Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, it is one of the oldest cities in New England, founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of "God's merciful Providence" which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him and his followers. The city developed as a busy port, as it is situated at the mouth of the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay.

Providence was one of the first cities in the country to industrialize and became noted for its textile manufacturing and subsequent machine tool, jewelry, and silverware industries. Today, the city of Providence is home to eight hospitals and eight institutions of higher learning which have shifted the city's economy into service industries, though it still retains some manufacturing activity.

At the 2020 census, Providence had a population of 190,934, making it the third-most-populous city in New England after Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts. The Providence metropolitan area is the second largest metropolitan area in New England by a large margin with over 1.6 million residents, nearly 30-percent larger than Hartford.

History

Providence was settled in June 1636 by Puritan theologian Roger Williams and grew into one of the original Thirteen Colonies. As a minister in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Williams had advocated the separation of church and state and condemned colonists' confiscation of land from the Indians. For these and other "diverse, new, and dangerous opinions," he was convicted of sedition and heresy and banished from the colony. Williams and others established a settlement in Rumford, Rhode Island. The group later moved down the Seekonk River, around Fox Point and up the Providence River to the confluence of the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket Rivers. The settlement was named after "God's merciful Providence."

Providence lacked a royal charter, unlike Salem and Boston. The settlers thus organized themselves, allotting tracts on the eastern side of the Providence River in 1638 allowing roughly six acres each. These home lots extended from Towne Street (now South Main Street) to Hope Street. Over the following two decades, Providence Plantations grew into a self-sufficient agricultural and fishing settlement, though its lands were difficult to farm and its borders were disputed with Connecticut and Massachusetts.

In 1652, Providence prohibited indentured servitude for periods of longer than 10 years. This statute constituted the first anti-slavery law in the United States, though there is no evidence the prohibition was ever enforced. However, the Rhode Island General Assembly legalized African and Native American slavery throughout the colony in 1703, and Providence merchants' participation in the slave trade helped turn the city into a major port. By 1755, enslaved people made up 8% of Providence's population, below the 10% average for colonial Rhode Island, but above the 5% average for the northern colonies.

In March 1676, Providence Plantations was burned to the ground by the Narragansetts during King Philip's War. Later in the year, the Rhode Island legislature formally rebuked the other colonies for provoking the war. In 1770, Brown University moved to Providence from nearby Warren. At the time, the college was known as Rhode Island College and occupied a single building on College Hill. The college's choice to relocate to Providence as opposed to Newport symbolized a larger shift away from Newport's commercial and political dominance over the colony.

In 1772, a group from Providence burned a British customs schooner south of Providence in the event known as the Gaspee Affair. This was the first act of armed resistance to British rule in America, predating the more famous Boston Tea Party by more than a year. Rhode Island was the first of the Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776. It was also the last of the Thirteen States to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29, 1790, once assurances were made that a Bill of Rights would become part of the Constitution.

Following the war, Providence was the nation's ninth-largest city with 7,614 people. The economy shifted from maritime endeavors to manufacturing, in particular machinery, tools, silverware, jewelry, and textiles. By the start of the 20th century, Providence hosted some of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, including Brown & Sharpe, Nicholson File, and Gorham Manufacturing Company. The city's industries attracted many immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, England, Italy, Portugal, Cape Verde, and French Canada. These economic and demographic shifts caused social strife. Hard Scrabble and Snow Town were the sites of race riots in 1824 and 1831.

Providence residents ratified a city charter in 1831 as the population passed 17,000. The seat of city government was located in the Market House in Market Square from 1832 to 1878, which was the geographic and social center of the city. The city offices soon outgrew this building, and the City Council resolved to create a permanent municipal building in 1845. The city offices moved into Providence City Hall in 1878.

Local politics split over slavery during the American Civil War, as many had ties to Southern cotton and the slave trade. Despite ambivalence concerning the war, the number of military volunteers routinely exceeded quota, and the city's manufacturing proved invaluable to the Union. Providence thrived after the war, and waves of immigrants brought the population from 54,595 in 1865 to 175,597 by 1900.

By the early 1900s, Providence was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Immigrant labor powered one of the nation's largest industrial manufacturing centers. Providence was a major manufacturer of industrial products, from steam engines to precision tools to silverware, screws, and textiles. Giant companies were based in or near Providence, such as Brown & Sharpe, the Corliss Steam Engine Company, Babcock & Wilcox, the Grinnell Corporation, the Gorham Manufacturing Company, Nicholson File, and the Fruit of the Loom textile company. The manufacturing of jewelry and costume jewelry emerged as a dominant local industry. In the 1960s, jewelry trade magazines referred to Providence as "the jewelry capital of the world."

In 1922, it was affected by the 1922 New England Textile Strike, shutting down the mills in the city over an attempted wage cut and hours increase.

The city began to see a decline by the mid-1920s as manufacturing industries began to shut down. It was deeply affected by the Great Depression, which left more than a third of the city's labor force unemployed. The subsequent Recession of 1937–1938 was immediately followed by the New England Hurricane of 1938, which flooded downtown. The hurricane was particularly destructive to the struggling textile industry, with many mills never reopening following the storm. Providence's population declined from a peak of 253,504 in 1940 to only 179,213 in 1970, as the white middle class moved to the suburbs. From the 1940s to 1970s, white middle class residents vacated Providence faster than any other American city other than Detroit. The remainder of these residents were disproportionately poor and elderly. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Providence was a notorious bastion of organized crime.

From 1975 until 1982, $606 million of local and national community development funds were invested throughout the city. In the 1990s, the city pushed for revitalization, completing a number of major development projects. Among these were the realignment of railroad tracks; the relocation of rivers, creation of Waterplace Park, and development of a riverwalk; the construction of a Downtown ice rink; and the development of Providence Place Mall. In 1980, Providence's previously declining population began to grow once again.

In the early 2000s, Providence developed an economic development plan that outlined a shift to a knowledge-based economy. These efforts involved the rebranding of the formerly industrial Jewelry District as a new "Knowledge District". Despite new investment, approximately 21.5-percent of the city population lives below the poverty line. Recent increases in real estate values have further exacerbated problems for those at marginal income levels, mirroring a statewide housing affordability crisis. From 2004 to 2005, Providence saw the highest rise in median housing price of any city in the United States.

Geography
The Providence city limits enclose a small geographical region with a total area of ;  of it is land and the remaining  is water (roughly 10%). Providence is located at the head of Narragansett Bay, with the Providence River running into the bay through the center of the city, formed by the confluence of the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket Rivers. The Waterplace Park amphitheater and riverwalks line the river's banks through Downtown. Providence is one of many cities claimed to be founded on seven hills like Rome.

As with many cities worldwide, the Northeastern megacity has a large population of feral pigeons (Columba livia). Although expecting Providence's population genetics to be continuous with the larger megacity, Carlen & Munshi-South 2020 find Providence and Boston share one population and the rest of the region shares another. This is likely due to the intervening low urbanization zone in western Connecticut.

Neighborhoods

Providence has 25 official neighborhoods, though these neighborhoods are often grouped together and referred to collectively:
 The East Side is a region comprising the neighborhoods of Blackstone, Hope (aka Summit), Mount Hope, College Hill, Wayland, and Fox Point.
 The Jewelry District describes the area enclosed by I-95, the old I-195, and the Providence River. The city has made efforts to rename this area the Knowledge District to reflect the area's newly developing life sciences and technology-based economy.
 The North End is formed by the concatenation of the neighborhoods of Charles, Wanskuck, Smith Hill, Elmhurst, and Mount Pleasant.
 The South Side (or South Providence) consists of the neighborhoods of Elmwood, Lower South Providence, Upper South Providence, Washington Park, and the West End.
 West Broadway is an officially recognized neighborhood with its own association. It overlaps with the southern half of Federal Hill and the northern part of the West End.

Cityscape

Geographically, Providence is compact—characteristic of eastern seaboard cities that developed prior to use of the automobile. The street layout of the city is irregular; more than one thousand streets run haphazardly, connecting and radiating from traditionally bustling places such as Market Square.

Downtown Providence has numerous 19th-century mercantile buildings in the Federal and Victorian architectural styles, as well as several postmodern and modernist buildings. In particular, a fairly clear spatial separation appears between the areas of pre-1980s development and post-1980s development; West Exchange Street and Exchange Terrace serve as rough boundaries between the two. The newer area, sometimes called "Capitol Center", includes the Providence Place Mall (1999), Omni Providence Hotel (1993) and Residences Providence (2007), GTECH Corporation (2006), Waterplace Towers condominiums (2007), and Waterplace Park (1994). The area tends toward newer development, since much of it is land reclaimed in the 1970s from a mass of railroad tracks referred to colloquially as the "Chinese Wall". This part of Downtown is characterized by open spaces, wide roads, and landscaping.

The streetscape of much of historic downtown has retained a similar appearance since the early 20th century. Many of the state's tallest buildings are found here. At 426 feet (130 m), the city's largest structure is the art deco Industrial National Bank Building. The building contrasts with the city's second tallest structure—One Financial Plaza—which is designed in the modernist style. Other core buildings of the Providence skyline are the postmodern 50 Kennedy Plaza and late modern Textron Tower. Downtown is also the home of the historic Providence Biltmore hotel and Westminster Arcade—the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the U.S.

The city's southern waterfront, away from the downtown core, is the location of oil tanks, ferry and sailing docks, power plants, and nightclubs. The Russian Submarine Museum was located here until 2008, when the submarine sank. The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is also found here, built to protect Providence from storm surge like those endured by the city during the 1938 New England Hurricane and 1954 Hurricane Carol.

Climate

Providence has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa) bordering a humid subtropical climate with hot summers, cold winters, and high humidity year-round. The USDA places the city in hardiness zone 6b, with the suburbs in zones 6a–7b. The influence of the Atlantic Ocean keeps the state of Rhode Island warmer than many inland locales in New England.

January is the coldest month with a daily mean of  and low temperatures dropping to  or lower an average of 11 days per winter, while July is the warmest month with a daily mean of  and highs rising to  or higher an average of 10 days per summer. Extremes range from  on February 9, 1934 to  on August 2, 1975; the record cold daily maximum is  on February 5, 1918, while the record warm daily minimum is  on June 6, 1925. Temperature readings of  or lower are uncommon in Providence and generally occur once every several years. The year which had the most days with a temperature reading of zero degrees or lower was 2015 with eight days total—one day in January and seven days in February. Conversely, temperature readings of  or higher are even rarer, and the year with the most days in this category was 1944 with three days, all of which were in August.

Monthly precipitation in Providence ranges from a high of  in March to a low of  in July. In general, precipitation levels are slightly less in the summer months than the winter months, when nor'easters can cause significant snowfall and blizzard conditions. Hurricanes are not frequent in coastal New England, although Providence's location at the head of Narragansett Bay makes it vulnerable to them.

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States census, Providence's population consisted of 173,618 people, 162,389 households, and 35,859 families. The population density was , characteristic of other small cities in New England such as New Haven, Connecticut; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Hartford, Connecticut. The city's population peaked in the 1940s, just prior to the nationwide period of rapid suburbanization. The Providence metropolitan area includes Providence, Fall River, Massachusetts, and Warwick, and is estimated to have a population of 1,622,520. In 2006, this area was officially added to the Boston Combined Statistical Area (CSA), the sixth-largest CSA in the country. In recent years, Providence has experienced a sizable growth in its under-18 population. The median age of the city was 28 years, while the largest age cohort is 20- to 24-year-olds as of 2000.

Providence has a racially and ethnically diverse population. In 2020, white Americans formed 53.1% of the population, including a sizable white Hispanic community. Non-Hispanic whites were 33.8% of the total population, down from 89.5% in 1970. Providence has had a substantial Italian American population since the start of the 20th century, with 14% of the population claiming Italian ancestry. Italian influence manifests itself in Providence's 'Little Italy' in Federal Hill. Irish immigrants have also had considerable influence on the city's history, with 8% of residents claiming Irish heritage. The percentages of people claiming Irish and Italian ancestry, though high, has gone down considerably from historical highs, and is much lower than the percentages of these groups in Rhode Island as a whole. The city also has a sizable Jewish community, estimated at 10,500 in 2012, or roughly 5% of the city's population.

In 2020, people of Hispanic or Latino origin composed 43.5% of the city's population. They formed a majority of city public school students as of 2007. The majority of Hispanics in Providence are of Dominican descent. Numbering roughly 25,000 and constituting roughly half of the city's Hispanic population, Providence's Dominican community is the fifth largest in the United States. Other Hispanic groups present in sizable numbers include Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, and Colombians. Hispanics are widespread in significant numbers in most of Providence, but most concentrated in the neighborhoods of Elmwood, the West End, and Upper and Lower South Providence.

African Americans constitute 16.1% of the city's population, with their greatest concentrations found in Mount Hope and the Upper and Lower South Providence neighborhoods. Providence has small Liberian and Haitian communities in the city. Liberians compose 0.4% of the population; the city is home to one of the largest Liberian immigrant populations in the country. Asian-Americans constitute 5.6% of Providence's population. The largest Asian groups are Cambodians (1.7%), Chinese (1.1%), Indian Americans (0.7%), Laotians (0.6%), and Koreans (0.6%). Another 6% of the city has multiracial ancestry. American Indians and Pacific Islanders make up the remaining 0.9%.

Providence has a considerable community of immigrants from various Portuguese-speaking countries, especially Portugal, Brazil, and Cape Verde. These residents are concentrated in the Washington Park and Fox Point neighborhoods. Portuguese is the city's third-largest European ethnicity, after Italian and Irish. Cape Verdeans compose 2% of the city's population.

The per capita income as of the 2000 census was $15,525, which is well below both the state average of $29,113 and the national average of $21,587. The median income for a household was $26,867, and the median income for a family in Providence was $32,058,. The city has one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation with 29.1% of the population and 23.9% of families living below the poverty line. Of residents in poverty, the largest concentrations are found in the city's Olneyville, and Upper and Lower South Providence areas. Poverty has affected children at a disproportionately higher rate, with 40.1% of those under the age of 18 living below the poverty line. These residents are concentrated west of Downtown in the neighborhoods of Hartford, Federal Hill, and Olneyville.

Economy

Over one third of Providence's economy is based in trade, transportation, utilities, and educational and health services. As the capital of Rhode Island, the city's economy additionally consists of government services, with approximately 70,000 jobs.  The unemployment rate in the city is 5.0% as of August 2022, compared to a national rate of 3.8%.

Prominent companies headquartered in Providence include Fortune 500 Textron, an advanced technologies industrial conglomerate; United Natural Foods, a distributor of natural and organic foods; Fortune 1000 Nortek Incorporated; Gilbane, a construction and real estate company. Other companies with headquarters in the city include Citizens Bank, Virgin Pulse, Ørsted US Offshore Wind, and Providence Equity. Providence is the site of a sectional center facility (SCF), a regional hub for the U.S. Postal Service. Providence is also home to some of toy manufacturer Hasbro's business operations, although their headquarters are in Pawtucket.

The city is home to the Rhode Island Convention Center, which opened in December 1993. Along with a hotel, the convention center is connected to the Providence Place Mall, a major retail center, through a skywalk.

Arts and culture

Much of Providence culture is synonymous with the culture of Rhode Island as a whole. Like the state, the city has a non-rhotic accent that can be heard on local media. Providence also shares Rhode Island's affinity for coffee, with the most coffee and doughnut shops per capita of any city in the country. Providence is also reputed to have the highest number of restaurants per capita of major U.S. cities.

During the summer months, the city regularly hosts WaterFire, an environmental art installation that consists of about 100 bonfires which blaze just above the surface of the three rivers that pass through the middle of Downtown Providence. There are multiple WaterFire events that are accompanied by various pieces of classical and world music.

Providence has several ethnic neighborhoods, notably Federal Hill and the North End (Italian), Fox Point (Portuguese), West End (mainly Central American and Asian), and Smith Hill (Irish). There are also many dedicated community organizations and arts associations located in the city.

The city gained the reputation as one of the most active and growing gay and lesbian communities in the Northeast. The rate of reported gay and lesbian relationships is 75% higher than the national average.  Former mayor David Cicilline won his election running as an openly gay man. Former Mayor Buddy Cianci instituted the position of Mayor's Liaison to the Gay and Lesbian community in the 1990s. and Providence is home to the largest gay bathhouse in New England.

The city is the home of the Tony Award-winning theater group Trinity Repertory Company, the Providence Black Repertory Company, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as groups such as The American Band, once associated with noted American composer David Wallis Reeves. Providence hosts several performing arts centers, such as the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, the Providence Performing Arts Center, and Festival Ballet Providence. The city's underground music is centered on artist-run spaces such as the now-defunct Fort Thunder and is known in underground music circles. Providence is also home to the Providence Improv Guild, an improvisational theatre that has weekly performances and offers improv and sketch comedy classes, and AS220, a long-standing non-profit arts center with exhibition, educational, and performance spaces, as well as live-work studios.

Sites of interest

Providence is home to a  park system. Notable among these are Waterplace Park and the Riverwalk, Roger Williams Park, Roger Williams National Memorial, and Prospect Terrace Park. Prospect Terrace Park features expansive views of the downtown area, as well as a 15-foot tall granite statue of Roger Williams gazing over the city. As one of the first cities in America, Providence contains many historic buildings, while the East Side neighborhood in particular includes the largest contiguous area of buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the U.S., with many pre-revolutionary houses.

Providence's East Side is home to the First Baptist Church in America, which was founded by Williams in 1638, as well as the Old State House which served as the state's capitol from 1762 to 1904. Nearby is Roger Williams National Memorial. The dome of the State House is the fourth-largest self-supporting marble dome in the world and the second-largest marble dome after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The Westminster Arcade is the oldest enclosed shopping center in the U.S.

The Rhode Island School of Design Museum contains the 20th-largest collection in the United States. The Providence Athenæum is the fourth oldest library in the United States, in addition to the Providence Public Library and the nine branches of the Providence Community Library. Edgar Allan Poe frequented the library, and met and courted Sarah Helen Whitman there. H. P. Lovecraft was also a regular patron.

The Bank Newport City Center is located near Kennedy Plaza in the Downtown district, connected by pedestrian tunnel to Waterplace Park, a cobblestone and concrete park below street traffic that abuts Providence's three rivers. Another downtown landmark is the Providence Biltmore, a historic hotel which stands adjacent to Kennedy Plaza.

The southern part of the city is home to the famous roadside attraction Big Blue Bug, the world's largest termite and mascot of eponymous Big Blue Bug Solutions. Roger Williams Park contains a zoo, a botanical center, and the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium.

Sports

Providence is home to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League, who play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. From 1926 to 1972, the AHL's Providence Reds (renamed the Rhode Island Reds in their last years) played at the Rhode Island Auditorium. In 1972, the team relocated to the Providence Civic Center, where they played until moving to Binghamton, New York, in 1977.

The National Football League's New England Patriots and Major League Soccer's New England Revolution play in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is situated halfway between Providence and Boston. Providence was formerly home to two major league franchises: the NFL's Providence Steam Roller in the 1920s and 1930s, and the National Basketball Association's Providence Steamrollers in the 1940s. The Rhode Island Auditorium also hosted 29 of the 49 boxing fights of Rocky Marciano.

The city's defunct baseball team, the Providence Grays, competed in the National League from 1879 through 1885. The team defeated the New York Metropolitans in baseball's first successful "world championship series" in 1884. In 1914, after the Boston Red Sox purchased Babe Ruth from the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles, the team prepared Ruth for the major leagues by sending him to finish the season playing for a minor league team in Providence that was also known as the Grays. Most baseball fans—along with the local media—tend to follow the Boston Red Sox.

Major colleges and universities fielding NCAA Division I athletic teams are Brown University and Providence College. The latter is a member of the Big East Conference.

Providence has also hosted the alternative sports event Gravity Games from 1999 to 2001, and was also the first host of ESPN's X Games, known in its first edition as the Extreme Games, in 1995. Providence has its own roller derby league. Formed in 2004, it currently has four teams: the Providence Mob Squad, the Sakonnet River Roller Rats, the Old Money Honeys, and the Rhode Island Riveters. Until 2020, Providence was home to the headquarters of the American Athletic Conference (The American).

Government

The Providence City Council consists of 15 councilors, one for each of the city's wards, who enact ordinances and pass an annual budget. Providence uses a strong-mayor form of government in which the city council acts as a check against the power of the executive branch, the mayor. The members of the Providence City Council are elected by residents of the fifteen wards of Providence. City Council members are elected to four-year terms and are limited, by City Charter, to serving a maximum of three consecutive full terms (excluding any partial term of less than two years previously served).

As the state capital, Providence houses the Rhode Island General Assembly, as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor in the Rhode Island State House.  Providence also has probate and superior courts. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island is located downtown across from Providence City Hall adjacent to Kennedy Plaza.

Education

Primary and secondary education
The Providence Public School District serves about 21,700 students from pre-Kindergarten to grade 12 as of July 2022. The district has 21 elementary schools, seven middle schools, and nine high schools. The Providence Public School District includes magnet schools at the middle and high school level, Nathanael Greene and Classical respectively. There are two separate centers for students with special needs. Two public charter schools, Time Squared Academy High School (K–12) and Textron Chamber of Commerce (9–12), are funded by GTECH Corporation and Textron respectively. Overall, the public high school graduation rate  is 74%, which is below the statewide rate of 84% and the national average of 87%.

A number of private schools also serve Providence students. The city's South Side is home to Community Preparatory School, a private school serving primarily low-income students in grades 3 through 8. There are several private schools in the city's East Side, including Moses Brown (Quaker-affiliated), the Lincoln School, the Wheeler School, and Providence Hebrew Day School (Orthodox Judaism-affiliated). La Salle Academy, a Catholic college preparatory school, is located in the North End, near Providence College.

College and universities
The main campuses of five of Rhode Island's colleges and universities are in Providence (city proper):
Brown University, an Ivy League university and one of nine colonial colleges in the nation
Johnson & Wales University
Providence College
Rhode Island College, the state's oldest public college
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

In addition, the Community College of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, and University of Rhode Island have satellite campuses in the city. Between these schools, the number of post-secondary students is between 32,000 and 44,000. Higher education exerts a considerable presence in the city's politics and economy, compounded by the fact that Brown University is the city's second-largest employer.

Media

Providence is the center of Southern New England's broadcasting market, which also encompasses Bristol County, Massachusetts, which includes the cities of Fall River and New Bedford. The city is served by television stations representing every major American television network, as well as radio stations originating from Providence and Boston.

Infrastructure

Health and medicine

Providence is home to eight hospitals, most prominently Rhode Island Hospital, the largest general acute care hospital in the state. It is also the Level I Trauma Center for Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut. The hospital is in a complex that includes Hasbro Children's Hospital and Women and Infants Hospital. The city is also home to the Roger Williams Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital For Specialty Care (a division of St. Joseph Health Services Of Rhode Island), The Miriam Hospital, a major teaching affiliate associated with the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, as well as a Veterans Affairs medical center.

Transportation

Providence is served by T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, and general aviation fields also serve the region. Massport has been promoting T. F. Green as an alternative to Boston's Logan International Airport because of over-crowding. Providence Station is located between the Rhode Island State House and the Downtown district and is served by Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail services, with a commuter rail route running north to Boston and south to T.F. Green Airport and Wickford Junction. Approximately 2,400 passengers pass through the station per day.

I-95 runs from north to south through Providence; I-195 connects the city to eastern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, including New Bedford, Massachusetts and Cape Cod. I-295 encircles Providence, while RI 146 provides a direct connection with Worcester, Massachusetts. The city began the long-term project Iway in 2007 to move I-195 for safety reasons, to free up land, and to reunify the Jewelry District with Downtown Providence, which had been separated by the highway. The project was estimated to cost $610 million.

The Port of Providence (branded as ProvPort) is the second largest deep-water seaport in New England. In 1994, the city incorporated ProvPort as an independent non-profit. It is located on a single campus on the west side of the Providence River, next to the Washington Park neighborhood. As of 2021, operations are contracted to Waterson Terminal Services, which also operates ports in New Bedford, Massachusetts and Davisville, Rhode Island. ProvPort handles cargoes such as cement, chemicals, heavy machinery, petroleum, and scrap metal.

Kennedy Plaza in Downtown Providence serves as a transportation hub for local public transit as well as a departure point for Peter Pan Bus Lines and Greyhound Lines. Public transit is managed by Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). Through RIPTA alone, Kennedy Plaza averages more than 71,000 people a day. The majority of the area covered by RIPTA is served by traditional buses, but RIPTA also runs a "Rapid Bus", the R-Line which connects the suburbs of Pawtucket and Cranston with Downtown Providence. Of particular note is the East Side Trolley Tunnel running under College Hill, whose use is reserved for RIPTA buses. From 2000 to 2008, RIPTA operated a seasonal ferry to Newport between May and October, but SeaStreak began operating that ferry route in 2016.  In 2020, RIPTA completed construction of the Downtown Transit Connector, an upgraded bus rapid transit service to run from Providence Station to the Hospital District.

The city serves as the end point for four of the state's major traffic-free bicycle paths: the East Bay Bike Path, Washington Secondary Rail Trail, the Woonasquatucket Greenway Bike Path, and the Blackstone River Greenway. There are several dedicated on-road bicycle lanes within the city.

In 2017, the city signed a $400,000 contract with a bicycle sharing company, Jump, to introduce Providence's first program of its kind, supported by local hospitals and RIPTA. Shortly after the program started in September 2018, the bicycles became associated with a "wave of vandalism and criminal activity" including widespread thefts of bicycles, bikes tossed into the Providence River, and even a company technician held at gunpoint. The company suspended the program in August 2019. In 2021, a new company, Spin, reintroduced a bike sharing program to the city.

In August 2019, a pedestrian bridge opened, spanning the Providence River and connecting Providence's east and west sides. The bridge was constructed on the granite piers of the old Route 195 bridge.

In January 2020, mayor Jorge Elorza unveiled a "Great Streets" initiative to create a framework of public space improvements to encourage walking, riding bicycles, and public transit. The plan includes establishing an "Urban Trail Network" which includes  of bicycle paths, bike lanes, and greenways.

Utilities
Electricity and natural gas are provided by Rhode Island Energy, which took over from National Grid in May 2022. Providence Water is responsible for the distribution of drinking water, ninety percent of which comes from the Scituate Reservoir about  west of downtown, with contributions coming from four smaller bodies of water. The city has history of severe lead problems from old lead pipes, which the city is actively working to replace and offering loans to homeowners to place. The Guardian has criticized the equity of the city's solution. Drinking water in Providence has been rated among the highest quality in the country.

Police
The headquarters of the city's fire and police departments is a  Public Safety Complex. The building was dedicated in 2002 by former Mayor Vincent Cianci Jr.  Providence Police Department operated on a $85.6 million budget in 2020 employing 453 officers.

Sister cities
Providence has four sister cities:
 Praia, Cape Verde (1994)

 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2004)
 Zhuhai, China (2015)
 Guatemala City, Guatemala (2016)

Friendship cities
 Stepanakert, Artsakh (2023)

See also

List of people from Providence, Rhode Island
List of tallest buildings in Providence
National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence, Rhode Island
USS Providence, 6 ships

Explanatory notes

References

External links

 of the City of Providence, Rhode Island

1636 establishments in Rhode Island

Cities in Rhode Island
Cities in Providence County, Rhode Island
Providence metropolitan area
County seats in Rhode Island
Narragansett Bay
Populated coastal places in Providence County, Rhode Island
Port cities and towns of the United States Atlantic coast
Populated places established in 1636
Populated coastal places in Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island


A pull-up is a kind of exercise that uses the weight of the body (body weight) to make a person stronger. To do this exercise one holds something that is high above the head with both hands so their body is hanging free under it. Bend your knees like your shins are parallel to the ground, it makes easier to do. Then one pulls oneself up and stops when the chin is above the hands. This mostly helps the back muscles but also uses the muscles on top of the arms (biceps) and stomach (abdominals). It is an exercise that does not need any special equipment except something high that a person can hold on to.

Many different ways to position the wrist and hands are used. Some say these are all different exercises, but they are all similar. Some kinds of pull-ups use weights on a belt to make the exercise harder.

Many who use bad form on this exercise will kick with their legs or jump and jerk with the legs to help the motion. Good form is holding the low parts of the body still and only using the arms to pull the body up.

Fitness

Pull up (exercise)


Aju (or Achu; Khalkha Mongolian: ; ) (1227–1287) was a general and chancellor of the Mongol Empire and the Yuan dynasty. He was from the Jarchud clan of the Mongol Uriankhai. His father was Yuan dynasty general Uriyangkhadai and his grandfather was Subutai, the honored general and Noyan of Genghis Khan.

Biography

In 1253 he followed his father and conquered the Kingdom of Dali. Uriyangkhadai and Aju led 3,000 Mongols and more than 10,000 troops from Dali tribes to invade northern Vietnam 1258. Although capturing Vietnamese capital of Thang Long (now Hanoi), his forces withdrew after his defeat in open battle against the Vietnamese Trần army.  This arrangement lasted until the reign of Kublai Khan.

He and his father supported the forces of Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan in 1258.  Aju commanded a tumen of 10,000 men. They conquered 13 cities within 2 years and destroyed 40,000 troops of the Song dynasty while his father was ill. After the occupation of Chingzhoua and Yovajiyu, Uryankhadai met prince Kublai at Echjou.

When Kublai succeeded the throne in 1260, Aju stayed in his palace.  The following year, he was ordered to lead Yuan troops in Lianshui (涟水). He crushed Song armies and navies from 1261 to 1275. He captured Fancheng (樊城) by using Khotan artillery during the Battle of Xiangyang and its governor committed suicide.  In 1276, Aju was appointed to defend Beshbalik from Kaidu, a grandson of Ögedei. He died after the defeat of Prince Sarban, who revolted against his master Kublai, in 1287. But some sources mention he died en route in 1286.

References

Generals of the Mongol Empire
1227 births
1287 deaths
Yuan dynasty generals

Aju


The Association of Education Sororities (AES) was the former umbrella organization for teachers' sororities in the United States founded in 1916 until its merger with the National Panhellenic Conference in 1947. One of its members described it as an organization for "social sororities functioning in the field of education."

Its former members include current NPC members Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha, and Alpha Sigma Tau, as well as now-defunct sororities Delta Sigma Epsilon, Pi Kappa Sigma, Theta Sigma Upsilon, and Pi Delta Theta.

History

On July 10, 1915, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Alpha held a preliminary conference in Cinninati and then on September 4, 1915 in Boston formed a "panhellenic in education" between themselves, first called the Association of Pedagogical Sororities. These two sororities created the Association in order "to give the student in training for the teaching profession the same opportunities of sorority affiliation which the liberal arts students and those in other professions enjoyed," in response to a 1911 survey which found national sororities operated at almost all campuses except those of teaching schools.

Invitations were granted to Pi Kappa Sigma and Delta Sigma Epsilon in 1917. At the third national convention, the four sororities changed the name from Association of Pedagogical Sororities to Association of Education Sororities. Per the official meeting minutes, the name change was to "establish definitely professional standing in Hellas".

In 1920, Sarah Ida Shaw Martin, a founder and former national president of Delta Delta Delta and the current president of Alpha Sigma Alpha, petitioned the National Panhellenic Conference for membership on behalf of the AES. However, this request was rejected on the basis that women could not hold dual membership in two NPC organizations (as Shaw Martin would if the education sororities were accepted).

Three other sororities were admitted to AES membership through the next few decades: Theta Sigma Upsilon (1925), Alpha Sigma Tau (1926), and Pi Delta Theta (1931). In 1941, Pi Delta Theta merged with Delta Sigma Epsilon. By 1938, membership was restricted to groups on campuses that offered four-year education programs. The AES had local units on campus and in larger cities and held biennial conferences regularly from 1917 through 1947.

Joining the National Panhellenic Conference

From 1915 through 1926, National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) and AES sororities operated chapters in the same colleges and universities. In 1926, the NPC and AES made an agreement "defining fields of activities of each panhellenic". There was competition between NPC and AES sororities, and dual memberships were often held. By the 1940s, however, many teacher's colleges had begun to add liberal arts programs, and vice versa, which led to difficulties in functioning separately as they had had in the past.

On November 12, 1947, at a conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the NPC considered and granted associate membership "with reservations" to the six AES sororities. The AES was holding its biennial meeting when it was notified of the NPC decision and, at that meeting, "completed the necessary business and took formal action to dissolve the Association of Education Sororities".

The merger had various aftereffects, especially for alumnae. Dual memberships in NPC sororities were not allowed, so women who belong to two sororities had to choose between their NPC or former AES sorority. After the merger, AES alumnae were also allowed to join City Panhellenic Associations, an action that went in effect on June 1, 1948. Chapters themselves also experienced changes. The NPC required former AES sororities to close chapters at colleges without regional accreditation. Former AES members continued previous functions in terms of finances and programs but were encouraged to have larger memberships for the next fall rush.

On June 1, 1948, the six former member organizations of AES were granted NPC associate membership and full membership in 1951. Since that time, three AES members have merged with other NPC groups, leaving Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, and Sigma Sigma Sigma as the remaining former AES members. Once functioning as sororities exclusively for teacher's/educational colleges, the former AES members, as social sororities, now admit members without limits based on major.

Programs
The Association implemented programs and financial structures keeping its members, young teaching students, in mind. The individual sororities developed a scale of fees in respect to their own members' limited incomes, as well as participating in activities such as "student loan funds, establishment of hospital beds, local social service projects... [and] the endowment of a rural school library". By 1944, the Association had a Scholarship Award Committee which awarded fifty dollars each year to an undergraduate student at a teaching college.

Shortly before its merger with the NPC, the AES was part of a larger multi-panhellenic association, the Council of Affiliated Panhellenics, with the NPC and the Professional Panhellenic Association.

The AES focused not only on educational (providing scholarships) and women-centric issues but also cooperated to support issues outside of the sorority world including defense projects during World War II. One of the projects started by the AES member groups resulted in what is today the world-renowned Leader Dogs for the Blind School in Rochester, Michigan.

Publications

Social Precedents and Sorority Ethics (1935) was a small guide written by three members of AES sororities. Lula McPherson (Pi Delta Theta), Zoe Davis Gose (Sigma Sigma Sigma), and Wilma Wilson Sharp (Alpha Sigma Alpha) guided readers in proper social etiquette and sorority behavior.

References

Further reading

 The Golden Years with Pi Kappa Sigma (1949).
 McPherson, Grose, & Sharp (1935). Social Precedents and Sorority Ethics. Pub by the Association of Education Sororities.

Greek letter umbrella organizations
National Panhellenic Conference
Student organizations established in 1916
Defunct sororities
Organizations disestablished in 1947
1916 establishments in Massachusetts

Association of Education Sororities


The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party. When established, the UCP immediately formed the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The UCP won a majority mandate in the 2019 Alberta general election to form the government of Alberta. UCP leader Jason Kenney became premier on April 30, 2019, when he and his first cabinet were appointed and sworn in by the lieutenant governor of Alberta, Lois Mitchell.

A leadership election was triggered after Kenney announced his intention to resign in 2022. It was won by Danielle Smith. She led the party to a renewed majority mandate in the 2023 Alberta general election.

Overview
In July 2017, the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party merged to form the United Conservative Party under the leadership of Jason Kenney, a former cabinet member in the Stephen Harper government. Kenney had won the 2017 Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election on a platform of uniting the two parties. The UCP maintained a large lead in opinion polls, from its formation in 2017, during the two years prior to the 2019 provincial election, and at the beginning of 2020. The UCP won the 2019 election with a large majority.

Under the Premiership of Jason Kenney, their first cabinet of the 30th Alberta Legislature was sworn in by lieutenant governor of Alberta, Lois Mitchell on April 30, 2019.

To maintain their registration and assets, both the PCs and Wildrose ran one paper candidate each in Edmonton-Strathcona (an NDP safe seat held at that time by NDP leader Rachel Notley). On February 7, 2020, after the UCP government passed legislation allowing parties to legally merge, Elections Alberta formally approved the merger of the PCs and Wildrose into the UCP, allowing the UCP to merge the legacy parties' assets and formally wind up their affairs.

Background
When the Alberta New Democratic Party's (NDP) won the 2015 Alberta general election, it ended an uninterrupted period in which the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta had won provincial elections since 1971, under Premiers Peter Lougheed, Don Getty, Ralph Klein, Ed Stelmach, Alison Redford, Dave Hancock and Jim Prentice. No other government had served for that long at the provincial or federal level in Canadian history. Until the 1990s, when Preston Manning's anti-establishment right-wing populist Reform Party won 52 seats in the 1993 Canadian federal election and became the Official Opposition in the 1997 Federal Election, there were no significant challenges from the political right to the PCs. Other right-wing parties were established in Alberta, including the Alberta First Party in 1999, the Alberta Independence Party in 2001, the Alberta Alliance Party in 2002, the Wildrose Party of Alberta in 2007, and the Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta in 2008—the Wildrose Party.

Following Manning, the Canadian Conservative movement was led by a series of westerners; Stockwell Day from British Columbia, Stephen Harper from Alberta, and Andrew Scheer in Saskatchewan. When Harper was defeated in the 2015 general election by Justin Trudeau, who succeeded him as prime minister, the new leader of the Conservative Party was Andrew Scheer.

By 2016, with the NDP in power at the provincial level in Alberta, and the federal conservative movement weakened under Scheer, the PCs and Wildrose began to discuss a merger to strengthen the right.

The Wildrose Party had formed in 2008 as a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada with the merger of the Alberta Alliance Party and the unregistered Wildrose Party of Alberta. Its members largely consisted of dissatisfied former Progressive Conservative supporters. Three of the first five Wildrose MLAs were defectors originally elected as Progressive Conservatives.

Danielle Smith, who served as leader of the Wildrose Party from October 2009 until December 2014, made an unsuccessful attempt to merge the Wildrose and the PC party by resigning from the Wildrose and crossing the floor to join the governing Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta caucus under then Premier Jim Prentice, along with eight other Wildrose MLAs. The remaining Wildrose Party refused to consider the request by Smith to dissolve their party. Then Wildrose President David Yager said at the time "This is not a merger in any way. It is capitulation." When the NDP won in 2015 an Edmonton Sun article blamed the mass Wildrose defections for the loss. In the wake of the historical loss, uniting the Wildrose and PC parties became a major issue. In July 2016, federal MP and former minister Jason Kenney announced that he would seek the PC leadership on a platform of seeking a merger with the Wildrose.

At the Wildrose AGM held in Red Deer on October 28, 2016, Brian Jean, then Wildrose Leader of the Opposition, cautioned the caucus against merging just before the 2017 elections; he said the PC party, was "confused about its values" and rife with "instability."

On December 15, 2016, a rift occurred in the Wildrose party when MLA Derek Fildebrandt openly supported a merger with the PCs. Fildebrandt, who was the first Wildrose MLA to break with Jean, said that Albertans wanted "a single conservative option to face against the NDP in the next election."

When the two parties did merge, following an overwhelming vote in favour of the merger, some Wildrosers declined to join the UCP. A group of the former Wildrose constituency association presidents met in July to discuss forming a new party.

Kenney was elected PC leader on March 18, 2017 on a platform of uniting the two parties—"Uniting the Right". Negotiations between Jean and Kenney were successful; the merger agreement was released on May 18, 2017. The results of the July 22, 2017 internal votes on the merger agreement held by both parties supported the merger with 95% of Wildrose and PC members voting in favour.

The second-place PC leadership candidate and MLA for Vermilion-Lloydminster, Richard Starke, announced on July 24 that he would not join the UCP, and will sit in the legislature as an Independent PC MLA. At least 10 directors of the PC Party resigned after Kenney became leader, with some former Tories working to build a centrist alternative to both the United Conservatives and the NDP before the next provincial election.

A joint meeting of the PC and Wildrose caucuses was held on July 24, 2017, to elect Nathan Cooper, Wildrose MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, as interim leader—and hence Leader of the Opposition-- over Prasad Panda, Wildrose MLA for Calgary-Foothills, and Richard Gotfried, PC MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek. As well, members of both caucuses approached the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and ask to be recognized as the United Conservative caucus.

Kenney and Jean selected six individuals each to sit on the interim executive board of the new party. Ed Ammar was elected as first chair of the party on July 24, 2017. Cooper also appointed two MLAs to the board as non-voting members. The new party was registered with Elections Alberta as of July 31, 2017.

Although it was generally understood that the PC and Wildrose merged to form the UCP, Alberta electoral law at the time did not permit parties to formally merge or transfer assets between each other. Thus, the PC and Wildrose legally continued to exist, while the UCP was legally reckoned as a newly created party. As a result, on July 24, 2017–the day the new UCP formally came into existence–Cooper and the UCP's interim leadership team formally assumed the leaderships of both the PC and Wildrose parties as well. Also on that date, all members in good standing of the PCs and Wildrose became members of the UCP, with all but a few members withdrawing their memberships in the merging parties. The PCs and Wildrose withdrew from any meaningful public presence, thus de facto dissolving them although they continued to exist on paper.

Calgary-South East MLA Rick Fraser, a former PC member, left the caucus on September 21, 2017, to sit as an Independent due to his dissatisfaction with the party's leadership contest and the emphasis put by candidates on spending cuts and austerity.

2017 leadership election
The leadership election held on October 28, 2017 resulted in former PC leader Jason Kenney defeating former Wildrose leader Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer, a former aide to Jim Prentice, to become UCP leader. Kenney won more than 60% of the vote on the first ballot. Kenney successfully contested a by-election in Calgary-Lougheed on December 14, 2017, after incumbent MLA Dave Rodney resigned in order to give Kenney an opportunity to enter the Alberta legislature.

2019 provincial election
The UCP won the 2019 provincial election with a large majority, mainly on the strength of a near-sweep of Calgary (where it won all but three seats) and rural Alberta (where it won all but one seat).

Under the Premiership of Jason Kenney, their first cabinet of the 30th Alberta Legislature was sworn in by lieutenant governor of Alberta, Lois Mitchell, on April 30, 2019.

2023 provincial election
The UCP under Premier Danielle Smith was re-elected to government in the 2023 Alberta general election with a reduced majority. They lost their one seat in Edmonton to the NDP. The election campaign had been close and one of the fiercest in Alberta's history.

Fundraising
The UCP raised $6.6 million in funds in 2018, At the end of 2019, after the successful election, the party had $41.1 million in liabilities and a $2.3 million deficit. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, the UCP faced funding challenges. The party raised $5 million by the end of 2020. In November 2021, caucus members raised concerns about Kenney's leadership, which is up for review in April 2022—Kenney's poll numbers dropped dramatically and fundraising lagged behind the NDP.

Platform and position
The UCP has been described by media outlets as centre-right to right-wing.

The party held its founding convention to set its official policies on May 5, 2018.

The UCP adopted an aggressive pro-fossil fuel stance supported by the establishment of what was commonly referred to as the "War Room" backed by a budget of $30 million using a private corporation structure that is not subject to FOIP. The pro-fossil fuel stance is also supported by a strong opposition to green energy transition which they view as an "ideological scheme". The Canadian Energy Centre was launched in December 2019 with an annual budget of CA$30 million.

The UCP attempted to restructure the Alberta Healthcare system by passing Bill 21, and then using this bill to support tearing up the Master Agreement with the Alberta Medical Association and imposing major fee structure changes.

The UCP under Danielle Smith government passed its Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act on December 8, 2022.

Controversies

2017 leadership race RCMP investigation
On March 16, 2019, it came to light that during the UCP leadership election campaign Jason Kenney's leadership campaign collaborated with fellow candidate Jeff Callaway's campaign to undermine the leadership campaign of former Wildrose party leader Brian Jean. A document prepared by Callaway's communication's manager describes how Kenney's campaign provided communications support as well as planned regular strategic direction throughout Callaway's campaign. The Alberta Elections Commissioner levied more than $200,000 in fines relating to the kamikaze campaign prior to the Elections Commissioner's termination by the UCP government and conclusion of open investigations.

The 2017 UCP leadership race remains under investigation by the RCMP for alleged use of identity fraud in the voting process. The UCP supports replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force.

Gay–Straight Alliance clubs
Kenney proposed to allow schools to notify parents when their children joined Gay–Straight Alliance clubs. The Notley government drafted and passed Bill 24, which forbade teachers from outing children who were members of the GSAs. The matter once again caused controversy after the UCP Policy Convention in May 2018, when members of the party voted to adopt the policy whereby schools inform parents when their children have joined a GSA. UCP MLAs Ric McIver, Jason Nixon, and Leela Aheer all opposed the policy, and despite urging members to vote against adopting the policy, it was passed with 57% of the vote.

Factions
Some MLA's, including Drew Barnes, Donna Kennedy-Glans, and Angela Pitt called for greater autonomy for Alberta. Angela Pitt and sixteen other MLAs denounced Kenney's COVID-19 restrictions in April 2021. Pitt and others joined the "End the Lockdowns" national caucus of elected officials.

Drew Barnes, who was MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat and Todd Loewen, formerly UCP MLA for Grande Prairie-Smoky, were expelled from the UCP caucus in May 2021 for "repeatedly speaking out against government decisions." Kenney evicted Leela Aheer, MLA for Chestermere-Rocky View from cabinet in July 2021 after she criticizing the premier for his response to the pandemic during the fourth wave.

At the September 28, 2021 Free Alberta Strategy initiative conference, three MLAs Angela Pitt, Jason Stephan and Nathan Cooper, who is UCP Speaker of the House and head of the UCP caucus, said they no longer had confidence in Kenney as Premier, in response to their growing dissatisfaction the UCP's response to COVID-19. In spite of their criticism, neither Pitt nor Leela Aheer were expelled from caucus.

Leaders

Electoral results

Notes

References

External links
Unity Agreement in Principle -founding document

2017 establishments in Alberta
Conservative parties in Canada
Organizations based in Calgary
Provincial political parties in Alberta
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
Wildrose Party
Political parties established in 2017
Social conservative parties

United Conservative Party


Billy Kelleher is a politeecian in the Republic o Ireland, MEP, an umwhile member o the Irish pairlament in Dublin, representin the pairty Fianna Fáil.  He represents the North Central Cork consteetuency in Dáil Éireann.

1968 births
Livin fowk
Fianna Fáil politeecians
Erse fermers
Members o the 20t Seanad
Members o the 28t Dáil
Members o the 29t Dáil
Members o the 30t Dáil
Members o the 31st Dáil
Members o the 32nt Dáil
Teachtaí Dála
You're a Star contestants
Meenisters o State o the 30t Dáil
MEPs for the Republic o Ireland 2019–2024

Billy Kelleher


Strictly Money is a business news programme aired on CNBC Europe in the United Kingdom and for domestic customers in the Republic of Ireland, each weekday at 11:00am Western European Time, between 2009 and 2011. It was usually presented by Ross Westgate.

The programme was also aired in the US on CNBC World at 6am ET.

About the programme
The programme began on 12 January 2009, and replaced Power Lunch Europe. Originally intended as a twelve-week experiment, the programme appeared to have become a permanent fixture in the CNBC Europe schedule. While advertised as "strictly for the United Kingdom", the programme was in fact also broadcast on both the Sky Digital and UPC Ireland systems in the Republic of Ireland, meaning that practically all domestic and a large proportion of commercial customers also in Ireland received the programme. Outside of the UK and Ireland, Squawk Box from CNBC US was screened instead.

After the cancellation of Power Lunch Europe, many of the segments that used to appear on that program moved to Strictly Money, including the "Investor Clinic" and the "Halftime Report."

On the day each month when the bank lending rates are announced, the programme was retitled "Strictly Rates" and was extended to two hours due to the timing of the rates decisions - 1200 for the UK announcement and 1245 for the ECB announcement. The monthly edition of Strictly Rates was broadcast across Europe as well as in the UK and Ireland.

Cancellation
Strictly Money ended its 2-year run on 11 March 2011. However the monthly Strictly Rates specials continued to be broadcast but eventually Strictly Rates was renamed Decision Time.

CNBC Europe original programming
2009 British television series debuts
British television news shows
2011 British television series endings
Business-related television series in the United Kingdom

Strictly Money


Charles Entertainment "Chuck E." Cheese is the anthropomorphic rat mascot of the Chuck E. Cheese chain of family entertainment centers. In 2012, the rat mascot was rebranded into a mouse.

Pizza Time Theatre era
The character was first created as the mascot for a restaurant made by Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) in 1977. Bushnell went to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) conference in Orlando and saw walk-around character costumes being sold. In them, Bushnell found one that looked like a coyote, so he bought it for his planned Coyote Pizza restaurant. When the costume arrived at Atari, the costume was actually a rat, with a long pink rat tail.  Bushnell decided to change the restaurant's name to Rick Rat's Pizza. However, Bushnell's planning group thought that a rat for the name of a restaurant would not be appropriate. Finally, Bushnell's group decided on the name Chuck E. Cheese for the mascot and changed the restaurant's name to Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. The first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened in San Jose, California, in the same year Chuck E. Cheese was made, 1977.

Chuck E. Cheese's era: 1995-present
In 1995, the mascot was given a more child-friendly makeover, with wider cheeks, a less pointy, shorter snout, longer eyes and smaller ears. This one was added to the restaurants in 2001.

In July 2012, the mascot was changed into a much smaller kind of the character, who played electric guitar. Voice actor Duncan Brannan, who for 19 years had made Chuck E. Cheese a wise-cracking mouse from New Jersey, was replaced with Jaret Reddick, the frontman and guitarist for the pop punk band Bowling for Soup.

References

Mascots
Fictional mice and rats

Chuck E. Cheese (character)


is the debut major-label single by the Japanese girl group Momoiro Clover, released in Japan through Universal J on May 5, 2010. It reached third place on the Oricon charts. The dance routine for the song incorporates intense acrobatics, including a "shrimp jump", cartwheels and a leapfrog. The track appears in Japanese game, Just Dance Wii U and the only song in Just Dance Wii U which features the original member Akari Hayami.

Release
The single was released on May 5, 2010 in 7 versions: Regular Edition and one limited edition for each member: Limited Edition A, Limited Edition B, C, D, E, and F. Each limited edition has a different member on the cover. The single debuted at the 1st place in the Oricon Daily singles Chart and at the 3rd place in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, selling in that first week 22,537 copies.

On September 26, 2012, Momoiro Clover's already former label Universal J re-released the single under the title of . The 2012 re-release was a repackage of the original version. It only had one version, with the cover of the original Regular Edition, but it included a DVD with the original music video for the song "Ikuze! Kaitō Shōjo". The re-release debuted at number 6 in the Oricon daily singles chart and at number 7 for the week.

Dance routine and music video
In some scenes of the music video, the members appear wearing costumes of a maid, a nurse, a policewoman, etc. The dance routine for the song incorporates intense acrobatics. One of the highlights of the video is Kanako Momota performing a so-called  (an upward jump with an arched back and both legs bent backwards, called a sheep jump in gymnastics). The jump is also the highlight of the group's live concerts. Also, at live performances of the song Shiori Tamai and Momoka Ariyasu do cartwheels and Kanako Momota performs a handspring.

Promotion
On March 3, 2010, Momoiro Clover held a public signing ceremony for a contract to debut on a major label. It had already been determined that their future single would be "Ikuze! Kaitō Shōjo" and that it would be released on May 5. But, in order for the contract to be signed, the members had to pass a weight test. Each contractee was not to exceed an index determined by the formula: . If they did not pass, only a temporary contract would be signed. In the presence of around 200 fans and reporters, everyone had an "idol" weight except Reni Takagi who exceeded the limit by 0.8 kg. Therefore, it remained unclear whether the group would succeed in passing the test by May 5. At the same ceremony, the girls stated their goals for the year ahead, setting them as "To take the first place on Oricon, participate in Kōhaku Uta Gassen, give a concert at Budokan, and in Budokan to hold a handshake meeting with all the fans who came".

From March 6, Momoiro Clover started a tour in support of the single. They were to give 28 concerts.

Reception
On May 3, 2010, the single debuted at the top of the daily Oricon singles chart. On May 4 it fell to the 14th place and on May 5 rose to number 12. In the Oricon weekly singles chart, it debuted at the 3rd place with 22,537 copies sold.

Track listing

Chart performance

"Ikuze! Kaitō Shōjo (Special Edition)"

References

External links
 CD single profile on the official site

2010 singles
Japanese-language songs
Momoiro Clover Z songs
Songs written by Kenichi Maeyamada
2010 songs

Ikuze! Kaitō Shōjo


The Wonder Books are a series of books produced in the 1930s and 1940s.  It was published by the University of Knowledge Incorporated, editor in chief being Glenn Frank. It is not to be confused with the children's book imprint of Grosset and Dunlap.

Books
 The Earth Before Man - The story of how things began
 The Story of Man - His earliest appearance and development to the portals of history
 The Dawn of Civilization - And life in the ancient East
 Selected Readings -from much loved books
 The Glories of Ancient History
 History From The Renaissance to Napoleon
 The Outline of Modern History
 Outline History of World Literature
 The World we live in and The people we live with travel
 The World we live in & The People we live with - still more travel
 The World we live in & The People we live with - still more travel (Marvels of Asia and the Orient)
 Great Leaders -Men and women who influenced their times
 Great Inventors and Their Inventions
 The Story of Engineering
 Wonders of Modern Industry - The story of the machine age
 Music and the Great Composers - The story of musical expression
 Trailing Animals Around The World
 Earth and Sky - Wonders of the universe
 Exploring The Mysteries of Physics and Chemistry
 The Story of Living Plants, Their Uses and how they grow
 An Outline History of Art - The Key to Parnassus
 An Outline History of Art - Art of the Middle Ages in Europe of Islam, in the Far East, and of the American Indians
 An Outline History of Art - Art of the European Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern Art
 A Modern Book of Wonders - Amazing Facts in a remarkable world

References

Series of books
20th-century books

Wonder Books