The Avengers are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 (cover-dated September 1963). Labeled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", the original Avengers consisted of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Thor and the Wasp. Captain America was discovered trapped in ice in issue #4, and joined the group after they revived him.

The Avengers are an all-star ensemble cast of established superhero characters from the Marvel Comics portfolio. Diegetically, these superheroes usually operate independently but occasionally assemble as a team to tackle especially formidable villains. This in contrast to certain other superhero teams such as the X-Men, whose characters were created specifically to be part of their team, with the team being central to their identity. The Avengers were created to create a new line of books to sell and to cross-promote Marvel Comics characters. An Iron Man fan might buy an Avengers book because Iron Man appears in them, and perhaps in turn take an interest in Thor, who appears in the same book as Iron Man's friend and comrade. The cast usually features a few highly popular characters who have their own solo books, such as Iron Man, alongside a number of lesser-known characters who benefit from exposure, such as Quicksilver.

The Avengers have appeared in a wide variety of media outside of comic books, including several different animated television series and direct-to-video films. Beginning in 2008, they were adapted in a film series from Marvel Studios, known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, culminating with The Avengers in 2012, with more appearances of the team in subsequent films.

Publication history

The team debuted in The Avengers #1 (September 1963).  Much like the Justice League, the Avengers were an assemblage of superheroes who each had an existing series of his own.  All of the characters were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. This initial series, published bi-monthly through issue #6 (July 1964) and monthly thereafter ran through issue #402 (Sept. 1996), with spinoffs including several annuals, miniseries and a giant-size quarterly sister series that ran briefly in the mid-1970s.  Writers of the first series included Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway, Jim Shooter, David Michelinie and Roger Stern.  Artists included John Buscema, Tom Palmer, Neal Adams, George Perez, John Byrne and Steve Epting.

Other spinoff series include West Coast Avengers, initially published as a four-issue miniseries in 1984, followed by a 102-issue series (Oct. 1985–Jan. 1994), retitled Avengers West Coast with #47; and the 40-issue Solo Avengers (Dec.1987–Jan. 1991), retitled Avengers Spotlight with #21.

Between 1996 and 2004, Marvel relaunched the primary Avengers title three times. In 1996, the "Heroes Reborn" line took place in an alternate universe, with a revamped history unrelated to mainstream Marvel continuity.

The Avengers vol. 3  ran for 84 issues from February 1998 to August 2004. Early issues were written by Kurt Busiek and pencilled by George Perez.  To coincide with what would have been the 500th issue of the original series, Marvel changed the numbering, and The Avengers #500–503 (Sept.– Dec. 2004), the one-shot Avengers Finale (Jan. 2005) became the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline and final issues. In January 2005, a new version of the team appeared in the ongoing title The New Avengers, followed by The Mighty Avengers, Avengers: The Initiative, and Dark Avengers. Avengers vol. 4 debuted in July 2010 and ran until January 2013. Vol. 5 was launched in February 2013. After Secret Wars, a new Avengers team debuted, dubbed the All-New, All-Different Avengers, starting with a Free Comic Book Day preview. Following Civil War II, the book was relaunched in 2016 as Avengers, while retaining the same writer and much of the cast from the All-New, All-Different run. The series ran for 11 issues before reverting to the numbering of the original Avengers series with issue #672. Starting with issue #675, all four Avengers titles being published at the time (Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, U.S. Avengers and Occupy Avengers) were merged into a single weekly series dubbed Avengers: No Surrender, lasting 16 issues, designed to close out this era of the team's history.

Following the conclusion of No Surrender in 2018, the series was relaunched again as Avengers.

Fictional history

1960s
When the Asgardian god Loki seeks revenge against his brother Thor, his machinations unwittingly lead teenager Rick Jones to collect Ant-Man (Hank Pym), the Wasp and Iron Man to help Thor and the Hulk, the latter of whom Loki used as a pawn. After the group vanquished Loki, Ant-Man stated that the five worked well together and suggested they form a team; the Wasp named the group Avengers.

The roster changed almost immediately; in the second issue (November 1963), Ant-Man became Giant-Man, and at the end of the issue, the Hulk left once he realized how much the others feared his unstable personality. Captain America joined the team in issue #4 (March 1964), and he was given "founding member" status in the Hulk's place. The Hulk, upset about being replaced by Captain America and the apparent betrayal by Rick, sought revenge against the Avengers, who teamed up with the Fantastic Four to stop him in The Fantastic Four #26 (May 1964). The Avengers went on to fight foes such as Baron Zemo, who formed the Masters of Evil, Kang the Conqueror, Wonder Man, and Count Nefaria.

The next milestone came when every member but Captain America resigned; they were replaced by three former villains: Hawkeye and the Maximoff twins, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Giant-Man, now calling himself Goliath, and the Wasp rejoined. Hercules became part of the team, while the Black Knight and the Black Widow abetted the Avengers but did not become members until years later. Spider-Man was offered membership but did not join the group. The Black Panther joined after rescuing the team from the Grim Reaper and Klaw. The X-Men #45 (June 1968) featured a crossover with The Avengers #53 (June 1968). This was followed by the introduction of the android Vision. Pym assumed the new identity of Yellowjacket in issue #59, and married the Wasp the following month.

The Avengers headquarters was in a New York City building called Avengers Mansion, courtesy of Tony Stark (Iron Man's real identity). The mansion was serviced by Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' faithful butler, and furnished with state of the art technology and defense systems, and included the Avengers' primary mode of transport: the five-engine Quinjet.

The prequel comic Avengers #1 1/2 (Dec. 1999), by writer Roger Stern and artist Bruce Timm, told a retro-style story taking place between issues #1 and #2, detailing Ant-Man's decision to transform himself into Giant-Man.

1970s
The team encountered new characters such as Arkon in issue #75 (April 1970) and Red Wolf in #80 (Sept. 1970). The team's  adventures increased in scope as the team crossed into an alternate dimension and battled the Squadron Supreme, and fought in the Kree-Skrull War, an epic battle between the alien Kree and Skrull races and guest-starred the Kree hero, Captain Marvel. The Avengers briefly disband when Skrulls impersonating Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man used their authority as founders of the team and disbanded it. The true founding Avengers, minus the Wasp, reformed the team in response after complaints from Jarvis.

Mantis joined the team along with the reformed Swordsman. "The Avengers-Defenders Clash" storyline crossed over between the two team titles. "The Celestial Madonna" arc linked Mantis' origins to the very beginnings of the Kree-Skrull conflict in a time-spanning adventure involving Kang the Conqueror, and Immortus, who were past and future versions of each other. Mantis was revealed to be the Celestial Madonna, who was destined to give birth to a being that would save the universe. It was revealed that the Vision's body had only been appropriated, and not created by Ultron, and that it had belonged to the 1940s Human Torch. With his origins clear to him, the Vision proposed to the Scarlet Witch. The "Celestial Madonna" saga ended with their wedding, presided over by Immortus. The Beast and Moondragon joined the team soon after. A seven-part story featured the Squadron Supreme and the Serpent Crown.

Other classic storylines included "The Bride of Ultron", the "Nefaria Trilogy", and "The Korvac Saga", which featured nearly every Avenger who joined the team up to that point. Henry Peter Gyrich became the Avengers' liaison to the United States National Security Council. Gyrich was prejudiced against superhumans and acted in a heavy-handed, obstructive manner, and insisted that the Avengers follow government rules and regulations or else lose their priority status with the government. Among Gyrich's demands was that the active roster be trimmed down to only seven members, and that the Falcon, an African American, be admitted to the team to comply with affirmative action laws. This last act was resented by Hawkeye, who because of the seven-member limit lost his membership slot to the Falcon. The Falcon, in turn, was unhappy to be the beneficiary of what he perceived to be tokenism, and decided to resign from the team, after which Wonder Man rejoined. The true origins of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were revealed in a three-part story that ran in issues #185–187 (July–Sept. 1979). After this adventure, the Scarlet Witch took a leave of absence and Ms. Marvel officially joined the team as her replacement.

1980s
The first major development was the breakdown of Henry Pym, with his frequent changes of costume and name being symptomatic of an identity problem and an inferiority complex. After he abused his wife, failed to win back the confidence of the Avengers with a ruse and was duped by the villain Egghead, Pym was jailed. Pym would later outwit Egghead and defeated the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handedly, and proved his innocence. Pym reconciled with the Wasp, but they decided to remain apart. Pym retired from super-heroics, but returned years later.

This was followed by several major storylines, such as "Ultimate Vision" in which the Vision took over the world's computer systems in a misguided attempt to create world peace; the formation of the West Coast Avengers; and "Avengers Under Siege" which involved the second Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil taking over the mansion and severely injuring Jarvis and Hercules. "Assault on Olympus" featured Hercules' father, Zeus, blaming the Avengers for his son's injuries and brought them to Olympus for trial, and the "Heavy Metal" arc saw the Super Adaptoid organized several robotic villains for an assault on the team. New members during the 1980s included Tigra; the She-Hulk; Monica Rambeau (then going by the name Captain Marvel); Starfox (the brother of Thanos); Hawkeye's wife, Mockingbird; and Namor, while Henry Pym emerged from retirement to join the West Coast Avengers. Spider-Man was again offered membership, but failed to gain admission due to security concerns by the Avengers' government liaison.

The villain Nebula falsely claimed to be the granddaughter of Thanos. The team relocated for a period to a floating island off the coast of New York called Hydrobase after Avengers Mansion was severely damaged during the events in "Under Siege". Hydrobase was later sunk during the Acts of Vengeance crossover.

The Avengers and West Coast Avengers changed to allow members to be active when available and reserved when not available and merged the two separate Avengers teams into one team with two bases. The Vision had his personality fundamentally altered, along with the discovery that the children of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision were actually illusions. The loss of the Scarlet Witch's children and the Vision, who was disassembled by government agents in retaliation for the Ultimate Vision storyline, drove her insane, although she eventually recovered and rejoined the team. This story revealed that the Scarlet Witch's powers included wide-range reality manipulation and she was what the time-traveling Immortus refers to as a "nexus being" setting the stage for 2004's eventual Chaos and Avengers Disassembled storylines. This played out in the Darker than Scarlet storyline which ran in Avengers West Coast from issues #51–62 (Nov. 1989–Sept. 1990). The Avengers titles in late 1989 were involved in the major crossover event "Acts of Vengeance" where Loki assembled many of Marvel's arch-villains, his inner circle consisted of Doctor Doom, Magneto, Kingpin, Mandarin, Wizard, and Red Skull, in a plot to destroy the team. Loki orchestrated a mass breakout of villains from prison facility, the Vault, as part of his "Acts of Vengeance" scheme, but he ultimately failed in his goal to destroy the Avengers.

1990s
The U.S. government revoked the Avengers' New York State charter in a treaty with the Soviet Union. The Avengers then received a charter from the United Nations and the Avengers split into two teams again with a substitute reserve team backing up the main teams.

At this point, ongoing storylines and character development focused on the Black Knight, Sersi, Crystal, Hercules, the Vision, and the Black Widow. Their primary antagonists in this run were the mysterious Proctor and his team of other-dimensional Avengers known as the Gatherers. During this period, the Avengers found themselves facing increasingly murderous enemies and were forced to question their rule against killing.

This culminated in "Operation: Galactic Storm", a 19-part storyline that ran through all Avengers-related titles and showcased a conflict between the Kree and the Shi'ar Empire. The team split when Iron Man and several dissidents executed the Supreme Intelligence against the wishes of Captain America. After a vote disbanded the West Coast Avengers, Iron Man formed a proactive and aggressive team called Force Works. During the team's first mission, Wonder Man was killed again, though his atoms were temporarily scattered. Force Works later disbanded after it was revealed that Iron Man became a murderer via the manipulations of the villain Kang, the same storyline seeing Iron Man sacrificing himself and being replaced by his teenage counterpart from a parallel timeline.

During the Heroes Reborn event, many of the Avengers together with the Fantastic Four and others, died trying to stop the psychic entity Onslaught, although it was revealed that Franklin Richards preserved those heroes in a pocket universe. Believing the main team to be gone, the Black Widow disbanded the Avengers, and only butler Edwin Jarvis remained to tend to the Mansion.

The previous continuity of the Marvel Universe was set aside as the heroes were "reborn" in the pocket universe created by Franklin Richards to save his parents and their friends, while the "Heroes Reborn" line ended and the heroes returned to the prime Marvel Universe. This restoration also undid recent changes to the team members such as the Wasp being mutated into an insectoid state, Hawkeye being rendered deaf, and Stark being replaced by his teenage self, attributed to Franklin's childish perception recreating the heroes in the manner he was more familiar with.

After the Heroes Reborn series concluded, the Avengers comic was restarted with vol. 3 #1 written by Kurt Busiek and pencilled by George Pérez.  New members during this run included the revived Wonder Man, Justice, Firestar, Silverclaw, and Triathlon. The Avengers fought many of their traditional villains such as the Grim Reaper, Ultron, Count Nefaria, and Kang the Conqueror. The limited series Avengers Forever, starting during this period, was a time travel story that explored the history of the Avengers and resolved many outstanding questions about Kang and Immortus's past manipulations of the team, featuring various Avengers from the past (Captain America immediately after Secret Empire, Hank Pym early in his Yellowjacket delusion, and Hawkeye just after the Kree-Skrull war), present (Hank Pym as Giant-Man and Janet as the Wasp) and possible futures (Genis-Vell and Songbird) working alongside Kang the Conqueror and Rick Jones as part of Kang's attempt to escape his perceived 'destiny' as Immortus.

2000s
The Avengers were granted international authority by the United Nations. Members joining during that period included Jack of Hearts and the second Ant-Man. A new Captain Britain was added to the team. The "Avengers Disassembled" storyline followed. Titled Chaos, the story featured the deaths of some members and a loss of credibility for the team. The culprit is revealed to be the Scarlet Witch, who had gone insane after agonizing over the memory of her lost children and who subsequently lost control of her reality-altering powers. With the team in disarray and Avengers Mansion ruined, the surviving members agreed to disband.

A new Avengers team formed, in the series New Avengers after a group of heroes banded together to thwart a break-out at super-villain prison the Raft, composed of Iron Man, Captain America, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Ronin, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and the mysterious Sentry. This was soon followed by the House of M event.

In the company-wide "Civil War" story arc, Marvel superheroes were split over compliance with the U.S. government's new Superhuman Registration Act, which required all superpowered persons to register their true identities with the federal government and become agents of same. The New Avengers disbanded, with a rebel underground starring in a series retaining The New Avengers in its trademarked cover logo and New Avengers in its copyright indicia. Luke Cage led this team, consisting of himself, Echo, Ronin, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, Iron Fist, and Doctor Strange. During the long-term Secret Invasion by the shape-shifting alien race the Skrulls, it was revealed that Spider-Woman had been abducted and replaced by the Skrull queen Veranke before she even joined the team. After the Skrulls' defeat, Spider-Woman was rescued along with other abducted and replaced heroes. During the company-wide story arc "Dark Reign", Echo and Iron Fist left the team and the Avengers gained Ms. Marvel, Bucky Barnes as a fill-in Captain America, and Mockingbird.

Iron Man, in the series The Mighty Avengers, formed a team under the aegis of the government's Fifty State Initiative program, and took up residency in New York City, joined by Ares, the Black Widow, the Sentry, the Wasp, Wonder Man, and leader Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel. After the events of the Secret Invasion story arc, Norman Osborn assumed control of the formerly S.H.I.E.L.D.-sponsored Avengers, now under the auspices of his own agency, H.A.M.M.E.R. All but Ares and the Sentry left this team — the Wasp appeared to have died — and the team migrated to the series Dark Avengers. Osborn recruited Marvel Boy to pose as Captain Marvel and Daken to pose as his father, Wolverine, bringing Moonstone, Bullseye, and Venom from his previous Thunderbolts team to impersonate Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man respectively.

In The Mighty Avengers, Pym, assumed the Wasp identity in tribute to his fallen ex-wife, led a new team of Avengers, and claimed the name for his team as he was the only founding Avenger on any of the three active Avengers rosters (Wasp and Cap were dead, Thor was acting solo, and Iron Man was on the run from Osborn). His team operated under a multinational umbrella group, the Global Reaction Agency for Mysterious Paranormal Activity (GRAMPA). This team featured the roster of Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Stature, the Vision, Jocasta, U.S. Agent, Quicksilver, Magneto, and Pym. Loki in disguise as the Scarlet Witch was a recurring character. Iron Man and the Hulk were briefly with them.

2010s
After Osborn's Dark Avengers are exposed as criminals and their attack on Asgard was thwarted, the next iteration of the Avengers roster consists of Thor, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, and team leader Maria Hill. Steve Rogers, briefly eschewing his Captain America persona, responds to Luke Cage's concerns about the team reverting to old methods by granting Cage's "New Avengers" recognition as an official team independent of Stark's more traditional Avengers. Bucky Barnes as Captain America joined the main Avengers, while Iron Fist, Power Woman, and the Thing joined Cage's team, Spider-Man and Wolverine maintaining dual membership in both teams. Rogers was an occasional presence and Victoria Hand was added as a government liaison for the New Avengers with Rogers's backing.

A second series, titled Secret Avengers, was released in May 2010, written by Ed Brubaker with Mike Deodato as the regular artist. The second volume of the New Avengers series was launched in June 2010, written by Bendis and drawn by Stuart Immonen. A fourth title, Avengers Academy, was launched in June 2010, replacing Avengers: The Initiative. Christos Gage served as writer, with Mike McKone as artist.

Following a meeting between Rogers and MI-13, Captain Britain accepts a position with the Avengers. Noh-Varr later does as well. Bruce Banner made arrangements with Rogers for the Red Hulk to join.

The "Shattered Heroes" storyline leads to several changes in the main Avengers lineup, with Quake and Storm being recruited, and the Vision rejoining the team. Wolverine and Spider-Man leave the main team and become more involved with the New Avengers. During the events of the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Storm quits to side with her fellow mutants as a member of the X-Men. The Avengers dismiss Noh-Varr after he attempted to betray the team, though ultimately he did not. The conflict ends with both teams united but defeated by an unrepentant Cyclops. A new series, Uncanny Avengers, debuted in the flagship title of the Marvel NOW! initiative. The title is written by Rick Remender with art by John Cassaday, and the team contains members of both the Avengers and the X-Men. As well, a biweekly Avengers title was launched, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by different artists for each story arc. Hickman also began writing New Avengers.
During the 2014 "AXIS" storyline, when a now-evil Scarlet Witch invades Latveria, Doctor Doom forms his own team of Avengers consisting of 3D Man, Elsa Bloodstone, Stingray, Valkyrie, and U.S. Agent. After various heroes and villains experience a moral inversion in the battle against the Red Skull empowered with Professor Charles Xavier's abilities, Rogers later assembles Magneto, Doctor Doom, the Absorbing Man, Carnage, Deadpool, the Enchantress, the Hobgoblin, the fifth Jack O'Lantern, Loki, Mystique, and Sabretooth, all temporarily 'inverted' to act as heroes, to assist he and Spider-Man in defeating the inverted Avengers and X-Men until the original spell can be undone. During the "Time Runs Out" storyline, Sunspot created a team of the Avengers, consisting of himself, Black Widow, Cannonball, Manifold, Pod, Shang-Chi, Smasher, Spider-Woman, Validator, and the Children of the Sun. The "Multiversal Avengers" division of this team consists of Abyss, the Ex Nihili (including Ex Nihilo), Hyperion, Nightmask, Odinson, and Star Brand.

Following the destruction and reconstruction of reality in the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline, a new team is created known as Avengers Idea Mechanics, set to tackle Avengers-level threats beyond simply fighting villains, while the Avengers Unity Squad continues to operate to support mutant relations. Iron Man forms a new team of Avengers in the All-New All-Different Avengers series consisting of himself, the Vision, Nova (Sam Alexander), Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Captain America (Sam Wilson), and Thor (Jane Foster). Following the "Civil War II", storyline, the title was canceled and replaced with a new volume of the regular Avengers title. The roster was also changed, where following Iron Man being placed in a coma, and Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Nova, and Ms. Marvel's resignation from the team (who instead teamed up with other heroes their own age to form their own group the Champions), the remaining three members are paired up with Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Hercules and Wasp (Nadia Pym) to form a new team.

During the 2017 "Secret Empire" storyline, when Captain America was 'reprogrammed' to believe that he had been a Hydra sleeper agent since childhood, the Hydra regime formed their own Avengers. This team consisted of Odinson (Thor currently doubting his worth and believing that Rogers must be 'right' as he could wield Mjolnir when Thor couldn't, unaware that Hydra had used the cosmic cube to change the nature of the enchantment), Deadpool, a Chthon-possessed Scarlet Witch, Vision (who was suffering from an A.I. Virus created by Arnim Zola), Taskmaster, Eric O'Grady's Life Model Decoy counterpart Black Ant, and Doctor Octopus' Superior Octopus appearance. However, in the final stand, Odinson rejects Rogers' authority and sides with his old allies, while the Vision's daughter purges him of the virus and Brother Voodoo exorcises Chthon from the Witch. Taskmaster and Black Ant free the imprisoned Champions in exchange for leniency, and the true version of Steve Rogers was restored, using Mjolnir against his counterpart.

In May 2018, another volume for the series was launched as part of Marvel's Fresh Start initiative, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Ed McGuinness. This new volume also saw the return of the main three core members, as Steve Rogers and Thor met up with Tony Stark to convince him to reassemble the group with themselves at its core. The reunion was consolidated by the machinations of Loki, who facilitated the arrival of the world-threatening Dark Celestials as a ploy to get the Avengers back in action, resulting in the participation of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Ghost Rider and Blade, with the Black Panther being elected chairperson. After the Dark Celestials were defeated, the Celestials set upright the corpse of the long-time dead Progenitor in the North Pole. The Avengers refurbished the Progenitor's corpse, transforming it into their base of operations, the Avengers Mountain.

Team roster

The Avengers team lineup is known for being perpetually fluid and changing, with many members coming and going, often more than once. The founding members of the team were Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp. Hulk left after a single issue, which would become a running gag among splinter team members (for example, Spider-Man leaving the second incarnation of the Avengers Unity Division), and his founder status was retroactively filled in by Captain America. Later additions and frequent members include Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Falcon, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Vision, among others.

There are also numerous splinter teams that have formed, starting with the West Coast Avengers in 1984. Each of these splinter teams tends to specialize in a way the main team does not. Members of these teams can be on other splinter teams or on the main team. These teams are, in alphabetical order:

 A-Force: An all-female team formed after the Secret Wars event.
 Avengers A.I.: A team consisting of people with various artificial intelligence-related abilities.
 Avengers Academy: A school for teenage superheroes who served as Avengers members and received training from full-time Avengers members. The school was shut down shortly after the events of Avengers Arena.
 Avengers Unity Division: A team meant to bridge the gap between humans, mutates, and mutants following Avengers vs. X-Men by including members of all groups. Their mission statement was later expanded to include Inhumans.
 Avengers World: A team that specializes in international protection following the disbandment of the U.S.Avengers; not to be confused with the comic book of the same name.
 Great Lakes Avengers: A farcical team consisting of low-level heroes living in Wisconsin.
 Mighty Avengers:
 A team formed by Iron Man as part of the Fifty-States Initiative, which was broken apart after the events of Secret Invasion.
 A team formed by Hank Pym after the previous Mighty Avengers collapsed.
 A team formed by Luke Cage to deal with more street-level threats in response to the latest invasion by Thanos. It was shut down by Iron Man during the AXIS event.
 New Avengers:
 A team created after the disbandment of the main team to replace them. This team was known for including more prestigious Marvel superheroes, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Daredevil, and disbanded after the retirement of its leader, Luke Cage.
 A team formed by Sunspot after he purchased and reformed Advanced Idea Mechanics.
 A similar team to Sunspot's, going by the name "Avengers Idea Mechanics".
 Savage Avengers: A team consisting of supernatural and/or antiheroic members.
 Secret Avengers:
 A black operation team formed by Steve Rogers.
 Another undercover team formed by S.H.I.E.L.D.
 U.S.Avengers: A patriotic-themed team.
 War Avengers: A temporary team formed during the War of the Realms event.
 West Coast Avengers: A team formed by Vision to expand the Avengers' reach.
 Young Avengers: A team consisting of teenage and young adult heroes.

Of these teams, only the main team, Avengers World, the Great Lakes Avengers, the Savage Avengers, and the Young Avengers are currently active. Additionally, all members of the Fantastic Four, as well as various members of the X-Men, Heroes for Hire, and other prominent Marvel teams have served as members of the Avengers.

Enemies

The Avengers have a long list of villains they frequently face.

Some of the most recurring include Ultron and Kang the Conqueror.

Cultural impact and legacy

Critical response
Abraham Josephine Riesman of Vulture included the Avengers team in their "12 Teams That Defined Superhero Storytelling" list. Michael Doran of Newsarama ranked the Avengers team 1st in their "Best Superhero Teams of All Time" list. Comic Book Resources asserted, "The Avengers are known as Earth's mightiest heroes, and that appellation is self-explanatory. The team combines Marvel's greatest heroes into one powerful unit, an assemblage of heroes that faces down the deadliest threats the Marvel Universe can throw at them. The team has proven to be one of the most potent groups in all of comics, boasting legendary heroes and battling in titanic wars for the fate of all reality," and ranked the Avengers team 1st in their "10 Most Important Marvel Hero Teams" list, 1st in their "Every Marvel Superhero Team" list, 1st in their "Marvel: The 10 Strongest Superhero Teams" list, and 2nd in their "Marvel: 10 Most Powerful Teams" list.

Poushali Guharauth of Sportskeeda ranked the Avengers 1st in their "10 Best Superhero Teams of All Time" list. Jason Serafino of Complex ranked the Avengers 2nd in their "10 Best Superhero Teams In Comics" list. Chris Isaac of Screen Rant the Avengers team 2nd in their "15 Best Superhero Teams Of All Time" list. Geoff Boucher of Deadline ranked the Avengers team 3rd in their "Stan Lee's Legacy: Ranking The Hollywood Heroes Co-Created By The Marvel Comics Icon" list.

Impact
Most of the characters that appear in Marvel Comics' books are set in the same fictional universe, known as the Marvel Universe. They occasionally make guest appearances in each other's books, and more regularly in team books, such as The Avengers. Such crossovers encouraged readers to buy other books in the Marvel Comics catalogue, and readers became engrossed not just in the individual characters but in their web of relationships across the broader setting. DC Comics pioneered this idea with the Justice Society of America and the Justice League, likewise promoting and developing the DC Universe. Many readers devoted themselves to just one of these two comic book universes. After all, they were both quite large and didn't overlap. Thus, the superhero fan community developed sub-communities of DC devotees and Marvel devotees.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Studios repeated this business strategy when it produced the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), culminating with the release of The Avengers in 2012. Before the MCU, superhero movies were usually isolated productions mostly because of licensing issues, but the shared universe model has led to its continued growing success. In response, Warner Brothers (which owns DC Comics) began to produce its own series of interconnected superhero movies known as the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), culminating with Justice League in 2017. Movies tend to have bigger audiences than comic books, so, the general public are more aware that the likes of Wonder Woman and Captain America existed in separate universes owned by different companies. The movies raised brand awareness of DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

As of June 2022, the MCU is the highest-grossing film franchise in history, having collectively grossed over $26 billion in box-office revenue, more than twice that by the second largest franchise, Star Wars.

Theme park attractions

Avengers Campus

After the acquisition by Disney in 2009, Marvel films began to be marketed at the Innoventions attraction in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. For Iron Man 3, the exhibit, entitled "Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries", featured the same armor display that was shown at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, with the Marks I-VII and the new Mark XLII. In addition, there was a simulator game, titled "Become Iron Man", that used Kinect-like technology to allow the viewer to be encased in an animated Mark XLII armor and take part in a series of "tests," in which you fire repulsor rays and fly through Tony Stark's workshop. The game was guided by J.A.R.V.I.S., who is voiced again by Paul Bettany. The exhibit also had smaller displays that included helmets and chest pieces from the earlier films and the gauntlet and boot from an action sequence in Iron Man 3. The exhibit for Thor: The Dark World was called "Thor: Treasures of Asgard", and featured displays of Asgardian relics and transports guests to Odin's throne room, where they were greeted by Thor. Captain America: The Winter Soldiers exhibit, "Captain America: The Living Legend and Symbol of Courage", featured a meet and greet experience.

From May to September 2017, Disneyland Resort featured the "Summer of Heroes", which sees members of the Guardians and Avengers making appearances throughout the Disneyland Resort. Additionally, the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Dance Off event was featured, which involved Peter Quill / Star-Lord blasting music from his boombox, along with the Avengers Training Initiative, a limited experience where Black Widow and Hawkeye "assemble a group of young recruits to see if they have what it takes to be an Avenger." Marvel-related food and merchandise was also available throughout Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure during the "Summer of Heroes".

{{cn span|text=In March 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced three new Marvel-themed areas inspired by the MCU to Disney California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The developments will be designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in collaboration with Marvel Studios and Marvel Themed Entertainment.|date=December 2022 As was established with Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, Avengers Campus exists in its own theme park universe that is inspired by the MCU.

Walt Disney Studios Park
In March 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced a new Marvel-themed area inspired by the MCU to Disneyland Paris' Walt Disney Studios Park. The area includes a reimagined attraction where riders team up with Iron Man and other Avengers on a "hyper-kinetic adventure" on July 20, 2022. The park also hosted the "Summer of Super Heroes" live-action stage show from June–September 2018.

Avengers: Quantum Encounter

In July 2021, the immersive family dining experience "Avengers: Quantum Encounter" at the Worlds of Marvel restaurant on the Disney Wish cruise line was announced, which debuted when the cruise began voyages on July 14, 2022. The experience takes place during dinner with interactive elements and a full CGI recreation of the Wishs upper decks. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Brie Larson, Kerry Condon, and Iman Vellani reprised their MCU roles, while Ross Marquand voiced Ultron after previously doing so in What If...?, in which he replaced James Spader. Chris Waitt directed Rudd and Lilly's content, which was written by Steven Spiegel and featured visual effects by Framestore.

Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.
In May 2014, the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. (Scientific Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network) exhibit opened at the Discovery Times Square center. The exhibit features replica set pieces, as well as actual props from the films, mixed with interactive technology and information, crafted through a partnership with NASA and other scientists. Titus Welliver also provides a "debrief" to visitors, reprising his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Felix Blake. Created by Victory Hill Exhibits, Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. cost $7.5 million to create, and ran through early September 2015.

The exhibit also opened in South Korea at the War Memorial of Korea in April 2015, in Paris, France, at Esplanade de La Défense a year later, and in Las Vegas at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in June 2016. The Las Vegas version of the exhibit featured updated character details and corresponding science to incorporate the Marvel films that have released since the original exhibit in New York. Additionally, the Las Vegas version features Cobie Smulders reprising her role as Maria Hill to "debrief" visitors, replacing Welliver.

Avengers: Damage Control
In October 2019, Marvel Studios and ILMxLAB announced the virtual reality experience Avengers: Damage Control. The experience would be available for a limited time starting in mid-October 2019 at select Void VR locations. Avengers: Damage Control sees players taking control of one of Shuri's Emergency Response Suits–which combine Wakandan and Stark Industries technologies–to defeat a threat alongside Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. Letitia Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Rudd, and Evangeline Lilly all reprise their MCU roles, while Ross Marquand voices Ultron, replacing James Spader. The experience was extended to the end of 2019.

Other versions

1950s Avengers

A short-lived team of superheroes in the 1950s called themselves the Avengers. It consisted of Marvel Boy, Venus, the 3-D Man, Gorilla-Man, M-11, Jimmy Woo, Namora, and Jann of the Jungle, and existed in an alternate timeline that was erased by the time-manipulating Immortus. Agents of Atlas, a version of the group, without 3-D Man and Jann existed in mainstream continuity, and eventually reformed in the present day.

Avengers 1959

The New Avengers vol. 2, #10 revealed another 1950s Avengers team, formed by Nick Fury to hunt the last remnants of Nazi Germany and consisted of Fury himself, Dominic Fortune, Dum Dum Dugan, Namora, Silver Sable, Sabretooth, Kraven the Hunter, and Ulysses Bloodstone. A follow-up miniseries penned by Howard Chaykin showed this group assisted by Blonde Phantom, Eric Koenig and a brand new character British wizard and spy, Powell McTeague. That time they fought against a cult based on the Nazi party which employed several agents, including Baron Blood and Brain Drain.

Avengers (1,000,000 B.C. version)
In the one-shot issue that ties in with "Marvel Legacy", there was a version of the Avengers that existed back circa 1,000,000 B.C. The line-up consists of Agamotto, Odin, Lady Phoenix and Stone Age versions of Black Panther, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, and Star Brand. This group first came together to defeat an out-of-control Celestial called the Fallen where they defeated it and sealed it underground somewhere in South Africa.

Avengers (A.D. 1000 version)
During the 11th century, it is revealed that Thor had formed that time period's version of the Avengers with Boldof the Black, the Black Panther Nehanda, Chief Hellhawk, an unnamed Atlantean who wielded the Iron Fist, and Tanaraq of the Great Beasts.

Avengers Next

In the alternate future timeline known as MC2, the Avengers disbanded and Avengers Mansion was a museum. An emergency forced Edwin Jarvis to sound an alert, and a new generation of heroes formed a new team of Avengers. Most of the new Avengers were children of established Marvel superheroes.

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, the Avengers are named the Ultimates, and were formed by General Nicholas Fury to protect America against superhuman threats. They first appeared in The Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. After the events of The Ultimates 2, the team left S.H.I.E.L.D. employment to become independent and financed by Tony Stark.

A Black Ops team called the Avengers debuted sometime after the Ultimatum storyline. This version was a project headed up by Nick Fury and Tony Stark's brother Gregory Stark to bring Captain America back. Its known members consisted of War Machine, Hawkeye, Black Widow II, Spider (an Asian in an orange and purple Spider-Man outfit who once claimed to be a spliced clone of Spider-Man and Professor X from the future), Tyrone Cash (who was the original Hulk before Bruce Banner), Red Wasp (a former Liberators member), and Nerd Hulk (an intelligent clone of Hulk who lacks Hulk's rage). Additional members included Punisher (who joined the Avengers against a Ghost Rider manhunt) and the half vampire Blade (who joined the group to help against a vampire invasion).

Avengers Forever
One of the timelines seen in Avengers Forever is an alternate future where Martians have ravaged Earth and killed most of its heroes. An older version of Black Panther leads a team of Avengers consisting of Killraven, Living Lightning, Jocasta, a new Crimson Dynamo, and Thundra.

Marvel Zombies
The Avengers existed as a team prior to a zombie contagion's arrival in the original Marvel Zombies universe and resembled their pre-disassembled roster. When several of their members were infected, they set about eating humanity and sent out a bogus "Avengers Assemble" call to draw super-humans to the Avengers Mansion, infected more heroes and thus spread the virus. The team fell apart and many of its members were killed as time passed.

The second team of zombie Avengers appeared in Marvel Zombies Return, set in another timeline where the original zombies had been sent after the final battle. That team was brought together to find food and kill any resistance (zombie or uninfected) and was led by Sentry. Also on the team were the zombies Moon Knight, Namor, Quasar, Quicksilver, Thundra, and Super-Skrull. They were joined by zombie Giant-Man of the original Zombiverse, who was trying to power a dimensional teleporter, but were all killed by Spider-Man's New Avengers. The team was composed of himself with Iron Man (James Rhodes, who had escaped infection by the zombie virus by amputating his bitten limbs and replacing them with cybernetic implants), Sandman, and the zombie Hulk and Wolverine.

House of M: Avengers
In an alternate reality which was created by the Scarlet Witch, the Avengers were a street gang of superpowered humans formed by Luke Cage in Hell's Kitchen, a human ghetto in the mutant-ruled reality. Although they were initially criminals, the disenfranchised human residents came to view the Avengers as their protectors and would often go to Cage when the mutant authorities refused to help them.

Age of Apocalypse
A humanized version of the Avengers banded together during the Age of Apocalypse and were known as the Human High Council.

Avengers 2099
During the "Secret Wars" storyline in the Battleworld domain of 2099, the Avengers are a team of corporate superheroes sponsored by Alchemax. The group consists of Captain America (a Latina woman named Roberta Mendez), Black Widow (an African-American woman named Tania), Iron Man (a dwarf named Sonny Frisco), Hawkeye (a half-man, half-bird creature named Max), and Hercules.

In other media

Television
Three animated series have been based on the team.

 The Avengers: United They Stand was mainly based on the Roy Thomas era of the group, and ran from 1999 to 2000.
 The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was based on the early adventures of the team, but also used many elements from other runs. The TV show ran for two seasons, from 2010 to 2013, and started presenting the original Avengers line-up founded by Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp and the Hulk, who leaves the group after battling Amora the Enchantress and Skurge. Captain America later joins the team, replacing him.
 Avengers Assemble is  mainly based on the MCU iteration of the group and premiered on May 26, 2013. The show also changed its title to Avengers: Ultron Revolution (2016), Avengers: Secret Wars (2017) and Avengers: Black Panther's Quest (2018).

Film
Marvel Animation has made three Avengers films, Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2, and Next Avengers.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Avengers are prominent in current popular culture due to the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Marvel Studios.

See also
 Dark Avengers – Supervillain and antihero version of the Avengers
 Young Avengers – Young version of the Avengers
 Alpha Flight – The Canadian version of the Avengers.
 Big Hero 6 – The Japanese version of the Avengers.
 Excalibur – The British version of the Avengers.
 Winter Guard – The Russian version of the Avengers.
 Justice League - A DC comics superhero team with the same concept of the Avengers.
 List of Marvel Comics superhero debuts

References

Sources

External links

Avengers at the Superhero Database
Marvel pages: A1963, A1996, A1998, A2010, A2012, A2016, A2018
Avengers Comic Book Sales History—Sales figures from 1966–present
MDP:Avengers—Marvel Database Project (wiki)
Avengers Assemble!—Archives and Database
The Avengers at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 7, 2012.

https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Avengers

Marvel Comics American superheroes
Characters created by Jack Kirby
Characters created by Stan Lee
Comics by Geoff Johns
Comics by John Byrne (comics)
Comics by Kurt Busiek
Comics by Mark Waid
Comics characters introduced in 1963

Avengers (comics)


Atul Khare (born in 1959) is a career international diplomat and civil servant who currently serves as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations in UN Department of Operational Support and previously as Under Secretary General in United Nations Department of Field Support and Assistant Secretary General for UN Peacekeeping Operations.

He also previously served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) at the level of Under-Secretary-General (2006-2009), working earlier as Chief of Staff and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor (UNMISET).

Early life and education

He was born in a religious Chitraguptvanshi Kayastha family and did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Doranda, Ranchi. Passed out in 1975, with an all India rank in Higher Secondary Board Exam. He obtained a master's degrees in business administration and in leadership from the University of Southern Queensland, an advanced diploma (with distinction) in French from the Indian Defence School of Languages, a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery (with honours) from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Diplomatic career

Khare started his career as an Indian diplomat in 1984. He has served in various capacities in the Indian Foreign Service, including as Deputy High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York and Chargé d'affaires of the Indian Embassy in Senegal with concurrent accreditation to Mali, Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. He was Chef de Cabinet of the Foreign Secretary of India and of Director of the United Nations Division in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi and served as Director of the Nehru Centre and Minister (Culture) of the High Commission of India to the United Kingdom from 2005.

Career at the United Nations
Khare has served the United Nations in various capacities. He served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor (UNMISET) from June 2002 until its completion in May 2005. In December 2006, Khare was appointed as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), serving until December 2009. From 2010 to 2011, Khare served as the Deputy Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York.

On 1 June 2011 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Khare to spearhead efforts to implement a reform agenda aimed at streamlining and improving the efficiency of the world body. Khare, led the Change Management Team (CMT) at the UN, working with both departments and offices within the Secretariat and with other bodies in the UN system and the 193 member states. The CMT was tasked with guiding the implementation of a reform agenda at the UN that started with the devising of a wide-ranging plan to streamline activities, increase accountability and ensure the organization is more effective and efficient in delivering its many mandates.

Atul Khare was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Field Support on 7 January 2015. In early 2017, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Khare to the 9-member High-Level Task Force to Improve the United Nations Approach for Preventing and Addressing Sexual Abuse.

Other activities
 International Gender Champions (IGC), Member

Honours
: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry (21 December 2009)

References

External links
UN Biography Atul Khare
 United Nations Press Release SG/A/1028

Living people
1959 births
Indian diplomats
Indian civil servants
Indian officials of the United Nations
United Nations officials
University of Southern Queensland alumni
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi alumni
Indian Hindus

Atul Khare


The Alabama Slammers were a professional ice hockey team. They were a member of the World Hockey Association 2, and played their home games at Pelham Civic Center in Pelham, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.  The Slammers were one of eight minor league hockey teams purchased or founded by real estate mogul David Waronker starting in 2003. By January 2007 all but one of those teams had ceased operations.  They were coached to a 34-20-0-4 record, second in the league, by former NHL centerman Garry Unger.  They were defeated by the Macon Trax in the semifinal round of the WHA2 playoffs.

The league folded after one season, with three of the remaining teams moving to the Southern Professional Hockey League, but the Slammers folded before making the move.

2003-04 roster
 #30 Jamie Ronayne
 #34 Jeff Kilgore
 #17 Bobby Quinnell
 #18 Jorin Welsh
 #29 Mark Loeding
 #7  Stephane Desjardins
 #2  Tom Wilson
 #12 Joe Savioli
 #3  Doug Mann
 #15 Hugo Belanger
 #27 Chad Peck
 #16 Jeff Coulter
 #8  Justin Schabes
 #61 Mike Craigen
 #24 Ryan Prentice
 #11 Jeff Mead
 #19 Doug Lawrence
 #9  Tony Patterson
 #22 Jaroslav Kresec
 #91 Jason Renard
 #15 Jeff Cheeseman

External links
 BirminghamProSports.com

Sports clubs and teams in Birmingham, Alabama
Defunct ice hockey teams in Alabama
Ice hockey teams in Alabama
World Hockey Association 2 teams

Alabama Slammers


Gro Holm (born 11 April 1958) is a Norwegian news editor and correspondent.

She was hired in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in 1982. From 1994 to 1998, she served as their Moscow correspondent. She was later foreign affairs editor of the news division before being appointed as director of national and district news in 2005. She was let go in September 2008 after disagreeing with the leadership on a proposed organizational model. In 2013, she was appointed as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's correspondent in Washington, D.C.

She was married to professor of political history, Trond Nordby, before marrying high-ranking diplomat Kai Eide. She has three daughters from her first marriage; her current husband had two earlier. The couple reside in Lommedalen.

References

1958 births
Living people
NRK people
Norwegian television reporters and correspondents
Norwegian expatriates in Russia
Norwegian expatriates in the United States

Gro Holm


William John Coffee (1774–1846) was an English artist and sculptor who worked in porcelain, plaster, and terra cotta. He also worked in oil paint, although this was not the thing for which he became famous. His early career was as a modeller for Duesbury at the china factory on Nottingham Road in Derby, England. The later part of his life was spent in America.

Biography

In Derby, Coffee made busts of some of the local people and historic figures including a life size sculpture of Erasmus Darwin. This bust is a good example of Coffee's modelling skills and is now on show at Derby Museum. Coffee also produced a terra cotta copy of the Florentine Boar (1806) and a number of terra cotta statues of Greek figures showing medicine and healing for the garden of Joseph Strutt. The garden was given to the town as Derby Arboretum in 1840 complete with statues, but those of the Greek figures are now missing or lost. Coffee also made a  terra cotta statue of Asclepius for William Strutt's Derbyshire Infirmary, opened 1810.

Coffee moved from England to New York City in 1816, where he became famous as a sculptor for American historical figures such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. He also made the mouldings for Jefferson's house and for the University of Virginia.

References

Other websites
 Derby Museum and Art Gallery

Derby Museum and Art Gallery

William John Coffee


In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of transmitter and responder.

In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight transponder is an automated transceiver in an aircraft that emits a coded identifying signal in response to an interrogating received signal. In a communications satellite, a satellite transponder receives signals over a range of uplink frequencies, usually from a satellite ground station; the transponder amplifies them, and re-transmits them on a different set of downlink frequencies to receivers on Earth, often without changing the content of the received signal or signals.

Satellite/broadcast communications

A communications satellite's channels are called transponders because each is a separate transceiver or repeater. With digital video data compression and multiplexing, several video and audio channels may travel through a single transponder on a single wideband carrier. Original analog video only has one channel per transponder, with subcarriers for audio and automatic transmission identification service (ATIS). Non-multiplexed radio stations can also travel in single channel per carrier (SCPC) mode, with multiple carriers (analog or digital) per transponder. This allows each station to transmit directly to the satellite, rather than paying for a whole transponder, or using landlines to send it to an earth station for multiplexing with other stations.

Optical communications
In optical fiber communications, a transponder is the element that sends and receives the optical signal from a fiber. A transponder is typically characterized by its data rate and the maximum distance the signal can travel.

The term "transponder" can apply to different items with important functional differences, mentioned across academic and commercial literature:
 according to one description, a transponder and transceiver are both functionally similar devices that convert a full-duplex electrical signal into a full-duplex optical signal. The difference between the two is that transceivers interface electrically with the host system using a serial interface, whereas transponders use a parallel interface to do so. In this view, transponders provide easier-to-handle lower-rate parallel signals, but are bulkier and consume more power than transceivers.
 according to another description, transceivers are limited to providing an electrical-optical function only (not differentiating between serial or parallel electrical interfaces), whereas transponders convert an optical signal at one wavelength to an optical signal at another wavelength (typically ITU standardized for DWDM communication). As such, transponders can be considered as two transceivers placed back-to-back. This view also seems to be held by e.g. Fujitsu.

As a result, difference in transponder functionality also might influence the functional description of related optical modules like transceivers and muxponders.

Aviation

Another type of transponder occurs in identification friend or foe (IFF) systems in military aviation and in air traffic control secondary surveillance radar (beacon radar) systems for general aviation and commercial aviation. Primary radar works best with large all-metal aircraft, but not so well on small, composite aircraft. Its range is also limited by terrain and rain or snow and also detects unwanted objects such as automobiles, hills and trees. Furthermore, it cannot always estimate the altitude of an aircraft. Secondary radar overcomes these limitations but it depends on a transponder in the aircraft to respond to interrogations from the ground station to make the plane more visible.

Depending on the type of interrogation, the transponder sends back a transponder code (or "squawk code", Mode A) or altitude information (Mode C) to help air traffic controllers to identify the aircraft and to maintain separation between planes. Another mode called Mode S (Mode Select) is designed to help avoiding over-interrogation of the transponder (having many radars in busy areas) and to allow automatic collision avoidance. Mode S transponders are backward compatible with Modes A and C. Mode S is mandatory in controlled airspace in many countries. Some countries have also required, or are moving toward requiring, that all aircraft be equipped with Mode S, even in uncontrolled airspace. However, in the field of general aviation there have been objections to these moves, because of the cost, size, limited benefit to the users in uncontrolled airspace, and, in the case of balloons and gliders, the power requirements during long flights.

Transponders are used on some military aircraft to ensure ground personnel can verify the functionality of a missile's flight termination system prior to launch. Such radar enhancing transponders are needed as the enclosed weapon bays on modern aircraft interfere with prelaunch, flight termination system verification performed by range safety personnel during training test launches. The transponders re-radiate the signals allowing for much longer communication distances.

Marine
The International Maritime Organization's International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requires the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to be fitted aboard international voyaging ships with , and all passenger ships regardless of size. Although AIS transmitters/receivers are generally called transponders they generally transmit autonomously, although coast stations can interrogate class B transponders on smaller vessels for additional information. In addition, navigational aids often have transponders called RACON (radar beacons) designed to make them stand out on a ship's radar screen.

Automotive
Many modern automobiles have keys with transponders hidden inside the plastic head of the key. The user of the car may not even be aware that the transponder is there, because there are no buttons to press. When a key is inserted into the ignition lock cylinder and turned, the car's computer sends a signal to the transponder. Unless the transponder replies with a valid code, the computer will not allow the engine to be started. Transponder keys have no battery; they are energized by the signal itself.

Road
Electronic toll collection systems such as E-ZPass in the eastern United States use RFID transponders to identify vehicles. Highway 407 in Ontario, Canada, is one of the world's first completely automated toll highways.

Motorsport
Transponders are used in motorsport for lap timing purposes. A cable loop is dug into the race circuit near to the start/finish line. Each car has an active transponder with a unique ID code. When the racing car passes the start/finish line the lap time and the racing position is shown on the score board.

Passive and active RFID systems are used in off-road events such as Enduro and Hare and Hounds racing, the riders have a transponder on their person, normally on their arm. When they complete a lap they swipe or touch the receiver which is connected to a computer and log their lap time.

NASCAR uses transponders and cable loops placed at numerous points around the track to determine the lineup during a caution period. This system replaced a dangerous race back to the start-finish line.

Underwater
Sonar transponders operate under water and are used to measure distance and form the basis of underwater location marking, position tracking and navigation.

Gated communities
Transponders may also be used by residents to enter their gated communities. However, having more than one transponder causes problems. If a resident's car with simple transponder is parked in the vicinity, any vehicle can come up to the automated gate, triggering the gate interrogation signal, which may get an acceptable response from the resident's car. Such units properly installed might involve beamforming, unique transponders for each vehicle, or simply obliging vehicles to be stored away from the gate.

See also
 Acronyms and abbreviations in avionics
 Transponder car key
 Transceiver
 Muxponder
 Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar

References

External links
 Transponding with DCC - Transponding in model railroading

Communication circuits
Radio electronics
Radar
Motorsport terminology
Radio-frequency identification
Wireless

fi:Toisiotutka#Toisiotutkavastain

Transponder


Hilarion Capucci (; 2 March 1922 – 1 January 2017) was a Syrian Catholic bishop who served as the titular archbishop of Caesarea in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Early years
He was born in Aleppo, Syria to Bashir Capucci (father) and Chafika Rabbath (mother) and was educated at St. Anne's Seminary in Jerusalem. During his time in office, he was an opponent of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and aligned himself with the Palestinian cause.

On 20 July 1947, he was ordained a priest of the Basilian Aleppian Order. On 30 July 1965, he was elected archbishop and consecrated.

Arrest and imprisonment
On 18 August 1974 he was arrested by security forces of Israel for smuggling weapons into the West Bank in a Mercedes sedan. He was subsequently convicted by an Israeli military court of using his diplomatic status to smuggle arms to the Palestine Liberation Army and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Maximos V, the patriarch of the Melkite Church, was a vocal critic of Capucci's imprisonment. He was quoted as saying, "Is this Bishop reprehensible if he thought it was his duty to bear arms? If we go back in history we find other bishops who smuggled weapons, gave their lives and committed other illegal actions to save Jews from Nazi occupation. I do not see why a man who is ready to save Arabs should be condemned." Maximos also asserted that Israel had entered East Jerusalem illegally and against United Nations resolutions.

Capucci was among the prisoners whose release was demanded by Palestinian hijackers of the Kfar Yuval hostage crisis in 1975, and of German and Palestinian hijackers of Air France Flight 139 (the Entebbe hostage crisis), in 1976.

He was released two years later, in 1978, due to intervention by the Vatican, after having served four years of the 12-years sentence.

Negotiating the 1979 Iran hostage crisis

Capucci played a key role during the Iran hostage crisis. He made several visits to the hostages, and in early May 1980 he obtained the release of the bodies of the American soldiers who had died in the refueling accident during the rescue mission. Capucci also negotiated an agreement for the release of the hostages, but the plan collapsed because the French press published the story before the agreement had been approved by Iran's Parliament.

Opposition to the 2003 Iraq War
An opponent of the Iraq War, Capucci wrote the foreword for the book Neo-Conned!: Just War Principles a Condemnation of War in Iraq, by  John Sharpe.

Participation aboard the 2009 Gaza aid ship
In 2009, Capucci was on a Lebanese ship bound for Gaza which was seized by Israeli forces when the ship attempted to violate the Israeli naval blockade.

Participation in the 2010 Gaza flotilla
In May 2010, Capucci participated in the Free Gaza Movement's aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip (see also Gaza flotilla raid). He was a passenger on , which was seized in the early hours of Monday, 31 May, by the Israeli Navy, with nine people killed and many injured. He was held in Beersheba prison and deported. During a reception for the return of the Mavi Marmara to Istanbul, he gave a speech to the assembly.

Honors by Muslim countries
The governments of Iraq,  Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Syria have honored Capucci with postage stamps.

Other
On 14 June 2009 he spoke at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) convention's annual Palestine Luncheon.

Death
On 1 January 2017, the Vatican announced that Capucci had died in Rome, aged 94.

References

External links

 Grzegorz Ignatowski, The arrest of Hilarion Capucci and the relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel

1922 births
2017 deaths
20th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops
21st-century Eastern Catholic archbishops
Christian Peace Conference members
Hostage negotiators
Iran hostage crisis
Melkite Greek Catholic bishops
Participants in the Second Vatican Council
Religious leaders from Aleppo
People of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Syrian archbishops
Syrian Melkite Greek Catholics
Syrian people imprisoned abroad
Prisoners and detainees of Israel
People deported from Israel

Hilarion Capucci


A proton magnetometer, also known as a proton precession magnetometer (PPM), uses the principle of Earth's field nuclear magnetic resonance (EFNMR) to measure very small variations in the Earth's magnetic field, allowing ferrous objects on land and at sea to be detected.

It is used in land-based archaeology to map the positions of demolished walls and buildings, and at sea to locate wrecked ships, sometimes for recreational diving.

PPMs were once widely used in mineral exploration. They have largely been superseded by Overhauser effect magnetometers and alkali vapour (cesium, rubidium, and potassium) or helium magnetometers, which sample faster and are more sensitive.

Principles of operation
A  direct current flowing in a solenoid creates a strong magnetic field around a hydrogen-rich fluid (kerosine and decane are popular; water can also be used), causing some of the protons to align with that field. The current is then interrupted, and as protons realign themselves with the ambient magnetic field, they precess at a frequency that is directly proportional to the magnetic field. This produces a weak rotating magnetic field that is picked up by a (sometimes separate) inductor, amplified electronically, and fed to a digital frequency counter whose output is typically scaled and displayed directly as field strength or output as digital data.

The relationship between the frequency of the induced current and the strength of the magnetic field is called the proton gyromagnetic ratio, and is equal to 0.042576 Hz nT−1. Because the precession frequency depends only on atomic constants and the strength of the ambient magnetic field, the accuracy of this type of magnetometer can reach 1 ppm.

The frequency of Earth's field NMR for protons varies between approximately 900 Hz near the equator to 4.2 kHz near the geomagnetic poles. These magnetometers can be moderately sensitive if several tens of watts are available to power the aligning process. If measurements are taken once per second, standard deviations in the readings is in the 0.01 nT to 0.1 nT range, and variations of about 0.1 nT can be detected.

For hand/backpack carried units, PPM sample rates are typically limited to less than one sample per second. Measurements are typically taken with the sensor held at fixed locations at approximately 10 meter increments.

The main sources of measurement errors are magnetic impurities in the sensor, errors in the measurement of the frequency and ferrous material on the operator and the instruments, as well as rotation of the sensor as a measurement is taken.

Portable instruments are also limited by sensor volume (weight) and power consumption. PPMs work in field gradients up to 3,000 nT m−1 which is adequate from most mineral exploration work. For higher gradient tolerance such as mapping banded iron formations and detecting large ferrous objects Overhauser magnetometers can handle 10,000 nT m−1 and Caesium magnetometers can handle 30,000 nT m−1.

Proton magnetometer in archaeology

In 1958 Glenn A. Black and Eli Lilly, following the work of Martin Aitken and his associates at the Oxford University (UK) Archaeometric Laboratory, used proton magnetometers to locate and map buried archaeological features, including iron objects in the soil, thermoremanent magnetization of fired clays, and differences in the magnetic susceptibility of disturbed soils. During 1961–1963, they surveyed more than  of the Angel Mounds State Historic Site in Indiana and excavated more than  to match anomalous magnetometer readings with the archaeological features that produced them. This was the first systematic use of a proton magnetometer for archaeological research in North America.

See also
NMR

References

Further reading

 Black, G. A. and Johnston, R. B., "A Test of Magnetometry as an Aid to Archaeology", American Antiquity, Vol. 28, pp. 199–205, 1962.
 Black, G. A., Angel Site: An Archaeological Historical, and Ethnological Study, 2 vols., Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, 1967.
 Breiner, Sheldon, "Applications Manual for Portable Magnetometers", 1999.
 Johnston, R. B., "Proton Magnetometry and its Application to Archaeology: An Evaluation at Angel Site", Indiana Historical Society, Prehistory Research Series, Vol. IV, No. II, 1962.
 Smekalova T. N., Voss O., Smekalov S. L. "Magnetic Surveying in Archaeology: More than 10 years of using the Overhauser GSM-19 gradiometer", Wormianum, 2008.

Diving support equipment
Geomagnetism
Indiana Historical Society
Magnetic devices

Proton magnetometer


The Gran Valira (, ) is the largest river in Andorra. It flows through the capital, Andorra la Vella, and exits the country in the south near the Spain–Andorra road border crossing.

The Gran Valira is a tributary to the Segre, which in turn is a tributary to the Ebro. It flows into the Segre in La Seu d'Urgell. Its main tributaries are the Valira d'Orient, the Valira del Nord and the Madriu. The Valira river system is  long.

The map service of the Andorran government calls it the Gran Valira. In certain sources, especially those with a Spanish influence such as maps published in Spain, it is sometimes referred to as the Valira because in the territory of Spain there is only one Valira river. In Andorra, however, there are several different Valiras and hence there is a need to distinguish between them.

References

Rivers of Spain
Rivers of Catalonia
Rivers of Andorra
International rivers of Europe

Gran Valira


Area code 413 is an area code for Massachusetts. It was created as one of the earliest area codes in 1947. It covers the entire western portion of Massachusetts. As of 2023, it has not been split or overlaid yet.

Area code 413


Anton Phillips (born 31 October 1943) is a Jamaican-born British actor who found success appearing in British television. He remains best known for his role as Dr. Bob Mathias in the science fiction series Space: 1999. Also a theatre producer and director, he has been involved over the years with many initiatives to showcase high-quality professional theatre by and for black people, including the Carib Theatre Company, co-founded with Yvonne Brewster in 1980.

Life and career

Early life and education
Phillips was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and attended Manchester High School in Mandeville, Jamaica, before his family relocated to Washington, D.C., in the United States, where he graduated from high school. He then moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s and in 1969 attended Rose Bruford College drama school.

Work
After drama school Anton Phillips began an acting career in Britain that broke many racial barriers, appearing as the first black actor in many TV series, including General Hospital, The Saint, The Bill, and becoming best known as a cast member of Space: 1999 (1975–77).

His professional life has been dedicated to the promotion of black theatre and to that end Phillips started a number of projects that significantly changed the profile of black and Asian theatre in Britain. These included the Carib Theatre Company (formed with Yvonne Brewster in 1980), the Black Theatre Season, and the Black Theatre Forum, initiatives that were responsible for giving opportunities to many black and Asian writers, actors and theatre technicians.

Under his direction, Carib Theatre's production of The Amen Corner by James Baldwin was the first black-produced and directed play to transfer to the West End of London, an important theatre area. Phillips directed a revival of the play, again at The Tricycle, in 1999.

Major productions have included Remembrance by Derek Walcott, and Sitting in Limbo — a play written by Phillips's then wife, actress Judy Hepburn (about Phyllis Coard and the Grenada Revolution), which played in London and toured to Jamaica. Carib Theatre also specialised in theatre in education, and toured schools across London for several years, playing to some 30,000 children.

The Black Theatre Season significantly changed the profile of black and Asian theater in Britain. Before the first season, which started in 1983 at the Arts Theatre in London's West End, black theatre was largely relegated to draughty church halls and rooms in community centres on the outskirts of cities. However, now black and Asian plays were presented in legitimate theatres with all their facilities of sound, light and comfort. As season followed season for seven years, companies, writers and actors were accorded prominence and respect within the profession and the wider society.

Phillips has also worked for the British Council in Ghana, where in 1994 he directed Trevor Rhone's Old Story Time as the first major production at the newly built National Theatre. Phillips also lectured at the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, and for three years was a consultant for the British Council on a special project in Tanzania to create a company of performers and teach them the principals and practice of theatre in education. He has directed in Germany, the Netherlands, and France. He has also managed a 60-strong company of singers, dancers, and musicians from South Africa on a touring tribute to Oliver Tambo that was presented at the Barbican Centre in London and at Salisbury Cathedral, England.

Inspired by the Area Youth Foundation of Kingston, Jamaica, Phillips founded the Stonebridge Area Youth Project (SAY), a performance-based project for disaffected young people between the ages of 14 and 24 based in Stonebridge, a London housing estate. Through performing arts workshops, SAY encouraged youths to re-engage with society by going back into education and learning life-skills to help them into employment. This project lasted for four years. He also directed Oliver Samuels, a Jamaican comic actor, in London's Blue Mountain Theatre for three years of plays that drew audiences of up to 3,000 at the Hammersmith Apollo theatre.

In 2008 Phillips performed Aimé Césaire's powerful epic poem Notebook of a Return to my Native Land, with music from Errol John, at the George Padmore Institute in London, as a tribute to Césaire.

In addition to being an actor, director and producer, Phillips has contributed to magazines and newspapers, usually writing about the state of black arts in the UK. He has also produced the documentary film Home Sweet Harlesden, a collection of interviews with the first Caribbean immigrants to Britain.

Phillips was awarded the 2015 Edric Connor Trailblazer Award at the 10th Screen Nation Film and Television Awards.

References

External links

1943 births
Alumni of Rose Bruford College
British expatriates in Ghana
British expatriates in Tanzania
British male television actors
Expatriates from the Colony of Jamaica in the United States
Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom
Jamaican male actors
Jamaican theatre directors
Living people
Actors from Kingston, Jamaica
Black British male actors

Anton Phillips


Soriano's yellow-shouldered bat (Sturnira sorianoi), is an extant species of leaf-nosed bat indigenous to Bolivia and Venezuela, although its precise distribution is uncertain. Following the postulation of the species in 2005, S. sorianoi requires contemporary information relating its distribution, environment, and population, along with formal a comparison with S. erythromos and S. bogotensis. Without sufficient data, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presently considers the taxonomy for S. sorianoi as incomplete.

See also
List of mammals of Bolivia
List of mammals of Venezuela

References

Mammals described in 2005
Mammals of Bolivia
Mammals of Venezuela
Sturnira
Bats of South America

Soriano's yellow-shouldered bat


John W. Maloney (October 6, 1896 – January 23, 1978) was an American architect, responsible for numerous public buildings in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States in the mid-20th Century. Maloney was a master of both historic and contemporary styles of architecture.

Early life and education
Maloney was born in Sacramento, California in 1896. His family subsequently moved to the Puget Sound area of Washington, where he graduated from Auburn High School. Maloney attended the University of Washington and Stanford University, serving in the armed forces in World War I.

Architectural career
Maloney established a practice in  Yakima, Washington in 1922. He designed the Art Deco A. E. Larson Building, Yakima's most prominent structure, in 1931. In 1940 he designed the campus of the Perry Technical Institute in Yakima. Maloney moved to Seattle in 1943 where his office designed public and private buildings, including work at Washington State University, Central Washington University and Gonzaga University, as well as a number of schools for the Seattle Public School District. Other clients included the Seattle Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, for which he also designed schools. Maloney also designed a number of significant commercial buildings in Washington, and hospitals in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah. Until 1963, Maloney was a sole practitioner. That year, he partnered to form Maloney, Herrington, Freesz & Lund, transitioning into a more modern style of work.

Maloney retired in 1970. Maloney, Herrington, Freesz & Lund eventually became Mills, John and Rigdon. Maloney died on January 23, 1978, in Seattle.

Selected works

 Yakima Indian Agency Building, Yakima, Washington (1922)
 Smyser Hall, Central Washington University (1925)
 Saint Paul's Cathedral and School, Yakima, Washington (1927)
 Benjamin Franklin Junior High School, Yakima, Washington (1928)
 A. E. Larson Building, Yakima, Washington (1931)
 YWCA, Yakima, Washington (1935)
 McConnell Auditorium, Central Washington University (1935)
 Thorp Elementary School, Thorp, Washington (1935–36)
 Compass High School, Grandview, Washington (1937)
 Perry Technical Institute, Yakima, Washington (1940)
 Providence Hospital (now Providence Alaska Medical Center), Anchorage, Alaska (1940)
 Lind Hall, Central Washington University (1947)
 Johnson Tower, Washington State University (1949)
 Wilmer-Davis Hall, Washington State University (1950)
 Holland Library, Washington State University (1950)
 Smith Gym, Washington State University
 Seattle First National Bank, Denny Way, Seattle, Washington (1950)
 St. Michael Catholic School and Convent, Olympia, Washington (1950)
 Compton Union Building, Washington State University (1951)
 Boeing Company Office Building, Seattle, Washington (circa 1952)
 Eastern Bank and Office Building, Spokane, Washington (1952)
 Todd Hall, Washington State University (1952)
 Northwestern Life Insurance Building, Seattle, Washington (1952)
 St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, California (1952)
 Buckner Building, Whittier, Alaska (1953)
 Bishop Blanchett High School, Seattle, Washington (1954)
 Mary Bridge Children's Hospital (now MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital & Health Center), Tacoma, Washington (1954)
 Kittitas County Courthouse, Ellensburg, Washington (1955)
 Yakima County Courthouse, Yakima, Washington (1955)
 Holyrod Mausoleum, Shoreline, Washington (1955)
 Marycrest Hall, Seattle University (1956)
 Holy Family Church, Seattle, Washington (1956)
 Minimum Security Facility, Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla, Washington (1957)
 Bing Crosby Library (now Crosby Student Center), Gonzaga University (1957)
 Welch Hall, Gonzaga University (1957)
 Holy Cross Hospital (now Salt Lake Regional Medical Center), Salt Lake City, Utah (1958–59)
 St. Thomas the Apostle Seminary, Kenmore, Washington (1958)
 YMCA, Yakima, Washington (circa 1959)
 Rainier Beach High School, Seattle, Washington (1959–60)
 St. Anne's Catholic Church and Refectory, Seattle, Washington (1960)
 Providence Heights Hospital, Seattle, Washington (1961)
 Boeing Flight Test Center and Engineering Building, Seattle, Washington

References

External links
 Docomomo WEWA, John W. Maloney A biography of John W. Maloney
 John W. Maloney at the Pacific Cost Architecture Database

1896 births
1978 deaths
Architects from Washington (state)

John W. Maloney


Skylite Recording Company is a Memphis based gospel music label started by The Statesmen Quartet and The Blackwood Brothers in 1959. Along with The Blackwood Brothers and The Statesmen Quartet, Skylite signed, among others, The Speer Family, and the Oak Ridge Quartet (later renamed The Oak Ridge Boys). In 1966, the Statesmen-Blackwood team sold the record company to a group of investors led by Joel Gentry, with main offices on Music Row in Nashville, Tenn.

History
Amidst the popularity of The Oak Ridge Boys (specifically when they switched to country music and the hit Elvira), many compilations were made with some of the material from their Skylite recordings. Even though Oaks baritone William Lee Golden only appeared on two Skylite recordings, and Oaks lead Duane Allen only appeared on part of one, and Oaks bass Richard Sterban and Oaks tenor Joe Bonsall appeared on none of these, these covers often showed the current group. Nonetheless, often the same songs are rehashed over several recordings while many others from this era are ignored. The Ken Gaub family recorded with Skylite in the early 1970s, and as Christian Rock began Eternity Express (one of the early groups) also made several records with this label.

From the 1960s through the 1990s, Skylite was one of the pre-eminent southern gospel recording companies in the nation, having released projects by virtually every prominent group of that genre over four decades, including (in addition to those already named above) J.D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet, Jake Hess, The Imperials, The Masters V, Florida Boys, Harmoneers, Kingsmen, Prophets, Rebels, The Weatherfords, The Martins, Blue Ridge Quartet, Gospel Harmony Boys, Swanee River Boys, The Smitty Gatlin Trio, and many, many other major groups and soloists. The company received numerous industry awards and accolades, including Grammy awards for recordings by Skylite artists, including The Blackwood Brothers.

Eventually the Sing Music Company, owned by The LeFevres, was bought and merged with Skylite as Skylite-Sing.
The original masters are rumored to have been destroyed in a fire.

References

See also
Bibletone Records
Jake Hess
Word Records

American record labels
Record labels established in 1959
Record labels disestablished in 1966
Gospel music record labels

Skylite