Fontane became particularly interested in the Mark Brandenburg region. He was especially proud of its past achievements and delighted in the growth of its capital city, Berlin. His fascination with the countryside surrounding Berlin may be seen in his delightfully picturesque Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg (1862-1882, 5 vols.).

Prussian War
In 1870, he quit his job at the Kreuzzeitung and became theater critic for the liberal Vossische Zeitung (newspaper). This job he kept until retirement. He had already written about  Prussia's war against Denmark and the Austro-Prussian War. Then he went to write about the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and was taken prisoner. He remained in French captivity for three months. His experiences there are set down in Kriegsgefangen Erlebtes 1870 (1871); subsequently he published his observations on the campaign in Der Krieg gegen Frankreich 1870-71 (1874-1876).

Later years
At the ripe age of 57 Fontane finally took to what he would be remembered for, the novel. His fine historical novel Vor dem Sturm (1878) was followed by a series of novels of modern life, notably L'Adultera (1882), a book about adultery which was considered so risqué that it took Fontane two years to find a publisher. In his novels Frau Jenny Treibel, Irrungen, Wirrungen, and Effi Briest (1894), he found his very own tone, he wrote about insights into the lives of the nobility as well as the "common man"; his achievement there was later described as poetic realism. In  Der Stechlin (1899), his last finished novel, Fontane adapted the realistic methods and social criticism of contemporary French fiction to the conditions of Prussian life.

Works
 Geschwisterliebe, 1839
 Zwei Post-Stationen, 1845
 James Monmouth, 1854
 Tuch und Locke, 1854
 Goldene Hochzeit, 1854
 Vor dem Sturm, 1878
 Grete Minde, 1880
 Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg, 1880
 Elternklipp, 1881
 L'Adultera, 1882
 Schach von Wuthenow, 1882
 Graf Petöfy, 1884
 Unterm Birnbaum, 1885
 Cécile, 1887
 Irrungen, Wirrungen, 1888
 Stine, 1890
 Quitt, 1891
 Unwiederbringlich, 1891
 Frau Jenny Treibel, 1892
 Meine Kinderjahre, 1894
 Effi Briest, 1896
 Die Poggenpuhls, 1896
 Der Stechlin, 1899
 Mathilde Möhring, 1906

Poems
 Archibald Douglas
 Die Brück' am Tay
 John Maynard
 Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland
 Aber es bleibt auf dem alten Fleck
 Ausgang
 Gorm Grymme

 References

 Craig, Gordon Theodor Fontane : Literature and History in the Bismarck Reich, New York : Oxford University Press, 1999 .
See Thomas Mann's 1910 essay, "The Old Fontane," in Essays of Three Decades (Knopf, 1947). Very fine.

 Other websites

  Trials and Tribulations, one of Fontane's works

  Works by Theodor Fontane at Zeno.org
 Collection of links This article includes material adapted from  Fontane's biography ''

1819 births
1898 deaths
German poets
Writers from Brandenburg
Pharmacists

Theodor Fontane


The American Royal is a livestock show, horse show, rodeo, and barbecue competition held each year in September – November at various sites in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The Future Farmers of America (now the National FFA Organization) was founded during the annual Royal. The Kansas City Royals professional baseball team derived its name from the Royal.

History

The American Royal began as a cattle show in 1899 in the Kansas City Stockyards. The name "American Royal" was inspired by a 1901 editorial in beef industry publication Kansas City Drovers Telegram titled "Call it the American Royal". The editorial said the Royal Agricultural Society of England has a similar event called the Royal Show. The first American Royal horse show was added in 1907, and has grown to include five shows (Quarter Horse Show, Hunter-Jumper Horse Show, Arabian Horse Show, American Saddlebred, Youth Horse Show, and a Cutting Horse show).

In 1926, the American Royal invited vocational agriculture students to judge livestock. During the 1928 American Royal, 33 of the students meeting at the Baltimore Hotel in downtown Kansas City formed the Future Farmers of America. Now, the National FFA Organization has 579,678 members. The group proceeded to hold a convention every year during the Royal in Kansas City until 1998. The original home of the American Royal was destroyed by fire in 1925 during an Automobile Show.  The structure was rebuilt in time for the event that year and served as the center for events until the American Royal complex was built across from Kemper Arena in 1992. During World War II, the Royal complex was converted into a glider factory.

No event was held in 1917–18 nor 1942–45.

In 2011 American Royal officially "obtained the legal rights to the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2011".

In 2020, some events moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

New complex 1992

The new American Royal Complex was constructed in 1992 to replace the outdated facility constructed in 1926. The complex was designed by the engineering design firm Black and Veatch and constructed by Walton Construction. The new complex consists of a museum and visitor center, three exhibition halls, Hale Arena, a theater, a full-service restaurant and concession stand, and the administrative offices. In 1993, the new facilities were flooded but were restored in time for the American Royal livestock shows to continue late that year. Hale Arena has since been replaced by Hy-Vee Arena and the Sprint Center as arenas where the livestock and rodeo shows are held each year. The barbecue competition had been held on the complex grounds, but was moved to the Arrowhead Stadium parking lots in 2015 and then to Kansas Speedway in 2016.

American Royal Museum

The American Royal Museum is open by appointment and for extended hours during the American Royal season. Exhibits include horses, veterinary medicine, the history of the American Royal, agriculture in Kansas City, and horse, rodeo and livestock show clothing, saddles, and memorabilia.

Move to Wyandotte County
In October 2016, the American Royal Association announced its relocation to Wyandotte County, Kansas. It had secured the land by December 2019. Groundbreaking was expected to start in early 2020. The complex was expected to open in November 2021.

Events
The American Royal is an annual eight-week season of barbecue competition, rodeos, livestock shows, equestrian events and agricultural activities benefiting youth and education.  One of Kansas City's premier late-year events with annual economic impact of more than $62 million, the Royal hosts the world's largest barbecue contest, one of the Midwest's largest livestock exhibitions, one of the top five ranked rodeos in the nation, and is home of the national championship horse competition.

The barbecue contest is divided into several categories: brisket, pork ribs, pork shoulder, chicken, sausage, side dishes, and dessert.

Organization
The American Royal is a not-for-profit, community volunteer-based service organization which raises funds for endowments contributions, sponsorships, and event revenues.

In 2005, the organization contributed more than $1.3 million in the form of scholarships, educational awards, educational programs, community donations, competitive awards, and prize monies and premiums.

See also
Rodeo bareback rigging
American Royal Zephyr

References

External links

Kansas City Public Library article

Kansas City metropolitan area
Agricultural shows in the United States
Agricultural organizations based in the United States
Equestrian sports in the United States
Economy of Kansas City, Missouri
Sports in the Kansas City metropolitan area
Tourist attractions in Kansas City, Missouri
Festivals established in 1899
Rodeo in the United States

American Royal


Mongkut (; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth king of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibodi Sri Sinthara Mahamakut Phra Mongkut Phra Siam Deva Mahamakut Wittaya Maharaj (พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรเมนทรรามาธิบดีศรีสินทรมหามงกุฎ พระจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว พระสยามเทวมหามกุฏวิทยมหาราช).

Outside Thailand, Mongkut is best known as the king in the 1951 musical and 1956 film The King and I, based on the 1946 film Anna and the King of Siamin turn based on a 1944 novel by an American author about Anna Leonowens' years at his court, from 1862 to 1867, drawn from Leonowens' memoir.

Siam first felt the pressure of Western expansionism during Mongkut's reign. Mongkut embraced Western innovations and initiated the modernization of his country, both in technology and culture—earning him the nickname "The Father of Science and Technology" in Siam.

Mongkut was also known for appointing his younger brother, Prince Chutamani, as Second King, crowned in 1851 as King Pinklao. Mongkut told the country that Pinklao should be respected with equal honor to himself (as King Naresuan had done with his brother Ekathotsarot in 1583). During Mongkut's reign, the power of the House of Bunnag reached its zenith: It became the most powerful noble family of Siam.

Early life
Mongkut (, literal meaning: crown) was the second son of Prince Isarasundhorn, son of Phutthayotfa Chulalok, the first Chakri king of Siam (King Rama I) and Princess Bunreod. Mongkut was born in the Old (Thonburi) Palace in 1804, where the first son had died shortly after birth in 1801. He was followed by Prince Chutamani () in 1808. In 1809, Prince Isarasundhorn was crowned as Buddha Loetla Nabhalai (later styled King Rama II.) The royal family then moved to the Grand Palace. Thenceforth, until their own accessions as kings, the brothers ( ) were called Chao Fa Yai () and Chao Fa Noi ().

Monastic life and Dhammayut sect

In 1824, Mongkut became a Buddhist monk (ordination name Vajirayan; Pali Vajirañāṇo), following a Siamese tradition that men aged 20 should become monks for a time. The same year, his father died. By tradition, Mongkut should have been crowned the next king, but the nobility instead chose the older, more influential and experienced Prince Jessadabodindra (Nangklao), son of a royal concubine rather than a queen. Perceiving the throne was irredeemable and to avoid political intrigues, Mongkut retained his monastic status.

Vajirayan became one of the few members of the royal family who devoted his life to religion. He travelled around the country as a monk and saw the relaxation of the rules of the Pali Canon among the Siamese monks he met, which he considered inappropriate. In 1829, at Phetchaburi, he met a monk named Buddhawangso, who strictly followed the monastic rules of discipline, the vinaya. Vajirayan admired Buddhawangso for his obedience to the vinaya, and was inspired to pursue religious reforms.

In 1835, he began a reform movement reinforcing the vinaya law that evolved into the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, or Dhammayut sect. A strong theme in Mongkut's movement was that, "…true Buddhism was supposed to refrain from worldly matters and confine itself to spiritual and moral affairs". Mongkut eventually came to power in 1851, as did his colleagues who had the same progressive mission. From that point on, Siam more quickly embraced modernization. Vajirayan initiated two major revolutionary changes. Firstly, he embraced modern geography, among other sciences considered "Western". Secondly, he sought reform in Buddhism and, as a result, a new sect was created in Siamese Theravada Buddhism. Both revolutions challenged the purity and validity of the Buddhist order as it was practiced in Siam at the time.

In 1836, Vajirayan arrived at Wat Bowonniwet in what is now Bangkok's central district, but was then the city proper, and became the wat's first abbot (). During this time, he pursued a Western education, studying Latin, English, and astronomy with missionaries and sailors. Vicar Pallegoix of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangkok lived nearby; the two became close friends, and Vajirayan invited Pallegoix to preach Christian sermons in the wat. Vajirayan admired Christian morals and achievements as presented by the vicar, but could make nothing of Christian doctrine. It was then that he made the comment later attributed to him as king: "What you teach people to do is admirable, but what you teach them to believe is foolish."

King Mongkut would later be noted for his excellent command of English, although it is said that his younger brother, Viceroy Pinklao, could speak it even better. Mongkut's first son and heir, Chulalongkorn, granted the Thammayut sect royal recognition in 1902 through the Ecclesiastical Polity Act; it became one of the two major Buddhist denominations in modern Thailand.

Chulalongkorn also persuaded his father's 47th child, Vajirañana, to enter the order and he rose to become the 10th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand from 1910 to 1921.

Reign as king

Accounts vary about Nangklao's intentions regarding the succession. It is recorded that Nangklao verbally dismissed the royal princes from succession for various reasons; Prince Mongkut was dismissed for encouraging monks to dress in the Mon style.

Prince Mongkut was supported by the pro-British Dis Bunnak who was the Samuha Kalahom, or Armed Force Department's president, and the most powerful noble during the reign of Rama III. He also had the support of British merchants who feared the growing anti-Western sentiment of the previous monarch and saw the 'prince monk' Mongkut as the 'champion' of European influence among the royal elite.

Bunnak, with the supporting promise of British agents, sent his men to the leaving-from-monk-status ceremony for Prince Mongkut even before Nangklao's death. With the support of powerful nobility and Britain, Mongkut's ascension to the throne was ensured.

After his twenty-seven years of monastic life, King Mongkut voluntarily defrocked and ascended the throne in 1851, aged 47. He took the name Phra Chom Klao, although foreigners continued to call him King Mongkut.  The king was well known among the foreigners, particularly some British officers, as pro-British. Sir James Brooke, a British delegate, even praised him as "our own king", and showed his support of him as a new king of Siam. Having been celibate for 27 years, he now set about building the biggest royal family of the Chakri dynasty. Inside the palace there was a large number of women—reports say three thousand or more. They were mostly servants, guards, officials, maids and so on, but Mongkut acquired 32 wives, and by the time he died, aged 64, he had 82 children.

His awareness of possibility of an outbreak of war with the European powers led him to institute many innovative activities. He ordered the nobility to wear shirts while attending his court; this was to show that Siam was a "modern" nation from the Western point of view.

However, Mongkut's own astrological calculations pointed out that his brother, Prince Isaret, was as well-favored as himself to be the monarch. So, Mongkut then crowned his brother as King Pinklao, the second king. As a prince, Pinklao was known for his abilities in foreign languages and relations. Mongkut also raised his supporter Dis Bunnak to Somdet Chao Phraya Borom Maha Prayurawongse (Somdet Chao Phraya was the highest rank of nobility on a par with royalty) and made him his regent kingdom-wide. Mongkut also appointed Dis Bunnak's brother, Tat Bunnak, as Somdet Chao Phraya Borom Maha Pichaiyat, as his regent in Bangkok. As a result, the administrative power of Siam rested largely in the hands of the two Bunnaks, Dis and Tat.

Upon his coronation, Mongkut married his first wife, Queen Somanat. However, Queen Somanat died in the same year. He then married his half-grandniece, Mom Chao Rampoei Siriwongse, later Queen Debsirindra.

Shan campaigns

In 1849, there were upheavals in the Shan State of Kengtung and Chiang Hung kingdom in response to weakened Burmese influence. However, the two states then fought each other and Chiang Hung sought Siamese support. Nangklao saw this as an opportunity to gain control over Shan states but he died in 1851 before this plan was realized. In 1852, Chiang Hung submitted the request again. Mongkut sent Siamese troops northwards but the armies were turned aside by the mountainous highlands. In 1855 the Siamese marched again and reached Kengtungthough with even greater difficulty. They laid siege on Kengtung for 21 days. However, the resources of the Siamese army ran out and the army had to retreat.

Cultural reforms

Introduction of Western geography

Accompanying the influx of Western visitors to Siam was the notion of a round earth. By many Siamese, this was difficult to accept, particularly by religious standards, because Buddhist scripture described the earth as being flat. The Traiphum, which was a geo-astrological map created before the arrival of Westerners, described "…a path between two mountain ranges through which the stars, planets, moon and sun pass." Religious scholars usually concluded that Buddhist scriptures "…were meant to be taken literally only when it came to matters of spiritual truth; details of natural science are revealed figuratively and allegorically."
Mongkut claimed to have abandoned the Traiphum cosmology before 1836. He claimed that he already knew of the round state of earth 15 years before the arrival of American missionaries, but the debate about Earth's shape remained an issue for Siamese intellectuals throughout the 1800s.

Education reforms
During his reign, Mongkut urged his royal relatives to have "a European-style education." The missionaries, as teachers, taught modern geography and astronomy, among other subjects. Six years after Mongkut's death, the first Thai-language geography book was published in 1874, called Phumanithet by J.W. Van Dyke. However, geography was only taught in select schools, mainly those that were run by American missionaries with English programs for upper secondary students. Thongchai Winichakul argues that Mongkut's efforts to popularize Western geography helped bring reform to education in Siam.

Social changes

1852 saw an influx of English and American missionaries into Siam as Mongkut hired them to teach the English language to the princes. He also hired Western mercenaries to train Siamese troops in Western style. In Bangkok, American Dan Beach Bradley had already reformed the printing system and then resumed the publishing of Siam's first newspaper, the Bangkok Recorder. However, the missionaries were not as successful when it came to making religious conversions.

In 1852, he ordered the nobles of the court to wear upper garments. Previously, Siamese nobles were forbidden to wear any shirts to prevent them from hiding any weapons in it and met the king bare-chested. The practice was criticized by Westerners and so Mongkut ended it.

However, Mongkut did not abandon the traditional culture of Siam. For Buddhism, Mongkut pioneered the rehabilitation of various temples. He also began the Magha Puja (มาฆบูชา) festival in the full moon of the third lunar month, to celebrate Buddha's announcement of his main principles. He instigated the recompilation of Tripitaka in Siam according to Theravada traditions. He also formally established the Thammayut sect as a rightful branch of Theravada.

Mongkut also improved women's rights in Siam. He released a large number of royal concubines to find their own husbands, in contrast to how his story has been dramatized. He banned forced marriages of all kinds and the selling of one's wife to pay off a debt.

In contrast to the previous king, Nangklao, Mongkut didn't see the importance of sending envoys to the Qing dynasty court, as the mission symbolised Siam's subjection to the Qing emperors and because the Qing dynasty was then not so powerful as it had once been, as it was itself threatened by Western powers.

The Bowring Treaty

In 1854, John Bowring, the governor of Hong Kong in the name of Queen Victoria, came to Siam to negotiate a treaty. For the first time Siam had to deal seriously with international laws. Prayurawongse negotiated on the behalf of the Siamese. The result was the Bowring Treaty between the two nations. The main principle of the treaty was to abolish the Royal Storage (พระคลังสินค้า), which since Ayutthaya's times held the monopoly on foreign trade. The Royal Storage had been the source of Ayutthaya's prosperity as it collected immense taxation on foreign traders, including the taxation according to the width of the galleon and the tithe. Western products had to go through a series of tax barriers to reach Siamese people.

The Europeans had been attempting to undo this monopoly for a long time but no serious measures had been taken. For Siamese people, trading with foreigners subjected them to severe punishment by the government. The taxation was partially reduced in the Burney Treaty. However, in the world of nineteenth-century liberalism, government control over trade was swiftly disappearing.

The abolition of such trade barriers replaced the previous system of Siamese commerce with free trade. Import taxation was reduced to 3% and could only be collected once. This was a blow to national revenue. However, this led to dramatic growth of commercial sectors as common people gained access to foreign trade. People rushed to acquire vast, previously empty fields to grow rice and the competition eventually resulted in the lands ending up in the hands of nobility.

The Bowring Treaty also had a legal impact. Due to the horror of the Nakorn Bala methods of torture in judicial proceedings, the British requested not to be tried under the Siamese system, securing a grant of extraterritoriality; British subjects in Siam were therefore subject only to British law, while the Siamese in Britain enjoyed no reciprocal privilege.

More treaties were then made with other powers, further undermining national revenue and legal rights. The Bowring treaty proved to be the economic and social revolution of Siam. Mongkut's reign saw immense commercial activities in Siam for the first time, which led to the introduction of coinage in 1860. The first industries in Siam were rice milling and sugar production. Infrastructure was improved; there was a great deal of paving of roads and canal diggingfor transport and water reservoirs for plantations.

Anna Leonowens

In 1862, following a recommendation by Tan Kim Ching in Singapore, the court hired an English woman named Anna Leonowens, whose influence was later the subject of great Thai controversy. It is still debated how much this affected the worldview of one of his sons, Prince Chulalongkorn, who succeeded to the throne. Around 1870, Leonowens wrote a memoir of her time as teacher, "The English Governess at the Siamese Court." Author Margaret Langdon took this work, and interviews with Leonowens' descendants, to fill out and create the more fictionalized account, Anna and the King of Siam, in 1944, which was adapted for films and a musical.

Her story would become the inspiration for the Hollywood movies Anna and the King of Siam and Anna and the King as well as the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I and its subsequent film adaptation, which, because of their fictionalized historical references and perceived disrespectful treatment of King Mongkut, were initially banned in Thailand as the Thai government and people considered them to be lèse majesté. To clarify the historical record, well-known Thai intellectuals Seni and Kukrit Pramoj in 1948 wrote The King of Siam Speaks. The Pramoj brothers sent their manuscript to the American politician and diplomat Abbot Low Moffat (1901–1996), who drew on it for his 1961 biography, Mongkut the King of Siam. Moffat donated the Pramoj manuscript to the United States Library of Congress in 1961.

Anna claimed that her conversations with Prince Chulalongkorn about human freedom, and her relating to him the story of Uncle Tom's Cabin, became the inspiration for his abolition of slavery almost 40 years later. Slavery in Thailand was sometimes a voluntary alternative for individuals to be rid of social and financial obligations. One could be punished for torturing slaves in Siam, and some slaves could buy their freedom. Some western scholars and observers have expressed the opinion that Siamese slaves were treated better than English servants.

Death and legacy

The solar eclipse at Wakor

During his monkhood, Mongkut studied both indigenous astrology and English texts on Western astronomy and mathematics, hence developing his skills in astronomical measurement. One way that he honed his mastery of astronomy, aside from the accurate prediction of the solar eclipse of 18 August 1868 (Wakor solar eclipse), was changing the official Buddhist calendar, "which was seriously miscalculated and the times for auspicious moments were incorrect."

In 1868, he invited high-ranking European and Siamese officials to accompany him to Wakor village in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, south of Hua Hin, where the solar eclipse that was to occur on 18 August could be best viewed as a total eclipse. Sir Harry Ord, the British governor of the Straits Settlements from Singapore, was among those who were invited. King Mongkut predicted the solar eclipse, at (in his own words) "East Greenwich longitude 99 degrees 42' and latitude North 11 degrees 39'." King Mongkut's calculations proved accurate. When he made calculations on the Wakor solar eclipse that was to occur, he used the Thai system of measuring time ("mong" and "baht"), but he implemented the Western method of longitude and latitude when he determined where on Earth the eclipse would best be viewed. Upon returning from his journey to Wakor, he condemned the court astrologers "for their...stupid statements because of their negligence of his detailed prediction and their inattention to measurement and calculation by modern instruments."

During the expedition, King Mongkut and Prince Chulalongkorn were infected with malaria. The king died six weeks later in the capital, and was succeeded by his son, who survived malaria.

It has been argued that the assimilation of Western geography and astronomy into 19th-century Siam "proved that Siam equalled the West in terms of knowledge, and therefore the imperialists' claim that Siam was uncivilized and had to be colonized was unreasonable." This suggests that the Western form of these sciences may have saved Siam from actually being colonized by Western powers.

Elephant story

Contrary to popular belief, King Mongkut did not offer a herd of war elephants to the US president Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War for use against the Confederacy. He did, however, offer to send some domesticated elephants to US president James Buchanan, to use as beasts of burden and means of transportation. The royal letter of 14 February 1861, which was written before the Civil War had even started, took some time to arrive in Washington DC, and by the time it reached its destination, President Buchanan was no longer in office. Lincoln, who succeeded Buchanan, is said to have been asked what the elephants could be used for, and in reply he said that he did not know, unless "they were used to stamp out the rebellion." However, in his reply dated 3 February 1862, Lincoln did not mention anything about the Civil War. The President merely politely declined to accept King Mongkut's proposal, explaining to the King that the American climate might not be suitable for elephants and that American steam engines could also be used as beasts of burden and means of transportation.

A century later, during his state visit to the US, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who was Mongkut's great-grandson, referred to this event in his address before the US Congress on 29 June 1960. He said, "my great-grandfather offered to send the President and Congress elephants to be turned loose in the uncultivated land of America for breeding purposes. That offer was made with no other objective than to provide a friend with what he lacks, in the same spirit in which the American aid program is likewise offered."

151834 Mongkut
The asteroid 151834 Mongkut is named in honour of the King and his contributions to astronomy and the modernization of Siam.

Tributes

Wives, concubines, and children

King Mongkut is one of the people with the most children in Thai history; he had 32 wives and concubines during his lifetime who produced at least 82 children, one of whom was Chulalongkorn, who married four of his half sisters.

Ancestry

See also

 Dhammayuttika Nikaya
 Rattanakosin period
 List of people with the most children
 Chum Krairoek

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

 Abbot Low Moffat, Mongkhut, the King of Siam, Cornell U. P. 1961
 Constance Marilyn Wilson, State and Society in the Reign of King Mongkut, 1851–1868: Thailand on the Eve of Modernization, Ph.D. thesis, Cornell 1970, University Microfilms.
 B. J. Terwiel, A History of Modern Thailand 1767–1942, University of Queensland Press, Australia 1983. This contains some anecdotes not included in the other references.
 Stephen White, John Thomson: A Window to the Orient, University of New Mexico Press, United States. Thomson was a photographer and this book contains his pictures some of which provided the basis for the engravings (sometimes misidentified) in Anna Leonowens' books. There is reference to Mongkut in the introductory text.
 Suárez, Thomas. Early Mapping of Southeast Asia: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers, and Cartographers Who First Mapped the Regions Between China and India. Singapore: Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd. (1999). Web. Pg. 25
 Winichakul, Thongchai. Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation. Various pages from Chapter 2. University of Hawaii Press (1997). Web.

External links

 The King's Thai: Entry to Thai Historical Data – Mongkut's Edicts maintained by Doug Cooper of Center for Research in Computational Linguistics, Bangkok; accessed 2008-07-11.

Monarchs of Thailand
Thai people of Mon descent
Rattanakosin Kingdom
1804 births
1868 deaths
19th-century Chakri dynasty
19th-century Thai monarchs
19th-century monarchs in Asia
Deaths from malaria
Thai Theravada Buddhists
1850s in Siam
1860s in Siam
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
Founders of Buddhist sects
Thai male Chao Fa

Mongkut


A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening, the times during which most people commute. The term is often used for a period of peak congestion that may last for more than one hour.

The term is very broad, but often refers specifically to private automobile transportation traffic, even when there is a large volume of cars on a road but not many people, or if the volume is normal but there is some disruption of speed. By analogy to vehicular traffic, the term Internet rush hour has been used to describe periods of peak data network usage, resulting in delays and slower delivery of data packets.

Definition
The name is sometimes a misnomer, as the peak period often lasts more than one hour and the "rush" refers to the volume of traffic, not the speed of its flow. Peak traffic periods may vary from country to country, city to city, from region to region, and seasonally.

The frequency of public transport service is usually higher in the rush hour, and longer trains or larger vehicles are often used. However, the increase in capacity is often less than the increased number of passengers, due to the limits on available vehicles, staff and, in the case of rail transport, track capacity including platform length. The resulting crowding may force many passengers to stand, and others may be unable to board. If there is inadequate capacity, this can make public transport less attractive, leading to higher car use and partly shifting the congestion to roads.

Transport demand management, such as road pricing or a congestion charge, is designed to induce people to alter their travel timing to minimize congestion. Similarly, public transport fares may be higher during peak periods; this is often presented as an off peak discount for single fares. Season tickets or multi-ride tickets, sold at a discount, are commonly used in rush hours by commuters, and may or may not reflect rush hour fare differentials.

Staggered hours have been promoted as a means of spreading demand across a longer time span—for example, in Rush Hour (1941 film) and by the International Labour Office.

Traffic management by country

Australia and New Zealand

In the morning, and evening, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, and Auckland and Christchurch are usually the most congested cities in Australia and New Zealand respectively. In Melbourne the Monash Freeway, which connects Melbourne's suburban sprawl to the city, is usually heavily congested each morning and evening. In Perth, Mitchell Freeway, Kwinana Freeway and various arterial roads are usually congested between peak hours, making movement between suburbs and the city quite slow.

Efforts to minimise traffic congestion during peak hour vary on a state by state and city by city basis.

In Melbourne, congestion is managed by means including:
 Inbound transit lanes on busy freeways which are limited to motorcycles and other vehicles with more than one occupant during busy periods.
 Free travel on metropolitan trains before 7am. Passengers must exit the system at their destination station before 7am.
 Dedicated bus lanes on major inner city roads such as Hoddle Street.
 Introduction of dedicated bicycle lanes (often by removing vehicle lanes) in the inner city area to encourage cyclists and deter dual-track vehicles.
 Prohibition of parking along busy roads during peak traffic periods to create an extra lane for traffic.

In Brisbane, congestion is managed by means including:
 Fares for using public transport outside of peak periods (referred to as off-peak) are cheaper than peak period fares.
 Transport for Brisbane operated bus lines for Translink, Bus upgrade zone) designated lines increase their frequency from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes between 7am and 9am, and between 4:30pm and 6:30pm.
 Busways in Brisbane grade separate a significant amount of bus traffic, particularly on the South and Eastern suburbs using the South East Busway, the Eastern Busway (connects with the South East Busway at Buranda), with some relief on the northern suburbs provided by the Northern Busway. This reduces the traffic load shared by buses and other vehicles, therefore allowing for more capacity for other vehicles on major trunk roads in and out of Brisbane.
 Some specific peak-hour only bus services are denoted by a "P" prefix where only fares are accepted by tapping on with a go card, with no cash-paid ticket sales. These services may also be noted as having the suffix
"(Rocket)" in timetables, where many inner city suburb stops may be bypassed.
 On some Queensland Rail operated lines for Translink, increase frequency from every 30 minutes to as frequent as every 6 minutes, between 6:45am and 7:45am and from 4:45pm to 5:45pm during peak times. Most notable on the Caboolture, Ipswich & Rosewood, Redcliffe Peninsula and Springfield lines.
 On the Caboolture, Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe Peninsula line, trains may run express to reduce travel time. A notable example is the trains on the Cabooolture and Sunshine Coast lines run express from Petrie to Bowen Hills, stopping only at Northgate, Eagle Junction and Bowen Hills; previously before the timetable changes, average commute time from Caboolture to Central was 1 hour and 6 minutes. After the timetable changes, it was reduced to 51 minutes, a saving of 15 minutes.
 Introduction of the South East Bikeway, which runs alongside the South East Busway to allow for cycle commuting from the Southern suburbs. Some paths along the Brisbane River are also widened to include a specific bikeway section (particularly between Toowong and North Quay).
 Prohibition of parking along busy roads during peak traffic periods to create an extra lane for traffic.

In Sydney, congestion is managed by many means including:
 Buses increase frequency from 4 per hour to 12 per hour on the Metrobus network, other routes increase limited and express services
 The Sydney Trains network runs double-decker electric multiple unit trains that allowed many more passengers to board the trains compared to the 1950s single-level 'Red Rattlers', and 'Silver Ghosts'.
 Time-of-day ticket prices allow train commuters to board trains before 6 am or after 7 pm at a cheaper rate on single or day return tickets
 Transit and/or HOV Lanes are installed on many major arterial roads,
 The Rail Clearways Program, which allows for broken-down trains on the Sydney Trains network to not affect the running of trains on separate lines due to building bypasses, and loop-backs alongside the existing track
 The Inner West Light Rail, which was the first operational light rail line in Sydney, increases headways during peak hour, providing services up to every eight minutes.

Traffic congestion is managed through the Traffic Management Centre via a network of Closed Circuit TV's, with operators able to change the timing of traffic signals to reduce wait times
 Most major motorways have the ability for contraflow lane to allow continuing flow of traffic in case of a major accident
 Older motor ways have been upgraded from two lanes in each direction, to three lanes in each direction
 Motor way toll booths have been replaced with electronic toll systems (M2 Hills Motorway was the last to do so on 21 January 2012); time-of-day tolling is in use on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel to provide cash incentives for commuters to remain out of the city in peak times.

Brazil
In São Paulo, Brazil, each vehicle is assigned a certain day of the week in which it cannot travel the roads during rush hour (7–10 am and 5–8 pm). The day of the week for each vehicle is derived from the last digit in the licence plate number and the rule is enforced by traffic police (1 and 2 for Mondays, 3 and 4 for Tuesdays, 5 and 6 for Wednesdays, 7 and 8 for Thursdays and 9 and 10 for Fridays). This policy is aimed at reducing the number of vehicles on the roads and encouraging the use of buses, subway and the urban train systems.

Canada
Vancouver's portion of the Trans-Canada Highway is served with high-occupancy vehicle lanes in addition to standard lanes for all automobiles. These lanes are meant to improve traffic flow by encouraging carpooling and transit use. Richmond, part of the Vancouver metro region,  is also constructing a new interchange at Steveson Highway and British Columbia Highway 99 which will be the first of its kind in British Columbia in an effort to improve traffic flow.

Kelowna's Harvey Avenue is served also by HOV lanes.

China

China is home to some of the busiest subway networks in the world. Despite aggressive expansion of rapid transit networks in the past decade, rapid urban population growth has put heavy demand on urban transport. Some systems routinely restrict station entrances and transfer passages to prevent the network from being overwhelmed. For example, 96 subway stations in the Beijing Subway have entry restrictions at some point of the day.  The Guangzhou Metro has 51 stations with passenger flow restrictions.

Colombia
In the pico y placa (peak and license plate) program in Bogotá, drivers of non-commercial automobiles are prevented from driving them during rush hours on certain days of the week. The vehicles barred each day are determined by the last digit of their license plate. The measure is mandatory and those who break it are penalized. The digits banned each day are rotated every year.

Japan

In Japan, the proportion of rail transportation is high compared with the use of automobiles. Rail transport accounts for 27% of all passenger transport in Japan (other examples: Germany (7.7%), United Kingdom (6.4%), United States (0.6%)).  In the Greater Tokyo Area and the Keihanshin metropolitan area there is a dense rail network and frequent service, which accounts for more than half of the passenger transport; most people in the area commute by public transport without using cars.

Railways in the Greater Tokyo Area are traditionally known to be severely congested, with oshiya employed to assist passengers getting on the train. This is gradually being improved by increasing rail capacity and demand management. Train lines in Tokyo have had significant reductions in overcrowding and today run at an average of 163 percent of capacity. This is in contrast to the average loading of 221 percent of designed capacity in 1975 rush-hour trains.

In road transport, the expressways of Japan operate on a beneficiaries-pay principle which imposes expensive toll fees, having the effect of reducing road traffic. Electronic toll collection (ETC) is widespread and discounts during low-traffic periods have been introduced to distribute traffic over a longer period. Road pricing is being considered but has not been introduced, partly because the expressway fee is already very high.

Netherlands
For trains in the Netherlands there is an off-peak discount available, giving a 40% discount. Its validity starts at 9am (until 4am the next morning) on weekdays, and all day at weekends and in July and August. In the case of a group of up to four people, all get the discount even if only one has a pass.

Rail passes not requiring an additional ticket come in two versions:  for a fixed route, and for the whole network. Both are mainly used by commuters. No off-peak discount version of these passes is offered since there is insufficient demand; commuters usually cannot avoid the rush hour.

Philippines

Inside Metro Manila, the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program, popularly known as the "number coding scheme", is implemented by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. The program stipulates that vehicles are prohibited from plying all roads within the metropolis, depending on the last digit of their license plates and on the day of the week.

The vehicles are banned from 7am to 7pm. Unlike the public vehicles, the private vehicles have a five-hour window exception which runs from 10am to 3pm. However, the cities of Makati and San Juan do not implement the five-hour window.

This table shows the license plates with numbers ending with its corresponding days:

Exempted from the program are motorcycles, school buses, shuttle buses, ambulances, fire engines, police cars, military vehicles, those carrying a person needing immediate medical attention, and vehicles with diplomatic license plates.

On the other hand, in other places, there are certain policies the municipal or city government are proposing or has implemented for the whole municipality or city.

While most schools are open, peak hours in rapid transit trains on Manila Metro Rail Transit System and Manila Light Rail Transit System, and in commuter trains on Philippine National Railways are 6-9am and 4-8pm.

Singapore
In Singapore, there is a free travel scheme before 7:45am and 50 cent discount between 7:45am and 8am, which applies only if you exit and not enter at the 18 CBD stations. This is an attempt to encourage commuters' travel on the MRT outside the crowded weekday morning peak. Electronic Road Pricing is intended to discourage driving between 7:30am and 8pm. In addition, employees were given travel incentives through Travel Smart programme. Peak hours are defined as follows: 7:30–9:30 am and 5–8 pm, with different times for terminal stations.

United Kingdom
In London, Peak Day Travelcards allow travel at all hours. Off-peak Day Travelcards are 20–50% cheaper but are valid for travel only after 9:30am and on weekends. This is an attempt to encourage commuters' travel on the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, buses, and trams outside of the crowded weekday morning peak. There is a similar system on Transport (Bus and Tyne and Wear Metro) in the Newcastle upon Tyne area. In London, congestion charges are intended to discourage driving between 7am and 6pm.

In Manchester, the Metrolink light rail system offers single, return and 'Metromax' daysaver tickets at a reduced price when they are purchased after 9:30am. This incentive is designed to lure passengers into avoiding the daily crowded conditions at Metrolink stations during rush hour.

For 16–25 Railcard holders, the offer of one-third off ticket prices is valid only after 10 am (unless a minimum fare is paid) or weekends. This restriction does not apply in July and August, the main summer holiday season.

For other Railcards, other restrictions apply; for example, the Family Railcard and Network Railcard cannot be used for peak journeys within London and south-east England.

United States

Efforts to manage transportation demand during rush hour periods vary by state and by metropolitan area. In some states, freeways have designated lanes that become HOV (High-Occupancy Vehicle, aka car-pooling) only during rush hours, while open to all vehicles at other times. In others, such as the Massachusetts portion of I-93, travel is permitted in the breakdown lane during this time. Several states use ramp meters to regulate traffic entering freeways during rush hour. Transportation officials in Colorado and Minnesota have added value pricing to some urban freeways around Denver, the Twin Cities, and Seattle, charging motorists a higher toll during peak periods.

Transit agencies – such as Metro-North serving New York City and WMATA serving Washington, D.C. – often charge riders a higher "peak fare" for travel during the morning and evening rush hour.

Heavy traffic within the larger Greater Boston region was addressed with the Big Dig project, which temporarily improved expressway traffic.

Third rush hour
The term "third rush hour" has been used to refer to a period of the midday in which roads in urban and suburban areas become congested due to numerous people taking lunch breaks using their vehicles. These motorists often frequent restaurants and fast food locations, where vehicles crowding the entrances cause traffic congestion.

See also

Carpool
Congestion pricing
High occupancy vehicle lane
Road space rationing
Road traffic control
Traffic wave
Ramp meter

Notes

a. Crowding levels defined by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism:

100% — Commuters have enough personal space and are able to take a seat or stand while holding onto the straps or hand rails.
150% — Commuters have enough personal space to read a newspaper.
180% — Commuters must fold newspapers to read.
200% — Commuters are pressed against each other in each compartment but can still read small magazines.
250% — Commuters are pressed against each other, unable to move.

References

Public transport
Periodic phenomena
Commuting

Rush hour


Center for Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems is on the campus of the University of Southern California.

The Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems (BMES) vision is realized first by identifying the unmet medical needs in the 3 testbeds of blindness, paralysis, and central nervous system impairments. The solutions to these needs are then developed by designing and synthesizing engineered system specifications from medical, scientific, and engineering disciplines.  Furthermore, to develop these novel biomimetic microelectronic systems, our BMES ERC's work  is concentrated in three thrust areas of enabling technology that are at the heart of immediate and long-term interest to the rapidly growing medical device industry.

Areas of Research
The three testbed areas are 1) Retinal Prosthesis (Restoring Vision to the blind) 2) Neuromuscular Prosthesis (reanimating paralyzed limbs) 3) Cortical Prosthesis (Repairing cognitive disability).  The three thrust areas are 1) mixed-signal systems on a chip, 2) power and data management, and 3) interface technology (electrode and electronic packaging technologies).

The Center has approximately 45 faculty that it works with at USC, Caltech and UC Santa Cruz, and an industrial advisory board of approximately ten companies.

References

Centers of the University of Southern California

Center for Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems


John Fanning Watson (June 13, 1779 - December 23, 1860) was an Philadelphia antiquarian, a chronicler and an historian who became a professional writer. He is best known as the author of Annals of Philadelphia (1830).

Life
A bookseller, then a bank cashier by trade, he worked for the Germantown Bank, and Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad.

As a young man he began gathering the reminiscences of elderly people, and collected them in the first major history of the city. Annals of Philadelphia was published in 1830, with expanded editions in 1844 (two volumes) and 1857. A third volume by Willis P. Hazard was added in 1879, and the set continued to be published into the early 20th century.

Watson hired a British immigrant, William L. Breton, to illustrate the 1830 Annals. Based on Watson's own sketches, Breton's lithographed illustrations included the first published images of George Washington's President's House (demolished two years later), of the State House Tavern (opposite Independence Hall), and of a slave auction at the London Coffee House. Later editions of the Annals copied these lithographs as woodcuts, and then engravings.

A scrapbook of Watson's notes for the 1830 Annals is housed at the Library Company of Philadelphia. It includes such curiosities as squares of fabric cut from dresses worn by Philadelphia ladies at the "Mesquianza", an elaborate May 1778 pageant and ball hosted by British officers during the Revolutionary War occupation of the city.

He also published Historic Tales of Olden Time of New York City and State (New York, 1832), Historic Tales of Olden Time of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1833), and Annals and Occurrences of New York City and State (New York, 1846), among others.

He was a passionate advocate for preserving historic buildings. He urged the preservation of the Slate Roof House, a 1687 building that had housed Pennsylvania's founder, William Penn from 1699 to 1701, and served as the government offices for the Colony from 1699 to 1704. That fight was lost, but the shock of the building's 1867 demolition — after Watson's death — helped spark a historic preservation movement in Philadelphia.

While Watson is readable, he is not always reliable, and his carelessness about citing sources is a frustration to scholars.

Still, it is because of him that we have the first-person accounts of people such as "Black Alice", an enslaved African woman reputedly born in Philadelphia 1686, who lived to age 116, and claimed to remember William Penn.

References

Bibliography
Benjamin Dorr, Memoir of John Fanning Watson (Philadelphia, 1861).
Joseph Jackson, "John Fanning Watson," Encyclopedia of Philadelphia (Harrisburg, PA: 1931), pp. 1175–77.
Deborah Dependahl Waters, "Philadelphia's Boswell: John Fanning Watson," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 98, (January 1974), pp. 3–52.

External links

Annals of Philadelphia (1830)
Historic Tales of Olden Time of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania (1833)
John Fanning Watson's Relic Box from www.common-place.org
Digital Watson family diaries at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Finding aid to the Watson family papers at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

1779 births
1860 deaths
American antiquarians
Writers from Philadelphia
Historians from Pennsylvania

John Fanning Watson


Douglas Vernon Timm (June 14, 1960 – July 21, 1989) was an American composer and conductor best known for his many music scores, both in television and motion picture films. In a career which was cut short by a tragic event, he composed music for a variety of both television productions as well as motion pictures. His most popular works include music production and music scores to Nightflyers, Terror in the Aisles, as well as many TV series such as Designing Women, Dolphin Cove, The New Mike Hammer, and Simon and Simon.

Early life
Douglas Vernon Timm was born in Chicago Illinois, the son of Wilma (née Hackleman) and Vernon Timm. He grew up in a typical midwest middle-class family of five. Doug also had two younger brothers, Jeff and Ryan.

It was in the 3rd grade that Doug was introduced to music at St. John's Lutheran School and went on to play trumpet and coronet for the school band. He quickly accelerated in the band and went on to take private lessons outside of school. He became locally famous as a trumpet player. He played during Sunday morning services at St. John's, and other churches in the area also requested that he play at their services.

While attending Luther High School North, Doug played trumpet and learned to write and compose music, which he conducted via the school orchestra and jazz bands. Timm also played in the marching band. After being private tutored for a period of time, the tutor approached Doug's mom and said that he couldn't teach Doug any longer, because Doug was better than he was.

After graduation from high school, Doug was awarded a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he majored in film score.

Shortly after graduating from Berklee, Doug moved to Houston, Texas, and opened a recording studio where he wrote, composed, produced, and arranged music for a variety of projects including local advertising agencies. It was the start of Doug's ultimate dream of starting Timm Music Productions out of Sundance Studios in Houston. He worked with local advertising agencies on smaller music productions specifically for television commercials. Doug and his work consequently won many Telly Awards for such advertisements for organizations such as Foleys Department store and Continental Airlines.

Doug moved to Beverly Hills in 1988 to work in Hollywood, California.  He worked on various TV series projects and cut his teeth on motion picture projects. His first film was Terror in the Aisles, and he soon landed bigger projects.

Career
Timm wrote, scored, and composed the theme songs, trailer music or other music for more than 50 films, TV shows or commercials in his short career, including Nightflyers, Terror in the Aisles, Night of the Creeps, Winners Take All, Designing Women, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Killer Party, Dolphin Cove, Simon and Simon, Dirty Dozen, The Series, and the trailer music used in such advertising campaigns as Foley's 2-day kid sale, Safeway, and Continental Airlines.

Soundtracks
In October 2010, twenty one years after Doug's death, out of respect and extraordinary recognition of Doug's talents, Varèse Sarabande reissued the soundtrack to Nightflyers (previously released by the label on vinyl in 1987), producing only 1000 copies. The CD sold out in less than 2 weeks.

Timm's score for Nightflyers was described by Daniel Schweiger as "his musical testament, one that would embody a much-beloved time among genre fans for the dawning and ever-evolving style of completely synthesized soundtracks." Schweiger also went on to say, "few composers represented the wondrous possibilities of science fiction, especially given Doug's ability to make this entertaining, flawed, and often ingenious film seem as grandly mysterious as the galaxy this haunted ship was exploring. It's music that sings with promise and enthusiasm, a movie very much about the soul that can be put into a machine."

Acclaimed composer John Beal stated "Doug had his own voice, immediately at the outset of his career start. He was very fresh and didn't copy anyone else in what he was doing. Musically, its hard to say what he would have accomplished in the industry, because Doug was just starting to explode as he explored a lot of different music. But I know he would have been successful. He was bright, sensitive, talented and a dear friend."

TV shows
Before having the opportunity to get involved with movie projects, Doug worked on a number of TV shows, including Designing Women, Simon and Simon, and Our Family Honor.

Awards
Over the course of his career, Doug won several Telly Awards, for his work in television commercials for such organizations as Foley's department store, Safeway, and Continental Airlines.

In the early 1990s, in memory and recognition for Doug's "extraordinary talent, energy, ethics and commitment to helping others reflect honorably", he was honored with having the Doug Timm Award named after him from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. This award is given to senior class men and women for recognition of outstanding achievement in the area of film scoring.

Death

On July 21, 1989, at his home in the Hollywood Hills, Timm was killed during a robbery.

Filmography

 Lone Star Bar and Grill (1983) TV series
 Terror in the Aisles (1984)
 Streetwalkin' (1985)
 Our Family Honor (1985) TV series
 Night of the Creeps (1986)
 Dirty Dozen, The Series (1985) TV series+
 Designing Women (1986-1988) TV series
 Simon and Simon (1986) TV series
 Dolphin Cove (1986) TV series
 Nightflyers (1987)
 The Man Who Fell to Earth (1987) TV Movie
 Winners Take All (1987)
 The New Mike Hammer (1987) TV series
 US Marshals: Waco and Rhinehart (1987) TV series

References

External links

American film score composers
American male film score composers
Berklee College of Music alumni
Musicians from Chicago
1960 births
1989 deaths
20th-century classical musicians
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians
Varèse Sarabande Records artists

Doug Timm


The Australasian shoveler (Spatula rhynchotis) is a species of dabbling duck in the genus Spatula.  It ranges from 46 to 53 cm.  It lives in heavily vegetated swamps.  In Australia it is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974.  They occur in southwestern and southeastern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The male has a blue-grey head with a vertical white crescent in front of the eyes.

Naming
The common name for the species Spatula rhynchotis is Australasian shoveler no matter which country it is found in. It was previously categorised as two subspecies:
 S. rhynchotis rhynchotis Australian shoveler, the nominate race, occurs in southwestern and southeastern Australia and Tasmania.
 S. rhynchotis variegata New Zealand shoveler, occurs in New Zealand.
Other names used include: spoonbill, shoveler, spoony, spoonie and shoveller.
The Māori name of kuruwhengi is still valid.

The Australasian shoveler was described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801.

Courtship and breeding in New Zealand

Courtship in New Zealand starts around August which involves vocalisations from the drake (male) accompanied with head-bobbing whilst swimming toward the duck (female). The most heard vocalisations are from the drakes in the form of a "Sock, sock-sock, sock, sock-sock". Often several drakes will pursue an already paired duck: Generally the mated males are aggressive and will not tolerate this behavior from the bachelors, and fighting may ensue. Courtship flights are common in the morning and evenings mostly, where the duck is followed in a short rapid flight by one or more (usually two) drakes. This tests the speed and agility of the drakes. The duck may be biased in picking the 'winner' in these tests however, especially if she has paired with one of the competitors. She will even sometimes excrete mid-flight on a pursuing male if he is especially not to her fancy. There is a clear and unexplained sex ratio difference with a lot more males to females. This difference is not present in broods of ducklings however. Males with a lot of white breast feathers are not usually paired. These white feathers are often a sign of an older shoveler as first year males almost never have them. Mating will occur as early as August, though nesting rarely happens until at least October.

Gallery

Footnotes

References
Clements, James, (2007) The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World, Cornell University Press, Ithaca

Spatula (genus)
Ducks
Birds of Australia
Birds of New Zealand
Birds described in 1801
Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)

Australasian shoveler


Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem (7 October 1916 – 7 January 2004) was a Belgian Roman Catholic Bishop.   He served as the twenty-eighth Bishop of Ghent between 1964 and 1991: it was an unusually long incumbency.

Life

Early years
Van Peteghem was born a short distance to the north of Ghent, the youngest of his parents' twelve children.   His parents were farm workers.   He spent some of his childhood in nearby Lochristi after his parents relocated to obtain work, and more of it in De Pinte (still in East Flanders) for the same reason.   He received a Classics and Humanities focused education at Sint-Lievenscollege in Ghent, before undertaking higher level studies at the Seminary in Ghent and at the Catholic (Dutch language) University of Leuven.

He was ordained into the priesthood on 18 August 1940.   He obtained a diploma as a Licentiate in Theology from Leuven in 1943.   On 11 September 1943 he was appointed to a professorship in Fundamental Moral Theology at the Main Seminary in Ghent, and it was here that in 1956 he was appointed "Geestelijk Directeur" (literally"Spiritual Director").

During the war years, from 1943 till 1945, he was also employed as sub-regent at the Paul-Adrian VI College in Leuven.   On 31 January 1956 he became a canon of St Bavo's Chapter in Ghent.   On 22 January 1960 he became an ecclesiastical judge in the Bishopric of Ghent, and he was appointed diocesan Vicar general by The Bishop a year later.

The bishop
The Pope appointed him Bishop of Ghent on 28 May 1964.   He was just 47.   He was consecrated in St Bavo's Cathedral by Cardinal Suenens on 29 June 1964.   Van Peteghem took as his episcopal motto "In Deo salutari" ("In God the saviour").   The three crosses on the "episcopal arms" he chose recalled, in part, the village of his birth.

He now participated, for nearly two years, in the work of the Second Vatican Council which had started its deliberations back in October 1962. He would later come to be seen as unsympathetic to some of The Council's more "liberal" outcomes.

On 1 October 1967 he became an honorary canon of St Bavo's Chapter at Ghent's sister bishopric at Haarlem.   Ten years later, in 1977, he issued his own catechism supporting religious education in his diocese.

Retirement
On 13 July 1990 Arthur Luysterman was appointed as Van Peteghem's Coadjutor bishop.

7 October 1991 was his seventy-fifth birthday.   Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem was the first Bishop of Ghent to be affected by the requirements of "Ecclesiae Sanctae", the General Letter ("Motu proprio") of 1966 in which Pope Paul VI had mandated 75 as a retirement age for bishops (and others).   Van Peteghem therefore submitted his resignation on his birthday, and after slightly more than two months, Pope John Paul II accepted it on 27 December 1991.

Death and celebration
Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem died on 7 January 2004 in Ghent.   His funeral took place at St Bavo's on 17 January 2004 in the presence of Cardinal Archbishop Danneels and of the city's Socialist mayor, Frank Beke.   The service was conducted by Bishop Luysterman, and after it was over Van Peteghem's mortal remains were buried in the crypt.

Evaluation
Paying tribute to his own episcopal predecessor Mgr. Arthur Luysterman highlighted Van Peteghem's simplicity, warmth and striking honesty.   Van Peteghem was steadfast in his loyalty to the church and its teachings through the 1960s, a decade of spiritual turbulence and uncertainty.   He was a strong advocate of priests being recognisably and correctly dressed, according to their positions within the church.   He was opposed to priests who reconfigured their church pews in ways that made it impossible to kneel for prayer.

References

External links

1916 births
2004 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Belgium
20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic theologians
Bishops of Ghent

Léonce-Albert Van Peteghem


"Geek girl" is a 20th-century term, signifying a gendered subgenre within the modern geek subculture.

History
The return of the word "geek" in the mid-1990s can be traced to the popularization of workplace computing and the Internet and the dot-com bubble of 1995–2000. The early days of the reclaimed use of "geek" were strongly associated with computers and information technology and the majority of practitioners were male. Similarly, in a 1996 study of high school cultures, linguist Mary Bucholtz noted that "nerd status is overwhelmingly associated with males." Two studies by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) quantified the gap between men and women in computing and the continuing problems recruiting and retaining female programmers.

The term "Geekgirl" was coined by Rosie Cross in 1993 as the title of her online cyberfeminist magazine. This is Australia's longest running online publication and in September 1996 it was exhibited at the New Museum of Contemporary Art New York. Editions of this magazine from the mid-'90s have been preserved by the Internet Archive.
As the use of the personal computer grew during the mid- to late 2000s, the number of women in computing rose proportionately, and networks were created to provide support and connection for self-described "geek girls". GirlGeeks.org was created in 1999 to serve as "the source for women in computing", and in 2005 Girl Geek Dinners was formed to connect women in the information technology (IT) sector.

The widespread recognition of "geek girls" as a community occurred in summer 2010, when the annual San Diego Comic-Con International included a panel entitled "Geek Girls Exist". Panelists included StarWars.com journalist Bonnie Burton, singer-songwriter Marian Call, Tekzilla and Qore host Veronica Belmont, MythBusters featured host Kari Byron, and was hosted by Rielly Grey, founder of Geek Girls Network. The panel's popularity has been credited as a primary mover in solidifying the girl geek concept.

Types
The term geek girl is in some ways fractured between its technical and cultural uses. The strongest association remains with computing, IT, and engineering. Practicing "geek girls" then include video game executive Jade Raymond, computer scientist and Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, social media developer Leah Culver, and engineer Limor Fried of Adafruit Industries.

"Geek girl" is also a term applied to women who engage in journalism and media about technology, typically through the Internet rather than traditional print media, such as tech journalist Natali Morris. Perhaps the most well-known variety of the "geek girl" is the gamer, who typically engages in video and/or live role-playing games. In 2007, actress and gamer Felicia Day popularized the archetype through the webseries The Guild and the YouTube viral video "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar".

Fake
"Fake geek girl" is a pejorative term for a woman who is accused of feigning interest in geeky topics such as video games or comic books to get attention from men. The topic was the subject of controversy in 2012 and 2013, when multiple articles were published supporting or condemning the concept.

Much of the controversy surrounding the concept of fake geek girls began in March 2012, when Tara Brown published an article on the Forbes website titled "Dear Fake Geek Girls: Please Go Away". In the article, she discussed the difference between geeky women as social outcasts, and "pretentious females who have labeled themselves as a 'geek girl' [who have] figured out that guys will pay a lot of attention to them if they proclaim they are reading comics or playing video games."

Joe Peacock continued this criticism to discuss booth babes and female cosplayers in a July 2012 blog post for CNN titled "Booth babes need not apply". In this article, he denounced women who pretend to be interested in geek culture to gain attention from men or to advance their modelling careers. Comic artist Tony Harris wrote a Facebook post in November 2012, described by The Daily Dot as a "diatribe", about female cosplayers who were not knowledgeable about the characters they were representing.

Criticism of fake geek girls has given rise to other phenomena, such as the "Idiot Nerd Girl" image macro. These articles prompted considerable response. Some people argued that fake geek girls did not exist, or were more rare than the criticism suggested. Kirk Hamilton wrote in Kotaku that people perceived to be fake geek girls simply had interests that varied, in aspect or degree, from those of a male reader. Some responses describe the criticism as misogynist and as a form of gatekeeping.

Later developments
In September 2010, the geek girl group Team Unicorn was formed by four "gamer girls", who produced the YouTube video "G33k & G4m3r Girls" as a parody of the song "California Gurls" by Katy Perry. The video went viral within a week, but the name of the group was intended to reflect the invisible status of women in the geek subculture: "Geek Girls: Like unicorns, we're not supposed to exist."

In late 2010, the Seattle-based non-profit GeekGirlCon announced that it would hold the first conference devoted to geek girls on October 8–9, 2011.

In April 2011, New York Times television reviewer Ginia Bellefante caused a minor uproar by characterizing the medieval-fantasy series Game of Thrones as "boy fiction" that "no woman alive" would wish to watch. The review prompted a direct response from GeekGirlCon, as well as a flurry of discussion from bloggers and other news outlets.

The web series Reel Geek Girls was formed in 2015 by Drew C. Ryan to confront the concept of "Fake Geek Girls" by spotlighting and interviewing women involved in the entertainment industry. Each episode, a lady shares her personal stories of harassment, accusations of being a "fake geek," and also "geeks out" about the interests and topics she loves.

See also
 Gamergate controversy
Women and video games
 Girl Geek Dinners

References

External links
 GeekGirlCon
 Geek Girl Camp: "Empowering Women Through Technology"
 Geek Girls Network
 Geek Girl Dinners
 GirlGeeks.org
 Women Who Tech

2000s slang
2010s slang
Subcultures
Feminism and history
Computing culture
Internet culture
Gaming
Nerd culture

Geek girl


Kinetic art is depiction of motion in art objects. Kinetic art is a term that today most often refers to three-dimensional sculptures. Manifesto of Futurism written by the  Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and published in 1909 was first document who emphasized the need of speed, changes.

Kinetic art originated in the 20-30s of the XX century. Experiments in creating dynamic plastics are found in futurism, Dadaism, Bauhaus and Russian constructivism.
Art

Kinetic Art


The Palais de Chaillot () is a building at the top of the  in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.

Design
The building was designed in classicising "moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Léon Azéma. The Palais consists of two separate wings shaped to form a wide arc, which are those of the former Palais du Trocadéro with new taller portions built in front. The pair of larger central pavilions are also those of the former Palais du Trocadéro, encapsulated in new construction. The large central hall and towers of the old palais were demolished, leaving only the basement, with a wide esplanade created on top, establishing an open view from the place du Trocadéro to the Eiffel Tower and beyond.

The buildings are decorated with quotations by Paul Valéry, and sculptural groups at the attic level by Raymond Delamarre, Carlo Sarrabezolles and Alfred Bottiau. The eight gilded figures on the terrace of the Rights of Man are attributed to the sculptors Alexandre Descatoire, Marcel Gimond, Jean Paris dit Pryas, Paul Cornet, Lucien Brasseur, Robert Couturier, Paul Niclausse and Félix-Alexandre Desruelles.

The buildings now house a number of museums:
 the Musée national de la Marine (naval museum) and the Musée de l'Homme (prehistory and anthropology) in the southern (Passy) wing,
 the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, including the Musée national des Monuments Français, in the eastern (Paris) wing, from which one also enters the Théâtre national de Chaillot, a theatre below the esplanade.

History

1937 Expo: Construction
For the Exposition Internationale of 1937, the old 1878 Palais du Trocadéro was partly demolished and partly rebuilt to create the Palais de Chaillot.

World War II
It was on the front terrace of the palace that Adolf Hitler was pictured during his short tour of the city in 1940, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. This became an iconic image of the Second World War. On VE Day, 8 May 1945, the U.S. Army in Paris celebrated their victory on the same spot.  Over 2800 soldiers, sailors and airmen listened to the victory speech to the troops by President Harry S. Truman, and then an address by the ranking officer in Paris, Lt. Gen John C. H. Lee, commanding general of the Com-Z logistics operations of the U.S. Army in Europe since May 1942.

Post-World War II

1948/1951: United Nations General Assembly
In 1948, the Palais de Chaillot hosted the third United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and, in 1951, the sixth UNGA It is in the Palais de Chaillot that the UNGA adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. This event is now commemorated by a stone, and the esplanade is known as the esplanade des droits de l'homme ("esplanade of human rights").

1952–1959: Temporary NATO headquarters

The Palais de Chaillot also served as temporary NATO headquarters in Paris, from 1952 until the permanent HQ at "Palais de l'OTAN" (now Université Paris Dauphine) was inaugurated in 1959.

References

Related articles

 Trocadéro Palace

External links

 Images of the Palais de Chaillot
 The Palais de Chaillot while it was being renovated

Art Deco architecture in France
Buildings and structures in the 16th arrondissement of Paris
Modernist architecture in France
Terminating vistas in Paris
World's fair architecture in Paris
Buildings and structures completed in 1937
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne
20th-century architecture in France

Palais de Chaillot


The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 American-German action movie directed by Rob Cohen, produced by Neal H. Moritz and written by Gary Scott Thompson and David Ayer. It is the first installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise. The movie stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Chad Lindberg, Johnny Strong, and Ted Levine. The movie follows undercover cop Brian O'Conner, who is tasked with stopping a group of unknown hijackers using high-performance racecars to hijack 18-wheelers. It is an international co-production between the United States and Germany.

Cast
 Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
 Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner
 Michelle Rodriguez as Leticia "Letty" Ortíz
 Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto
 Rick Yune as Johnny Tran
 Chad Lindberg as Jesse
 Johnny Strong as Leon
 Matt Schulze as Vince
 Ja Rule as Edwin
 Ted Levine as Sergeant Tanner
 Thom Barry as Agent Bilkins
 Vyto Ruginis as Harry

2001 thriller movies
2001 action movies
German action movies
German thriller movies
Fast & Furious movies
Movies directed by Rob Cohen

The Fast and the Furious (2001 movie)


John Dahlsen is an Australian contemporary environmental artist. He uses found objects, primarily ocean litter plastics, from Australian beaches in his work.

Biography
Dahlsen studied art from 1977 to 1979 at the Victorian College of the Arts and in 1989 at the Melbourne College of Advanced Education. He completed his PhD at Charles Darwin University in 2016. In addition to his art, he also lectures at Australian universities and at environmental symposiums around the world. He has exhibited work in many solo and group exhibitions since 1979. Dahlsen currently lives in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

Awards
In 2000, Dahlsen won the Wynne Prize from the Art Gallery of New South Wales for his piece Thong Totems. He was also a finalist in both 2003 and 2004. In 2006 he was a finalist for the Sir John Sulman Medal from the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the second prize winner of the Signature of Sydney Art Prize. He has also won many other awards, such as the 2003 award for mixed media/new media at the Florence Biennial of Contemporary Art, Environmental Art Awards at the Swell Sculpture Exhibition in 2009 and 2010, and the Peoples Choice Award in the ArtsCape Biennial Sculpture Exhibition in 2010.

He has also been awarded several grants from the Australian government as well as private groups.

See also
Art of Australia

References

External links

Environmental artists
Living people
Victorian College of the Arts alumni
University of Melbourne alumni
Australian installation artists
Wynne Prize winners
1963 births

John Dahlsen


George Everette "Bud" Day (24 February 1925 – 27 July 2013) was a United States Air Force officer, aviator, and veteran of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War.  He was also a prisoner of war, and recipient of the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross. , he is the only person to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross. After his death, he was advanced to the rank of brigadier general effective March 27, 2018, as directed by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

Colonel "Bud" Day served 30 months in the South Pacific during WW II as an enlisted member with the US Marine Corps. He served as an Army reservist, and Army guardsman between WW II and Korea, and then in the Air Force during the Vietnam War (3 different services over the span of 3 different wars.) After being shot down on August 26, 1967, and serving 7 years in captivity, Colonel Day was repatriated in 1973. A recipient of virtually every other available combat decoration, he is widely considered the most decorated Airman in history. His autobiography is titled "Return With Honor" and he later expanded upon that book in a second autobiography titled "Duty, Honor, Country."

1925 births
2013 deaths
American Lutherans
Writers from Florida
Writers from South Dakota
Prisoners of war

Bud Day


Hydroquinone, also known as benzene-1,4-diol or quinol, is an aromatic organic compound that is a type of phenol, a derivative of benzene, having the chemical formula C6H4(OH)2. It has two hydroxyl groups bonded to a benzene ring in a para position. It is a white granular solid. Substituted derivatives of this parent compound are also referred to as hydroquinones. The name "hydroquinone" was coined by Friedrich Wöhler in 1843.

Production
Hydroquinone is produced industrially in two main ways.
 The most widely used route is similar to the cumene process in reaction mechanism and involves the dialkylation of benzene with propene to give 1,4-diisopropylbenzene. This compound reacts with air to afford the bis(hydroperoxide), which is structurally similar to cumene hydroperoxide and rearranges in acid to give acetone and hydroquinone.
 A second route involves hydroxylation of phenol over a catalyst. The conversion uses hydrogen peroxide and affords a mixture of hydroquinone and its ortho isomer catechol (benzene-1,2-diol):
C6H5OH  +  H2O2  -> C6H4(OH)2  +  H2O
Other, less common methods include:
 A potentially significant synthesis of hydroquinone from acetylene and iron pentacarbonyl has been proposed Iron pentacarbonyl serves as a catalyst, rather than as a reagent, in the presence of free carbon monoxide gas. Rhodium or ruthenium can substitute for iron as the catalyst with favorable chemical yields but are not typically used due to their cost of recovery from the reaction mixture.
 Hydroquinone and its derivatives can also be prepared by oxidation of various phenols, such as aniline and DIPB. Examples include Elbs persulfate oxidation and Dakin oxidation.
 Hydroquinone was first obtained in 1820 by the French chemists Pelletier and Caventou via the dry distillation of quinic acid.
 Hydrolysis of chlorinated phenol, described as being used in China.
Note that methods such as hydrolysis of chlorinated phenol and oxidation of phenols are much more polluting methods than some others.

Reactions
The reactivity of hydroquinone's hydroxyl groups resembles that of other phenols, being weakly acidic. The resulting conjugate base undergoes easy O-alkylation to give mono- and diethers. Similarly, hydroquinone is highly susceptible to ring substitution by Friedel–Crafts reactions such as alkylation. This reaction is exploited en route to popular antioxidants such as 2-tert-butyl-4-methoxyphenol (BHA). The useful dye quinizarin is produced by diacylation of hydroquinone with phthalic anhydride.

Redox
Hydroquinone undergoes oxidation under mild conditions to give benzoquinone. This process can be reversed. Some naturally occurring hydroquinone derivatives exhibit this sort of reactivity, one example being coenzyme Q. Industrially this reaction is exploited both with hydroquinone itself but more often with its derivatives where one OH has been replaced by an amine.

When colorless hydroquinone and benzoquinone, a bright yellow solid, are cocrystallized in a 1:1 ratio, a dark-green crystalline charge-transfer complex (melting point 171 °C) called quinhydrone () is formed. This complex dissolves in hot water, where the two molecules dissociate in solution.

Amination
An important reaction is the conversion of hydroquinone to the mono- and diamine derivatives. Methylaminophenol, used in photography, is produced in this way:
C6H4(OH)2 + \overset{methylamine}{CH3NH2} -> HOC6H4NHCH3 + H2O
Diamines, useful in the rubber industry as antiozone agents, are similarly produced from aniline:
C6H4(OH)2  +  \overset{aniline}{2 C6H5NH2} ->  C6H4(N(H)C6H5)2  +  2 H2O

Uses
Hydroquinone has a variety of uses principally associated with its action as a reducing agent that is soluble in water. It is a major component in most black and white photographic developers for film and paper where, with the compound metol, it reduces silver halides to elemental silver.

There are various other uses associated with its reducing power. As a polymerisation inhibitor, exploiting its antioxidant properties, hydroquinone prevents polymerization of acrylic acid, methyl methacrylate, cyanoacrylate, and other monomers that are susceptible to radical-initiated polymerization. By acting as a free radical scavenger, hydroquinone serves to prolong the shelflife of light-sensitive resins such as preceramic polymers.

Hydroquinone can lose a hydrogen cation from both hydroxyl groups to form a diphenolate ion. The disodium diphenolate salt of hydroquinone is used as an alternating comonomer unit in the production of the polymer PEEK.

Skin depigmentation
Hydroquinone is used as a topical application in skin whitening to reduce the color of skin. It does not have the same predisposition to cause dermatitis as metol does. This is a prescription-only ingredient in some countries, including the member states of the European Union under Directives 76/768/EEC:1976.

In 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration revoked its previous approval of hydroquinone and proposed a ban on all over-the-counter preparations. The FDA officially banned hydroquinone in 2020 as part of a larger reform of the over-the-counter drug review process. The FDA stated that hydroquinone cannot be ruled out as a potential carcinogen. This conclusion was reached based on the extent of absorption in humans and the incidence of neoplasms in rats in several studies where adult rats were found to have increased rates of tumours, including thyroid follicular cell hyperplasias, anisokaryosis (variation in nuclei sizes), mononuclear cell leukemia, hepatocellular adenomas and renal tubule cell adenomas. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has also highlighted concerns.

Numerous studies have revealed that hydroquinone, if taken orally, can cause exogenous ochronosis, a disfiguring disease in which blue-black pigments are deposited onto the skin; however, skin preparations containing the ingredient are administered topically. The FDA had classified hydroquinone in 1982 as a safe product - generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE), however additional studies under the National Toxicology Program (NTP) were suggested in order to determine whether there is a risk to humans from the use of hydroquinone. NTP evaluation showed some evidence of long-term carcinogenic and genotoxic effects

While hydroquinone remains widely prescribed for treatment of hyperpigmentation, questions raised about its safety profile by regulatory agencies in the EU, Japan, and USA encourage the search for other agents with comparable efficacy. Several such agents are already available or under research, including azelaic acid, kojic acid, retinoids, cysteamine, topical steroids, glycolic acid, and other substances. One of these, 4-butylresorcinol, has been proved to be more effective at treating melanin-related skin disorders by a wide margin, as well as safe enough to be made available over the counter.

Natural occurrences
Hydroquinones are one of the two primary reagents in the defensive glands of bombardier beetles, along with hydrogen peroxide (and perhaps other compounds, depending on the species), which collect in a reservoir. The reservoir opens through a muscle-controlled valve onto a thick-walled reaction chamber. This chamber is lined with cells that secrete catalases and peroxidases. When the contents of the reservoir are forced into the reaction chamber, the catalases and peroxidases rapidly break down the hydrogen peroxide and catalyze the oxidation of the hydroquinones into p-quinones. These reactions release free oxygen and generate enough heat to bring the mixture to the boiling point and vaporize about a fifth of it, producing a hot spray from the beetle's abdomen.

Hydroquinone is thought to be the active toxin in Agaricus hondensis mushrooms.

Hydroquinone has been shown to be one of the chemical constituents of the natural product propolis.

It is also one of the chemical compounds found in castoreum. This compound is gathered from the beaver's castor sacs.

References

External links

International Chemical Safety Card 0166
NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards

Photographic chemicals
IARC Group 3 carcinogens
Reducing agents

Hydroquinone


Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Disney  Entertainment unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven years old, its programming consists of original first-run television series, films, and select other third-party programming.

As of January 2016, the channel is available to 74 million households in the U.S.

History

Origins

The Walt Disney Company first attempted to launch a 24-hour subscription channel for preschoolers in the United States, when the company announced plans to launch Playhouse Disney, a television offshoot of Disney Channel's daytime programming block of the same name, which launched on the channel on May 8, 1997 (airing during the morning hours seven days a week, with the weekday blocks lasting until the early afternoon). Plans for the United States network were ultimately shelved. However, channels using the Playhouse Disney moniker were launched in other countries internationally.

The development of Disney Junior began on May 26, 2010, when Disney-ABC Television Group announced the launch of the channel as a pay television service, which would compete with other subscription channels targeted primarily at preschool-aged children in addition to the Playhouse Disney branded blocks and channels being rebranded under Disney Junior.

The flagship channel in the United States intended to replace Soapnet, a Disney-owned channel featuring daytime soap operas seen on the major broadcast networks (including sister network ABC) and reruns of former primetime drama series, due to the continued decline in popularity and quantity of soap operas on broadcast television, along with the growth of video on demand services (including the online streaming availability for soap operas) and digital video recorders that negated the need for a linear channel devoted to the genre.

Network and block launches
Disney Junior first launched as a programming block on Disney Channel on February 14, 2011. The Disney Junior channel was originally scheduled to launch in January 2012, but on July 28, 2011, the Disney-ABC Television Group pushed back the channel's launch date to an unspecified date in early 2012, then on January 9, 2012, the Disney-ABC Television Group announced that Soapnet's closing date for most cable providers was scheduled for March 22, 2012. Disney Junior's 24-hour subscription channel counterpart officially launched the following day on March 23, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode "Mickey's Big Surprise" as the first program to air on the channel. Programming featured on the channel's initial lineup included Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and freshman original series Doc McStuffins; the channel also had new episodes of the short-form series A Poem Is. as well as the weekend movie block, the Magical World of Disney Junior.

Though it in effect took over the channel space held by Soapnet, an automated feed of that channel continued to exist for providers that had not yet reached agreements to carry Disney Junior, or held out to not lose subscribers due to the immediate loss of that network. These included some providers such as Cox Communications, Optimum, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, and Time Warner Cable, which continued to carry Soapnet while having added the Disney Junior channel onto their channel lineups in turn. Soapnet's operations continued sixteen months later than had been originally planned, until the network finally ceased operations on December 31, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

In 2012, Disney Junior launched a movie night anthology as the Magical World of Disney Junior. The channel also premiered its first Disney Junior Original Movie, Lucky Duck during Magical World on Friday, June 20, 2014. The morning block of Disney Junior programming on Disney Channel itself is currently known as Mickey Mornings.

Television carriage
Since its launch, Disney Junior became initially available to subscribers of Xfinity, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Bright House Networks, and Verizon FiOS; other providers would sign carriage agreements to run the network following its launch:
 On March 26, 2012, Cox Communications announced that it would carry Disney Junior, as part of the provider's "Variety Pak" package.
 On April 3, 2012, Disney–ABC Television Group announced that it had reached a distribution agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative to carry Disney Junior, which negotiates carriage deals on behalf of many of America's smaller cable providers.
 Cable One added the network to the digital tier of its systems around May 26, 2012.
 On June 21, 2012, RCN began carrying the network on its systems.
 On July 13, 2012, DirecTV announced that the Disney Junior network would be added to its lineup the following day on the 14th, a Saturday. Industry observers questioned both the unexpected announcement and untraditional weekend launch of the network as being timed to a nine-day carriage dispute between DirecTV and Viacom and the loss of the Nick Jr. Channel four days previously as a result of the dispute.
 On December 31, 2012, Charter Communications (later purchasing Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks and becoming Spectrum) came to terms with Disney–ABC Television Group on a new wide-ranging multiple-year carriage agreement for ABC, all of the U.S.-based Disney Channels Worldwide and ESPN networks and ABC Family, which included the addition of Disney Junior to Charter systems throughout the first quarter of 2013. The channel ended carriage on August 31, 2023 as Disney and Spectrum were in dispute for several days, before coming to agreement on September 11 to restore Disney's networks to their service while removing several others, including Disney Junior.
 On January 15, 2013, AT&T U-verse also reached a deal with The Walt Disney Company on a new wide-ranging multi-year agreement to carry the Disney–ABC Television Group family of networks and ESPN, which included the addition of Disney Junior.
 Dish Network, the last major television provider to have not signed a carriage deal for Disney Junior, added the channel on April 10, 2014; after a long period of acrimony and a six-month extension of their past carriage agreement with The Walt Disney Company for a few select networks (some of which were not available in HD, partly as a result of a 2011 dispute with the company), Dish and Disney came to full terms on carrying all of Disney-ABC's networks in both standard and high definition on March 3, 2014, with the resolution of legal issues involving Dish's Hopper DVR system, which also included streaming rights for the networks as part of Dish's IPTV streaming service Sling TV.

Programming

Programming on the Disney Junior channel includes original series (such as Alice's Wonderland Bakery), shows formerly seen on the now-defunct Playhouse Disney block (such as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), plus re-runs of former original shows (such as Doc McStuffins) - including some that also air on the companion Disney Channel morning block and short-form series, as well as reruns of some older animated series that had previously been seen on sister network ABC, CBS (made before 1996) and programs from Disney Channel and Toon Disney, which are aired by the channel by popular demand (especially during the overnight graveyard slot). The network also carries some programs produced outside of Disney, including PJ Masks, Babar and the Adventures of Badou, and Bluey.

Disney Junior Night Light (block)
Disney Junior Night Light is the former name of Disney Junior channel's overnight programming block, running daily from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific. The block, which debuted on September 4, 2012, was sponsored by the Disney-owned parenting site Babble, consisting of short-form programs intended for co-viewing among parents and their children. Features seen as part of the block included Picture This (a drawing segment), Sesh Tales (a segment featuring costumed finger puppets with twists on traditional fairy tales) and That's Fresh (a segment featuring cooking tips aimed at parents, presented by celebrity chef Helen Cavallo). Additional series under development at the block's launch included a photography series, a series that follows parents through the day their new baby comes home after being born, and a show about stay-at-home dads. Since 2017, Disney Junior's overnight programming has run unbranded and without the Night Light continuity.

Related services

International

Disney Junior, formerly known as Playhouse Disney, is available around the world. Since 2020, many of these networks were closed in favor of direct customer promotion of Disney+, where Disney Junior's content was moved to.

References

External links

 Disney Junior Press

2012 establishments in California
Preschool education television networks
Children's television networks in the United States
Disney Channel
Disney television networks
Commercial-free television networks
Television programming blocks
Television programming blocks in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 2012
English-language television stations in the United States

Disney Junior